According to a recent report, a small number of reinforced concrete walls would have been sufficient to keep schools, dormitories and other buildings standing after the 2003 earthquake in Bingöl, Turkey. An American-Turkish team of engineers said many of the 168 deaths could have been prevented had builders followed Turkey's existing structural codes.
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May 2008 earthquake in China could be followed by another significant rupture
Researchers analyzing the May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China's Sichuan province have found that geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region. The magnitude 7.9 quake on May 12 has brought several nearby faults closer to failure and could trigger another major earthquake in the region.
Geologists study China earthquake for glimpse into future
The May 12 earthquake that rocked Sichuan Province in China was the first there in recorded history and unexpected in its magnitude. Now a team of geoscientists is looking at the potential for future earthquakes due to earthquake-induced changes in stress.
Big quakes spark jolts worldwide
Until 1992, when California’s magnitude-7.3 Landers earthquake set off small jolts as far away as Yellowstone National Park, scientists did not believe large earthquakes sparked smaller tremors at distant locations. Now, a definitive study shows large earthquakes routinely trigger smaller jolts worldwide, including on the opposite side of the planet and in areas not prone to quakes.
Geophysicists revisit 'The Big One,' create new quake model
Almost a century after the 1906 earthquake, Stanford geophysicists have revisited San Francisco's "Big One" and now paint a new picture of a fault that was ready to go and that ruptured farther and faster than previously supposed.
Istanbul warned of potential earthquake
Researchers say a major earthquake is likely to strike Istanbul over the next 30 years, and are recommending immediate action to protect the city.
A century after 1906 earthquake, geophysicists revisit 'Big One' and come up with new model
Almost a century after the 1906 earthquake, Stanford geophysicists have revisited San Francisco's ''Big One'' and now paint a new picture of a fault that was ready to go and that ruptured farther and faster than previously supposed.
Seismic experiments provide new clues to earthquake wave directionality and growth speed
In recent years, seismologists thought they were getting a handle on how an earthquake tends to rupture in a preferred direction along big strike-slip faults like the San Andreas. This is important because the direction of rupture has a profound influence on the distribution of ground shaking. But a new study could undermine their confidence a bit.
Reporting in the April 29 issue of the journal
Science, researchers from the California Institute of Technology and Harvard University discuss new controlled laboratory experiments using dissimilar polymer plates to mimic Earth's crusts. The results show that the direction of rupture that controls the pattern of destruction is less predictable than recently thought.
Tablet-Size Seismometer
Vladimir A. Kozlov and his colleagues from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology have known about the recent
earthquake in Turkey not only from the news program, but from their own data too. The seismic impulses were received by a device they created, funding being extended by the Russian Foundation for Basic research (RFBR) and Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE). Thus, a molecular-electronic transducer designed, patented, and currently tested by the researchers has instantly proved its usefulness.
