Earthquakes News

September 29, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Just Cracked a 60-million-year-old Volcanic Mystery

Sep. 7, 2025 — Cambridge scientists discovered that thin, weak zones in Earth’s plates helped spread Iceland’s mantle plume across the North Atlantic, explaining why volcanic activity once spanned thousands of kilometers. These ancient scars not only shaped ...

Scientists Create Biodegradable Plastic Stronger Than PET

Sep. 4, 2025 — A Japanese research team successfully harnessed E. coli to produce PDCA, a strong, biodegradable plastic alternative. Their method avoids toxic byproducts and achieves record production levels, overcoming key roadblocks with creative ...

Scientists Uncover Wildfire Paradox That’s Putting 440 Million People in Danger

Aug. 31, 2025 — A massive global study uncovered a striking paradox: even as total burned land has dropped by more than a quarter since 2002, human exposure to wildfires has skyrocketed. Africa accounts for a ...

The Surprising Reason Timber Plantations Explode Into Megafires

Aug. 21, 2025 — Industrial forests, packed with evenly spaced trees, face nearly 50% higher odds of megafires than public lands. A lidar-powered study of California’s Sierra Nevada reveals how dense plantations feed fire severity, but also shows that proactive ...

Could This New Earthquake System Give Alaska 50 Seconds to Prepare?

Aug. 16, 2025 — A new study reveals that an earthquake early warning system, similar to the USGS ShakeAlert used in California, Oregon, and Washington, could give Alaskan communities precious seconds to prepare before strong shaking hits. Modeling shows that towns ...

Scientists Reveal Alaska Could Get Up to Two Minutes’ Warning Before the Next Big Quake

Aug. 8, 2025 — A new study suggests Alaska could get 10–120 seconds of warning before major quakes, with more seismic stations adding up to 15 extra seconds. Researchers emphasize challenges like harsh winters, ...

Scientists Just Found a Massive Earthquake Threat Hiding Beneath Yukon

Aug. 6, 2025 — A long-forgotten fault in Canada's Yukon Territory has just revealed its dangerous potential. Scientists using cutting-edge satellite and drone data discovered that the Tintina fault, previously considered dormant, has produced multiple major ...

Watch the Earth Split in Real Time: Stunning Footage Reveals a 2.5-meter Fault Slip in Seconds

July 23, 2025 — A colossal 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked central Myanmar in March 2025, marking the strongest quake in over a century. What makes this event groundbreaking isn't just the seismic power, it's the ...

AI Uncovers 86,000 Hidden Earthquakes Beneath Yellowstone’s Surface

July 21, 2025 — Beneath Yellowstone’s stunning surface lies a hyperactive seismic world, now better understood thanks to machine learning. Researchers have uncovered over 86,000 earthquakes—10 times more than previously known—revealing chaotic swarms moving ...

They Fled the Flames—now Jaguars Rule a Wetland Refuge

July 16, 2025 — After devastating wildfires scorched the Brazilian Pantanal, an unexpected phenomenon unfolded—more jaguars began arriving at a remote wetland already known for having the densest jaguar population on Earth. Scientists discovered that not only did ...

Fire Smoke Exposure Leaves Toxic Metals and Lasting Immune Changes

June 30, 2025 — Smoke from wildfires and structural fires doesn t just irritate lungs it actually changes your immune system. Harvard scientists found that even healthy people exposed to smoke showed signs of immune system activation, genetic changes tied to ...

A Giant Pulse Beneath Africa Could Split the Continent — And Form an Ocean

June 27, 2025 — Beneath the Afar region in Ethiopia, scientists have discovered pulsing waves of molten rock rising from deep within the Earth — a geological heartbeat that could eventually split Africa in two. ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:01pm EDT

Earthquakes Release Blistering Heat That Can Melt Rock in an Instant

Sep. 19, 2025 — MIT scientists have unraveled the hidden energy balance of earthquakes by recreating them in the lab. Their findings show that while only a sliver of energy goes into the shaking we feel on the ...

Mysterious Earthquake Reveals Cascadia’s Hidden Dangers

Aug. 29, 2025 — In 1954, a powerful earthquake shook Northern California near Humboldt Bay, baffling scientists for decades. Most quakes in the region come from the Gorda Plate, but this one didn’t fit the ...

Myanmar’s Massive Quake Hints at Bigger Earthquakes to Come

Aug. 18, 2025 — The massive 2025 Myanmar earthquake revealed that strike slip faults can behave in surprising ways. Using satellite data, Caltech researchers found the Sagaing Fault ruptured more dramatically than ...

The Earth Didn’t Just Crack, It Curved. "It Sent Chills Down My Spine!"

Aug. 6, 2025 — A surprising discovery emerged from a security camera video taken during Myanmar’s recent magnitude 7.7 earthquake. While the footage initially drew attention for showing the dramatic fault ...

Fighting Fire With Fire: How Prescribed Burns Reduce Wildfire Damage and Pollution

June 30, 2025 — Wildfires are becoming more intense and dangerous, but a new Stanford-led study offers hope: prescribed burns—intentionally set, controlled ...

Wildfires Threaten Water Quality for Up to Eight Years After They Burn

June 24, 2025 — Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from ...

Scientists Uncover Why "stealth" Volcanoes Stay Silent Until Eruption

June 10, 2025 — Some volcanoes erupt with little to no warning, posing serious risks to nearby communities and air traffic. A study of Alaska's Veniaminof volcano reveals how specific internal conditions like slow ...

