This is very cool: seismometers deployed across the United States detected the seismic waves from the magnitude 5.9 earthquake that hit Virginia on August 23, 2011. In this animation showing the data you can actually see the wave rippling across the country! (via Bad Astronomy)

Fuente: blogs.discovermagazine.com

Earthquake location and magnitude (by GNSscience)

John Ristau shows how seismic waves are analysed to find the source location and magnitude of an earthquake.

Fuente: youtube.com

The March 11th Japan (Tohoku) earthquake and its tectonic setting. The earthquake hypocentres shown include earthquakes greater than greater than magnitude 5.0 in the period 1964-2007, and the 11-March-2011 M 9.0 Tohoku (Japan) earthquake and aftershocks. Slip between the plates occurred on the segment of the megathrust fault highlighed in yellow, extending from the cross section through to the northern end of Honshu. The size of the circle represents the magnitude of the earthquake; the earthquakes shown in green occur deeper than 70 km below the surface. Earthquake data are from the USGS. (via Earth Observatory of Singapore)
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The March 11th Japan (Tohoku) earthquake and its tectonic setting. The earthquake hypocentres shown include earthquakes greater than greater than magnitude 5.0 in the period 1964-2007, and the 11-March-2011 M 9.0 Tohoku (Japan) earthquake and aftershocks. Slip between the plates occurred on the segment of the megathrust fault highlighed in yellow, extending from the cross section through to the northern end of Honshu. The size of the circle represents the magnitude of the earthquake; the earthquakes shown in green occur deeper than 70 km below the surface. Earthquake data are from the USGS. (via Earth Observatory of Singapore)

Fuente: earthobservatory.sg

Earthquake probabilities and forecasting (by GNSscience)

Matt Gerstenberger uses statistical models to forecast aftershock probabilities.

Fuente: youtube.com

The Rurrandverwerfung (Rurrand Fault) between Aachen and Cologne, Germany. An active, NW-SE trending normal fault in the Lower Rhine Graben area and a possible candidate for the 1756 Düren earthquakes. Now outcropped due to construction works for the new highway A4. (50.850°N, 6.510°E) (via Paleoseismicity)
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The Rurrandverwerfung (Rurrand Fault) between Aachen and Cologne, Germany. An active, NW-SE trending normal fault in the Lower Rhine Graben area and a possible candidate for the 1756 Düren earthquakes. Now outcropped due to construction works for the new highway A4. (50.850°N, 6.510°E) (via Paleoseismicity)

Fuente: facebook.com

July’s Nature Geoscience cover photo: The southern San Andreas fault terminates in a stepover zone — several small faults that separate major fault segments — beneath the Salton Sea. Analysis of movements on the stepover zone faults indicates that periodic flooding of the palaeo-Salton Sea during the late Holocene could have triggered earthquakes on the San Andreas fault. The image shows a large obsidian boulder that rests on the slope of Red Hill at the southeast edge of the Salton Sea, California, USA. The salt-encrusted shoreline of the Salton Sea is visible in the distance. See “Loading of the San Andreas fault by flood-induced rupture of faults beneath the Salton Sea”, by Brothers et al., p. 486-492. Photo by Jenny E. Ross.
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July’s Nature Geoscience cover photo: The southern San Andreas fault terminates in a stepover zone — several small faults that separate major fault segments — beneath the Salton Sea. Analysis of movements on the stepover zone faults indicates that periodic flooding of the palaeo-Salton Sea during the late Holocene could have triggered earthquakes on the San Andreas fault. The image shows a large obsidian boulder that rests on the slope of Red Hill at the southeast edge of the Salton Sea, California, USA. The salt-encrusted shoreline of the Salton Sea is visible in the distance. See “Loading of the San Andreas fault by flood-induced rupture of faults beneath the Salton Sea”, by Brothers et al., p. 486-492. Photo by Jenny E. Ross.

Fuente: nature.com

Exploring the El Mayor-Cucapah Fault Rupture Using LiDAR Viewer (by spelunkerucd)

3D recording of a geology PhD student interacting with a high-resolution 3D topography model showing the surface rupture of the April 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake in Baja California. The application is LiDAR Viewer on a low-cost 3D TV immersive virtual reality environment, and the session was recorded with two Kinect 3D cameras.

This is seriously awesome.

Fuente: youtube.com

Cuenca del Ebro - evolución, simulación, animation (by daniggcc)

Results from a computer model of the evolution of the Ebro Basin and the Pyrenees. 
Drainage network, lakes, and topography. Time is in million years before present. The horizontal movement of tectonic blocks is contrained from structural geology studies of the three mountain ranges sorrounding the basin. Source: Garcia-Castellanos, D., J. Vergés, J.M. Gaspar-Escribano & S. Cloetingh, 2003. Interplay between tectonics, climate and fluvial transport during the Cenozoic evolution of the Ebro Basin (NE Iberia). J. Geophys. Res., 108 (B7), 2347. doi:10.1029/2002JB002073

