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.
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake took place on February 25, 81km southwest of Porgera, Papua New Guinea.
US Geological Survey
Why is Papua New Guinea so susceptible to landslides? Steep terrain, earthquakes and aftershocks plus recent seasonal rains have created an environment that is prone to collapse.
Mayon Volcano erupts in Legaspi city, Philippines on 25 January 2018.
Francis R. Malasig/AAP
It feels as if volcanoes in our region are going off at a high rate right now - but it’s reasonably normal activity for the “Ring of Fire” belt running around the Asia Pacific.
Seismic shockwaves after a meteorite’s collision could affect systems all over the planet.
solarseven/Shutterstock.com
Research suggests a new threat to life on Earth from the meteorite’s crash: Via seismic waves, the impact triggered massive undersea eruptions, as big as any ever seen in our planet’s history.
According to current forecasts, California has a 93 percent chance of an earthquake with magnitude 7 or greater occurring by 2045. Early warning systems, now in development, could limit casualties and damage.
A Westpac Little Ripper drone helped rescue two teens off the coast of Australia by dropping a flotation device to them.
Westpac Little Ripper
Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles are already saving lives in search and rescue operations, but they still need improvements if they’re to be widely used in the most dangerous situations.
Searching for victims after a rain-triggered mudslide that blanketed a village and killed at least 178 people in north China’s Shanxi province, Sept. 13, 2008.
AP Photo/Andy Wong
A. Joshua West, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
While the Montecito, California mudslides took 20 lives, landslides kill far more people in developing countries. Tighter construction standards and early warning systems could help reduce their toll.
Drones being used to find survivors after an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016.
Fotos593
Stand by for drones, robots and sensors to the rescue.
Many of the Iranian dead in the Nov. 12 Iran earthquake lived in the Mehr Housing, state-built affordable apartments that crumbled when other buildings stayed up.
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
On Nov. 12, a 7.3 magnitude quake killed some 500 and injured 7,000 along the Iran-Iraq border. This Kurdish area has also been crushed by war and, after a recent separatist vote, militarily attacked.
Where there’s smoke, there will be lava?
U.S. Geological Survey via AP
Reconstruction progress in Nepal has been painfully slow. Building code compliance and better urban planning are a must – but inequitable access to resources undermines recovery.
Earthquake survivors are living in tents in western Iran.
AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
The Nov. 12 earthquake wasn’t centered on any known major faults in the Earth’s crust. In its wake, scientists will collect data to add detail to what they know about seismic activity in the area.
A detection station for seismic activity at Bilibion, a remote corner of Russia.
The Official CTBTO Photostream (Copyright CTBTO Preparatory Commission)
Human-induced earthquakes have been reported from every continent except Antarctica. We asked a geologist to investigate whether North Korea’s nuclear tests could trigger geological changes.
A wastewater injection well in Coyle, Oklahoma. Increases in wastewater injection at the underground can destabilise pre-existing faults, setting off earthquakes.
J. Berry Harrison III / News 9 Oklahoma
Georgios Michas, Technological Educational Institute of Crete
As global demand for energy and mineral supplies increases worldwide, the number of man‑made earthquakes is expected to rise. That increases the importance of understanding connection between the two.
Many of Greater Mexico City’s 22m residents aren’t receiving the help they need.
The Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort traveled to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Ernest R. Scott/U.S. Air Force/Handout via Reuters
The military can make a big difference right away but humanitarian deployments should generally be rare and brief.
Workers clear debris on Sept. 25, 2017 from the top of a building that collapsed in Mexico City after the Sept. 19 earthquake.
AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Natural disasters are not only bad in the short term. Many families will see their health, well-being and ability to escape poverty affected for decades, and some will be affected for life.