A new book on paleoseismology, archaeoseismology and earthquakes on the Iranian Plateau has been published in the Developments in Earth Surface Processes series. Volume 17 is dedicated to Earthquakes and Coseismic Surface Faulting on the Iranian Plateau A Historical, Social and Physical Approach, and it is authored by Manuel Berberian. The book not only covers physical processes related to earthquakes in Iran like coseismic offsets, archaeoseismological effects, and geomorphological evidence, but its first part is all about Earthquake Hazard Warning in Oral Tradition and Literature on the Iranian Plateau. The volume comes with a foreword by Robert Yeats and Roger Bilham. Table of contents:

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The latest issue of BSSA features a good number of studies on paleoseismology and earthquake geology, and some more papers have recently been published elsewhere which will be interesting for people working on old earthquakes and tectonics.

Here’s my digest, enjoy reading! more

While the majority of geoscience blogs is in English, I personally have the feeling that Spanish must be the second most popular language in the geoblogosphere. Videoblogs are not so numerous, but there are some really good ones out there. Nahúm Méndez Chazarra‘s Un geólogo en apuros (A geologist in trouble) is one of them. He writes ‘normal’ blog posts, but also produces nice videos. Nahum mainly blogs about earthquakes, geology in general, the geology of the Iberian Peninsula, and geoscience education. Make sure to check out his latest piece on Folklore geológico in which he informs about the cultural perception of earthquakes in Spain. more

Dear friends and colleagues,

The deadline for registration of the 5^th PATA-days meeting is extended to June 20, and for abstract submission to the end of June.  

See details on the official website: www.pata-days.org.

Please don’t miss the last chance to visit dynamic Korea!

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Good news for students interested in a PhD on tectonics in New Zealand: John Townend announced that several scholarships are available. Deadline for application is 1 July 2014.

PhD students are sought to work on several seismological and geophysical topics within the Institute of Geophysics, School of Geography, Environment, and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). The geophysics group at Victoria University of Wellington has an established track record of research in seismology, tectonics, crustal geophysics, and structural geology. In the most recent Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) evaluation, Victoria University of Wellington was ranked first in New Zealand for research excellence and was also ranked first in New Zealand in Earth Sciences.  more

On 26 January and 3 February, 2014, two strong and shallow strike-slip earthquakes of magnitude 6+ occured beneath the island of Cephalonia in Western Greece. Both events caused intense damage to buildings and infrastructure. A team of Greek geologists mapped earthquake environmental effects (EEE) such as liquefaction, road failures, rock falls, small/medium size landslides and stonewall failures. The results are now published in a paper in Tectonophysics. more

Today (2014-05-24) on 09:25 UTC an earthquake with magnitude M_W6.9 occurred in the NE Aegean Sea. The EMSC reports a depth of 27 km (USGS: 10 km). The quake had a (right-lateral) strike-slip mechanism and was felt as far away as Athens, Istanbul, and Sofia. More than 200 people were injured, most of them only lightly, and moderate damage to dozens of houses has been reported. The earthquake occurred on the (S)Western part of the North Anatolian Fault in the Samos Basin and was among the strongest events that have ever been recorded at that segment. more

The Sea Level Research laboratory in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island is looking to recruit a PhD student to work on an NSF funded project focused on paleoseismology of the Cascadia subduction zone.
The project involves collaboration with Rutgers University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, and the United States Geological Survey. The position can start as early as September 1st 2014. more

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

we are pleased to announce that the 6^th  INQUA International Workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archeoseismology will be held in Pescina (Abruzzo, Central Italy) in the period 19 – 24 April 2015.

We invite all scientists in the fields of earthquake geology, paleoseismology, archeoseismology, tsunami studies, earthquake engineering, seismic hazard assessment to join this event.

We will celebrate the centenary of the 1915 M7 Fucino earthquake, that has been one of the most devastating earthquakes occurred in the Apennines. The earthquake produced extensive surface faulting and left a strong imprint in the landscape giving rise to an incredibly rich seismological, geological and paleoseismological amount of studies in the last century.

Scientific sessions will be attended in the unique historical and cultural atmosphere of the Pescina village, followed by 2 days-field trip in the Fucino and L’Aquila area, retracing on the field the path of faults, landscapes, castles and ancient settlements. Moreover, a pre-congress archaeoseismic tour in Rome will be offered to all the participants.

Soon a specific website dedicated to this event will be available, where you will find more detailed and updated information, including information on the Participation, Travel Grants and Scientific Programme.

The Fucino 2015 Organizing Committee more

An interesting new project aims on a better understanding of ancient earthquakes in Europe. ArMedEa – Archaeology of the Medieval Earthquakes in Europe (1000-1550 AD) is dedicated to increase our knowledge of medieval seismic events. The 2-years project based at Durham University will focus on archaeological information on quakes, tsunamis and earthquake-induced mass movements. ArMedEa is run by Paolo Forlin (supervised by Chris Gerrard and Dave Petley). The project has just started and already has its own blog. more