Myanmar Quake Death Toll Exceeds 2,000
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scientific American
an hour ago
- Scientific American
3.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rumbles New York City Less than 2 Years After the Last One
New York City and the broader East Coast were shaken by a 3.0-magnitude earthquake late on August 2, reminding locals of a significantly larger quake that startled the region in April 2024. The earthquake, which occurred at 10:18 P.M. local time, was centered near Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., about 10 miles from downtown Manhattan, at a depth of about six miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Neither New York City nor Bergen County, N.J., where Hasbrouck Heights is located, reported major damage or injuries, according to the New York Times. Earthquakes large enough to be felt are uncommon in the eastern U.S. 'It's a pretty quiet part of the country,' Benjamin Fernando, a seismologist at Johns Hopkins University, told Scientific American in 2024. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. However, small earthquakes, with magnitudes of 2.5 or lower, are quite common in the region. The earthquake magnitude scale is logarithmic, with each whole-number increase in magnitude representing a 10-fold increase in the size of the seismic waves it produces. That means the 2024 earthquake was 63 times bigger than the August 2 event. (The massive earthquake that rattled Russia just days ago, a magnitude 8.8 event, produced seismic waves a stunning 630,000 times larger in amplitude than the August 2 New Jersey quake.) In turn, the August 2 event created seismic waves with about three times the amplitude of a 2.5 magnitude event that represents the high end of typical activity in the region. The August 2 earthquake occurred nearly 40 miles away from the 2024 earthquake, which is too far away for it to be considered an aftershock of the previous event, although the 2024 quake does continue to spur aftershocks, according to the USGS. The USGS attributed the August 2 earthquake to 'faulting at shallow depths in the crust' and noted that it did not occur near a plate boundary. The region has many faults, but these fractures in Earth's crust are very old—they date to the era when the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains were built, hundreds of millions of years ago. Although the East Coast is not prone to large earthquakes like the West Coast, the rattling of an East Coast quake is felt more broadly because the hard bedrock of the region transfers seismic energy more efficiently than the heavily faulted West Coast bedrock.
San Francisco Chronicle
5 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Bay Area study finds overlooked earthquake risk from prolonged shaking
Some parts of the Bay Area are prone to an underexplored earthquake risk, according to a recent study led by U.S. Geological Survey scientists. In these places, quakes can produce long periods of shaking — something unaccounted for in existing building codes, but which can have devastating impacts. 'Prolonged shaking was very important in Northridge,' said Emily Brodsky, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, referring to a magnitude-6.7 earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area in 1994. The quake killed at least 57 people and damaged over 100,000 structures. The authors of the new study analyzed ground motion records during 49 Bay Area earthquakes, occurring from 2001 to 2024. The quakes ranked in strength from magnitude 3 to magnitude 6. In total, the scientists probed about 7,400 ground measurements from seismometers across the region. They identified locations where earthquakes resulted in longer periods of shaking than expected. The authors reported that the type of rock or soil that underlies a region is a major risk factor in longer-duration shaking. 'We talk a lot about the bay mud,' said study author Evan Hirakawa, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Earthquake Science Center. 'This is really young claylike mud that's around the San Francisco Bay. That's where it's known to shake a lot more intensely.' During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the double-decked Cypress Structure collapsed in West Oakland, killing 42 people. The freeway was built on soft bay mud, Hirakawa said. The Santa Clara Valley, the San Francisco Bay shoreline and Santa Rosa also registered long-duration shaking, according to the study. Some locations, like Foster City, even experienced 'ringing,' a phenomenon in which seismic waves resonate to produce longer periods of shaking. By contrast, stations on hard bedrock generally experienced less cumulative shaking. That includes parts of San Francisco and in the East Bay Hills. This is because granite or hard bedrock shakes much less than young, soft sediments. 'Think about if you were to flick a brick versus a bowl of jelly,' Hirakawa explained. The authors reported that long-duration shaking was also affected by how earthquakes ruptured underground and how seismic waves traveled to a particular site. One limitation of the work is that the authors only investigated small- and moderate-sized earthquakes, which are less complex than stronger quakes. 'We need to be thoughtful about how the findings apply to larger and more destructive events,' said Jack Baker, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University who wasn't part of the study. Still, Baker highlighted the importance of investigating shaking duration. 'In the engineering world, we really focus on the peak intensities and the peak forces that that produces,' Baker said. 'These metrics around duration are definitely relatively less studied.' The findings from the new study aren't surprising, said Brodsky, who also wasn't part of the research. But the results are still valuable: 'When you actually have to build a building, you don't want to just know, in general, it rings more in the basins,' Brodsky said. 'You'd like to know how much it rings more, in this basin."
UPI
3 days ago
- UPI
NOAA says Gulf of Mexico dead zone is smaller this year
1 of 2 | This is a map of measured Gulf hypoxia zone, July 20 - 25. The red area denotes 2 mg/L of oxygen or lower, the level considered hypoxic, at the bottom of the seafloor. Image courtesy of NOAA/LUMCON/LSU July 31 (UPI) -- The Gulf of Mexico "dead zone" -- an area deprived of oxygen -- is smaller than previous measurements and forecasts, scientists supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday. The dead zone in the gulf is 4,402 square miles, 21% smaller than estimates from June. It's the 15th smallest measurement on record. That means that there are about 2.8 million acres of habitat in the gulf that is unavailable to fish and bottom-dwelling species. That's about 30% smaller than last year, according to a press release from NOAA. Each summer, the dead zone develops off the coast of the Texas-Louisiana shelf when nutrient-laden fresh water spills into the gulf. The nutrients typically come from crops that need the nutrients to grow. Nutrients brought in from the river contribute to the formation of a low-oxygen area along parts of the gulf's seafloor. Mobile fish and marine mammals can swim away from the low-oxygen area. But weaker swimming organisms can be trapped and die. Scientists at Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium led the annual dead zone survey July 20-25 aboard LUMCON research vessel Pelican. This annual measurement is an important metric that informs the collective efforts of the Mississippi River/Gulf of America Hypoxia Task Force, which has set a long-term goal of reducing the five-year average extent of the dead zone to fewer than 1,900 square miles by 2035. President Donald Trump's administration refers to the gulf as the Gulf of America. "This year's significant reduction in the Gulf of America's 'dead zone' is an encouraging sign for the future of this area," said Laura Grimm, acting administrator of NOAA, in a statement. "It highlights the dedication and impactful work of NOAA-supported scientists and partners, and serves as a testament to the effectiveness of collaborative efforts in supporting our U.S. fishermen, coastal communities, and vital marine ecosystems. We are proud of these achievements and remain committed to fostering the research and strategies that ensure the health and vitality of our oceans for generations to come." In June, NOAA predicted an average-sized dead zone of 5,574 square miles, based mostly on Mississippi River discharge and nutrient runoff data from the U.S. Geological Survey. The measured size fell within the uncertainty range for NOAA's forecast. While each NOAA-supported research survey offers a one-time snapshot of the dead zone, the five-year average captures the zone's changing nature over time. The five-year average size of the dead zone is now 4,755 square miles. In June 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency established the Gulf Hypoxia Program to accelerate nutrient reduction actions by the Hypoxia Task Force and advance its Gulf Hypoxia Action Plan. As a result, the Hypoxia Task Force member states are scaling up their nutrient reduction strategies. "The Gulf of America is a national treasure that supports energy dominance, commercial fishing, American industry, and the recreation economy," said Peggy Browne, acting assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Water, in a statement.
