The Megablock Complex: An example from the East African Rift
Recognizing and interpreting seismite horizons (soft-sediment deformation generated by earthquakes) preserved in the sedimentary record is an underappreciated approach for paleoseismic analysis. The addition of sedimentological studies to a toolkit that includes other well-established methods, such as instrumental seismic monitoring and fault trenching, can provide a less expensive and more practical option for earthquake hazard prediction and preparation in certain areas. For example, this may be a good option in less developed regions and in areas where fault trenching may not be possible. Moreover, there is a lot that we can learn rheologically from the study of seismites that could be invaluable for modeling the behavior of the surface/near-surface during seismic activity. Similarly, investigating Quaternary strata in areas that may be prone to seismicity, which may or may not have a recorded history of major earthquakes, can illuminate important information about earthquake recurrence patterns and intervals, in much the same way as fault trenching. more
It’s Friday – but instead of the Friday links I have the story of a giant post earthquake debris flow in the Wenchuan area for you. As I already announced in my last post about the field trip to the Wenchuan earthquake epicenter in frame of the International Symposium on Mega-Earthquake Induced Geo-disasters and Long Term Effects in Chengdu, China, I still wanted to blog about the Qipan gully debris flow that we also visited during the field trip. After giving you some background information I will take you on the hike with us. We will first see massive destruction in the residential area and then have a look at the debris flow deposits and some mitigation structures while climbing up the gully. Come on, let’s go! more
In my last post I blogged about the International Symposium on Mega Earthquake Induced Geo-disasters and Long Term Effects in Chengdu, China, and now I want to report about one of the field trips that I participated after the symposium. While we spent the morning and early afternoon at the Qipan gully to look at a giant debris flow that occurred five years after the earthquake, in the afternoon we had the chance to visit the memorial site of the 2008 Mw 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake, which is basically the collapsed building of a middle school close to the epicenter that was left as it was after the earthquake. I want to report about this site first because it is more about the earthquake itself. In my next post I will report about the Qipan gully debris flow. more
Here are some links I collected on today’s Kent Earthquake, the impossible task of earthquake prediction and some videos on Structure From Motion and Pacific tsunami propagation. Today is Friday and here are your links!
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Our colleagues in Belgium have reasons to celebrate! At the Membach station they’re monitoring seismic activity for 40 years now, and 20 years ago the superconducting gravimeter started working. To commemorate this the Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Public Services of Wallonia organize a scientific workshop on Earthquake activity and hazard in northwest Europe. The workshop will be held on 15 October 2015 at the Gileppe Dam Tower.
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The workshop “Tectonic and geodynamic evolution of Eastern Iran” will be held in both Tehran (2 Nov) and Birjand (3-6 Nov). It will comprise 3 days of field excursion around Birjand showcasing the variety of Sistan’s geological highlights (from ophiolites, deformation events, sedimentary basins to ore-mineralizations), that will be open to ~60 people. more
The Geoblogosphere is full of links on the Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal – and we have some links on this major event, too. But we found also some few more links on creating beautiful scientific posters, hilarious geomemes, and more. Today is Friday and here are your links!
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Phew, this was an intense week and a great one too! The Fucino15 meeting on paleoseismology, active tectonics and archaeoseismology is over and hopefully everyone safely arrived back home. Here’s a brief report on some of the science that happened at the meeting. Since we had ~50 oral presentations, only an overview is possible here. In the following days I’ll add more details about the field trips. A big thank you to the Italian organizing team who did an amazing job – grazie mille! more
Do you know your birthquake? And what do you think about animal behaviour before earthquakes? Did you hear about the NPG initative on an outsourced, but accelerated review process? Today is Good Friday, and here are your links!
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What’s new in paleoseismology and active tectonics research? Here’s my latest digest of some recently published papers. As always, please feel free to point out ones that I’ve missed. more
