Geology, Earthquakes & Volcanism News and Discussions

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Now >800.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog ... de-6-quake

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New modeling indicates 100-year-old geological theory on the Himalayas may have been wrong all along

https://phys.org/news/2025-09-year-geol ... wrong.html

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Death toll from Afghan earthquake jumps to more than 2,200 as aid agencies plead for funds

Source: AP

Updated 12:35 PM CDT, September 4, 2025

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds more bodies have been recovered from houses in mountain villages destroyed by a major earthquake in Afghanistan early this week, pushing the death toll to over 2,200, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.

The shallow, 6.0-magnitude quake struck the mountainous and remote eastern part of the country late Sunday, leveling villages and trapping people under rubble. Most of the casualties have been in Kunar province, where people typically live in wood and mud-brick houses along steep river valleys separated by high mountains.

Some 98% percent of the buildings in the province were damaged or destroyed, according to an assessment issued Thursday by the Islamic Relief charity. Aid agencies said they were sorely in need of staff and supplies to tend to the region’s survivors.

Muhammad Israel said the quake unleashed a landslide that buried his home, livestock, and belongings in Kunar. “All the rocks came down from the mountain,” he said. “I barely got my children out of there. ... The earthquake jolts are still happening. It is impossible to live there.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan- ... 7a8a7e9afc

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6.9 Magnitude Earthquake Reported
By Jason Hall
September 30, 2025

Introduction:

(iHeart via MSN) A 6.9-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Philippines on Tuesday (September 30), according to the United States Geological Survey.

The earthquake was centered at Calape at a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles). The USGS said it received 301 reports of people having felt the earthquake at the time of publication Tuesday morning, while more than half a million people were reported to be affected by shaking across the Visayan Islands, according to estimates from U.S. Geological Survey models.

The earthquake has reportedly raised initial fears fears of a possible localized tsunami, however the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no threat after the earthquake took place. The USGS warned that strong shaking could result in possible “considerable damage in poorly built or badly designed structures” and “slight to moderate damage in well-built ordinary structures," via CNN.

Three aftershocks were reported in the Philippines shortly after the initial 6.9-magnitude earthquake which included a 5.2-magnitude centered in Talisay, a 5.0-magnitude centered in Libertad and a 5.0-magnitude centered in Guadalupe, according to the USGS.

Multiple earthquakes exceeding 6.0-magnitude were reported in the Philippines this summer. A 7.1-magnitude earthquake was reported in the Philippines on July 10, while a 6.1-magnitude earthquake was reported on June 27 and a 6.2-magnitude earthquake was reported on June 23.

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/6 ... 73&ei=74

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Geologists discover the first evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old 'proto Earth'
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-geologist ... proto.html
by Jennifer Chu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of "proto Earth," which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet's composition and produced Earth as we know today. Their findings, reported today in the journal Nature Geosciences, will help scientists piece together the primordial starting ingredients that forged early Earth and the rest of the solar system.

Billions of years ago, the early solar system was a swirling disk of gas and dust that eventually clumped and accumulated to form the earliest meteorites, which in turn merged to form proto Earth and its neighboring planets.

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Coral skeletons left by a medieval tsunami whisper a warning for Caribbean region
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-coral-ske ... unami.html
by Gillian Dohrn, University of Washington

Sometime between 1381 and 1391, an earthquake exceeding magnitude 8.0 rocked the northeastern Caribbean and sent a tsunami barreling toward the island of Anegada.

Flooding scattered debris across the island, depositing coral boulders hundreds of meters inland. The corals died but their skeletons remain. More than six centuries later, scientists are learning that these skeletons hold clues about tsunami history. Computer models showed the flooding likely resulted from a tsunami generated during a large earthquake in the nearby Puerto Rico Trench.

Now, in a paper recently published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers narrow the tsunami time frame to the last decades of the 14th century. The researchers expect this finding to support ongoing efforts to prepare for future Caribbean tsunamis.

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A Volcano Is Showing "First Signs" Of Unrest After 700,000 Years of Quiet
By Tom Hale
October 17, 2025

Introduction:

(IFL Science) After millions of years of peace, an idle volcano is showing its first signs of volcanic unrest. The summit of Taftan has become swollen and bloated, indicating that the pressure of magma and hot gas is increasing within its bowels.

The Taftan volcano is a 3,940-meter (12,927-foot) stratovolcano in southeastern Iran. It’s considered to be the only active member of the Makran continental volcanic arc, a trio of volcanoes on the Iran-Pakistan border created by one of Earth’s tectonic plates, the Arabian Plate, slowly sliding beneath another, the Eurasian Plate.

Though faintly active, it’s not known for its aggressive behavior. There were reports of it letting out smoke in 1902, plus unverified claims of a small lava flow in 1993, but it isn’t known to have erupted in human history. Scientists have previously estimated that the last major eruption occurred around 700,000 years ago, long before Homo sapiens had evolved.

However, perhaps this giant isn’t as gentle as once hoped. In a new study, volcanologists used satellite data to show the summit of the Taftan volcano swelled by around 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) between July 2023 and May 2024. The bloating is yet to die down.

Oddly, the bulging seems to be “spontaneous” and “triggerless,” the study authors note. Volcanic activity can be triggered by a variety of factors, from earthquakes shaking loose the plumbing system to changes in groundwater. Even a period of intense rainfall can shake things up.

Read more here: https://www.iflscience.com/the-zombie- ... et-81204

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At Least 20 Dead and Over 300 Injured with Casualty Figures 'Likely to Rise'
By Gabrielle Rockson
November 3, 2025

Introduction:

( People)
• At least 20 people have died and 320 have been injured after a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit Afghanistan
• The disaster took place at 1:00 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 3, near the city of Mazar-e Sharif
• Ministry of Public Health spokesperson Dr. Sharafat Zaman Amar said the death toll was "likely to rise"

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a ... ba&ei=47

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Mild Tsunami Reaches Northeast Japan After Magnitude 6.9 Quake, No Damage Reported
November 9, 2025

Introduction:

(Kyodo News) TOKYO - A magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the Pacific on Sunday caused mild tsunami in northeastern Japan, triggering the evacuation of some residents in coastal areas and a temporary partial suspension of shinkansen bullet train services.

The Japan Meteorological Agency, which revised the magnitude from an earlier reported 6.7, issued an alert for (a) tsunami (of) up to 1 meter for Iwate Prefecture following the temblor, which struck at 5:03 p.m. off the Sanriku coast at a depth of about 16 kilometers.

Read more here: https://english.kyodonews.net/articles/-/64552

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Bangladesh 5.5-Magnitude Earthquake – What We Know So Far
By Sarah Shamim
November 21, 2025

Introduction:

(Al Jazeera) A powerful earthquake shook Bangladesh close to the capital city, Dhaka, on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring many others, the government said.

Here is what we know so far.

What happened?

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hit Bangladesh at 10:38am (04:38 GMT), the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The shaking lasted for 26 seconds.

Dhaka resident Shadman Sakif Islam told Al Jazeera that “small ripples” he noticed in his coffee were followed by a “massive shake that started occurring without any warning” as the earthquake took hold.

“My chair and the table started shaking wildly, and I was stuck there 10-15 seconds without processing what was going on,” he added.

Read more here: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/11 ... ow-so-far