earthquakes

Los Angeles Council Unanimously Puts Off Fracking

When the hydraulic fracturing measure passed the Los Angeles City Council today, several tweeters posted photos of this meeting (source of the above: Walker Foley on twitter). The City Council of Los Angeles, second-most populous metro in the United States, voted 10-0 today to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other “unconventional” deep-underground drilling methods to produce

Himalayas Should Prepare For Mammoth Earthquakes

  Residents of the Himalayas could be at great risk of a massive earthquake according to new research which shows that two massive earthquake over the past millennia have left visible ground scars. Such a finding is of critical importance to the region, a region which has a similar population density to that of New York

Building an Earthquake History for Europe

Scientists of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences have compiled for the first time a harmonised catalogue of earthquakes for Europe and the Mediterranean region, going back a thousand years, and consisting of approximately 45,000 earthquakes. Such a database provides governments and aid organisations reliable information for risk assessment of earthquakes and quake generated tsunamis,

Climate Change Will Trigger Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions

  There is growing evidence that some of the Earth’s most catastrophic geological events were triggered by changes in the climate. The melting of ice sheets and changes in sea level served as triggers to some of the world’s largest earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, according to British geologist Bill McGuire. The best evidence of climatic

Oklahoma Earthquake & Fracking

I’ve drawn the link between natural gas hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) and earthquakes numerous times, long before the Oklahoma earthquakes or Blackpool (Lancashire) earthquakes in England. I started doing so early in 2011 when the Arkansas earthquakes were all the news and I got the hint that it might be related to fracking. The case

Hydraulic Fracking Infographic

Natural gas may be better than coal, but the boom in natural gas has come as a result of hydraulic fracturing (or ‘fracking’), which, beyond emitting greenhouse gases, has been linked to earthquakes (something we’ve written about many times here on Planetsave) and water quality problems (including flammable water).

6.2 Earthquake In Uzbekistan Kills 13 And Injures 86

A little after midnight in the mountainous area some 22 miles away from the city of Ferghana in Uzbekistan, some 200,000 residents were shaken by a 6.2 earthquake. The powerful tremor took the lives of thirteen people and injured more than 86 people. Of the injured, 35 have been hospitalized, some having serious injures.

Top 20 Planetsave Stories in May

Hello Planetsavers! I thought I’d start doing a monthly wrap-up of our top 20 posts for people to have a glance at. Many of the top stories this month, as you’ll notice, were clearly tied into major world news events. Google is the main traffic driver for the large majority of sites on the Internet and ours isn’t an exception. Covering environmental news consistently, this often results in the biggest news stories rising to the top.

The Energy of Earthquakes {Infographic}

We’ve written about earthquakes a ton in the past month or two, as well as before that. So, when a friend shared this new infographic with me on “the energy of earthquakes,” I immediately thought it might be an interesting one to put on Planetsave. Quite a fun and interesting infographic — check it out…

Completion of Earthquake Early Warning System Urged for U.S. West Coast

Despite the huge loss of life following the Tonoku earthquake and consequent tsunami, the losses would have been even greater were it not for an earthquake early warning system set in place by the government of Japan following the devastating Kobe quake in the mid 1990’s.

A similar early warning system has been underway for nearly ten years in California, but remains incomplete.

Extreme Super Moon To Cause Major Earthquakes?

Coming up later this month (March 19 to be exact) the moon will make its closest approach to Earth (called lunar perigee) in 18 years. A new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth has been named a “SuperMoon” by astrologer Richard Nolle. This term has recently been picked

Earthquake in New Zealand (More Info)

I’ve already covered the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand from a human perspective, including sharing a number of photos from the disaster, and covered the tremendous 30 million tons of ice the earthquake knocked off Tasman Glacier, the country’s largest glacier. Now, here’s a little more detail on the earthquake from the U.S. Geological Survey

Christchurch, New Zealand Quake Knocks 30 Million Tons of Ice off Glacier

In addition to the horrible human catastrophe that is currently unfolding from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that just struck Christchurch, New Zealand earlier today, the quake has apparently caused 30 million tons of ice to fall off the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand’s largest glacier. Passengers of two explorer boats were reportedly hit with waves of

What's Going On in The Gulf of Aden?

USGS is reporting a very unusual swarm of significant earthquakes starting early this morning in the sea between Africa and the Arabian peninusla, right off the coast of Yemen, and in one of the world’s most important and busiest shipping lanes. But, earthquake swarms happen, even in places that are not normally known for seismic

IBM Uses Computer Hard Drives to Predict Earthquakes & Tsunamis

IBM has now developed an earthquake- and tsunami-tracking system using the sensors in your computer that could really save lives. This breakthrough could especially help in the case of tsunamis, since the information can travel fast enough to give people time to get out of a dangerous situation, but it can also be of great

The Upside to Natural Disasters

Before I write anything else, I want to unequivocally explain that I think natural disasters are terrible. They cause countless deaths and incredible human suffering. With that being understood, I often find myself believing that things happen in nature for a reason, and so I started to ponder what some of the good aspects to

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