Earthquake series cause uplift variations at continental margins
A new mechanism may explain how great earthquakes with magnitudes larger than M7 are linked to coastal uplift in many regions worldwide. This has important implications for the seismic hazard and the tsunami risk along the shores of many countries.
Offshore 7.1 quake prompts temporary evacuation of New Zealand coastal area
Evacuation order and tsunami warning were lifted in coastal areas of New Zealand, a few hours after a magnitude 7.1 quake struck offshore north-east of Te Araroa, off the North Island. Authorities in Gisborne said people could return home but were “strongly advised” to stay off the beaches.
Seawalls, coastal forests show mixed effectiveness at reducing deaths and damage from tsunami
Following the tsunami in 1933, coastal towns in Japan began to construct “tsunami seawalls” to protect lives and property from this repeated hazard. After the death and destruction of 2011, the effectiveness of tsunami seawalls has been called into question.
Fukushima and the oceans: What do we know, five years on?
A major international review of the state of the oceans five years after the Fukushima disaster shows that radiation levels are decreasing rapidly except in the harbor area close to the nuclear plant itself where ongoing releases remain a concern.
California’s nuclear plant to close amid longstanding earthquake concerns
California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will close by 2025 under an accord announced Tuesday, ending three decades of safety debates that helped fuel the national anti-nuclear power movement. The facility, which sits along a bluff on California’s central coast, supplies 9% of the state’s power.
A warning system for tsunamis
Seismologists have created a new algorithm that could one day help give coastal cities early warning of incoming tsunamis.
Tsunami risk: World’s shallowest slow-motion earthquakes detected offshore of New Zealand
New research indicates that slow-motion earthquakes or ‘slow-slip events’ can rupture the shallow portion of a fault that also moves in large, tsunami-generating earthquakes. The finding has important implications for assessing tsunami hazards.
Fukushima Site Still Leaking After Five Years, Research Shows
Five years after the Fukushima nuclear accident, study shows levels of radioactive forms of cesium in the ocean off Japan are thousands of times lower than during the peak releases in 2011, however, analysis of cesium and strontium indicate releases from the plant are not yet “under control,” a statement that has been used by the Japanese government to describe the situation when levels are below regulatory limits.
Scientists Debate Evidence of Ancient Megatsunami
Giant tsunamis may have helped to shape the world around us today.