We offer links to disaster information and have a large archive of astronomy articles for our readers. There is a quick over view of a disaster map in the video listed below:
Recent Earthquakes
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The Atacama Trench: Creator of the Biggest Earthquake on Record
This is the second in our series of articles about the great fault zones of the world. This time we’re going to look at the Atacama Trench, which has the distinction of having produced the largest earthquake on record. It is sometimes called the Peru-Chile Trench, since it runs alongside those two South American nations, exactly parallel to the coastline at a distance of about 160 km. This isn’t a coincidence, of course; the Trench is largely responsible for making the western side of South America as we see it today. That’s because all of the tectonic activity in this part of the world is driven by a single huge engine: the subduction zone of the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate.
(Granted, this is a bit of an oversimplification. When you get down to the lower end of the continent, the Antarctic Plate and the Scotia Plate also come into play, greatly complicating things- but I’m trying to keep it simple so this article doesn’t turn into a book.)
In our recent article, What Causes an Earthquake?, still posted here, we saw that when one tectonic plate bumps into another, one will sometimes slide under the edge of the other, a phenomenon we call subduction. When this happens, sometimes the one on top gets a bit wrinkled. Continue reading
Posted in articles, earthquakes
Tagged Andes, Atacama, Big Bend, Chile, continent, fault, fault zones, mountains, Nazca, Pacific Plate, Peru, San Andreas, South America, trench, tsunami, Valdivia, volcanic eruptions
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2012
In the movie 2012 there was a large earthquake in California. This was just one of a continuing sequence of events that all occurred on December 21, 2012. With the increased earthquake a volcanic activity, one has to wonder if the 2012 scenario could actually be a possibility. Continue reading
EORC and ALOS
In this article we’ll take a look at Japan’s Earth Observation Resources Center, and particularly their efforts in the area of disaster research and relief. Through its various programs, the EORC is making a valuable contribution to the understanding of how our planet works, as well as providing vital information in areas crippled by natural disasters. EORC’s DAICHI satellite Continue reading
Posted in articles, earthquakes
Tagged aftermath, ALOS, ALOS-2, cartography, Chili, DAICHI, earthquake relief, EORC, Haiti, JAXA, JERS-1, NASA, natural disasters, SAR, satellite, ScanSAR
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California 5.4 Shaker 7/7/10
Earlier today California experienced a 5.4 magnitude earthquake. It was located 2.81 miles South of Borrego Springs, California. The depth of the earthquake was only 11.70 km. The depth makes a big difference when comes to the actual earthquake event. The Haiti earthquake earlier this year was at a depth of only 5 km. So the earthquake felt in California was definitely noticeable for the citizens in the affected area.
Please leave comments below explaining what happened or what it felt like when this earthquake occurred.
