Our colleagues Javier Elez and Jorge L. Giner-Robles invite contributions to a Special Issue in the journal Applied Sciences:

In recent decades, a prominent body of knowledge related to the geology of the earthquakes has provided new insights into seismic phenomena. The study of geology of present earthquakes allows a better understanding of the whole set of natural processes involved. The study of events from the past allows providing more comprehensive data within the temporal range (recurrence periods) of the seismic cycle and therefore completing the seismic catalogues and incorporating long-term data into seismic hazard assessment. The introduction of geological analysis of earthquakes, mainly based on the application of the Environmental Seismic Intensity Scale (ESI-07), also allows the parameterization of environmental earthquake effects and the emergence of multiple modeling procedures to assess intensity, hazard, risk, emergency scenarios, etc., most of them based on the application of GIS technologies.

The objective of this Special Issue on “The Contribution of Geology and Geomatics to Seismic Hazard and Earthquake Engineering” is to provide the latest advances, uses, and case studies related to the multiple applications of geological analysis of earthquakes.

My list of recent papers contains a surprisingly large number of cave studies. Also check out the really interesting contributions on earthquake & fault physics – cool stuff that is worth a read. Of course we also have fascinating studies on regional faults, including one that describes an active fault beneath Ulaanbaatar. Enjoy reading and let me know if I have missed something.

An interesting PhD position is open at GFZ Potsdam in the framework of the CRC1211- “Earth: evolution at the dry limit”. CRC1211 has the objective to study the mutual evolutionary relationships between earth surface processes and biota in arid to hyperarid conditions. Within the framework of project C05 “Adaptation of drainage to tectonic forcing”, the history of the macro‐scale drainages of the Atacama Desert will be examined using cosmogenic nuclide and amphipod speciation chronologies, combined with topographic analysis and kinematic modelling. Findings will be compared to the established broad‐scale tectonic and climatic context. More information and the link to the ad can be found here. Deadline for application is 15^th October 2020. For further queries relating to the role’s responsibilities you can contact Dr. Pia Victor by email (pia.victor@gfz-potsdam.de).

Today’s list is much shorter than that of August, but we have some pretty cool stuff on historical earthquakes, earthquake effects, and surface ruptures. Enjoy reading and stay safe!

Continental strike-slip faults are complex structures on which the deformation is commonly distributed among a number of parallel to subparallel fault strands, making them in places significantly different in behaviour from their oceanic counterparts. Thus, the goal of this issue is to publish a collection of high-quality papers on active tectonics of continental strike-slip faults around the globe using various disciplines, including but not limited to, tectonic geomorphology, palaeoseismology, structural geology, crustal deformation, tectonic geodesy and seismology of continental strike-slip faults.

This time we have a number of studies on historical earthquakes, active tectonics studies from all around the world, a view review and methods articles, and plenty of tsunami stuff. Make sure to check out the new book on the geological record of extreme waves! Enjoy reading and let us know in case we’ve missed something.

Time is flying, it feels as if I had posted the last paper updated just yesterday. However, a quick glance at the list shows that there are quite a few new studies that cover paleoseismology, seismic hazard, earthquake geology, etc. Let me know if I’ve missed something cool. Stay safe!

On 23 June, 2020, a magnitude 7.4 subduction earthquake struck western Mexico and let the earthquake early warning sirens sound in the capital. Reportedly, ten people lost their lives and thousands of houses were damaged in Oaxaca. Our colleagues Magda Velázquez-Bucio, Sabina Porfido, and Alessandro Michetti have put together a report on the Earthquake Environmental Effects of this event in English and Spanish:

The 1980 Irpinia Earthquake with a magnitude of M_w6.9 was one of the strongest and deadliest earthquakes in Italy in the 20th Century. Now, 40 years later, a special issue is dedicated to this event. Guest editors Sabina Porfido, Giuliana Alessio, Germana Gaudiosi, Rosa Nappi, and Alessandro Michetti invited papers for their special issue in Geosciences. Deadline for submission is 30 October, 2020.

As soon as I learned that the new iPad Pro comes with a LiDAR scanner I knew I would have to check how useful it is. Luckily, Kamil was able to buy one for our group. So we (Georg and myself) tested the 11″ version on an outcrop right next to our institute and I also scanned the way back to the office. I used the app LiDAR Scanner 3D. The full version costs 0.99 € and allows you to save and export the models as USDZ, OBJ, STL, and PLY files. I used CloudCompare to check the data.