Earthquake Environmental Effects (EEE) have proven to be valuable for describing past earthquakes and their geological imprints. The ESI2007 is a relatively new intensity scale dedicated to such effects, but also integrating traditional macroseismic scales. Examples of ESI2007 intensities assigned to large earthquakes are being collected in the EEE web catalogue hosted by the ISPRA and ESI2007-related work is conducted in the framework of INQUA.
Another milestone now has been achieved with the ISPRA volume “Earthquake Environmental Effect for seismic hazard assessment: the ESI intensity scale and the EEE Catalogue”. This book is now available online here. It contains updates on the ESI2007, examples of applications, documentation of the EEE Android App, a huge reference list and, most importantly, the ESI2007 description in ten languages: more
It was quite a long break since I’ve posted the last literature round-up and that’s why the list is really long today. Here are the latest papers on paleoseismology, active tectonics, archaeoseismology and (paleo-)tsunamis. more
What’s new in paleoseismology and active tectonics research? Here’s my latest digest of some recently published papers. As always, please feel free to point out ones that I’ve missed. more
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Makran Earthquake and Tsunami. On 27 November, 1945, an earthquake of magnitude Mw8.1 occurred at the Makran Subduction Zone offshore Pakistan. A large tsunami was triggered that reached the coasts of Pakistan, Iran, India, and Oman. The quake and the waves left approx. 4,000 people dead. A new book collects interviews with survivors. The book has been published by the UNESCO through its Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and is available for free download here. more
A new book on the Dead Sea Transform has been published by Springer:
DEAD SEA TRANSFORM FAULT SYSTEM: REVIEWS
Together with Prof. Zvi Garfunkel and Prof. Zvi Ben-Avraham, I am a co-editor of this book. The book focuses on various aspects of the fault system, from geophysics, to tectonics, paleolimnology, hydrology, seismicity, and PALEOSEISMICITY. Most relevant to this blog are the papers by Agnon and by Marco & Klinger.
- Shmulik Marco and Yann Klinger review in a new light the on-fault paleoseismic studies carried out along the DST.
- Amotz Agnon delves into the off-fault seismite archives (lake, cave).
Here is a link to the book on the Springer site: http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007%2F978-94-017-8872-4
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It’s been a while since the last update on paleoseismology literature. BSSA’s latest issue has some interesting studies that you should check, and there’s even more to discover. Also, there is some new work on (paleo-)tsunamis and historic large earthquakes. If you feel that important new papers are missing, drop us a mail! more
Spain may not be as famous for its earthquakes as Greece, Turkey or Italy, but significant events do shake the western part of the Mediterranean, too. Numerous paleoseismological and archaeoseismological studies as well as research on historical quakes have been undertaken on the Iberian peninsula. A new book was now published by the IGME which collects all the information currently available on the geological effects of earthquakes in Spain. The book is in Spanish and available for free download here:
http://www.igme.es/Publicaciones/PubliGratuitas.htm
The catalogue includes 44 quakes between 218 BC and AD 2011.
“Blown in the wind” Bob Dylan would have said or, at least, by. An international team (Università dell’Insubria, Università degli Studi di Milano – ITALY, Universität Innsbruck – AUSTRIA) found evidence of surface secondary faulting by blind thrust thanks to a promising setting characterized by syn-growth aeolian sedimentation, at the northern fringe of the Po Plain (N Italy). Results were published this year, in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
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Several recently published studies deal with paleoseismology and related fields, especially tsunamis and archaeoseismology.
Do you feel some important papers are missing? Contact us and tell us! more
Our latest paper on coastal change in Oman deals with an extreme flood event that was recorded in an archaeological site in Ras al Hadd, at the easternmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula. We found multiple evidence for tsunamis that hit Oman’s coast in the past. Close to Fins, mega-boulders were thrown on a cliff by huge waves. Fine-grained sediments typical for tsunami action were found in the same area. Searching for further evidence, we came across the archaeological site of HD6 in Ras al Hadd. The archaeologists who were excavating this site told us about strange findings in the archaeological record – they encountered a layer that interrupted the otherwise continuous stratigraphy of the settlement. The bronze age fishing village is located very close to the coast only a few meters above sea level, a large tsunami could easily impact here. more
