Seismology – The Conversation

The idea that scientists could warn a region that a big quake was coming at a certain time – with enough advance notice for large-scale preparation and evacuation – remains a dream, not a reality.

Since Vanuatu’s first earthquake was at a magnitude over 7, we would expect to see more aftershocks to come, at declining strengths and frequency – in a pattern that can last weeks to months.

Earth doesn’t just have an inner core. It also has an innermost inner core, a solid ball within the solid ball in the very middle of the planet.

Variations in the thickness of tectonic plates may explain why Britain experiences many more earthquakes than neighbouring Ireland.

One of the largest earthquakes on record struck far eastern Russia this week. The last time the region was hit by a such a huge quake, the Soviets hushed it up.

Some people were woken up near midnight by a powerful ground-shake. But did you know earthquakes occur in the greater Melbourne region about once a month – even though we can’t always feel them?

The ‘Martian dichotomy’ is one of the Solar System’s greatest mysteries – but new research in closing in on a solution.

The Turkish government was well aware of earthquake-resilient construction techniques.

Listening for underground nuclear explosions amid the constant rumble of earthquakes is like looking for a needle that may not exist in a haystack the size of a planet.

Despite recording one of the strongest earthquakes in a century, the Pacific escaped major damage.

The same instruments used to measure earthquakes pick up vibrations as ocean waves put pressure on the sea floor. Four decades of data tell a story about ocean storms.

As the United States and Russia signal a return to nuclear testing, Australia’s remote monitoring station plays a crucial role in global verification.

Like a piece of music, every earthquake has a coda – and it contains clues about what’s happening in our planet’s core.