seismology

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Scientists Mapping Hidden Mountains Taller than Everest

These huge peaks are located inside the Earth, but much about them is unknown

(Newser) - At more than 29,000 feet, Mt. Everest is popularly known as the tallest mountain on Earth. What many may not know, however, is that there are mountain ranges within the earth that have peaks as much as four times higher than Everest. In a BBC report , the British public...

Earth's Spinning Inner Core May Come to a Standstill
There May Be Something Big
Going On in Earth's Center
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 28, 2023 4:15 PM CST

There May Be Something Big Going On in Earth's Center

Scientists think inner core may come to standstill every 35 years, then start spinning other way

(Newser) - If you were born before 2009, you lived through a time when the center of the Earth stopped spinning. So say seismologists, who believe they've discovered a mysterious cycle that sees the inner metal core of the planet speed up, then decelerate and ultimately come to a standstill before...

Crowd at Garth Brooks Concert Was Earthquake-Level Intense

Louisiana seismograph actually registered a temblor during 'Callin' Baton Rouge'

(Newser) - The thunder wasn't rolling, but the earth was shaking at a Garth Brooks concert over the weekend, at least according to a campus seismograph. The Biloxi Sun Herald reports that on Saturday evening, at Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium, the din of the crowd was "deafening,"...

It's Unusual for Three Volcanoes to Erupt At Once

Alaska's Aleutian Islands are part of the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Ocean

(Newser) - Alaska’s Aleutian Islands are part of the Ring of Fire, a seismically active belt around the Pacific Ocean. The subduction zones in that belt are home to most of Earth’s active volcanoes, so it’s not exactly common for three volcanoes to erupt at a time in Alaska,...

Scientists Find Source of Worldwide Mystery Hum

It's likely a massive underwater volcano, they say

(Newser) - Hear about a strange underwater hum that went 'round the world? Neither had we, but scientists say they've found the likely source: a huge underwater volcano off the coast of Africa, LiveScience reports. Rising half a mile from the ocean floor and three miles across, the volcano apparently...

Beneath Mount St. Helens, a Heart of (Cold) Stone
Beneath Mount St. Helens,
a Heart of (Cold) Stone
NEW STUDY
Nov 2, 2016 11:33 AM CDT

Beneath Mount St. Helens, a Heart of (Cold) Stone

The volcano is an outlier in more ways than one

(Newser) - Mount St. Helens already stands out as one of the most active volcanoes in the Cascade Arc and the deadliest in the US, since its 1980 eruption claimed nearly 60 lives. It's also an outlier in a literal sense, sitting 30 miles west of the volcanoes that neatly line...

Sayonara, Seattle: Scientists Say the Huge One Is Coming

Cascadia subduction zone temblor will crush Pacific Northwest: 'New Yorker'

(Newser) - Thirteen thousand dead, 27,000 injured, a million displaced, a collapsed economy, and a region that may go months (or years) without electricity, drinking water, or sewage systems. That's what some are predicting will happen in the unprepared Pacific Northwest, including Seattle, if a full-margin rupture quake takes place...

A Strange, Remarkable Quake Hit Wyoming
 A Strange, Remarkable 
 Quake Hit Wyoming 
study says
Jun 13, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

A Strange, Remarkable Quake Hit Wyoming

Wind River Earthquake stands out for its size and power

(Newser) - An earthquake struck Wyoming two years ago that made little sense, scientifically speaking—but experts seem closer to solving the mystery, the BBC reports. Called the Wind River Earthquake, it hit with 4.7 magnitude in an area that rarely sees such seismic power. Hardly surprising, since the Wind River...

Bay Area Due for Seriously Big Earthquake: Scientists

Major 'locked' faults underneath San Francisco could give way soon

(Newser) - At least three major faults in the San Francisco Bay Area seem to be stuck—and when they come unstuck, they could wreak major havoc, NBC News reports. There's an almost 70% chance that one of four "locked" sections of the Hayward, Rodgers Creek, and Green Valley faults...

Scientist: Massive Quakes Hidden in History

Huge seismic events missing from the records

(Newser) - The Earth might have a more turbulent past—and hence a more turbulent future—than we thought. In a presentation yesterday, Dr. Susan Hough of the US Geological Survey argued that hidden throughout history are a glut of giant earthquakes that either went unrecorded or have been underestimated. "Seismometers...

