Frost quakes occur in boreal regions when rapidly expanding ice underground causes frozen soils to fracture. A recent frost quake in Finland has given scientists a rare look into how they form.
earthquakes
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Groove is in the Fault
Rock sliding experiments on meter scales show groove patterns which are controlled by normal stress. This may help better understand earthquake source conditions from exhumed faults.
Posted inNews
What Controls Giant Subduction Earthquakes?
Subduction zones with a low dipping angle and thick sediments can produce giant earthquakes; this finding lets researchers estimate worst-case scenarios for coastlines around the world.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Southern California’s Crustal Motion Tells of Earthquake Hazards
Precise measurements of the Earth’s vertical surface motion help to elucidate the hazards of faults in an earthquake-prone region.
Posted inNews
Earthquakes Reveal How Quickly the Ocean Is Warming
By timing sound waves set in motion by earthquakes, scientists have estimated that the Indian Ocean is warming by roughly 0.044 K per decade.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Earthquake Hazard Hanging in the Balance
Earthquake hazard calculations for California’s coast are refined with a view of precariously balanced rocks that would have fallen if the largest predicted shaking happened in the past 20,000 years.
Posted inNews
Kabuki Actor’s Forgotten Manuscript Yields Clues About 1855 Quake in Japan
Researchers analyzed a survivor’s account of the disaster to better understand future temblors.
Posted inNews
Some Farm Animals Might Have a Sense About Impending Earthquakes
Stabled animals seem to grow fidgety in the hours before an earthquake, whereas their free-range counterparts show no discernible difference in behavior.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Strain Rate: The Overlooked Control on Earthquake Depth
Regional strain rate may play as significant a role as temperature in governing the depth distribution of earthquakes in mantle lithosphere.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Understanding Earthquakes Caused by Hydraulic Fracturing
A better understanding of how earthquakes are caused by hydraulic fracturing is an important part of building better practices to manage and mitigate their risks.