natural hazards

Bipartisan House bill would improve tsunami forecasting and preparedness in U.S.

IES Oceans Glyph

Before the August recess, a bipartisan coalition of members from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology released the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act of 2014 (H.R. 5309), a bill which would reauthorize the Tsunami Warning and Education Act of 2006. The bill is intended to enhance coordination among coastal states to improve tsunami research and mitigation.

EARTH Magazine: Living in the Shadow of Mauna Loa: A Silent Summit Belies a Volcano's Forgotten Fury

Submitted by mmoses on

Earth’s largest active volcano, Mauna Loa on Hawaii’s Big Island, is taking a nap. And after 30 years, no one is sure when the sleeping giant will awaken. Scientists say it’s likely to erupt again within the next couple of decades and, when it does, it will be spectacular — and potentially dangerous.

Dark Horse Comics does Geoscience! - HECK YES!

Submitted by mmoses on

WITHOUT WARNING! (EARTHQUAKE SAFETY AND INFORMATION)
I was scrolling through twitter today when I saw that Dark Horse Comics (they're kind of a big deal) had teamed up with the Oregon Office of Emergency Managment (they're also big deal) to release the free comic book "Without Warning!" a comic book aimed at teaching earthquake preparedness. It's not every day that the geosciences get a comic book from such an esteemed publisher! The book follows the story Angie, a teen in coastal Oregon, who experiences a large magnitude earthquake and tsunami. She navigates through a day in a disaster zone, and takes some of the information she's absorbed over the years, as well as an emergency preparedness kit (initially intended for use in a zombie apocalypse).

Senate subcommittee examines future of the National Flood Insurance Program

Mammatus clouds that are usually associated with thunderstorms.

The Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on July 23 to discuss the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is up for reauthorization in 2017. The hearing covered recent changes to legislation aimed at increasing the NFIP’s solvency and plans to update Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) across the country.

EARTH Magazine: Are slow-slip earthquakes under Tokyo stressing faults?

Submitted by mmoses on

New research examining plate movements under Tokyo has found that since the massive magnitude-9 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, recurrence intervals for nondamaging slow-slip quakes beneath Japan’s capital have shortened. That has left seismologists wondering if this aseismic creep could be signaling a countdown to Tokyo’s next “big one.” Read more about scientists’ estimations of Tokyo’s seismic risk in the August issue of EARTH Magazine.

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