Tag Archives: earthquakes

Earth-shaking Selfies

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Ron Miksha

MyShake is a phone app that can sense earthquakes. This is a cool idea, one that others have tried and failed to perfect, but now it seems to be living the promise. Folks at UCLA Berkeley 0ffer a free bit … Continue reading →

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Nepal’s Missing Volcanoes

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Last month’s devastating earthquakes in Nepal were caused by the collision of the Indian subcontinent crashing into and (partly) under the bulk of Asia. The Himalayas are being created by the collision of tectonic plates. So, where are the volcanoes? … Continue reading →

Posted in Geology, How Geophysics Works, Oceans, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Isostasy Man

Posted on May 16, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Since it was Major Clarence Dutton’s 174th birthday yesterday, I thought I’d give him a nod for creating a simple geological concept that almost every geo-freshman finds impossibly confusing. Isostasy should be as easy to understand as a melting iceberg … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Geology, History | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Katmandown

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Katmandu’s earthquake was a tragic surprise; but not unexpected. Katmandu sits atop a fault that releases pressure as continental crust merges. India, which was an island until 25 million years ago, continues shoving itself into Asia. This sparring of continents … Continue reading →

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Trumpeting the Quake

Posted on April 8, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Earthquake prediction may run off in a new direction. We’ve tried electronics attached to seismic detectors (and made some progress), but there may be a new ally in the battle to give a warning before the next big one knocks … Continue reading →

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World’s Biggest Fracking Quake?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Ron Miksha

“Did Alberta Just Break a Fracking Earthquake World Record?” This is the headline in The Tyee, an online independent magazine focused on western Canada, and it seems the paper thinks so. The Tyee’s coverage of a big fracking earthquake in … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering, Geology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Riding the Moho

Posted on January 23, 2015 by Ron Miksha

  Today is the anniversary of the birth (January 23, 1857) of a brilliant geophysicist with an unpronounceable name (unless you are Croatian) – Andrija Mohorovičić. (You may say On-Dree-Ya Mow-Hoe-Row-Vitch-Itch. Or, like many a grad student, you could simply … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Geology, History, How Geophysics Works, Plate Tectonics, The Book | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tonga Shakes. Again.

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Tonga. It’s an archipelago for the seismic history books. Tonga is in the news again, this time the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai was spotted by NASA satellites because the eruptions discoloured the Pacific waters amidst the island kingdom’s 176 … Continue reading →

Posted in Geology, History, How Geophysics Works, Oceans, Plate Tectonics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chile Shaking. . . it will happen again, of course

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Earlier this week, geophysicists reported an analysis of the April 1, 2014, Chilean earthquake which killed six and displaced tens of thousands close to the epicenter near the Peru border. They said the new study is yielding information which may … Continue reading →

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Who’s Got Mantle?

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Ron Miksha

NASA has reprocessed the Apollo missions’ old lunar seismic data. The data is from 1969 through 1977, the latter being recorded by equipment still active long after the last astronaut went home. This is old seismic data. Reprocessed, it tells … Continue reading →

Posted in History, How Geophysics Works, Space | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment