At Work: Hiroshi Kawase

Hiroshi Kawase

1 October 2018–Before becoming a professor within the Sophisticated Earthquake Risk Evaluation Program – part of Kyoto University’s Disaster Prevention Research Institute – Hiroshi Kawase seemed destined to become an architect or structural engineer. He grew up watching his father design and build houses at the same time Japan was … Continue Reading »

Explosion, Collapse, Earthquakes: Analysis of North Korea’s 2017 Nuclear Test

26 September 2018–The epicenter of the 3 September 2017 nuclear test explosion in North Korea occurred about 3.6 kilometers northwest of the country’s first nuclear test in October 2006, according to a new high-precision analysis of the explosion and its aftermath. The study published in Seismological Research Letters by Lian-Feng Zhao … Continue Reading »

Seasonal Reservoir Filling in India Deforms Rock, May Trigger Earthquakes

25 September 2018–The seasonal filling and emptying of reservoirs in India can cause measurable deformation of the surrounding rock, reducing the strength of nearby faults and potentially triggering earthquakes, according to two new papers published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America. Researchers in India used global positioning … Continue Reading »

SSA Board of Directors Election 2019

SSA announces the candidates for the 2019 election to add four members to the Board of Directors. The nominating committee, chaired by Jim Mori, confirmed a slate of six individuals to run for office. The committee included: Jim Mori (Kyoto University) Rachel Abercrombie (Boston University) Gail Atkinson (Western University) Ken … Continue Reading »

At Work: Peter Shearer

5 September 2018–SSA President Peter Shearer has deep ties to the Society he now heads. He published his first professional paper in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, and he gave his first professional talk at the 1981 SSA Annual Meeting in Berkeley. “I was incredibly nervous,” he … Continue Reading »

At Work: Stefano Parolai

Stefano Parolai

Traditional earthquake early warning systems detect the fast-moving, but less-powerful P-waves that radiate from an earthquake. From there, they quickly estimate the earthquake’s location and magnitude and send out an alert, often just seconds before the more powerful S- waves arrive (check out the difference between the different waves here). … Continue Reading »