New research shows that injecting wastewater deep underground can cause earthquakes far from the injection site. It also raises questions about which rock layers are the safest injection targets.
Wildfires in the US have drawn thousands of firefighters. Meanwhile, Indonesia is struggling to rebuild in the wake of earthquakes. What’s the difference? Poverty and access to resources.
A tectonic earthquake doesn’t always trigger eruptions of nearby volcanoes. If an eruption happens, the volcano must already have been in a critical condition.
Thousands of houses has been destroyed by earthquakes in Indonesia.
ADI WEDA/EPA
Caught in the middle: Lombok and Bali are exposed to earthquake and tsunamis risk due to a tectonic plate boundary to the south, but also a unique zone of activity that thrusts to the north.
What’s going on 150 kilometers below the Earth’s surface?
Good Free Photos
A new array of seismometers provides a glimpse of what’s happening deep beneath this geologic fault. New data help explain why the north and south of the region are more seismically active than the middle.
Hurricane Harvey approaching the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017.
NOAA/Handout via Reuters
Large-scale emergencies can be a strain, even in one of the world’s richest countries. Population growth, income inequality and fragile supply chains may make the problem worse.
Fractured concrete pavement slabs on a street in Canton, Mich.
Victor Li
‘Bendable concrete’ is not an oxymoron. Mimicking designs found in nature, engineers are making concrete that gives under stress without shattering – an advance that could improve US infrastructure.
Fresh earthquakes and aftershocks hit parts of Papua New Guinea following February’s deadly quake. It’s Australia’s slow push north that’s part of PNG’s seismic activity.
On March 11, 2011, a nuclear disaster struck Japan. Translated testimony by the power plant’s manager reveals how close the world came to a greater catastrophe – and how much there is to be learned.
The epicenter of Mexico’s lethal September 2017 earthquake was less than 65 miles outside the nation’s capital.
Nacho Doce/Reuters
Not all earthquakes are made equal. A study on the Sept. 2017 quake that killed 300 in Mexico City found that both its location and cause were unusual.
Fracking wellpad in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, within state forest lands (2012).
SkyTruth Galleries/Flickr
Shale gas exploitation in the US has helped cut is greenhouse gas emissions by 11%. A study explores what would happen if this were expanded globally, and the findings challenge conventional wisdom.