The first Environmental Hazards in Asia Conference will take place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from 12-15 August with a field trip from 16-20 August. This conference aims to bring together practitioners of both with a focus on the hazards across Asia. The workshop will be structured to allow exploration of the underlying physical mechanics of hazards, explore the impacts of historical events across the continent and focus on the possible approaches to minimizing future impacts. The aim is to facilitate new ideas and proposals. Funds to support travel and subsistence to up to 20 participants from across Asia are available.
May 15th – Abstract submission deadline
June 1st – Fieldtrip registration deadline
July 12th – Online registration deadline
Meeting website: https://environmentalhazardsasia.wordpress.com/
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A strong aftershock has rocked Japan on 11 April. USGS reported a magnitude of 6.7, while EMSC estimated M6.6. A tsunami warning has been released by the Japan Meteorological Agency for the eastern coast of Japan’s Honshu Island. UPDATE 13:06 MEST: The Tsunami warning has been cancelled. more
While the Japan earthquake has dominated the media obviously, some other news came up in geoscience. A researcher team lead by Ludovic Ferrierè who works at the Natural History Museum in Vienna claims to have proven the first impact crater in central Africa. The Luizi structure in the Democratic Republic of Congo was described in 1919 by a German study, but has not been confirmed as an impact crater for decades. Ferrierè and his team now found shatter cones and shocked quartzes, strongly pointing to an impact. The crater has a diameter of 17 km and a 350 m high rim, which led the scientists to assume a meteor of 1 km diameter and a velocity of ~20,000 m/s. more
An earthquake with a magnitude of Mw9.0 has occured 130 km east of Honshu, Japan in a depth of ~25 km. This had been the fourth or fifth strongest earthquake to be recorded by instrumental seismology. The quake caused significant destruction to the Honshu Island and triggered a tsunami that destroyed a number of harbours. In some places (Sendai), tsunami heights were reported to exceed 10 m. A tsunami warning has been released for wide parts of the Pacific, but in Hawaii only 1 m was observed, therefore the warnings for the US West Coast have been lowered. more
