Uncategorized
Vanishing Islands in a Rising Sea
The evacuation of all 2,000 inhabitants of Cataret Island marked the beginning of the end for many low-lying atolls in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Rising sea levels have flooded the food and fresh water sources on this small island off Papua, New Guinea, and made it necessary to relocate the inhabitants to nearby Bougainville.
According [...]
Cities in Earthquake Danger
Many of the world’s largest cities are built on active earthquake faults and remain in constant danger of being devastated by a major quake.
Among cities exceeding 10 million in population located on or near a dangerous fault line are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Istanbul, Tokyo, Delhi, Manila, Karachi, Tehran, Mexico City, and Jakarta.
Our [...]
Mountains under the Sea
Passengers on a cruise ship probably don’t realize they are often sailing over mountain peaks at many points along their route. The mountain under their keel may be part of the Mid-Ocean Ridge or a free standing seamount.
Mid-Ocean Ridge. The seafloor is home to the longest continuous mountain range in the world. The Mid-Ocean [...]
Oceanic Trenches: Tsunami & Earthquake Incubators
History’s three most violent earthquakes struck in or near one of the world’s deep oceanic trenches, and all three of those events also produced major tsunamis.
Oceanic trenches can be nearly 7 miles (11km) deep and usually stretch in an arc for thousands of miles. These elongated seafloor depressions are found where tectonic plates converge. [...]
Tibetan Plateau: Where Worlds Collide
At 7:49 a.m. on April 13, 2010, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook Qinghai, a province of China on the Tibetan Plateau, killing more than 2,000 people and injuring over 12,000. Many thousands of structures in the area were flattened.
Two years earlier, on May 12, 2008, a 7.9 magnitude quake struck to the southeast [...]
Barbara: According to a report by the California Seismic Safety Commission, California is at risk from both local and ...
Gordon: I loved your book (as have my friends)and I do have a question re the possibilitiy of a ...
Gordon,
Great website! Would it be possible for tsunamis to occur in the Arctic or Anarctic Oceans? Aside from catastrophic loss ...