Potentially deadly and dangerous earthquakes can strike at any time. But can authorities get some early warning from monitoring the hundreds of small quakes that usually go unnoticed?
Motorway sign warning of Tsunami, Wellington after a 7.5 earthquake based around Cheviot in the South island shock the New Zealand capital.
AAP Image/SNPA, Ross Setford
The threat of any tsunami following an earthquake can take time to assess, so it’s important people who live in risk zones are ready for any event.
Local residents Chris and Viv Young look at damage caused by the earthquake, along State Highway One near Ward on New Zealand’s South Island.
ReutersAnthony Phelps
A new study of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake shows boulders from rockfalls fell much further than in earlier quakes that happened before humans arrived and changed the landscape.
Large-scale natural experiments such as oil spills, tsunamis and climate change are things you wouldn’t want to do on purpose. But that doesn’t mean they’re not scientifically useful experiments too.
Amatrice’s clock tower has survived quakes across the centuries.
EPA/MASSIMO PERCOSSI
Yesterday’s earthquake in central Italy has resulted in many deaths. But it is not the earthquake that claims victims but our built infrastructure. Why is this so?
There are already early warning systems for earthquakes, but advances in seismology provide hope that experts will be able to predict when new ones will occur.
Residents walk through rubble in central Italy.
Reuters/Remo Casilli
Australia is surrounded by ocean, so is not immune to the effects of tsunamis. But how significant is the risk?
Satellite image of California’s San Andreas fault, where two continental plates come together.
NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Fifty years on from a groundbreaking paper, geophysicists have progressed from believing continents never moved to thinking that every movement may leave a lasting memory on our planet.
When two major earthquakes occur within days of each other thousands of kilometres apart, it can look like they’re connected. But are they? Here’s what the science says.
The Earth’s surface is in a constant state of motion, before, during and after earthquakes.
Shutterstock/Natee K Jindakum
The earth around you might seem static but it’s constantly in motion. We need to track this motion in fine detail if we’re to keep our GPS networks up to date.
Nepalese girls demolish their earthquake-damaged house.
EPA/Narendra Shrestha