We can’t rule out the possibility today’s earthquake was not even the biggest event in this sequence, although as time passes the likelihood of a larger associated event decreases.
Acapulco’s beachfront condo towers were devastated by Hurricane Otis.
Rodrigo Oropeza/AFP via Getty Images
The best science is not always the best engineering when it comes to building codes. It’s also a problem across the US, as an engineer who works on disaster resilience explains.
Dee Ninis, Monash University and Ryan Hoult, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)
Cities and towns have been devastated by the impact of the 6.8 magnitude quake – the largest recorded in the country’s history.
Seismologists monitor the Earth’s activity, but they can’t predict a day, time and place for the next ‘big one.’
Christian Miranda/AFP via Getty Images
The idea that scientists could warn a region that a big quake was coming at a certain time – with enough advance notice for large-scale preparation and evacuation – remains a dream, not a reality.
A largely hidden fault beneath the Victorian Alps has triggered a magnitude 5.8 quake that was felt as far afield as Sydney, Adelaide and Launceston. Here’s what we know so far.
The geological record tells us we have had earthquakes in Australia’s deeper past much larger — possibly up to and bigger than magnitude 7.0.
Search and rescue workers hunting for victims in Les Cayes, Haiti, on August 17, 2021, after an earthquake shook the country.
Orlando Barria/EFE/Alamy Live News
There are three important issues to consider when thinking about quakes: what causes them; how to prepare and plan for them; and, how to move on after a damaging quake.
Heavily built-up areas can experience more disastrous damage in an earthquake.
AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Engineers know how and where to build to minimize earthquake damage. But laws don’t always reflect that wisdom. A new study suggests it’s because of a mismatch between risk perceptions and reality.