tectonic plates

Stories 21 - 25 | << Prev 

Volcano Showers Tokyo With Ash

Residents warned larger explosion may follow

(Newser) - Powdery ash showered Tokyo this morning as Japan's Mount Asama volcano erupted 90 miles away, Reuters reports. Smoke burst a mile into the air and rocks flew onto sparse neighboring towns, but there was little damage and no visible lava from the explosion. Scientists have warned people not to approach...

China Quake Beat the Odds
 China Quake Beat the Odds 
Jun 30, 2008 4:06 PM CDT

China Quake Beat the Odds

Unusual seismic conditions led to disaster, scientists say

(Newser) - The earthquake that leveled parts of China’s Sichuan province last month was a geological oddity arising from usually inactive faults, LiveScience reports. The bizarre seismological coincidences behind the quake explain why no one was able to predict the event, which claimed 69,000 lives.

Big Quakes Beget More Shakes Worldwide

Study of large tremors finds spikes in activity directly afterward

(Newser) - Massive earthquakes like this month's in China's Sichuan province can quite literally make waves on the other side of the Earth, a new seismology study finds. The surface tremors resulting from events like Indonesia's tsunami-triggering quake in 2004 lead to increased seismic activity around the globe—from two to five...

Scientists Stumped by Oregon Quakes

Rumbling of 600 quakes in 10 days caught by underwater microphones

(Newser) - A swarm of more than 600 earthquakes off the Oregon coast has scientists stumped, the Oregonian reports. The activity started around 10 days ago and a research ship has been diverted to the area to look for answers. The earthquakes resemble those that happen before a volcano erupts but there...

Earth's Mystery Core Plumbed
Earth's Mystery Core Plumbed
Jan 27, 2008 9:32 AM CST

Earth's Mystery Core Plumbed

Japanese geophysicist floats theory of lifecycle for Earth's plates

(Newser) - Climate change has sparked heated debate about the Earth’s surface, but a controversial new theory is directing scientists to its core, Der Spiegel reports. To explain why contintental plates drift on the surface of the Earth's molten mantle, Maruyama Shigenori, a leading geophysicist, argues that continents actually have life...

Stories 21 - 25 | << Prev