The Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware aims to help communities become as prepared as possible for unplanned, sometimes unthinkable events. The Center's work and guidelines have been adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the American Red Cross, medical reserve groups, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Center's associate director, sociologist Tricia Wachtendorf, looked at specific events in lower...

A massive shake table test in Japan could lead to safer wood-frame buildings in earthquake zones.
In the end, it swayed but didn't fall. Perched atop the largest shake table in the world and subjected to a massive simulated earthquake, this six-story, wood-frame condominium stood tall, and the success of the test may lead to safer, taller wood-frame building construction in earthquake zones.

The Department of Earth and Environmental Science at Temple University installed a broadband seismometer on the Ambler Campus to monitor seismic activity along the East Coast of the United States.

Recent events suggest that the United States as a whole is unprepared to respond effectively to damage caused by natural disasters. Research indicates that the nation’s university campuses require increased attention paid to their own disaster preparedness planning. This study is tailored specifically to earthquakes in proximity to the University of California at San Diego. Data ascertained has provided crucial insight into the potential consequences of a large-magnitude earthquake in...

Recent simulated earthquake tests conducted by UC San Diego engineers are expected to lead to retrofit schemes that make historic buildings safer. The structural engineers tested a structure similar to those that were built in California in the 1920s that have masonry-infilled walls and reinforced concrete frames.

From detection to warning, Scripps researchers are helping preparations for Earth's most elusive natural hazard

Scientific Visualization of how an earthquake would effect the southern California region.

A former desert oasis faces environmental challenges, a water crisis and someday the Big One. Why we can't let the sun go down on the Salton Sea.

The TeraShake simulations modeled the earth shaking that would rattle Southern California if a 230 kilometer section of the San Andreas fault ruptured producing a magnitude 7.7 earthquake. Two rupture scenarios were simulated, one rupturing from north to south, beginning near Wrightwood, California, and a second one rupturing from south to north, starting near Bombay Beach, California. To model this region, the simulations used a 3,000 by 1,500 by 400 mesh, dividing the volume into 1.8...

(This is) a discussion of cyberinfrastructure in Geoscience and how it empowers global collaboration among scientists, led by SDSC Geoinformatics Lead, Dogan Seber. Originally posted by SDSC on SDSC's CI Channel at: www.cichannel.org