Images

Photo of chimney damage at a house in Louisa County, Virginia. This was a result from a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia on August 23, 2011.

Scientists from the USGS and the University of Rhode Island examine coastal sediment on Simeonof Island for evidence of sudden land-level change caused by earthquakes on the Aleutian megathrust.

Scientists from the USGS, University of Rhode Island, and the Alaska Dept of Geological and Geophysical Surveys dig into coastal bluffs of Simeonof Island in search of evidence for ancient beach deposits and tectonically uplifted shorelines.

Scientists from the USGS, University of Rhode Island, and the Alaska Dept of Geological and Geophysical Surveys use a hand-driven corer to sample soils and marsh sediment on Simeonof Island as part of an investigation to investigate evidence for earthquakes and tsunamis in the Shumagin Islands.

Starting around July 10, 2013, an airplane operating under contract to the USGS will be making low-level flights over a 1400-square-mile area in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. This airplane is a Cessna-180, specially modified for low-altitude geophysical surveys.

Fractures along Superstition Hills Fault formed in response to the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake. Black arrows mark matches across en echelon fractures. Centimeter rule for scale.

Damage to structures in downtown Concepcion, Chile, due to the February 27, 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake. 

Photograph of surface fractures along fault south of Pinto Wash; view to the northeast.

Vertical surface fractures along Ocotillo Fault. Faulting here is associated with the nearby Mw5.7 aftershock of June 14, 2010. Tape measure for scale.

Fault scarp (above change in slope) with fractures (white arrows) along Yuha Fault; view to the northwest. Yellow notebook (in center) for scale.

Surface fractures and long-term offset of features along the Imperial Fault. Right-lateral fault offset at I-8 due to recurrent movement on the Imperial Fault; view to the east.

Fresh surface fractures (black arrows) along Brawley Fault Zone and across Ralph Road in response to the 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake; view to the north. Slight vertical component of slip (2 mm, up on east [right] side) more noticeable at white arrow.

USGS geologist Carol Prentice surveying features that have been displaced by young movements on the Enriquillo fault in southwest Haiti.  The January 2010 Haiti earthquake was associated with the Enriquillo fault.

Sunset looking west down the valley of the Riviere Momance in southwest Haiti.  Peacefulness of the sunset contrasts with the widespread destruction and fatalities caused by the January 2010 earthquake.

Serene scene of Haitian Fishermen at sunrise belies the nearby chaos and destruction caused by the January 2010 earthquake. 

Haitian woman carrying supplies amid the destruction from the January 2010 Haiti earthquake.

NetQuakes strong-motion instruments enable seismologists to collect extensive data in urban areas where installing traditional seismographs is not practical.  This instrument (in blue, to the right of the upended chairs) takes up very little space in a San Francisco Bay Area resident's garage.

Children participating in an earthquake drill on April 23, 2009, at the British School in Tokyo, Showa Campus. The drill is based on the Japanese Earthquake Early Warning System.

Children participating in an earthquake drill on April 23, 2009, at the British School in Tokyo, Showa Campus. The drill is based on the Japanese Earthquake Early Warning System.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the U.S. Geological Survey will fund $29.4 million in earthquake network upgrades nationwide through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

A filtered vertical laser image, taken using a technique called light detection and ranging (LIDAR), of part of the Hayward Fault (red lines) in the City of Berkeley. The fault passes through the University of California Berkeley football stadium (left), and past earthquake movements have significantly offset Hamilton Gulch (center).