Events of 1973 Chilean Coup Captured in Historical Seismograms

11 December 2024–Military vehicles rumbling toward the presidential palace, bombs dropped by the Chilean Air Force, and an eerie quiet descending over Santiago after a curfew imposed by a military junta—a lone seismometer captured all these features of the 1973 Chilean coup d’état. In Seismological Research Letters, Sergio León-Rios of … Continue Reading »

Are Branch Faults the “On-Ramps” that Lead to Great Continental Transform Earthquakes?

map of historic and Feb 2023 Turkiye earthquakes

25 September 2024–The five largest continental transform earthquakes since 2000 all originated on a branch of the main fault—and two researchers predict that the next great earthquake of this type will also get its start on a branch or splay fault. Last year’s magnitude 7.8 Pazarcık earthquake in Türkiye was … Continue Reading »

Sichuan Province Earthquake Offers Lessons for Landslide Prediction from GNSS Observations

Landslides along a river in Sichuan, China following the 2022 Luding earthquake

7 August 2024–Using data collected from a 2022 magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Luding County in China’s Sichuan Province, researchers tested whether Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations could be used for rapid prediction of earthquake-triggered landslides. In their report in Seismological Research Letters, Kejie Chen of the Southern University of … Continue Reading »