It’s been 125 years since the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history–the explosion, earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused by Krakatoa, an island in Indonesia. Krakatoa is still a benchmark for extreme seismic activity, as it’s explosion was 13,000 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima.
Although no injuries or major damage was reported after yesterday’s 5.4 quake in Los Angeles, the jolt was a reminder of the importance of structural integrity for buildings in earthquake hotspots. Earlier this week, NewsHour reported on a debate in Oregon about the need to fortify their schools against possible earthquake damage. Read or watch the report.
China declared success Tuesday in preventing a lake — formed by landslides from the massive May 12 earthquake — from overflowing its banks and flooding downstream communities. See the update on NewsHour.
The first students have begun returning to school in Wenchuan, China, the epicenter of last month’s devastating earthquake, which killed nearly 70,000 people. Many of the dead were schoolchildren who were crushed when poorly constructed school buildings collapsed in the quake. Read more….
As the official death toll in China’s massive earthquake neared 15,000 Wednesday, military helicopters dropped food and medicine to survivors who remained cut off in remote mountain villages. In a NewsHour interview, Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., discussed the devastation in central China.
Can earthquakes be predicted? Many seismologists would probably answer, “Not yet, but eventually.” But to date, nobody has been able to predict earthquakes reliably enough and over short enough time scales to allow the evacuation of threatened cities. Some scientists have entirely lost faith in earthquake prediction.
Chinese officials say all 86 giant pandas at the Wolong Nature Reserve are safe following the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck central China on Monday.
The most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 years killed more than 12,000 people, with the death toll likely to rise with thousands more reportedly buried under crumpled buildings. …
A 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked central China on Monday, killing as many as 5,000 in Sichuan province’s Beichuan county and trapping students in at least eight schools, according to the …
