seismology

Scientific Reports, Published online: 05 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-51110-z Advanced seismic attributes applied on resolution-enhanced 2D seismic data for BSR mapping offshore Makran, Pakistan

Nature Communications, Published online: 04 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72279-x An unsupervised machine learning approach identifies patterns in earthquake activity preceding some large events, revealing critical clustering and interactions in space and time, with potential for improved earthquake forecasting.

A flurry of seismic activity recently has struck Nevada, including a magnitude 5.7 earthquake 45 miles east of Reno that was powerful enough to cause moderate-to-strong shaking in the small town of Silver Springs. What's fueling the spate of earthquakes?

When a powerful earthquake shakes the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the reactors shut down as they are supposed to. The situation appears to be under control, and Plant Manager Masao Yoshida breathes a sigh of relief. But no one knows that something far more devastating is brewing 170 km away in the Pacific Ocean.

Two of the most dangerous fault systems on the U.S. West Coast may be more connected than scientists once thought. New research suggests the Cascadia subduction zone and the San Andreas fault can “sync up,” triggering earthquakes within minutes or hours of each other. This rare “synchronization” could dramatically increase the scale of a major West Coast disaster. Instead of one massive quake, mu…

Speaker/Affiliation: Brenton Hirao, UC Davis Title: Enhanced multidecadal earthquake catalogs at multiple spatial scales: application to the Pacific Northwest, USA. When: Friday, May 8 12:00pm PST  Location: EMS B214 

Speaker/Affiliation: Christopher Milliner, Caltech guest researcher, Moody’s RMS Title: Localization of Inelastic Strain with Fault Maturity for Strike-Slip Fault Systems: Implications for Earthquake Characteristics When: Friday, May 1 12:00pm PST  Location: EMS B214  Abstract: In this seminar I will examine how coseismic inelastic off-fault deformation (OFD) evolves with fault-system m…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 01 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-50732-7 Seismic detection of mofette activity with matched field processing: method validation and field results in the western Eger Rift (Czechia)

Along‐Strike Segmentation of Seismic Tremor and Its Relationship With the Hydraulic Structure of the Subduction Fault Zone Farge, Gaspard; Jaupart, Claude; Frank, William B; Shapiro, Nikolai M Along the strike of subduction zones, tectonic tremor episodicity is segmented on a geologic scale. Here, we study how this segmentation reflects large‐scale variations of the structure and conditions of th…

Shallow Slow Slip Events in the Imperial Valley With Along‐Strike Propagation Materna, Kathryn; Bürgmann, Roland; Lindsay, Danielle; Bilham, Roger; Herring, Thomas; Crowell, Brendan; Szeliga, Walter Shallow creep events provide opportunities to understand the mechanical properties and behavior of faults. However, due to physical limitations observing creep events, the precise spatio‐temporal evol…

Low‐Frequency Earthquakes Downdip of Deep Slow Slip Beneath the North Island of New Zealand Aden‐Antoniów, F; Frank, WB; Chamberlain, CJ; Townend, J; Wallace, LM; Bannister, S We report the first catalog of low‐frequency earthquakes in the Hikurangi subduction zone, located beneath the Kaimanawa Range of the North Island at 50 km depth, downdip of regularly recurring (every 4–5 years) deep M7 slo…

Seismic Anisotropy of Mafic Blueschists: EBSD‐Based Constraints From the Exhumed Rock Record Ott, Jason N; Condit, Cailey B; Schulte‐Pelkum, Vera; Bernard, Rachel; Pec, Matej Seismic anisotropy constitutes a useful tool for imaging the structure along the plate interface in subduction zones, but the seismic properties of mafic blueschists, a common rock type in subduction zones, remain poorly con…

Partial Ruptures Cannot Explain the Long Recurrence Intervals of Repeating Earthquakes Turner, AR; Hawthorne, JC; Cattania, C Repeating earthquakes repeatedly rupture the same fault asperities, which are likely loaded to failure by surrounding aseismic slip. However, repeaters occur less often than would be expected if these earthquakes accommodate all of the long‐term slip on the asperities. Her…

This study investigates variability in ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) associated with the 28 March 2025 moment magnitude (Mw) 7.7 Sagaing (Myanmar) earthquake within the low-latitude environment of Southeast Asia. A primary challenge in this region is identifying seismogenic perturbations during the residual recovery phase of two successive geomagnetic storms (25–26 March), which produc…

Western China faces significant seismic risks and has a relatively weak socioeconomic foundation, making systematic evaluation of its comprehensive seismic resilience strategically vital for regional sustainable development and national security. Existing studies show clear limitations in dynamic assessment and analysis of associated factors. This research constructs a comprehensive evaluation in…

For the first time, scientists have watched a subduction zone literally fall apart beneath the ocean floor. Using advanced seismic imaging, they found the Juan de Fuca plate splitting into fragments as it sinks beneath North America. Rather than collapsing all at once, the plate is tearing piece by piece, like a train slowly derailing. The finding helps explain ancient plate fragments and could r…

Nature Communications, Published online: 29 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41467-026-72219-9 This study shows that earthquakes caused by fluid injection are often smaller than expected. Combining data and simulations, it links this to heterogeneous stress near wells and structural limits of fault networks.

Astronomical cycles have long been proposed as potential modulators of seismicity, yet their influence remains controversial due to inconsistent results and methodological limitations. In this study it was tested whether the 18.6-year lunar nodal cycle, expressed in Earth rotation through length-of-day (LOD) variations, is detectable in global seismicity using independent earthquake catalogs (ISC…

Scientific Reports, Published online: 28 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41598-026-49476-1 Numerical simulation of the seismic response of corroded pipelines crossing faults

In a recent study, published in Seismological Research Letters, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) simulated earthquake scenarios on the Hayward fault and analyzed how the rupture and underground structure affect ground motion