Papua New Guinea's volatile Ulawun volcano—designated one of the world's most hazardous—erupted Wednesday, spewing lava high in the air and sending residents fleeing. more
When working near lava at 1,300 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the terms 'lightweight' and 'comfortable' might not apply to a volcanologist's protective clothing. more
The Greek island of Santorini is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, but 3,600 years ago it suffered one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history.... more
An unexpected and powerful eruption started at Raikoke volcano in the Kuril Islands on 21 June 2019. This image, which was captured on 22 June, shows the brown ash plumes rising high above the... more
Scientists from Tomsk Polytechnic University are developing a system for predicting the likelihood of forest fires. Using Gilbirinsky Forestry in the basin of Lake Baikal, they created a... more
The quest to discover what drove one of the most important evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth has taken a new, fascinating twist. more
The quest to discover what drove one of the most important evolutionary events in the history of life on Earth has taken a new, fascinating twist. more
Bungling Japanese officials sparked a nuclear scare after a violent, late-night earthquake by ticking the wrong box on a fax form—inadvertently alerting authorities to a potential accident. more
Steffen Farny, Ewald Kibler and Simon Down report how communities can better cope and move on from the trauma of natural disasters, and build hope for the future. Farny says, "Aside from the physical... more
A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake rocked Japan, sparking a tsunami advisory that was later lifted with no reports Wednesday of major damage and only a handful of light injuries. more
The unusual appearance of deep-sea fish like the oarfish or slender ribbonfish in Japanese shallow waters does not mean that an earthquake is about to occur,... more
The unusual appearance of deep-sea fish like the oarfish or slender ribbonfish in Japanese shallow waters does not mean that an earthquake is about to occur,... more
The roles of "climate change" versus "tectonics" that dominate erosion and sediment transport over geological time scales have long been a hot topic in Earth science. How to effectively separate... more
Deep under the ocean bed, a sinking tectonic plate causes a "swarm" of earthquakes, feeding molten rock into newly forming volcanoes, new research has discovered. more
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck an arc of islands off New Zealand on Sunday, and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said it may cause only minor sea level... more
Researchers report data gathered by orbiting satellites can yield more information about destructive earthquakes and can improve aid and humanitarian response efforts. The researchers looked at satellite data from several recent, large-magnitude earthquakes. more
Researchers at the University of Iowa and the U.S. Geological Survey have found that data gathered from orbiting satellites can provide more accurate information on the impact of large earthquakes, which, in turn, can help provide... more
The challenge to analyze earthquake signals with optimum precision grows along with the amount of available seismic data. At the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), researchers have deployed a neural network to determine the arrival-time of seismic waves... more
The police chief of Alaska's largest city hurried out of the department's glass building after the ground began to shake. Phone lines jammed and even police radios were spotty after a major... more
Infrequent extreme events such as large earthquakes pose hazards and have lasting impacts on landscapes and biogeochemical cycles. Sediments provide valuable records... more
A comprehensive catalog of earthquake sequences in Texas's Fort Worth Basin, from 2008 to 2018, provides a closer look at how wastewater disposal from oil and... more
A comprehensive catalog of earthquake sequences in Texas's Fort Worth Basin, from 2008 to 2018, provides a closer look at how wastewater disposal from oil and... more
Mount Agung volcano in Bali, Indonesia, has been erupting intermittently since November 2017. The volcano erupted six times in the last month and resulted in the... more
Some earthquakes along mid-ocean ridges are linked with low tides, but nobody could figure out why. In a new study, researchers have uncovered the mechanism for this seeming paradox, and it comes down to the magma below the... more
As a young seismologist in the 1960s, Lynn Sykes made crucial observations of earthquakes under the ocean floors that helped solidify the theory of plate tectonics—the foundation of modern geology.... more
The transition to plate tectonics started with the help of lubricating sediments, scraped by glaciers from the slopes of Earth's first continents, according to new research. more
How plate tectonics got going is a mystery. Now scientists say they’ve found a key part of the story: massive piles of sediment dumped in the ocean. more
Earth's outer layer is composed of giant plates that grind together, sliding past or dipping beneath one another, giving rise to earthquakes and volcanoes. These plates also separate at undersea mountain ridges,... more
One of the most memorable and astonishing aspects of the recent Kaikoura earthquake was the sudden uplift of the sea floor, which left populations of coastal species like kelp and shellfish literally... more
Some of the world's most powerful earthquakes involve multiple faults, and scientists are using supercomputers to better predict their behavior. Multi-fault earthquakes can span fault systems of tens to hundreds of kilometers, with ruptures propagating from one segment... more
In the heart of Takapuna, north-central Auckland, is a natural lake—Pupuke—while a little way offshore lies the volcanic Rangitoto Island. Long ago, a family of giants lived at Takapuna until... more
On 19th June 2012 at 8:53 pm local time, a moment magnitude-4.9 earthquake rattled the residents in and around the small town of Thorpdale in eastern Victoria. Moment magnitude measures the size or strength of an... more
Location, location, location—the popular real estate mantra can also be used to describe why American elections today turn out the way they do, says Stanford political scientist Jonathan Rodden. According to his new research, the geographic... more
After a treacherous volcanic eruption during the Bronze Age, curious humans and their canine companions hiked closer to the volcano, where they... more
One of the challenges for researchers is collaborating and communicating with communities to solve social and environmental problems. However, that challenge is what inspires and motivates scientists to keep investigating important questions. more
A volcanic eruption believed to be eye-witnessed by humans in prehistoric times happened 245,000 years later than originally expected, according to new research involving Curtin University researchers. more
A whiff of ammonia in reddish ices on Pluto may be evidence of recent geological activity on the dwarf planet, with liquid water spewing out from Pluto's depths like molten lava would... more
Whether earthquakes of different sizes are distinguishable early in their rupture process is a subject of debate. Studies have shown that the frequency content of radiated seismic energy in the first seconds of earthquakes... more
Scientists combing through databases of earthquakes since the early 1990s have discovered a possible defining moment 10-15 seconds into an event that could signal a magnitude 7 or... more
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