History of deadly earthquakes

Image copyright Getty Images Earthquakes have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the last 100 years, and improvements in technology have only slightly reduced the death toll. 25 April 2015 A 7.8-magnitude earthquake kills more than 8,000 people and leaves hundreds of thousands homeless, in the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since 1934. In some parts of the country, the quake flattens 98% of all homes in hillside villages. 3 August 2014 Approximately 600 people are killed in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that strikes Yunnan province in China. 15 October 2013 More than 200 people are reported to have died after a magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes centrally-located Bohol and Cebu in the Philippines. 25 September 2013 More than 300 people are killed as a 7.7-magnitude quake flattens entire villages in Pakistan's remote south-western province of Balochistan, mainly in the district of Awaran. 20 April 2013 11 August 2012 23 October 2011 11 March 2011 22 February 2011 14 April 2010 6 April 2009

BBC Nature - How animals predict earthquakes 1 December 2011Last updated at 01:53 By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature Can pond-dwelling animals pick up pre-earthquake signals? Animals may sense chemical changes in groundwater that occur when an earthquake is about to strike. This, scientists say, could be the cause of bizarre earthquake-associated animal behaviour. Researchers began to investigate these chemical effects after seeing a colony of toads abandon its pond in L'Aquila, Italy, in 2009 - days before a quake. They suggest that animal behaviour could be incorporated into earthquake forecasting. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote When you think of all of the many things that are happening to these rocks, it would be weird if the animals weren't affected in some way” End QuoteRachel GrantThe Open University The team's findings are published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Strange behaviour Continue reading the main story Toad exodus "It was very dramatic," she recalled.

KS3 Bitesize Geography - Plate tectonics : Revision, Page 5 What are the layers of the earth? Three hundred years ago the famous scientist Isaac Newton calculated, from his studies of planets and the force of gravity, that the average density of the Earth is twice that of surface rocks and therefore that the Earth's interior must be composed of much denser material. We now know that the earth is made up of 4 layers: How do we know about the different layers of the earth? Information today comes from studies of the paths and characteristics of seismic waves from earthquake waves traveling through the Earth, as well as from laboratory experiments on surface minerals and rocks at high pressure and temperature and studies of the Earth's motions in the Solar System, its gravity and magnetic fields, and the flow of heat from inside the Earth. About Seismic Waves What are the different types of Seismic Waves? Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the earth, for example as a result of an earthquake, explosion, or some other process that imparts low-frequency acoustic energy.

Papua New Guinea hit by 7.2-magnitude earthquake A powerful earthquake has struck the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, the fourth strong quake to hit the South Pacific island nation in a week. A local tsunami warning was issued but it was lifted shortly afterward with no reports of damage. The 7.2-magnitude quake struck about 150 kilometres south-west of the town of Panguna on Bougainville Island at a depth of 22 kilometres, the US Geological Survey reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of up to 1 metre were possible within 300 kilometres of the epicenter on the coast of Papua New Guinea. The agency lifted the warning about an hour later. There were no reports of damage, said Chris McKee, assistant director of the Geophysical Observatory in the capital, Port Moresby. “The earthquake appears to have not been as big as first estimated,” McKee said. “One of my neighbours ... she ran down the stairs and I was laughing and she said, ‘Am I gonna live?’

The Earth and the Moon What's covered here:What are the physical characteristics of the Earth's interior, surface and atmosphere? What are the physical characteristics of the Moon? Where did the Moon come from? Even though you might not think of it as such, the Earth is a planet. Here we're just going to treat it like one. What exactly do we know about the Earth? Geologists use the information obtained in earthquakes. First, we'll tackle the P-waves They are a form of pressure waves and are most similar to sound waves in how they travel (by pushing material) Pressure wave and Primary waves are other names for them. These move in a rather wiggly, transverse motion, sort of what you get if you take a rope and jerk it up and down quickly - a hump will travel down the length of the rope. These and other earthquake waves originate from the focus, which is the actual location of the earthquake's origin. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. The core of the earth is amazing, but don't let it freak you out! Figure 4.

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