The collapse of Bronze Age civilizations c.1200 BC remains a persistent riddle in Eastern Mediterranean archaeology. Earthquakes, attacks of the Sea Peoples, climatic deterioration, and socio-political unrest are among the most frequently suggested causes for this phenomenon. In the last issue of Seismological Research Letters (January/February 2013), Manuel Sintubin and myself attempt to retrace the origins of the idea according to which earthquakes may have caused the demise of Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean societies. The article features reproductions of unpublished archival documents held by the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute (Nicosia). The free-access version of the paper can be found here. Happy reading!
The latest issue of the Seismological Review Letters (SRL) contains some interesting papers on strong earthquakes, seismicity, and tsunamis. Here’s a list of papers that could be especially interesting for the paleoseismicity community: more
I am not entirely sure why the following video was produced, what it is aiming for and if it should be used in geoscience education, but I like it. It very nicely illustrates what a green potato would experience if it was on a cruise ship, from there went down to the seafloor with a yellow submarine, was trapped by a submarine landslide and subducted into the Calabrian Arc and then by using a time machine spit out by Stromboli volcano or so. I always wanted to learn about this. more
Last year we’ve seen some surprising seismic events. Do you remember the two strange events of M8.6 and M8.2 off Sumatra? We didn’t even know that such strong strike-slip events were possible, and those two earthquakes ruptured in a weird rectangular pattern AND occured within few minutes of each other. Do you remember the third most powerful EQ that rattled the Okhotsk Sea? No? Well, I think it’s a good idea to have a look at the strongest events that happened last year. more
It’s Friday, friends, the weekend is near and here’s the Friday links. Today I collected some news on earthquakes, landslides and geoscience jobs. Have fun!
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A strong earthquake rattled Japan today and caused some intense shaking in the Fukushima region. The quake had a magnitude of 7.3 and occurred at a depth of ~30 km. A tsunami warning was issued immediately, but until now (11:30 CET) it looks like no waves were created. more
So many things are said to cause earthquakes, things have become a little complex during the last years. For many people it might be hard to remember all of them and you will probably ask yourself “What can I do to avoid finding myself having caused a seismic event by accident?” Here’s help. I prepared a list with no claim to completeness of things that might cause earthquakes. Some are already well-known, some were suprising to me. Recently, chancellor Angela Merkel said she’s against equal taxation for gay and straight couples. I guess this can only be interpretetd as an attempt to minimize seismic hazard in Germany, everything else would be ridiculous…
What’s your favorite? What’s missing? more
Since the L’Aquila trial has caused a lot of attention and an outcry of the scientific community, topics like earthquake prediction and earthquake forecasting are widely discussed in blogs and media. Often enough, people that claim to be scientists pretend they could predict earthquakes. These pseudo-predictions are based either on measuring geophysical phenomena (like temperature, gas emissions, electromagnetic fields, light phenomena, sun-moon-earth tidal forces and interactions etc.), animal behaviour (toads, snakes, dogs etc.) or even crazier things (horoscopes, blasphemy, earthquake weapons…). None of these “methods” works. Earthquake prediction is currently not possible. more
The German research vessel R/V Polarstern is an ice-breaking mega laboratory and the heart of the German arctic and antarctic research. It is maintained by the AWI Bremerhaven (Alfred Wegener Institut for Polar and Marine Research). When I studied Geophysics at Leipzig University, I had to chance to visit this great ship during an excursion. Now the Polarstern is on her way for the Antarctic again, and this time the ship and the crew will spend the winter down far south for the very first time. Follow their campaign via the AWI blog or the GEO blog.
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Natural Disaster & Urban Life
3rd EU-JAPAN Research Center International Symposium
5 & 6 November 2012
Faculty of Arts, Erasmushuis, room 08.16
In recent years, natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, storm surges, heavy rain and tornadoes have occurred frequently in many parts of the world, resulting in the loss of many lives and property. The scale of calamities such as earthquakes caused by tremors in the earth’s crust and movements along fault lines, or tsunami generated by earthquakes, are increasing alarmingly in pace with the advance of urbanization, leading to unprecedented complex disasters. In addition, explosive population growth and mass consumption of fossil fuels and other energy sources are indirect causes which contribute to localized ‘guerilla’ rainfalls and tornadoes striking cities and resulting instantly in the accumulated loss of social and personal capital. more
