#earthquake-mechanics

#earthquake-mechanics

'Due to its extent and location it is clear that this is in fact the same magma reservoir as in the previous eruption,' geophysicist Professor Seama Nobukazu said.

Amber lava exploded over 200 meters into the air as Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted on Thursday. Lava fountains began to erupt from the volcano after 11 am local time.

A magnitude 3.4 earthquake rumbled in the South Bay on Tuesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck at 6:48 a.m. and its epicenter was approximately 15 miles south of San Jose and 5 miles east-northeast of Gilroy. At least two small aftershocks were reported in the area shortly after the initial shaker; those shocks measured magnitude 1.3 and magnitude 1.0 respectively.

The rods are the central element of a novel seismic-responsive structural system that is designed to help the building snap back to its original shape in the event of a major earthquake. Their trick is an embedded cluster of taut cables made from a highly flexible compound called a shape-memory alloy that's capable of bending under tension-like the lateral shaking in a California earthquake-and then straightening out.

The city passed legislation nearly 18 months ago requiring property owners to retrofit their multi-story, wooden-frame buildings with at least three units constructed before 1990. It delayed implementation, however, when the federal government rolled back significant funding to facilitate the repairs. But after a court-granted injunction required the release of some of those federal funds, the city approved a $1.6 million pilot financing program in hopes of rolling out a larger critical life-safety initiative in the future.

An earthquake measuring at a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 shook Sonoma County on Saturday morning around 9:22 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck about 3.7 miles north-northwest of the Geysers, close to Healdsburg in the North Bay. Originally the quake was measured at a preliminary magnitude of 3.9 but that was revised to a preliminary 4.3 later in the morning by the USGS.

The flurry of quakes rattled close to a relatively unknown fault called Blue Cut, according to Kate Scharer, a research geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Hazards Program in Pasadena. "This happened in Joshua Tree National Park, a beautiful part of the world where many people have actually probably been and unknowingly traversed near this fault," Scharer told SFGATE. "This is a good reminder that there are many other faults besides the San Andreas in California that can give us a little jolt."

Remembering the life and work of the geologist George Poulett Scrope, and salmon stories in this week's pick from the Nature archive.

Although Kansas has no active volcanoes, the region marks the southern reach of the Midcontinent Rift System, a massive tectonic event that nearly split North America apart in Earth's distant past. When magma forced its way through the crust during that period, it left behind hardened igneous rock and deep fractures that remain buried thousands of feet underground.