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23 May 2019
Aftershocks of 1959 earthquake rocked Yellowstone in 2017-18
Aftershocks from large earthquakes can take their time coming — almost six decades in the case of Yellowstone’s deadly Hebgen Lake earthquake of 1959.
19 November 2018
Oil extraction likely triggered mid-century earthquakes in Los Angeles
Six independent earthquakes and two aftershocks of magnitude 4.4 to 5.1 shook LA between 1935 and 1944, a rate of about one every two years. A new study re-examined historical information about the earthquakes from archived damage reports to refine the earthquake locations identified by early earth-motion sensors, placing them closer to many active oil fields.
12 March 2018
Mexico’s 2017 earthquake emerged from a growing risk zone
Under Mexico, where the Cocos Plate from the Pacific Ocean slides under the North American Plate, a bending line of hills, created when the seafloor first formed, sits atop a flattened area of subduction. That newly recognized combination has created a fault that likely explains last September’s Puebla earthquake, scientists report in a new study.
11 December 2017
Ancient weakening of Earth’s crust explains unusual intraplate earthquakes
New research reveals that mysterious intraplate seismic zones underwent significant deformation hundreds of millions of years ago.
5 December 2017
Dark fiber: Using sensors beneath our feet to tell us about earthquakes, water and other geophysical phenomena
Scientists have shown for the first time that dark fiber – the vast network of unused fiber-optic cables installed throughout the country and the world – can be used as sensors for detecting earthquakes, the presence of groundwater, changes in permafrost conditions, and a variety of other subsurface activity.
30 August 2017
Computer earthquake prediction in lab shows promise
By listening to the acoustic signal emitted by a laboratory-created earthquake, a computer science approach using machine learning can predict the time remaining before the fault fails. Not only does the work have potential significance to earthquake forecasting, but the approach is far-reaching, applicable to potentially all failure scenarios, including avalanches and other events.
5 January 2017
What was that rumble? New research compares earthquakes to explosions
The earth shakes similarly after earthquakes and underground explosions, making it hard to distinguish between the two types of rumbling events. A new study aims to capture the subtle details of seismic signatures and ground deformation after an explosion to help scientists better differentiate between them.
15 November 2016
New maps reveal safe locations for wastewater injection
Geophysicists have compiled the most detailed maps yet of the geologic forces controlling the locations, types and magnitudes of earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma. These new “stress maps” provide insight into the nature of the faults associated with recent temblors, many of which appear to have been triggered by the injection of wastewater deep underground.
29 August 2016
New study identifies next faults to fail along California-Nevada border
A handful of faults lining the border of California and Nevada may be near the point of rupture, according to a new study assessing earthquakes in the region as far back as 1,400 years ago. Scientists report that earthquakes in a fault network east of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are not random, but are likely triggered from stress bestowed by past earthquakes. This same type of stress has built up in six faults near Death Valley, California, and Reno, Nevada, according to the new research.
3 May 2016
Scientists find likely cause for recent southeast U.S. earthquakes
The southeastern United States should has seen some notable seismic events – most recently, the 2011 magnitude-5.8 earthquake near Mineral, Virginia that shook the nation’s capital. Now, scientists report in a new study a likely explanation for this unusual activity: pieces of the mantle under this region have been periodically breaking off and sinking down into the Earth.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.