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Categories: Geoscience: Earthquakes, Geoscience: Volcanoes
Published Double trouble when 2 disasters strike electrical transmission infrastructure


One natural disaster can knock out electric service to millions. A new study suggests that back-to-back disasters could cause catastrophic damage, but the research also identifies new ways to monitor and maintain power grids.
Published Research reveals magma activity beneath Mount Edgecumbe


Magma beneath long-dormant Mount Edgecumbe volcano in Southeast Alaska has been moving upward through Earth's crust, according to research the Alaska Volcano Observatory rapidly produced using a new method.
Published Seismic sensing reveals flood damage potential


Rapidly evolving floods are a major and growing hazard worldwide. Currently, their onset and evolution is hard to identify using existing systems. However, seismic sensors already in place to detect earthquakes could be a solution to this problem. Researchers show that a seismometer can sense a flood, such as the devastating one that hit Germany in July 2021, up to 1.5 km away. This could act as an early warning to save lives and lessen damage. They also found that being able to measure the 'seismic footprint' of the flood provides information on its magnitude, velocity and trajectory in real time, which could be used for future flood protection.
Published Report shows tectonics to be main driver of hillslope 'connectivity'


A new large-scale analysis of hillslope connectivity at the continental scale was recently published. The study gives new understanding of mechanisms that determine how effectively hillslopes drive floods and landslides, as well as promote the presence of wetlands.
Published AI predicts physics of future fault-slip in laboratory earthquakes


An artificial-intelligence approach borrowed from natural-language processing -- much like language translation and autofill for text on your smart phone -- can predict future fault friction and the next failure time with high resolution in laboratory earthquakes. The technique, applying AI to the fault's acoustic signals, advances previous work and goes beyond by predicting aspects of the future state of the fault's physical system.
Published Impact that killed the dinosaurs triggered 'mega-earthquake' that lasted weeks to months


Some 66 million years ago, a 10-kilometer asteroid hit Earth, triggering the extinction of the dinosaurs. New evidence suggests that the Chicxulub impact also triggered an earthquake so massive that it shook the planet for weeks to months after the collision. The amount of energy released in this 'mega-earthquake' is estimated at 10 to the exponent 23 joules, which is about 50,000 times more energy than was released in the magnitude 9.1 Sumatra earthquake in 2004.
Published Detailing a disastrous autumn day in ancient Italy


The Plinian eruption of Mount Vesuvius around 4,000 years ago -- 2,000 years before the one that buried the Roman city of Pompeii -- left a remarkably intact glimpse into Early Bronze Age village life in the Campania region of Southern Italy. The village offers a rare glimpse into the lives of the people who lived there, and the degree of preservation led the researchers to pinpoint the timing of the eruption, based on archaeobotanical record.
Published Edge waves, continental shelf fueled the 2021 Acapulco Bay tsunami


Trapped inside the shoreline of a bay, the resonant interactions of a tsunami with regular waves can prolong the tsunami disturbance. For the 2021 magnitude 7 Acapulco, Mexico earthquake and tsunami, edge waves in the bay and the short continental shelf also had a surprisingly significant effect on the tsunami's duration, according to a new study.
Published Deepest scientific ocean drilling sheds light on Japan's next great earthquake


Scientists who drilled deeper into an undersea earthquake fault than ever before have found that the tectonic stress in Japan's Nankai subduction zone is less than expected. The findings are a puzzle but will help scientists home in on the link between tectonic forces and the earthquake cycle and potentially lead to better earthquake forecasts, both at Nankai and other megathrust faults such as Cascadia in the Pacific Northwest. The drilling reached over two miles into the Nankai subduction zone and was conducted in 2018 with the IODP scientific drilling vessel Chikyu.
Published Earth's newest secret: How volcanoes really work


It isn't every day that we learn something that fundamentally changes how we understand our world. But for volcanologists across the globe, such a revelation has occurred.
Published Diamonds and rust at Earth's core-mantle boundary


Scientists discover that a potential 'diamond factory' may have existed at Earth's core-mantle boundary for billions of years.
Published Hidden microearthquakes illuminate large earthquake-hosting faults in Oklahoma and Kansas


Using machine learning to sift through a decade's worth of seismic data, researchers have identified hundreds of thousands of microearthquakes along some previously unknown fault structures in Oklahoma and Kansas.
Published Wave created by Tonga volcano eruption reached 90 meters -- nine times taller than 2011 Japan tsunami


New research reveals more about the magnitude of January eruption, as researchers call for better preparedness The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in January created an initial wave 90 meters high -- almost the height of the Statue of Liberty (93m). Tsunami expert calls for better warning systems to detect volcanic eruptions, saying systems are '30 years behind' comparable earthquake detection tools.
Published Risk of volcano catastrophe 'a roll of the dice'


While funding is pumped into preventing low-probability scenarios such as asteroid collision, the far more likely threat of a large volcanic eruption is close to ignored -- despite much that could be done to reduce the risks, say researchers.
Published Risk of volcano catastrophe 'a roll of the dice', say experts


While funding is pumped into preventing low-probability scenarios such as asteroid collision, the far more likely threat of a large volcanic eruption is close to ignored -- despite much that could be done to reduce the risks, say researchers.
Published Geological carbon sequestration in mantle rocks prevents large earthquakes in parts of the San Andreas Fault


Researchers say ubiquitous evidence for ongoing geological carbon sequestration in mantle rocks in the creeping sections of the San Andreas Fault is one underlying cause of aseismic creep along a roughly 150 kilometer-long SAF segment between San Juan Bautista and Parkfield, California, and along several other fault segments.
Published Assessing the effect of hydraulic fracturing on microearthquakes


A new article assesses the impact of hydraulic fracturing on seismic hazards like micro-earthquakes, an important issue for the safety of workers and the continuation of mining operations.
Published Nanoscale observations simplify how scientists describe earthquake movement


Using single calcite crystals with varying surface roughness allows engineers to simplify the complex physics that describes fault movement. Researchers now show how this simplification may lead to better earthquake prediction.
Published Volcanic super eruptions are millions of years in the making -- followed by swift surge


Researchers have discovered that super-eruptions occur when huge accumulations of magma deep in the Earth's crust, formed over millions of years, move rapidly to the surface disrupting pre-existing rock.
Published Cloud study demystifies impact of aerosols


Aerosol particles in the atmosphere have a bigger impact on cloud cover -- but less effect on cloud brightness -- than previously thought, new research shows.