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Welcome back from all the EGU Vienna, SSA Pasadena and INQUA Fucino meetings during the last days. You have missed a lot of stunning images. Today is Friday and here are your links!

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On 24 September a shallow M7.7 earthquake rattled Pakistan. At least 300 people died and thousands of houses, most of them adobe, collapsed in Balochistan Province. The quake was felt as far away as Muscat (Oman) and New Delhi (India). Epicentral intensities reached up to IX. The earthquake appeared to be a strike slip event. Soon the media reported on an amazing effect of the quake – in roughly 400 km distance a new island appeared few hundred meters off Gwadar. more

A shallow (12 km) earthquake of magnitude M_L3.0 occurred this morning in W Germany near Koblenz in Ochtendung. According to the Geological Survey of Baden Württemberg, the magnitude was M_L2.6 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

On Monday morning, a M4.7 strike-slip earthquake rocked the Anza area, California. The quake occurred at the San Jacinto Fault Zone and was widely felt. As there are not many people who know the San Jacinto better than Tom Rockwell, I recommend to read this short interview. The LA Times has more info on the quake.  more

It’s been a while since the last Friday links, so today’s list is rather long. Of course the Russian meteoroid-meteor-meteorite (yes, in this order!) was an absolutely amazing, though destructive phenomenon. The air blast was registered equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 2.7. Read Livescience’s article here and read this text to get to know about meteors and seismograms in general. more

We’ve seen several magnitude 6 earthquakes last week. On 28 Januar, a shallow M6.1 strike-slip event occurred in eastern Kazakhstan. A little surprise only, we knew about thrust mechanisms in this area, but of course some strike-slip movements do not change the big picture. Would be interesting to check for surface ruptures. This is, by the way, the study area of our friend and colleague Angela Landgraf. Maybe we can convince her to write something about the paleoseismological background of that area? more

Something many people have been waiting for happened last week. Judge Marco Billi explained his verdict in the L’Aquila case. In a 950 page document he published the so-called “motivazione”, stating that “the deficient risk analysis was not limited to the omission of a single factor, but to the underestimation of many risk indicators and the correlations between those indicators.” This should have been understood by the scientists, but instead they delivered a “superficial, approximate and generic” analysis. 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

For me the most important geo news this week was the court decision on the L’Aquila trial on Monday. A local court sentenced six scientists and one official for manslaughter to six years in prison – 2 years more than claimed by the prosecutor. Even though the scientists may not have found the best words to describe the earthquake hazard in L’Aquila, the decision is ridiculous in my opinion and caused an outcry throughout the scientific community. Especially the consequences for any risk assessment and public information might be fatal. I am really concerned. In the following I link to some blog posts that I found particularly interesting:

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The early bird registration for the Acambay2012 workshop ends on 1 July. Until then, you pay max $190, later it will be up to $250. The 3rd INQUA-IGCP567 International Workshop on Active Tectonics, Paleoseismology and Archaeoseismology takes place in Morelia, Mexico, from 19 – 24 November 2012. It is held due to the 100th anniversary of the Acambay earthquake (1912). Check the workshop website for more information, this will be a great meeting, I am sure, so I will go there. more