It took a while, but now it’s finally here: Understanding Past Earthquakes, an open access book on the science of identifying large earthquakes. It deals with fundamental questions on large past events: Where did earthquakes occur? How large were they? Which tectonic faults caused them? How strong were the ground motions and where?
Six chapters cover the following subjects:

• Ou et al. – Earthquake Source Parameters Determination Using Analog Seismic Records
• Hough – Macroseismology
• Sintubin – Archaeoseismology: Identifying Earthquake Effects in Ancient Sites
• Zielke & Klinger – Past Earthquakes in Continental Settings—A Geomorphologic Perspective
• Philibosian – Paleoseismology and Paleogeodesy Using Coral Microatolls
• Moernaut et al. – Lacustrine Records of Past Seismic Shaking

Basically, it’s about paleoseismology, but excluding paleoseismology, because we already have McCalpin’s book. Neighbouring topics such as coseismic landslides, the ESI2007 scale, soft-sediment deformation, tsunamis, and marine turbidites have already been covered by other books or recent reviews.

The book was edited by Austin Elliott and Christoph Grützner. It’s free as a PDF or e-book, but also available as a hardcover for your bookshelf. Check it out here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-73580-6.

This is a guest post by Szymon Świątek

New research challenges the assumption that only strong earthquakes cause liquefaction. Scientists from Poland demonstrated that even low-magnitude shocks (~M3.5) can trigger sediment deformation in water-saturated fine-grained sediments. This finding expands our understanding of seismic activity and its effects on geological structures.

This is a guest post by Szymon Świątek

Can we “read” earthquake history by analyzing microscopic quartz grains? New research suggests we can! Scientists from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and the University of Potsdam have introduced an innovative method for studying seismic liquefaction. Their findings, published in the Journal of Structural Geology, reveal that quartz microstructures can help identify past earthquakes.

Jim McCalpin will give a talk on paleoseismology, its history, and its applications in the framework of the GeoLearn Hub and the Geohazards Communities online: Sunday, 16 February, 13:00 GMT.

The 2025 Hokudan meeting on active faulting was held online this year from 23-25 January. It was organised by our friend Koji Okumura. The abstract volume is now available for download here: https://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/kojiok/hokudan2025.html. Check it out, there’s some truly cool stuff, for example a trench with a 1700 year-old human skull in it…

These are the latest papers, this time with a lot of studies from the Americas. Enjoy reading!

This is a guest post by Erin McEwan.

River systems are shaped by both gradual and sudden geological processes, and the influence of active tectonics on river behaviour is a fundamental concept in tectonic and fluvial geomorphology. Despite this, much is still unknown about how earthquake surface deformation can alter flood hazard. This is concerning as human populations are increasingly expanding onto floodplains in seismically active regions. A recent review by McEwan et al (2025) in Earth-Science Reviews addresses this knowledge gap by analysing data from 52 sites where fault deformation is known to have induced an immediate change in river behavior; otherwise referred to as a Coseismic River Response (CRR).

The 2024 PATA Days took place from 6-11 October in Los Andes, Chile. This was the 11th meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics, and Archaeoseismology. The conference proceedings with all the 4-page abstracts in now available online and for download at https://libros.uchile.cl/1446.

Many thanks to the organisers for a successful conference and for the unforgettable field trips!
PATA Days are usually organised in the framework of INQUA’s TERPRO Commission.
To learn more about the past and the future of PATA Days, and to download all past abstract volumes and field trip guides, see http://pata-days.org/.

Here are the latest papers on active tectonics and paleoseismology. Happy 2025 everyone! 

The 2025 Hokudan International Symposium on Active Faulting will be held online from 23-25 January, 2025. Abstracts are due December 25th, deadline for registration is January 15th. Please visit the meeting website for the circular and further information: https://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/kojiok/hokudan2025.html. The main theme will be “Active fault research for better preparedness for earthquakes”. Another session will commemorate the eminent researchers who contributed a lot for the past Hokudan meetings and who passed away since the 2020 meeting.