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The 3rd INQUA-IGCP 567 Int’l workshop on Earthquake Geology, Paleoseismology and Archaeoseismology has started here in Morelia, Mexico. We are going to cover the sessions whenever we have time to drop a few lines, however, we can not comment all talks and posters.

[Note: this post was updated on 2012-11-29, see Maria’s comment]

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On Thursday, a new seismometer station was inaugurated in the Cathedral of Aachen, Germany. The station is part of the regional network of the state’s geological survey. During recent reconstruction works, we discovered damages in the cathedral that date back to around AD 800. Cracked walls and repaired floors clearly pointed to earthquake damage. Check out these two papers for more info. Then, the idea came up to install a seismometer directly in the cellar of the Cathedral to monitor seismicity and we are quite happy that its ready now! more

A new paper on the archaeoseismology of Athens, Greece, was published in the Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering by AMraseys and Psycharis. The authors investigated two classical columns at the Akropolis which survived since classical times and modelled the behaviour of the structures under dynamic (seismic) load. They explain observed damages at the columns and also estimate maximum ground movement that would have toppled the columns. It looks like Old Athens has been relatively lucky in terms of earthquakes in the past, despite it is surrounded by active faults… more

The final program of the 3rd INQUA-IGCP 567 Workshop to be held at Morelia (Mexico) from 19 – 23 November 2012 is out now!

Download the pdf here: PROGRAM MORELIA 2012 INQUA WORKSHOP

Check Acambay1912.org for latest news!

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Next year’s European Geosciences Union General Assembly will be held in Vienna, Austria, from 07 – 12 April. As always there will be hundreds of sessions and thousands of scientists, so I’ve put together some recommendations based on my own interest. However, there will be some things that you’ll like, too. more

A new paper has been published online first by Hinzen et al. on their archeoseismological study in Cologne, Germany. During recent archeological excavations, a number of damaged structures from Roman to Medieval times have been discovered and described among them a synagoge, the Praetorium, and a Roman well. Since damaging historical earthquakes are documented for the Lower Rhine Embayment, seismic shaking was a good guess to have caused the observed damage. more

Although I already recommended some papers earlier this week, I have two more to mention: Supawit Yawsangratt and colleagues published new data on “Evidence of probable paleotsunami deposits on Kho Khao Island, Phang Nga Province, Thailand”. Nat Hazards, 63,151-163, DOI 10.1007/s11069-011-9729-4 in a special issue dedicated to tsunami research. Ran et al. presented work on the Wenchuan EQ epicentral area: “Paleoseismic events and recurrence interval along the Beichuan -Yingxiu fault of Longmenshan fault zone, Yingxiu, Sichuan, China.” Tectonophysics (2012), doi: 10.1016/j.tecto.2012.07.013. more

Currently I spend my time working on some papers that deal with tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean and earthquakes in Spain. Searching for literature and looking for data on the Minoan catastrophe I came across this new open access publication by Simon Jusseret and Manuel Sintubin:

• All That Rubble Leads to Trouble: Reassessing the Seismological Value of Archaeological Destruction Layers in Minoan Crete and Beyond. Seismological Research Letters, 83, 4, 736-742, doi:10.1785/0220120011.

Our colleagues from IGCP567 – Earthquake Archaeology put a lot of effort into getting rid of catastrophism and into making archeoseismology a more reliable, quantitative science. By the way, don’t miss the next workshop on archeoseismology and active tectonics in Mexico 2012! more

The deadline for the 3rd INQUA-IGCP567 workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archeoseismology has been extended to 15 August 2012. The meeting will be held from 19-24 November in Morelia, Mexico, in remembrance of the devastating Acambay earthquake form 1912. Registration is between $60 and $250, an additional fieldtrip can be booked for $60. more

Today is GeoScience Day (Geotag) at RWTH Aachen University! Organized by the Chair of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, this event will start at 9:30 am in the Couvenhalle, Aachen. Geoscience-related talks and a poster exhibition will only be some parts of the very interesting program. The Geo summer party will be started after the “Geotag” at 6:00 pm at the parking lot of the Geoscience Institute at Wüllnerstraße. Come and see! Follow the Geotag on Twitter (hashtag #GEOTAG) and Facebook, and visit the official website! more