Madison, Wis. -- U.S. scientists say they are conducting the first geologic study of underwater subduction zone faults that produce mega-thrust earthquakes and tsunamis.
University of Wisconsin Associate Professor Harold Tobin, the international project's co-chief scientist, said the goal of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment is to understand the basic mechanics of faulting.
The project's scientists are using cutting-edge deep-water drilling technology to reach the fault zones for the first time.
"If we want to understand the physics of how the faults really work, we have to go to those faults in the ocean," Tobin said. "Scientific drilling is the main way we know anything at all about the geology of the two-thirds of the Earth that is submerged."
Madison, Wis. -- U.S. scientists say they are conducting the first geologic study of underwater seduction zone faults that produce mega-thrust earthquakes and tsunamis.
University of Wisconsin Associate Professor Harold Tobin, the international project's co-chief scientist, said the goal of the Nankai Trough Seismogenic Zone Experiment is to understand the basic mechanics of faulting.
The project's scientists are using cutting-edge deep-water drilling technology to reach the fault zones for the first time.
"If we want to understand the physics of how the faults really work, we have to go to those faults in the ocean," Tobin said. "Scientific drilling is the main way we know anything at all about the geology of the two-thirds of the Earth that is submerged."
West Lafayette, Ind. -- U.S. engineers say they have created a simple, inexpensive method of strengthening some buildings that are dangerously vulnerable to earthquakes.
The Purdue University civil engineers said many buildings in China, Latin America, Turkey and other countries have too many partial-height walls between structural columns, making them vulnerable to an earthquake.
Assistant Professor Santiago Pujol, who led the research, said partial-height walls do not extend all the way to the ceiling, sometimes causing structural columns to fail during powerful quakes.
But the engineers said their research determined the flaw could easily be corrected by replacing some windows with ordinary bricks.
"The most important result is that we showed that buildings with partial-height walls … can be improved very easily with not a lot of investment by simply rearranging the masonry walls," Pujol said. "Granted, this is not the best technology can offer, but this is cheap, and people can do it with their own hands."
