Mar 23 2015

Remembering the Colombia 1985 volcanic disaster

One of the most tragic volcanic events of the 20th century occurred in Colombia, in 1985, when an eruption of Nevado del Ruiz produced lahars that swept down river valleys and destroyed communities in its path. Over 20,000 people perished.

Mount Rainier and other volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest’s Cascade Range are similar to Nevado del Ruiz in many respects—massive amounts of snow and ice, a long history of lahars, and narrow valleys leading to populated areas. Could what happened at Nevado del Ruiz happen in the Pacific Northwest? And if it did, are we prepared?

In 2013, the US-Colombia Bi-national Exchange was created to help scientists, emergency managers and first responders in both countries to learn from the events in Colombia and to work toward improving disaster preparedness in communities located near volcanoes. The Exchange allows the Colombian officials to observe and learn about U.S. emergency response systems and for U.S. personnel to absorb the hard-earned lessons from the Colombians’ experiences with volcanic crises.

Scientists, decision-makers, emergency officials, community leaders, teachers, parents, students—everyone has a responsibility to prepare for the next eruption. Your role in preparedness begins with learning about the hazards where you live, work or go to school, evacuation routes and how to access information during a crisis. Ask local and state emergency officials and schools about their plans and be ready to follow their guidance. Finally, gather basic emergency provisions and create a plan to reunite with family members if you are separated. The volcano may erupt, but the tragedy doesn’t have to happen. And that is the point.

Mar 20 2015

New long term earthquake forecast for California

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) have released a new long term earthquake forecast for the U.S. state of California. The new study revises previous estimates for the chances of having large earthquakes over the next several decades.

USGS scientists working on the project estimate the frequency of a magnitude 6.7 earthquake, the size of the destructive 1994 Northridge earthquake, to occur around every 6.3 years. This is slightly larger than previous estimates of 4.8 years.

However, in the new study, the estimate for the likelihood that California will experience a magnitude 8 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years has increased from about 4.7 percent to about 7 percent.

Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (Version 3). Source: USGS

Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (Version 3).
Source: USGS

More Information:
[1] http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4146&from=rss#.VQvy5ESA9vx
[2] http://www.wgcep.org/UCERF3

Mar 10 2015

Jobs at the International Seismological Centre (ISC)

ISCOur friends at the International Seismological Centre (ISC) have asked us to advertise the following three job adverts. Note that the closing date is 26th April for two of the three posts.

SENIOR ANALYST / SEISMOLOGIST
Job reference number: SA-2015
Application deadline: April 26, 2015
Expertise: seismic bulletins, seismicity, tectonics
Start Date: August 2015
Benefits: £29-35K per annum gross, 6 weeks paid annual leave, attending an international conference annually.
Location: Thatcham, Berkshire, U.K.
Term: 3 years with a strong possibility of continuation.
Employer description: International Seismological Centre (ISC) is a non-profit organization, collecting and analysing earthquake bulletin data for distribution worldwide.
Job description: Analysing and revising the earthquake parameters in the ISC Bulletin, advising members of the analysis team and taking part in the ISC development projects.
Job requirements: We are looking for a university graduate with solid experience in observational seismology at a local, regional and global scale; knowledge of world seismicity patterns and general tectonics; dedicated meticulous attitude to data; an ability to work as part of a friendly international team and a good command of English.
To apply: please send your CV and a covering letter focussed on your experience relevant to the job requirements and the names and e-mail addresses of two referees to admin@isc.ac.uk quoting the specific job reference number SA-2015. Applications failing to address the above requests will not be considered.

QUANTITATIVE GEOPHYSICIST
Job reference number: EL-2015
Application Deadline and Start Date: This position will remain open until a suitable candidate has been found.
Expertise: methods of earthquake location
Benefits: starting salary of £29-31K per annum gross, 6 weeks paid annual leave, attending an international conference annually.
Location: Thatcham, Berkshire, U.K.
Term: 3 years with a strong possibility of continuation.
Employer description: International Seismological Centre (ISC) is a non-profit organization, collecting and analysing earthquake bulletin data for distribution worldwide.
Job description: Advancing the global earthquake location algorithms and improving the datasets at the ISC.
Job requirements: We are looking for an MSc or PhD graduate in Geophysics or an equivalent field with strong skills in numerical analysis to work under general guidance from experienced seismologists. The successful candidate will have skills in using modern programming languages, including C. Familiarity with global tectonics would be an advantage.
To apply: please send your CV and a covering letter focussed on the job requirements and the names and e-mail addresses of two referees to admin@isc.ac.uk quoting the specific job reference number EL-2015. Applications failing to address the above requests will not be considered.

