Seismic test of 7-story building will be world’s largest quake simulation on wood

October 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - US seismologists have found evidence that the massive 2004 earthquake that triggered killer tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean weakened at least a portion of California's famed San Andreas Fault, which suggests that large quakes can weaken fault zones worldwide. The results suggest that the Earth's largest earthquakes can weaken fault zones worldwide and may trigger periods of increased global seismic activity.

September 30th, 2009 Study says China quake a once in 4,000 years eventBEIJING — China's devastating earthquake last year that left some 90,000 people dead or missing was caused by a geological event that occurs about once every 4,000 years, a study led by Chinese researchers said Sunday. Researchers said the 7.9-magnitude quake was caused by the breaking of solid rock separating major fault segments, allowing the quake to cascade along multiple faults.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of scientists has created the first full simulation of a star's final hours. The team of researchers composed of three applied mathematicians at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and two astrophysicists, who created the first full-star simulation of the hours preceding the largest thermonuclear explosions in the universe.

September 20th, 2009 Magnitude-5.1 earthquake in Mexico felt in Calif.CALEXICO, Calif. — A moderate earthquake in northern Mexico was felt from San Diego to southwestern Arizona, but no injuries or damage were reported.

September 19th, 2009 Moderate earthquake in northern Mexico felt in CACALEXICO, Calif. — A moderate earthquake in northern Mexico was felt in at least one inland border town in California, but no injuries were reported.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have developed a new technique that uses data collected from earthquakes, potentially allowing the Earth's seismic activity to be mapped more comprehensively. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, developed the new method.

September 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A team of engineers from the Stanford University has designed a new earthquake-resistant structural system for buildings, which will not only help a multi-story building hold itself together during a violent quake, but also return it to standing up straight on its foundation afterward, true and plumb, with damage confined to a few easily replaceable parts. Professor Greg Deierlein, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, used the world's largest shake table to test a new structural design that lets buildings rock during earthquakes, then pull themselves into plumb when the shaking stops, confining damage to replaceable steel "fuses." During testing on a massive shake table, the system survived simulated earthquakes in excess of magnitude 7, bigger than either the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California.

August 31st, 2009 LONDON - A five-strong group of scientists have developed a new technique that can monitor movements beneath the earth's surface to help understand how earthquakes behave. The scientists, led by Andrew Curtis, Professor of Mathematical Geoscience at Edinburgh University, used computers to simulate the motion of one earthquake at the location of another to discover more in-depth information about underground movements.

August 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States is concerned about its negative image in Pakistan which was reflected in an opinion poll recently. Addressing a regular briefing here, State Department Deputy Spokesman Robert Wood said the US is one of the largest contributors of humanitarian aid to Pakistan, and it wants to improve the economy and security of the troubled nation.

July 17th, 2009 LONDON - Just half an hour after a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit the southwest coast of New Zealand on July 15, a scientist demonstrated a precise simulation of a tsunami that would generate as a result of the quake. Just as the quake struck at 21:22 local time, 90 leading tsunami researchers in Novosibirsk, Russia - six time zones west of New Zealand - were concluding a conference session.

June 24th, 2009 LONDON - The first prosthetic bone material that is made from wood has been developed by Italian scientists. The researchers transformed the building blocks of wood into the material from which bone is made.

May 3rd, 2009 Strong but deep quake hits GuatemalaGUATEMALA CITY — Seismologists are reporting a strong but deeply centered earthquake in Guatemala. Local radio stations say there are no reports of damages or injuries.

April 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A full-scale straw house, complete with gravel foundation and clay plaster walls, shook and swayed but withstood a violent, 82-tonne force generated by a quake-simulation shake table. The house, designed and built by University of Nevada, Reno alumna and civil engineer Darcey Donovan, shook and swayed while taking the last in a series of seven increasingly forceful test tremors, but stayed intact.

April 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - An innovative straw house design used in Pakistan by an engineer has withstood an earthquake-simulation shake table that involved violent shaking. The full-scale, 14-by-14-foot straw house, complete with gravel foundation and clay plaster walls, was built by University of Nevada, Reno alumna and civil engineer Darcey Donovan.

January 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A powerful earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale Saturday jolted the US state of Alaska, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The earthquake occurred at 9.09 a.m., with its epicentre some 259 km southwest of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, and with a depth of 94.5 km, the USGS said on its website.