A M6.3 earthquake hit Christchurch, New Zealand on 22 February (21 Feb in UTC), leaving at least 75 people dead and hundreds injured or missing. Hundreds of houses were destroyed, including the Christchurch Cathedral, and damages will probably sum up to some billion dollars. On 4 September 2010 (3 Sept in UTC), a M7.0 event struck Christchurch, but then no one was killed. So: what’s the difference between the two events?
In its latest issue, EOS reports on the European Science Foundation conference “Submarine Paleoseismology – The Offshore Search of Large Holocene Earthquakes” which was held in Obergurgl, Austria from 11-16 September 2010.
The California Geological Survey provides a great online-tool for geoscientist: A fault map of California (Alquist-Priolo-Fault-Zone with all datasets available in PDF and GIS format for free! Start here.
A volunteer panel that assesses earthquake risks in Utah said it examined nearly 130 school buildings in the state and found more than half fail to meet federal earthquake safety guidelines. Bad news from here.
The Alaska Science Center is advertising five new permanent research geologist positions. Applications are open between December 1, 2010 and February 15, 2011, and that selection will occur during late spring of 2011. More information on their homepage, including the following announcement:
“This hiring initiative inaugurates a team approach to geologic research in Alaska (Photo gallery). The five positions will together make up a working group that will respond to the USGS’ ongoing need for research in framework geology of the 49th state. Project work is expected to support a broad range of research topics related to crustal evolution and surficial processes. We expect projects will involve collaboration with researchers from other USGS offices, federal agencies, state agencies, and academia.
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On 4 January, 2011 a partial solar eclipse was visible in Central Europe (up to 80% coverage of the sun). Werner Kraus shot some nice photos through a number of filters, but the best picture surely has been made by Thierry Legault from Muscat, Oman – the partial eclipse with the ISS transiting! Incredible.
The online science magazine “spektrumdirekt” reports on the archeoseismological and paleoseismological studies in Baelo Claudia, Southern Spain. The article focusses on tsunami hazard in the Mediterranean region and the two earthquakes that devastated the Roman town of Baelo Claudia hundreds of years ago. more
Paleoseismicity.org wishes you happy holidays and a happy new year! Be aware of snow avalanches and don’t get stuck in the winter traffic!
We are looking forward to seeing you in warm and sunny Corinth.
Paleoseismology and archeoseismology do only rarely appear in the curriculae of geoscience studies. Those topics will be covered in courses on tectonics and structural geology in most universities. Practical courses that allow applying the knowledge in the field can be a very good supplement, but in Germany, active faults are rare. RWTH Aachen University therefore organized a field trip to Greece, where active faults, fault scarps, archeological sites and beautiful outcrops are omnipresent.
Two new paper were published on tsunami research in the Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie:
Reicherter, K., Vonberg, D., Koster B., Fernández-Steeger T., Grützner, C. & Mathes-Schmidt, M. 2010. The sedimentary inventory of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami along the southern Gulf of Cádiz (southwestern Spain). Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie Vol. 54, Suppl. 3, 147-173. link more
Pa·le·o·seis·mic·i·ty [ pālē·ə·sīz·mĭs′ĭ·tē ] noun, plural -ties. Ancient earthquake activity.
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