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Author(s): Dan Bassett (corresponding author) [1]; David T. Sandwell [1]; Yuri Fialko [1]; Anthony B. Watts [2] The March 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake was only the second giant (moment magnitude M [...]

Geophysicists are ramping up their efforts to monitor major undersea faults for movement, and search for signs of the next catastrophic quake., Author(s): Alexandra Witze [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) writes for Nature from landlocked Boulder, Inventor Jerry Paros has developed quartz sensors that are helping researchers to detect movements of the sea [...]

The sampling of radionuclides along natural fractures and faults is an effective method for the detection of underground nuclear explosions that do not fracture the surface. The 133Xe and 37Ar radionuclides produced by a simulated 1-kilotonne nuclear explosion at the Rainier Mesa, Nevada Test Site, can be detected almost 50 and 80 days after the explosion. The trace gases move along the faults and fractures due to barometeric pressure differences. The short-lived highly dilute radionuclides are transported to the surface within a few weeks to an year.

Fluid build-up after a slow quake raises the risk of massive rupture. Fluid build-up after a slow quake raises the risk of massive rupture., Author Affiliations: The 2011 Tohoku earthquake, which was centred at a fault in the Pacific Ocean, killed more than 18,000 people in Japan. Credit: Hitoshi Yamada/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock Man standing on a [...]