Karachi is the most populated city in Pakistan with around 24,000,000 inhabitants – just as many as Australia. Since many years a nuclear power plant (NPP) is located just a few miles outside the city at the shore. Ongoing work on new reactors with Chinese help has recently sparked outrage and media coverage. Concerns are that any accidents at the NPP might have dramatic consequences and threaten millions of people. I searched the recent scientific literature on seismic and tsunami hazard for Karachi…
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The 5th PATA Days (5th International INQUA Meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archeoseismology) have started with a great icebreaker party on Sunday. On Monday we went on a field trip to Korea’s east coast and had a look at uplifted Late Quaternary terraces and some relatively young thrust faults. Plus, we visited a nuclear waste deposit site. Today the first presentations will start at 10 a.m. and the first poster session will be held. Here are some impressions from the first days:
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A shallow (12 km) earthquake of magnitude ML3.0 occurred this morning in W Germany near Koblenz in Ochtendung. According to the Geological Survey of Baden Württemberg, the magnitude was ML2.6 only, but the quake was preceded by few minor events (M<2.0) on 9 April and 14 April. Local news (The Rhein Zeitung) report that some people felt the event and that birds were afraid. This earthquake didn’t cause any damage, but it’s interesting in another way: Its epicentre is only 8 km away from the former nuclear power plant (NPP) Mülheim-Kärlich. more
A new story came up recently that sounds like the L’Aquila case, but the other way round. Dr. Roger Bilham from the University of Colorado, a well-known earthquake researcher, was denied entry to India earlier this year. He was on a flight to Bhutan and supposed to change planes in New Delhi when Indian officials sent him back to the plane he just arrived on. Officially, he was accused with having the wrong type of visa. Himself and many colleagues, however, are sure that he was deported because he stated that the seismic hazard in India is underestimated. more
