Five people have been confirmed dead, 31 remain in hospital with injuries and eight are still missing after sudden volcanic eruptions on White Island off New Zealand. more
A volcano on a New Zealand island erupted Monday with a towering blast of ash and scalding steam as tourists were exploring the moon-like surface, killing five people and leaving... more
Stones do not float in water—this is a truism. But there is hardly a rule without exception. In fact, some volcanic eruptions produce a very porous type of rock with a density... more
Since August a large accumulation of pumice has been drifting in the Southwest Pacific towards Australia. Researchers have now identified the origin of this pumice raft. It is a so... more
A volcano erupted violently on a New Zealand island today local time, sending ash up to 12,000 feet (3,700 meters) into the air, leaving five people dead and many missing. more
Scientists say coral reefs on a tiny island in the South Pacific have shown incredible resilience and recovery from a recent but very severe disturbance: a... more
An earthquake struck Tuscany north of Florence on Monday, sending frightened people into the street in the middle of the night, opening up cracks in walls and damaging a church. more
A volcano that erupted without warning on a New Zealand island popular with tourists killed one person and stranded at least two dozen more Monday, with rescues too dangerous to... more
The release of more than 50 floating sensors, called Mobile Earthquake Recording in Marine Areas by Independent Divers (MERMAIDs), is increasing the... more
Three separate teams working independently have learned more about what happens during a slow-moving volcanic caldera collapse by studying the 2018 Kīlauea eruption in Hawaii. Each... more
Researchers at EPFL's Computational Solid Mechanics Laboratory and the Weizmann Institute of Science have modeled the onset of slip between two bodies in frictional contact. Their work, a major step forward in... more
Changes in magma chemistry that affect eruptive behavior occur during many volcanic eruptions, but typical analytical techniques are too slow to contribute to hazard... more
Caldera-forming eruptions are among Earth’s most hazardous natural phenomena, yet the architecture of subcaldera magma reservoirs and the conditions that... more
Lava flows present a recurring threat to communities on active volcanoes, and volumetric eruption rate is one of the primary factors controlling flow behavior and hazard. The time... more
Greenhouse gas emissions released directly from the movement of volcanic rocks are capable of creating massive global warming effects -- a discovery which could transform the way scientists predict climate... more
Greenhouse gas emissions released directly from the movement of volcanic rocks are capable of creating massive global warming effects—a discovery which could transform the way scientists predict climate... more
Each hair-thin glass fiber in a buried fiber optic cable contains tiny internal flaws—and that's a good thing for scientists looking for new ways to collect seismic data... more
Silversword plants of Hawai'i—known by their Hawai'ian name 'ahinahina which translates to very grey—are unique to the Maui's Haleakalā volcano summit area and to the Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa volcanoes on the Big... more
The geography of entrepreneurship is "spiky", meaning that from region to region there are significant variations in rates of start-ups and, in particular, "scale-ups"—new businesses that are evolving into larger... more
Researchers from Tohoku University have discovered a new petit-spot volcano at the oldest section of the Pacific Plate. The research team, led by Associate Professor Naoto Hirano of the Center... more
Earthquakes can have devastating impacts on communities all around the world. They strike without warning, often resulting in large fatalities. Since the aftershocks that... more
Europe isn't a region well known for intense seismic activity, but large earthquakes do happen. In 1953, a devastating 6.8 magnitude quake struck the Greek Ionian Islands. Though these large events tend... more
A new study suggests Earth's first burst of oxygen was added by a spate of volcanic eruptions brought about by tectonics. In addition to explaining the appearance of significant concentrations of oxygen in the Great Oxidation... more
Margaret Mangan didn't sleep well in the weeks following the Ridgecrest, Calif., earthquakes. The July shaking triggered a swarm of smaller tremors in the... more
Distributed fiber-optic sensing technology coupled to existing subsea cables (dark fiber) allows observation of ocean and solid earth phenomena. We used an optical fiber... more
Fiber-optic cables that constitute a global undersea telecommunications network could one day help scientists study offshore earthquakes and the geologic structures hidden deep beneath the ocean surface. more
The deadly volcanic eruption of Anak Krakatoa in 2018 unleashed a wave at least 100m high that could have caused widespread devastation had it been travelling... more
New Guinea is the most biologically and linguistically diverse tropical island on Earth, yet the potential impacts of climate change on its biocultural heritage remain unknown. Analyzing 2353 endemic plant species distributions, we find... more
