Images

Geologists extract a hand-driven core from 2-3 m depth on Sitkinak Island, Alaska. The cores contain peat with interbedded sand layers that record inundation of the coast by prehistoric tsunamis. (l-r: Peter Haeussler, USGS; Andrew Kemp, Tufts University; Alan Nelson, USGS)

Heavy rains from a tropical cyclone struck the islands of the Comoros in March, 2014. On the island of Anjouan in the Union of Comoros, these rains triggered landslides that displaced over 3000 people to refugee camps. The USGS and the OFDA with USAID are providing support and research assistance on these events.

USGS seismologist Doug Given worked with colleagues from the Bureau des Mines et de l'Energie to install a seismometer. Seismometers monitor the earth's movement and can detect and measure aftershocks. Given traveled to Haiti with USGS colleagues Susan Hough, Mark Meremonte, and J.

D.V. Rogers in the "Bunker," the control center for the project. Real-time earthquakes are received via satellite internet.

The earthwork in context of the small town of Parkfield, CA.

Photo taken from a kite-lofted camera, showing the shake table and control bunker.

Looking straight up from the center of the Shake Table.

A 30-second exposure with the fluorescent lights underneath the table switched on for a split second.

Shake Table at dusk, lit by flourescent lights installed under the table in addition to a high-powered, hand-held flashlight.

View looking southeast along the surface trace of the San Andreas fault in the Carrizo Plain, north of Wallace Creek. Elkhorn Rd. meets the fault near the top of the photo.

Closeup shot of the same area above. The cross-cutting feature is a road cut going through the fault.

Photo showing the kite that is suspending the camera over the San Andreas Fault.

The May 12, 2008, Great Sichuan Earthquake, also called the Wenchuan Earthquake, occurred at 14:28 local time, in Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake magnitudes were Mw = 7.9 (USGS), Ms = 8.0 (Chinese Earthquake Administration). The epicenter was 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province.

The May 12, 2008, Great Sichuan Earthquake, also called the Wenchuan Earthquake, occurred at 14:28 local time, in Sichuan Province, China. The earthquake magnitudes were Mw = 7.9 (USGS), Ms = 8.0 (Chinese Earthquake Administration). The epicenter was 80 km west-northwest of Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan province.

This photo was taken by USGS seismologist Susan Hough two months after the magnitude-7 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010. Dr. Hough traveled to Haiti with USGS colleagues Doug Given, Mark Meremonte, and J. Zebulon Maharrey to install seismometers, which monitor the earth's movement and can detect and measure aftershocks.

USGS seimologist Doug Given works with colleagues from the Bureau des Mines et de l'Energie to install a seismometer. Seismometers monitor the earth's movement and can detect and measure aftershocks. Given traveled to Haiti with USGS colleagues Susan Hough, Mark Meremonte, and J. Zebulon Maharrey shortly after a magnitude-7 earthquake struck on Jan. 12, 2010.

The Hotel Montana, shown here, is a portable seismometer site. USGS Seismologists Doug Given, Susan Hough, Mark Meremonte, and J. Zebulon Maharrey traveled to Haiti shortly after the magnitude-7 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, 2010 to install seismometers. Seismometers monitor the earth's movement and can detect and measure aftershocks.

Earthquake-triggered landslide on south coast of Haiti near village of Nan Diamant.

Earthquake-triggered landslide on south coast of Haiti near village of Nan Diamant.

Artist D.V. Rogers stomps on one of the geophones surrounding the shake table to trigger it.

3-minute exposure of Parkfield Cafe (and shake table) entrance at night.