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In 2013, a M_W7.7 earthquake struck Balochistan, caused a huge surface offset and triggered a small tsunami in the Arabian Sea. Immediately, the apparently strange fault behaviour caused the attention of scientists world wide and a number of papers were published. The discussion is highly interesting and still ongoing. This an interesting case for paleoseismologists, too, not only because of the cascading earthquake effects, but also because of the surface rupture distribution, from which we might learn some important lessons for our future work. Now my colleague Yu Zhou and his colleagues from Oxford University published a new paper on this event, arguing that it might be not as unusual as it seems. Their research is based on the analysis of Pleiades stereo satellite imagery, which has proven to be a very useful data source already. Yu send me a nice summary of his recent research: more

The 2015 GSA Annual Meeting will be held in early November in Baltimore and since the deadline is approaching (11 August) it is time to check paleoseismology sessions. One of the many interesting sessions will be chaired by our colleagues Mark Quigley and Tim Stahl: “T186 – Estimating the Timing and Characteristics of Continental Earthquakes from Geologic Data”. Tim told me that there will be “some great invited speakers lined up speaking on paleoliquefaction, lake varve deposits and San Andreas fault paleoseismology“. more

Lots of paleoseismology and tsunami studies are currently being published… Here’s my update on the latest papers, including: Surface ruptures, seismic swarms, tsunamites, Asian tectonics, slip rates and archaeoseismology. Plus: A very interesting study on the 1911 Chon-Kemin M8.0 earthquake in the Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border region, the source process reconstruced from analogue seismograms. Thanks to Ramon Arrowsmith for pointing me to this one. Enjoy!

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In case you need a good read for your summer holidays, here are the latest papers on paleoseismology and related fields. Today including a IAEA TecDoc about paleoseismology, an early paper on the Gorkha quake, coral paleoseismology, some tectonic geomorphology in Spain, clastic dykes, and tectonic uplift of an island in Chile. Enjoy!

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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

Here are my latest updates on papers and books that deal with paleoseismology, active tectonics, tsunamis and similar topics. There is a good portion of lake/turbidite paleoseismology with some beautiful seismites. We also have some more general tectonics/review papers, and an interesting attempt to establish a global fault database. Plus, there is an intense ongoing discussion about Kashmir and news from Napa. Enjoy!

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Earthquake Environmental Effects (EEE) have proven to be valuable for describing past earthquakes and their geological imprints. The ESI2007 is a relatively new intensity scale dedicated to such effects, but also integrating traditional macroseismic scales. Examples of ESI2007 intensities assigned to large earthquakes are being collected in the EEE web catalogue hosted by the ISPRA and ESI2007-related work is conducted in the framework of INQUA.

Another milestone now has been achieved with the ISPRA volume “Earthquake Environmental Effect for seismic hazard assessment: the ESI intensity scale and the EEE Catalogue”. This book is now available online here. It contains updates on the ESI2007, examples of applications, documentation of the EEE Android App, a huge reference list and, most importantly, the ESI2007 description in ten languages: more

It was quite a long break since I’ve posted the last literature round-up and that’s why the list is really long today.  Here are the latest papers on paleoseismology, active tectonics, archaeoseismology and (paleo-)tsunamis. more

In the last two posts I have reported on the scientific sessions of the Fucino15 conference and on the first of the field trips. This post is about the L’Aquila field trip. I haven’t been to this city before and I was curious to see the place that sadly became so famous in earthquake science. I was surprised by how many heavily damaged buildings were still standing and by the overwhelming amount of historical buildings that await their reconstruction. We were given a great tour through the Palazzo Ardinghelli which is currently being rebuilt, then we had a look at the worst-affected parts of the city. Here’s a report in images. more

I blogged about the scientific sessions at the Fucino15 meeting last week, here’s my report about the pre- and post-meeting field trips. The pre-meeting field trip was held in Rome, where we explored the archaeological and historical evidence for earthquake damage in the Eternal City. After the conference we followed the traces of the 1915 Fucino earthquake and then finally visited L’Aquila. This blog covers Rome and the geological field trips, a special on L’Aquila will follow later. more