Quake Rattles US Northeast
 Quake Rattles New England 
Oct 17, 2012 2:40 AM CDT

Quake Rattles New England

No injuries, damage from 4.0 quake centered in Maine

(Newser) - A rare earthquake shook New England not long before the presidential debate began last night, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. The 4.0 quake had its epicenter in southern Maine and was felt as far south as Connecticut, the AP reports. In New Hampshire, where the...

April Quakes Signaled Tectonic Plate Split

Indo-Australian plate is breaking in two

(Newser) - The two massive earthquakes that hit off the coast of Sumatra in April caused only a fraction of the deaths and damage of 2004's killer quake, but scientists now realize they were part of a momentous change in the planet's surface, the BBC reports. Researchers believe the quakes,...

Did Drilling Cause Oklahoma's Quakes?

Some blame fracking, amid sketchy evidence

(Newser) - Scientists aren’t entirely sure what caused the earthquakes that rocked Oklahoma last week , but many in the state are wondering whether it might have something to do with the oil wells and fracking operations that dot the state, the LA Times reports. Oil companies scoff at the notion—“...

DC Zoo Animals Sensed Quake
 DC Zoo Animals Sensed Quake  
Aug 25, 2011 3:43 AM CDT

DC Zoo Animals Sensed Quake

Apes starting climbing seconds before ground started shaking

(Newser) - In a mysterious phenomenon that has been observed since ancient times, animals at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, appear to have sensed Tuesday's earthquake before humans did. Seconds before the ground began to shake, gorillas and orangutans dropped their food, grabbed their young, and climbed as high as...

Rome Earthquake 'Prophecy' Sparks Panic
 'Quake Prophecy' Panics Rome 
May 11, 2011 6:00 AM CDT

'Quake Prophecy' Panics Rome

Thousands flee city amid rumors of major quake today

(Newser) - Thousands of Romans unsettled by rumors of an impending earthquake have decided that today is a good day to get out of Rome. A rumor that has spread widely online holds that seismologist Raffaele Bendandi—who died in 1979—predicted that a devastating earthquake would hit Rome on May 11,...

Japan Earthquake: California's the Next Big One


 Earthquake Prediction: 
 California Is Next 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 19, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Earthquake Prediction: California Is Next

And hit to San Andreas or Cascadia faults could be even 'scarier'

(Newser) - Is what happened in Japan set to repeat itself in California? Author Simon Winchester thinks so. In an article for Newsweek that’s turning some heads , Winchester notes that though scientists aren’t sure why, major earthquakes have a tendency to happen in clusters, with a quake on one side...

Strongest Quake in 35 Years Shakes Arkansas

Swarm of earthquakes unsettles town

(Newser) - Residents of the central Arkansas town of Greenbrier—already unsettled by hundreds of mild quakes over the last 6 months —were shaken by the biggest earthquake to hit the state in 35 years late Sunday night. The 4.7 magnitude quake, which was followed by two smaller ones, didn't...

Baja Quake Portends 'Big One' for California

Unusual quake revealed new fault lines, moved old ones

(Newser) - The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook Baja California in April may have set the stage for a far more powerful quake in the not-too-distant future, according to seismologists. The quake revealed several previously unknown fault lines, and triggered big moves in others—including the Big Three of San Andreas, San...

Earth Moved on 'Boobquake' Day...
Earth Moved on 'Boobquake' Day... 
Apr 27, 2010 8:38 AM CDT

Earth Moved on 'Boobquake' Day...

But no more than usual; take that, Iranian cleric

(Newser) - Boobquake 2010 is officially over, the numbers have been crunched, and it's time to see if Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was right, writes Jen McCreight on Blag Hag . Before she dishes the nitty-gritty, she clarifies one Boobquake misconception: The point wasn't to see if any earthquakes occurred; dozens happen daily....

Chilean City Moved 10 Feet West in Quake

Geologists think quake will be most important ever studied

(Newser) - The earthquake that struck Chile on Feb. 27 was so massive that it moved the entire city of Concepcion 10 feet to the west, according to one new study. Concepcion isn’t far from the quake’s epicenter in Maule, but other, more distant towns moved as well. Santiago moved...

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