When Timothée Boitouzet studied architecture in Japan, where buildings need to survive earthquakes, he realised the next smart material might be one that humans have used for thousands of years—wood. more
When -- and how -- Earth's surface evolved from a hot, primordial mush into a rocky planet continually resurfaced by plate tectonics remain some of the biggest unanswered questions in... more
Russian and Italian scientists have recently come closer to understanding volcanic eruptions by studying Monte Nuovo near Naples as a basis. Lava, the molten rock that forms and then solidifies on the Earth's surface,... more
When—and how—the Earth's surface evolved from a hot, primordial mush into a rocky planet continually resurfaced by plate tectonics remain some of the biggest unanswered questions in earth science research.... more
Geoscientists have successfully developed and tested a new high-tech shallow water buoy that can detect the small movements and changes in the Earth's seafloor that are often a precursor to... more
University of South Florida geoscientists have successfully developed and tested a new high-tech shallow water buoy that can detect the small movements and changes in the Earth's seafloor that are... more
Two seismologists, one with the U.S. Geological Survey, the other with Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, have published a Policy Forum... more
A surtseyan eruption is a volcanic eruption in shallow water. It's named after the island Surtsey, off the coast of Iceland. In 2015, a surtseyan eruption in the... more
Fentanyl overdoses cluster geographically more than non-fentanyl overdoses, according to a study just released by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. more
Researchers from Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine have conducted the first time-motion study in more than a decade to assess the impact of... more
The volcanic island of Kueishantao in northeastern Taiwan is an extreme habitat for marine organisms. With an active volcano, the coastal area has a unique hydrothermal field with... more
Hand-dug trenches around Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming reveal evidence for a previously unknown surface-faulting earthquake in along the Teton... more
Reid Ferring, a professor in the University of North Texas Department of Geography and the Environment, is part of an international team of scientists who have developed a breakthrough method of identifying... more
This week, southeast France was hit by a magnitude 5 earthquake with tremors felt between Lyon and Montélimar. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission has been used to map the way the ground shifted as a result of the quake. more
This week, southeast France was hit by a magnitude 5 earthquake with tremors felt between Lyon and Montélimar. The Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar mission has been used to map... more
When will the next eruption take place? Examination of samples from Indonesia's Mount Merapi show that the explosivity of stratovolcanoes rises when mineral-rich gases seal the pores and microcracks in the uppermost layers of... more
When will the next eruption take place? Examination of samples from Indonesia's Mount Merapi show that the explosivity of stratovolcanoes rises when mineral-rich gases seal the pores and microcracks in the uppermost layers of stone. These findings result... more
New research in rats shows that cortical arousals and brief awakenings during sleep exhibit non-equilibrium dynamics and complex organization across time scales necessary for spontaneous sleep-stage transitions and... more
As huge swaths of California burned last fall, federal health officials descended on 20 California nursing homes to determine whether they were prepared to protect their vulnerable residents... more
Confirmation of a transatlantic crossing by a highly endangered marine animal signals the need for "an international mindset" when seeking ways to conserve the basking shark—named among the world's 'weirdest' animals by National Geographic. more
Each year, anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of deaths are attributed to the catastrophic effects of major earthquakes. Apart from ground shaking, earthquake hazards include landslides, dam ruptures, flooding, and worse—if the sea floor... more
More than a billion people in Asia depend on seasonal monsoons for their water needs. The Asian monsoon is closely linked to a planetary-scale tropical air flow which,... more
More than a billion people in Asia depend on seasonal monsoons for their water needs. The Asian monsoon is closely linked to a planetary-scale tropical air flow which,... more
For decades, scientists have debated the structure of the Main Himalayan Thrust -- the fault responsible for a 2015 earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people, injured 22,000, and destroyed 600,000... more
A new understanding of a fault that caused a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake can help scientists better understand where and when the next big one will hit. more
Researchers revealed for the first time growth rates of deep-sea coral communities and the pattern of colonization by various species over time scales of centuries to... more