Earthquakes – Fusion Nepal

Earthquakes Los Angeles Natural Disasters New Apps Tech

New app warns you before an earthquake strikes

sudshr47 January 3, 2019

As earthquake waves ripple out from a volatile fault line to the heart of a city, mere seconds of knowledge that the shakes are coming can save lives.

That’s according to the City of Los Angeles and experts who say that an earthquake early warning (EEW) system, which monitors seismic waves and notifies people when it detects that an earthquake is on the way, is a powerful way to mitigate harm.

“We’ve previously talked about earthquakes as no warning events,” Dr. Lori Peek, the director of the natural hazards center at the University of Colorado, Boulder, told Mashable over the phone. “In an earthquake, if you know what to do, and if you have a few seconds, you may be able to drop, cover, and hold on. And that really can make the difference between who lives, who is injured, and who dies.” Read more…

More about Los Angeles, Earthquakes, Natural Disasters, New Apps, and Tech

AI Artificial Intelligence Earthquakes Environment Science

AI developed by Google and Harvard could help predict earthquake aftershocks

sudshr47 August 31, 2018

After the shock of an earthquake, aftershocks can wreak serious havoc too.

These subsequent quakes can last for weeks and months, and while scientists have developed models to try to detect their size and timing, figuring out where these aftershocks will hit is more difficult.

In a study published in Nature by a team from Google and Harvard, deep learning was utilized to help predict where these aftershocks hit.

The researchers trained a neural network on more than 131,000 mainshock–aftershock pairs, then selected unrelated 30,000 pairs for a test. Read more…

More about Science, Environment, Artificial Intelligence, Ai, and Earthquakes

Earthquake Aftermath Earthquakes Geology Science Turkey

We still don’t know how to predict major earthquakes, and it’s possible we never will

sudshr47 June 4, 2018

At 3:00 a.m., when everyone was sleeping, a violent earthquake struck 65 miles from Turkey’s capital in August 1999. The 7.6-magnitude quake collapsed entire apartment buildings on top of unsuspecting people, killing at least 20,000.

Known as the Izmit quake, in 2011 scientists said they found convincing evidence of a precursor to the tragic temblor: A series of often small, unnoticeable quakes — known as foreshocks — occurred in the same area for around 44 minutes before the major quake struck. This, the scientists argued, was evidence of something unique happening before the massive earthquake. Read more…

More about Science, Turkey, Earthquakes, Geology, and Earthquake Aftermath

Earthquake Earthquakes How She Works Kasey Aderhold Seismology

Watching the world ripple with an earthquake seismologist in Alaska

sudshr47 May 17, 2018

Kasey Aderhold is an earthquake seismologist with the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), a NSF-backed group that helps conduct and coordinate major seismology projects. They’e currently finishing a major project in which they put seismic sensors all over the United States. Their goal is to better understand earthquakes.

Although she’s based in D.C., Kasey often travels to her home state of Alaska to help set up, monitor, and maintain seismic sensors across the remote Alaskan wilderness. Read more…

More about Earthquake, Earthquakes, Seismology, Kasey Aderhold, and How She Works

Earthquakes Fracking Science Wastewater Injection

This week’s earthquake cluster is the new normal in Oklahoma. Here’s why.

sudshr47 April 9, 2018

A cluster of earthquakes hit Oklahoma over the past few days, unsettling thousands of the state’s residents.

As of 11 a.m. ET Monday the U.S. Geological Survey says that 2,274 people reported feeling a 4.3 magnitude quake Sunday night. There have been at least 16 noticeable earthquakes (above 2.5 in magnitude) observed by the Geologic Survey since Friday, April 6.

While nerve-rattling, the quakes are normal for the area — at least since 2009. That’s when the problematic quakes began, Jeremy Boak, Director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey, said in an interview.

More about Science, Earthquakes, Wastewater Injection, Fracking, and Science