The size and type of earthquakes a given fault system may produce remain poorly understood for most major fault systems. Recent superquakes, such as the March 2011 magnitude-9 off Japan and the December 2004 magnitude-9-plus off Sumatra, have been far larger than what most scientists expected those faults to produce. The problem is that current models rely on short historical records, and even shorter instrumental records. Today, scientists are working to rewrite these models based on new paleoseismic and paleotsunami data to create a more comprehensive picture of earthquake activity through time. What they're finding might alarm you.

On October 22, 2012, in L'Aquila, Italy, six seismologists and one Italian government official were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. The seismologists and official had been on trial for not adequately warning the public about the danger of a potential earthquake prior to the L'Aquila earthquake in April 2009 that killed 309 people. Central to the question of manslaughter was whether there was a direct link between the reassuring statements of the commission on which the defendants served and the deaths from the earthquake.

The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce Dr. Thomas H. Jordan as the 2012 winner of the Outstanding Contribution to the Public Understanding of the Geosciences Award. Professor Jordan is recognized for his contributions to science and his efforts to increase the public awareness of earthquake processes, probabilities, preparedness, and risk at an international level. Jordan will receive this esteemed award at the AGI Past Presidents Dinner held during the Geological Society of America meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina on November 4, 2012.

The U.S. Geological Survey's website states it in no uncertain terms: There is no such thing as "earthquake weather." Yet, from at least the time of Aristotle, some people have professed links between atmospheric conditions and seismic shaking. For the most part, these hypotheses have not held up under scientific scrutiny and earthquake researchers have set them aside as intriguing but unfounded ideas. However, in the last decade new efforts to identify effects of weather-related, or in some cases climate-related, processes on seismicity have drawn new interest.

Technology is creating a new breed of scientist. I'm talking about citizen scientists - ordinary people and volunteers from all walks of life coming together to help monitor, and possibly mitigate, the next big earthquake through an innovative program called NetQuakes.

A team of researchers may have discovered a way to hear earthquakes. Not the noises of rattling windows and crumbling buildings, but the real sounds an earthquake makes deep underground as rock grinds and fails catastrophically. Typical seismic waves have frequencies below the audible range for humans, but the August issue of EARTH shows you where to find the voice of one seismic monster: March 11, 2011, magnitude-9.0 Tohoku earthquake in Japan.

Global seismic hazard maps exist to help societies and decision-makers anticipate and prepare for earthquakes. These maps are supposed to depict the maximum level of ground shaking likely to be produced by an earthquake in a given area. In the past decade, however, ground motions and death tolls in areas struck by earthquakes have far exceeded these maps' projections. Thus, scientists are calling into question the standard methods used to estimate seismic risk, and accepted assumptions and calculations have come under fire.

The debate over hydraulic fracturing has recently focused on the rise in seismicity throughout the primarily stable interior of the United States. These intraplate regions, though not unfamiliar with earthquakes, have been experiencing an increased amount of seismic activity in the last decade. This unusual increase is likely to be caused in part by wastewater disposal practices related to natural gas production. With such a sensitive issue it is important to keep the facts in perspective.

You know you are from Christchurch when you manage to keep your sense of humor through a year of nonstop hardship. This phrase, coined by Christchurch native Bruce Raines, exploded on Facebook and takes on a multitude of equally morose and light-hearted endings. These phrases accurately capture the spirit of the local inhabitants after a series of earthquakes and aftershocks rocked the city, dramatically changing life for all Cantabrians. Homes and historic buildings were leveled, and everyday luxuries such as electricity and plumbing were lost. However, while those of us on the outside watched the disaster unfold for a few days, we were able to safely return to our heated homes and refreshing showers. To this day, many Cantabrians are stuck in a permanent camping mode: boiling water, and using primitive outhouses when available. In the December issue of EARTH magazine, learn more about how the citizens of Christchurch are coping with the disaster, one aftershock at a time."

As EARTH details in its September feature, Thinking Outside the Rocks in the Search for Ancient Earthquakes," modern-day scientists are getting creative in the search for information about past quakes. Read more about how researchers are turning to old newspaper articles and photographs, folklore, petroglyphs, crumpled buildings and toppled monuments - and how learning about past quakes can help seismologists to assess future seismic risk."