Category Archives: Earthquakes

The Bárðarbunga dyke intrusion

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Pete Rowley

So my previous post on Bárðarbunga focussed on the geochemistry and plumbing of the volcano, but I thought it might be useful to talk a little bit about the activity we’ve witnessed over the last week or so.  While the emphasis is always … Continue reading →

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Bárðarbunga – Plumbing the depths

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Pete Rowley

The internet has lit up in the last three days or so with people getting (over?)excited about activity at the volcano of Bárðarbunga in Iceland, particularly since the Icelandic Meteorological Office have been gradually ramping up the Aviation Colour Code from green (“normal, non … Continue reading →

Posted in Earthquakes, Geochemistry, Geology, Geophysics, Hazard Assessment, Volcanism | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The insanity of the Italian legal system

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Pete Rowley

Well, it’s official. The Italian courts have found half a dozen scientists and a government official guilty of manslaughter over the failure to accurately predict the risks of the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake which killed 309 people. This has been rumbling … Continue reading →

Posted in Earthquakes, Geology, Geophysics, Hazard Assessment, Media & Perception, Not even wrong, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Accretionary Wedge #46 – Geology, Life and Civilisation

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Pete Rowley

For those of you who may not be aware, there is a fantastic thing in the geobloggosphere known as The Accretionary Wedge.  Every month or so,  someone hosts a specific topic.  Geobloggers are invited to contribute, and the submissions over … Continue reading →

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Poking sleeping lions

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Pete Rowley

I can only assume that the mass of exam papers in the department has caused a time-dilation.  It’s the only possible reason I can come up with for the fact it’s June next week. After the rush of #gradingjail starting … Continue reading →

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Fault Dynamics 101

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Pete Rowley

This is a post I’ve been putting off writing for a while, as I find it a very tricky subject to cover without a hands-on practical.  However, a question which has been asked of me a few times (and particularly … Continue reading →

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The oddity of the Banda Aceh earthquake

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Pete Rowley

Earlier I posted an info bulletin about this morning’s Banda Aceh earthquake.  Rather than muddle it with more and more stuff, I thought it might be better to include this update as a separate post, as it is more of … Continue reading →

Posted in Earthquakes, General, Geology, Geophysics, Hazard Assessment, News, Science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

M8.9 Banda Aceh

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Pete Rowley

UPDATE: USGS appear to be revising the initial magnitude estimate downwards.  Currently bouncing between 8.6 and 8.7.  Definitely big though, as we saw a huge signal on our own seismometer here near London (see below). UPDATE 2: After a series … Continue reading →

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Katla and the pointless scaremongering journalists.

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Pete Rowley

Look what popped up on the BBC website today. In fact, a google search for “Katla volcano Ford Cochran” (the guy quoted in that article) turns up 57 new items published in the last 24 hours. Apparently, “there are signs … Continue reading →

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El Hierro 4: Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble.

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Pete Rowley

UPDATED 16:40 Earthquake-report.com have got their webcam up and running (be patient  – it’s a little flaky at the moment). The eruption at El Hierro has (as of Saturday) become at least partially subaerial.  For the non-scientists amongst you that … Continue reading →

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