Fuente: youtube.com

The Greatest Show On Earth (by etnaboris) Finally, around 03 h in the morning on 12 May (local time = GMT+2), the fourth lava fountain of Etna in the year 2011 burst into the night sky. For many hours, there had been increasingly vigorous Strombolian activity and a small lava flow, and the amplitude of volcanic tremor was rising. The fountain lasted for a couple of hours and ended at daybreak. The last stages of the paroxysm occurred in the most beautiful light and colors; by 06 h it wa essentially over. This photo was taken from Monte Fontane, on the east- northeastern flank of Etna.
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The Greatest Show On Earth (by etnaboris)

Finally, around 03 h in the morning on 12 May (local time = GMT+2), the fourth lava fountain of Etna in the year 2011 burst into the night sky. For many hours, there had been increasingly vigorous Strombolian activity and a small lava flow, and the amplitude of volcanic tremor was rising. The fountain lasted for a couple of hours and ended at daybreak. The last stages of the paroxysm occurred in the most beautiful light and colors; by 06 h it wa essentially over. This photo was taken from Monte Fontane, on the east- northeastern flank of Etna.

Fuente: Flickr / etnaboris

Life Of Hotspot Volcanic Island (by IRISEnO)

Life of Hotspot Volcanic Island follows the animation “Hotspot Volcanism”, and shows the evolution of a single island as it forms over the hotspot. Includes the initial eruption from the sea floor until it moves far from the hotspot and erodes to an atoll. Modified from: Moore, J. G., and Clague, D. A., 1992, Volcano growth and evolution of the island of Hawaii. Geological Society of America Bulletin, volume 104, p. 1471-1484.

Fuente: youtube.com

For several weeks in March and April 2011, a swarm of earthquakes has shaken the ground near Hawthorne, Nevada. Over 400 earthquakes above magnitude 1.0 have occurred since April 10, up to a magnitude of 4.6. (…) Although the earthquake swarm has been adjacent to the Aurora-Bodie Volcanic Field, the earthquakes are tectonic in origin, not volcanic. (…) The swarm occurred in the Basin and Range geologic province, an area of flat, low elevation valleys situated between linear mountain ranges. The Basin and Range stretches from the Sierra Nevada in the west to central Utah in the east, and the complex topography is caused by the uplift, stretching, and thinning of the North American crust. The stretching crust results in the frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanism in the area. (via Earthquake Swarm near Hawthorne, Nevada : Natural Hazards)
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For several weeks in March and April 2011, a swarm of earthquakes has shaken the ground near Hawthorne, Nevada. Over 400 earthquakes above magnitude 1.0 have occurred since April 10, up to a magnitude of 4.6. (…) Although the earthquake swarm has been adjacent to the Aurora-Bodie Volcanic Field, the earthquakes are tectonic in origin, not volcanic. (…) The swarm occurred in the Basin and Range geologic province, an area of flat, low elevation valleys situated between linear mountain ranges. The Basin and Range stretches from the Sierra Nevada in the west to central Utah in the east, and the complex topography is caused by the uplift, stretching, and thinning of the North American crust. The stretching crust results in the frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanism in the area. (via Earthquake Swarm near Hawthorne, Nevada : Natural Hazards)

Fuente: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Kaparelli Fault in Greece (38.22°N, 23.23°E). This beautiful limestone fault scarp is more than 2.5 km long and up to 5 m high. The fault was activated during the 1981 Corinth earthquakes. On the image, our LiDAR is scanning the scarp surface for roughness investigations. The vertical scars are due to sampling for OSL dating, published by Benedetti et al., 2003. The fault has also been trenched: Kokkalas et al. (2007) proposed three events within the last 10 ka before the 1981 EQ series. (via The Wednesday Centerfault (1) | Paleoseismicity)
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Kaparelli Fault in Greece (38.22°N, 23.23°E). This beautiful limestone fault scarp is more than 2.5 km long and up to 5 m high. The fault was activated during the 1981 Corinth earthquakes. On the image, our LiDAR is scanning the scarp surface for roughness investigations. The vertical scars are due to sampling for OSL dating, published by Benedetti et al., 2003. The fault has also been trenched: Kokkalas et al. (2007) proposed three events within the last 10 ka before the 1981 EQ series. (via The Wednesday Centerfault (1) | Paleoseismicity)

Fuente: paleoseismicity.org

Studying open fractures - Rotation PIV results (by StrucGeology)

Dr. Marc Holland and Dr. Heijn van Gent use cohesive hemihydrate powder to study the formation of open fractures in the Koa’e fault system located on Hawai’i . (…) The digital images we collect during these experiments are then submitted to a digital image correlation technique called Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). PIV calculates the deformation field of the experiment.
In this video, we show the raw images from the experiments, overlain with the rotation component of the deformation field. This video is taken from the MSc thesis of Heijn van Gent, which was published in JSG in 2010. Clearly shown are the faults (thetic faults are blue, anti-thetic faults are green) and the rotating block at the surface.

Fuente: youtube.com

Images Composition from the Visible Paleo-Earth (by habitabilitylab)

This is a true-color representation of the evolution of Earth surface from 750 million years ago to today. The video is part of the collection of the Visible Paleo-Earth Project by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory @ UPR Arecibo.

Fuente: youtube.com

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