SEISMOLOGIST
Job reference number: DC-2015
Application deadline: April 26, 2015
Expertise: data collection
Start Date: August 2015
Benefits: £27-31K per annum gross, 6 weeks paid annual leave, attending an international conference annually.
Location: Thatcham, Berkshire, U.K.
Term: 3 years with a strong possibility of continuation.
Employer description: International Seismological Centre (ISC) is a non-profit organization, collecting and analysing earthquake bulletin data for distribution worldwide.
Job description: Enhancing the work of the ISC analysis and data entry teams by communicating with networks, identifying, sourcing, integrating and validating new seismological bulletin datasets from permanent and temporary deployments worldwide as well as scanning scientific literature for possible new sources of data to enhance the ISC Bulletin.
Job requirements: We are looking for a university graduate with experience in observational seismology, excellent communication skills and experience in developing basic computer codes for parsing data into the relational database. Good command of English is required. Working knowledge of other widely spoken languages would be an advantage.
To apply: please send your CV and a covering letter focussed on your experience relevant to the job requirements and the names and e-mail addresses of two referees to admin@isc.ac.uk quoting the specific job reference number DC-2015. Applications failing to address the above requests will not be considered.

Mar 3 2015

Disaster Charter activated for Villarrica volcano

 

A Red Alert has been declared in southern Chile after an eruption at Villarrica Volcano this morning.

Over two thousand people were evacuated from Pucon, and another thousand from Panguipulli, two communities close to the volcano.

While no one has been harmed in the eruption, the situation will continue to be monitored for any further eruption. The ash from the volcano could also pose a hazard to health. Meteorologists currently expect the ash cloud to be blown south and across remote parts of Argentina.

disaster_charterThe Disaster Charter is an agreement between international satellite and remote sensing agencies to provide free access to data and resources to help mitigate the effects of disasters on human life and property.

The Charter can be activated by any national disaster management authority. The activation for Villarrica was requested by the  Chilean agency responsible for civil protection (ONEMI, Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública).

For updates of the ongoing activity check the latest status reports from ONEMI, Chile. Also, follow #Villarrica on twitter for social media updates and more images of the current activity.

Mar 3 2015

Chile’s Villarrica volcano spews fountains of lava

Chile’s Villarrica volcano erupted last night (Tuesday 3rd March) sending fountains of lava shooting into the sky. The eruption began at around 3am local time and is still ongoing.

Locals updated twitter with pictures of spectacular columns of lava and ash spewing out of the volcano crater. The Chilean agency responsible for civil protection (ONEMI, Oficina Nacional de Emergencia del Ministerio del Interior y Seguridad Pública) has declared a red alert indicating the volcano is still active and dangerous.

 

Villarrica is a pgmaps_Volcopular tourist destination and is one of the most active volcanoes in southern Chile. It has been producing gas almost constantly for 30 years since its last eruption in 1984. This recent eruption was preceded by signs of increased unrest around mid-February, which included increased seismicity and explosions around the crater. During an overflight on 16 February volcanologists observed a lava lake and recorded temperatures near 800 degrees Celsius.

The major hazard from this eruption to the local town of Villarrica is from lahars. These are extremely hazardous mudslides and form by the melting of snow and ice from the summit glacier by the intruding or erupting magma.

For status updates of the ongoing activity check the latest status reports from ONEMI, Chile. Also, follow #Villarrica on twitter for social media updates and more images of the current activity.

 

Feb 24 2015

Monitoring earthquakes with radar satellites

From earthquakes and volcanoes to landslides and agriculture, radar satellites have revolutionised our ability to monitor the active processes changing the surface of the earth.

Radar satellite missions can measure millimetre-scale changes in Earth’s surface following an earthquake. On 24 August 2014, an earthquake struck California’s Napa Valley. By processing two images from the Sentinel-1A radar satellite, which were acquired on 7 August and 31 August 2014 over this wine-producing region, an ‘interferogram’ was generated showing ground deformation.

CGS researchers at the Leeds based Centre for the Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics (COMET+) are at the forefront for using this technology to understand the active processes shaping the surface of the earth.

More information:
[1] http://www.esa.int/spaceinvideos/Videos/2015/02/Earthquake_monitoring_with_radar_satellites
[2] http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Radar_vision_maps_Napa_Valley_earthquake
[3] http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/igt/research-projects/looking-inside-the-continents-of-space/

Feb 20 2015

Webcam catches Colima volcano eruption

Earlier this week another big eruption occurred at the Colima volcano in western Mexico. The volcano has been erupting for the past few weeks, but this latest eruption was caught on a webcam.

The video has been sped up but shows the power of the eruption as it spews out ash some 2000m into the atmosphere above the summit.

Feb 9 2015

Landslide caused by the 1964 great Alaskan earthquake

The 1964 Great Alaskan earthquake was the second largest earthquake ever measured by modern instruments. The earthquake measured 9.2 on the magnitude scale and was felt all over Alaska, parts of Canada and down south as far as Washington.

As well as the direct shaking by the seismic waves, the earthquake caused a tsunami and thousands of landslides. The United States Geological Survey in a recent tweet brought up an old photo of one of these landslides very close to a hospital.

More information:
[1] http://www.aeic.alaska.edu/quakes/Alaska_1964_earthquake.html