It turns out that 8,000 tiny plastic disks in a rotating drum could help scientists develop a technique to forecast avalanches or earthquakes through sound.

A powerful earthquake struck Taiwan today, causing damage and a partially collapsed hotel building, sources report.

It’s not often that science can answer questions with an easy “yes” or “no.” Usually it’s more of an “evidence suggests” or “this correlation proposes” sort of situation, even if the public’s understanding is generally a little less nuanced. So USGS Seismologist Susan Hough found the right question:

The complexities of rare and extraordinary natural phenomena, like powerful earthquakes, come with mysteries not fully understood. One that seems to get quite a bit of attention from scientists and skeptics alike is earthquake lights, flashes or other glowing phenomena that occur before or during a quake.

The strongest earthquake to hit Mexico in a century has struck off the nation’s West Coast, shaking buildings for hundreds of miles and triggering tsunami warnings. At least 16 people have been killed, but officials are expecting the death toll to rise.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reported on a 6.8 earthquake that struck Santa Barbara at 4:51pm. Which might be surprising to the people of Santa Barbara who didn’t feel anything. The big problem with the story? The earthquake happened in 1925.

Four people are missing and nearly a dozen homes were flooded after a rare tsunami struck the west coast of Greenland on Saturday. Initial reports attributed the giant wave to a magnitude four earthquake, but speculation is emerging that the highly-localized tsunami was actually produced by a massive landslide.

The USGS has issued its now annual seismic-hazard forecast for the central and eastern United States. The updated maps, which highlight both natural and human-induced earthquakes, show that millions of Americans are likely to feel the earth shake beneath their feet over the next 12 months.

New Zealand’s Kaikoura Canyon—known for its abundant seabed life—is now an undersea wasteland following a series of earthquake-induced mudslides.

A little-known fault underneath the southern Californian city of Santa Barbara is capable of producing stronger shaking and more damage during an earthquake than previously thought, according to new research. Called the Ventura-Pitas Point Fault, it’s now thought to be capable of producing magnitude 8.0 earthquakes,…

A few weeks ago, the US National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) released this soothing and terrifying animation of every earthquake it recorded from January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2015. Here’s my suggested backing track, and here’s how the video’s description says to read the map:

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake has rocked the Solomon Islands about 42 miles off the coast of Kirakira. A subsequent Tsunami watch was issued for Hawaii, but was canceled. Areas close to the quake are also on tsunami alerts.