Earth's Core Mystery Solved: How Solid Rock Flows 3,000 Kilometers Beneath Us

June 8, 2025 — Beneath Earth s surface, nearly 3,000 kilometers down, lies a mysterious layer where seismic waves speed up inexplicably. For decades, scientists ...

Lighting Up Earthquakes: How Scientists Watched Ruptures Evolve in Milliseconds

June 7, 2025 — Scientists have built a lab model that visually tracks how microscopic contact points between fault surfaces evolve during earthquake cycles, ...

Does Outdoor Air Pollution Affect Indoor Air Quality? It Could Depend on Buildings' HVAC

May 30, 2025 — Researchers determined how much outdoor particulate pollution affects indoor air quality. Their study concluded pollution from inversion and dust ...

Thousands of Sensors Reveal 3D Structure of Earthquake-Triggered Sound Waves

May 29, 2025 — Earthquakes create ripple effects in Earth's upper atmosphere that can disrupt satellite communications and navigation systems we rely on. Scientists have now used Japan's extensive network ...

Coastal Alaska Wolves Exposed to High Mercury Concentrations from Eating Sea Otters

May 28, 2025 — Scientists show that wolves that are eating sea otters in Alaska have much higher concentrations of mercury than those eating other prey such as deer and ...

A Root Development Gene That's Older Than Root Development

May 26, 2025 — A gene that regulates the development of roots in vascular plants is also involved in the organ development of liverworts -- land plants so old they don't even have proper roots. The discovery ...

How Property Owners Can Work to Prevent Flooding

May 22, 2025 — The risk of heavy rainfall and severe flooding increases with climate change. But property owners -- regardless of size -- often underestimate their own responsibility and are unaware of what ...

Satellite Data from Ship Captures Landslide-Generated Tsunami

May 14, 2025 — New research demonstrates shipborne navigation systems have potential to improve tsunami detection and ...

Sharp Depletion in Soil Moisture Drives Land Water to Flow Into Oceans, Contributing to Sea Level Rise

May 14, 2025 — The increasing frequency of once-in-a-decade agricultural and ecological drought has underscored the urgency of studying hydrological changes. A research team has analyzed the estimated changes in ...

The Ripple Effect of Small Earthquakes Near Major Faults

May 14, 2025 — When we think of earthquakes, we imagine sudden, violent shaking. But deep beneath the Earth's surface, some faults move in near silence. These slow, shuffling slips and their accompanying hum ...

Study of Türkiye Gold Mine Landslide Highlights Need for Future Monitoring

May 8, 2025 — A new analysis of a fatal landslide that occurred on 13 February 2024 at the pler Gold Mine in Turkiye reveals that the site of the landslide had been slowly moving for at least four years prior to ...

Nature Visits Can Improve Well-Being Disparities Among Urban Dwellers

May 8, 2025 — How relatedness-to-nature is linked to well-being is determined by district-level socioeconomic status. A new analysis is based on survey results from two major Japanese metropolitan ...

All of the Biggest U.S. Cities Are Sinking

May 8, 2025 — Across America’s 28 biggest cities, the ground is shifting—literally. A new study using millimeter-precision satellite data reveals that almost all these cities are sinking, with some areas ...

Slickrock: Geologists Explore Why Utah's Wasatch Fault Is Vulnerable to Earthquakes

May 6, 2025 — Using rock samples collected from the Wasatch Fault, geoscientists combined experiments and analysis with examinations of fault rock textures. The team's research revealed significant clues ...

Blue Tips Are Red Algae's Red Flags

May 5, 2025 — Some red algae exhibit structural color that gives their growth tips a blue hue and the rest of their bodies including their fruiting structures a white hue. Moreover, since the color-producing ...

Scientists Discover Key to Taming Unrest at Italy's Campi Flegrei

May 2, 2025 — New research shows that elevation changes and earthquakes in Italy's Campi Flegrei volcanic area are caused by rising pressure in a geothermal reservoir -- not magma or its gases, as commonly ...

Eruption Loading: New Approaches to Earthquake Monitoring at Ontake Volcano, Japan

May 1, 2025 — A new study has investigated the use of a new monitoring technique for early warning of a volcanic eruption. The research team compared the earthquake signals during two eruptions of Ontake Volcano ...

Lava Flow Jigsaw Puzzle Reveals the Secrets of Shifting Continents

May 1, 2025 — Analysing lava flows that solidified and then broke apart over a massive crack in the Earth's crust in Turkey has brought new insights into how continents move over time, improving our ...

One of Earth's Ancient Volcanic Mysteries Solved

Apr. 30, 2025 — A new study traces a 120-million-year-old 'super-eruption' to its source, offering new insights into Earth's complex geological ...

Climate Change Increases the Risk of Simultaneous Wildfires

Apr. 28, 2025 — Climate change is increasing the risk of wildfires in many regions of the world. This is due partly to specific weather conditions -- known as fire weather -- that facilitate the spread of wildfires. ...

Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest

Apr. 28, 2025 — A powerful earthquake, combined with rising sea levels, could significantly increase flood risks in the Pacific Northwest, impacting thousands of residents and properties in northern California, ...

Noto Quake 3D Model Adds Dimension to Understand Earthquake Dynamics

Apr. 28, 2025 — On Jan. 1, 2024, a 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula in Japan, resulting in extensive damage in the region caused by uplift, when the land rises due to shifting tectonic plates. The ...

Could Seismic Signals from Earthquakes Mask the Signals of an Underground Explosion?

Apr. 24, 2025 — Could the seismic signal of an underground nuclear test explosion be 'hidden' by the signal generated by a natural ...