Caltech

05/01/2017

Earthquakes Can Make Thrust Faults Open Violently and Snap Shut

Robert Perkins

Engineers and scientists experimentally observe surface twisting in thrust faults that can momentarily rip open the earth's surface.

06/30/2016

Community Seismic Network Detected Air Pulse From Refinery Explosion

Robert Perkins

Community Seismic Network sensors detected motion of each floor of a building in response to an air pulse from the 2015 ExxonMobil refinery explosion.

02/03/2016

White House Puts Spotlight on Earthquake Early-Warning System

Katie Neith

On February 2, 2016, the White House held the Earthquake Resilience Summit, signaling a new focus on earthquake safety and EEW systems.

11/19/2015

Schools Help Researchers Understand Quakes

Jessica Stoller-Conrad

A new collaboration between seismologists at Caltech and local public schools helps Los Angeles prepare for the "big one."

08/06/2015

Details of the April 2015 Earthquake in Nepal

Kimm Fesenmaier

A team of scientists led by Caltech has pieced together the first complete account of what physically happened during the Gorkha earthquake—a picture that explains how the large temblor left the majority of low-story buildings in Kathmandu unscathed.

08/03/2015

Preparing for Earthquakes with ShakeAlert

Lori Dajose

On July 30, the U.S. Geological Survey announced approximately $4 million in awards to Caltech, UC Berkeley, the University of Washington and the University of Oregon, for the expansion and improvement of the ShakeAlert system.

05/26/2015

Using Radar Satellites to Study Volcanoes

Kimm Fesenmaier

Taking advantage of airborne radar tools, Caltech researchers provide two possible explanations for a series of unusual earthquakes seen in Iceland during a period of volcanic activity that started in August last year.

05/05/2015

Caltech, JPL Team Get Clearer Picture of Nepal Earthquake

Shayna Chabner McKinney

Using a combination of global data and seismic observations, scientists have seen what happened below Earth's surface during the recent 7.8-magnitude Gorkha quake.

04/10/2015

An Earthquake Warning System in Our Pockets?

Kimm Fesenmaier

Smartphones could contribute to early warning systems for large earthquakes, according to a new study.

01/23/2015

Remembering Fredric Raichlen

Douglas Smith

Fredric ("Fred") Raichlen, professor emeritus of civil and mechanical engineering in Caltech's Division of Engineering and Applied Science, passed away on December 13, 2014. He was an expert in coastal engineering whose pioneering studies of tsunami mechanics have led to standards for designing tsunami-resistant structures that have saved lives around the world.

01/12/2015

Remembering Don L. Anderson

Katie Neith

A pioneer in the use of seismic anisotropy—variations in the velocities of seismic waves as they move at different angles through materials—to study the earth's interior, and a researcher whose work helped advance our understanding of the composition, structure, and dynamics of the earth and of earth-like planets, Don L. Anderson passed away on December 2, 2014.