Earthquakes

How the Hollywood Fault Made Millennium's Future Uncertain, and L.A. a Laughingstock

Do You Live on the Active Hollywood Fault? (Interactive Map)

The controversial Millennium Hollywood skyscrapers, which were rushed through approval by L.A. City Council amid intense opposition from community groups, prompted scrutiny of other new developments near the Fault Zone. It turns out two other major projects were partially approved by Los Angeles cit ... More >>

Does Hollywood Have an Active Fault?

The quake zone along Franklin and Yucca could mean billions in future development will be banned

Exploiting Haiti

Earthquake Warning System Worked During Anza 4.7 (VIDEO)

The prototype earthquake-warning system we told you about almost a year ago really works. It wasn't its first time in action, but Monday's SoCal Anza earthquake put the Caltech-USGS "Shake Alert" system to a high-profile test. The system's alarm bells rang and as many as 30 seconds warning came to ... More >>

Apres le Earthquake

Earthquake Warning System Proposed For California By State Sen. Alex Padilla

Little-known fact: The U.S. Geological Survey has an earthquake-warning system called "Shake Alert." It's in prototype form and would only warn a select few (including the Los Angeles' Emergency Operations Center) a maximum of 90 seconds before a big one sets off sensors. The general public would n ... More >>

8.6 Earthquake in Indian Ocean Triggered Aftershocks in L.A.'s Backyard

If you've noticed that the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Rim seems to rock like a frat party every time there's a giant earthquake, new science might just back up your observation. A new study by U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Fred Pollitz documents how the Pacific Rim went bonkers following ... More >>

Earthquake 'Swarm' in Imperial Valley Still Raging, Could Signal Larger SoCal Event

An underground thunderstorm of seismic activity, officially called a "seismic swarm," hit a farm town called Brawley in the Imperial Valley yesterday -- gearing up around sunrise with some magnitude 2s and 3s, peaking with a magnitude 5.3 and 5.5 just after noon, and rolling into Monday morning with ... More >>

Caltech Asks Pasadena Residents to Host Mini Seismometers for 'Crowd-Sourced' Earthquake Prediction

Do you live in Pasadena, South Pasadena or San Marino? Do you keep your computer on 24/7, against the pleas of Southern California Edison? (Or are you willing to start keeping it on in the name of "crowd-sourced seismology"?) Then Caltech wants very much to come to your home and install a creepy li ... More >>

Could Fracking in Los Angeles Cause an Earthquake?

Could Fracking in Los Angeles Cause an Earthquake?

Conversations about fracking, the controversial technique for natural gas extraction (alternately known as "that thing that turns your tap water flammable") are typically confined to Pennsylvania, where the critically acclaimed documentary Gasland was set, or the state of New York, currently debatin ... More >>

The First 15 Minutes After the Big One

Who dies in Los Angeles, and why, when the earth quakes on the San Andreas Fault?

Dressing for an Earthquake

Put on your red vest for the big one

Shibuya Girls Pop: Cute Rebellion

A Japanese art collective brings earthquake-fueled inspiration to its show at Meltdown

Actor and Model Sebastiano Serafini and Writer La Carmina on the 9.0 Earthquake in Japan

See La Carmina and Seba's photos from Los Angeles. Sebastiano Serafini, otherwise known as Seba, is a multi-media personality in Japan. He has modeled for a variety of labels, including Paul Smith and h. Naoto. Last year, he played Luca on the Japanese TV series Nijonjin no Shiranai Nihongo. Recent ... More >>

[Updated] 10 Food Fundraisers for Japan Disaster Relief: Cube, Koi, Umami, Manuel's El Tepeyac, La Seine, Xino More

Courtesy of Koi.The Rising Sun Roll (left) and Koi Fusion Shot (right).​Want to help the Japan earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in your own gluttonous way? If you don't have the skills to make a treat for LA Bakesale for Japan, the mega, citywide fundraiser set for April 2, here are 10 ot ... More >>

Could California's Big One Be Around the Corner, Triggered by Japan's 9.0 Earthquake?

tomvandewegheJapan's big one.​One man caused a lot of fright in California in recent days, and we're not talking about Gov. Jerry Brown. No, he's journalist Simon Winchester, who wrote in Newsweek that the Japanese 9.0 earthquake March 11 paired with other Pacific Rim shakers could help trigg ... More >>

Nuclear Power in the Wake of Japan: 2,452 Spent Fuel Assemblies Stored at San Onofre

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.​Southern California's San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has plenty of spent fuel on-hand, Fukushima-style. There are 2,452 spent fuel assemblies from three reactors (one is being used only as storage) there, we're told, versus 4,685 at the ailing, ra ... More >>

Japan Earthquake: FBI Warns Against Relief Donation Scams

U.S. NavyDevastation in Sendai, Japan.​The FBI on Monday warned the public to be wary of giving to unfamiliar Japan earthquake relief funds and to check out all charities before you open your wallet. That said, we were amazed at how many stories are out there about Japan earthquake scams, tho ... More >>

Japan Earthquake Gets Magnitude Upgrade by USGS: 9.0

tomvandeweghe via TwitpicThe aftermath of Japan's tsunami.​The U.S. Geological Survey on Monday upgraded its official magnitude for Friday's devastating earthquake in northern Japan from an 8.9 to a 9.0. That's one and a half times more powerful than originally believed. The move comes after ... More >>

Japan 8.9: Could it Happen in Los Angeles?

​Could an earthquake like yesterday's 8.9 in Japan happen in Los Angeles? The short answer is no. But we could come close. We talked to USC's Jean-Pierre Bardet, a professor of civil engineering and a big-time quake expert, today. Here's what he says:

(UPDATED With L.A. Road Closures, Rain Aftermath) L.A. Readies Itself For West Coast Rainpocalypse To Rival SnowLoko

PHOTO BY TED SOQUILast Wednesday in Los Angeles​Updated after the jump: Here we go again. Pacific Coast Highway closes, the I-5 floods and more. Originally posted Dec. 28 at 8:30 a.m. We were gloating yesterday as the East Coast took a beating from the weather gods, but karma's a bitch: It's ... More >>

Wednesday's 5.4 SoCal Earthquake Likely Triggered By Easter Day's 7.2 'Sierra El Mayor' Shaker

​Wednesday's 5.4 earthquake, felt widely across Southern California, was probably triggered by the massive Easter Day temblor that rocked the desert south of the border, a quake expert said. So should we be afraid that more shakers are on the way? Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey tol ... More >>

5.4 Earthquake Shakes Los Angeles

​[Updated at 5:09 p.m. with quake downgraded from 5.9]: A 5.4 earthquake shook Southern California Wednesday afternoon. Several small aftershocks in the 3 range followed. The 4:53 p.m. shaker was centered 13 miles north northwest of Borrego Springs, a desert town in northeastern San Diego Cou ... More >>

LAFD In 'Earthquake Mode' Following Swarm Of Shakers In The California Desert

​A swarm of temblors shook the desert county of Imperial east of San Diego Monday night, prompting the Los Angeles Fire Department to go into "earthquake mode" at 9:55 p.m. as a precaution, according to the LAFD's Devin Gales. The biggest of the shakers was a magnitude 5.7 that struck five mil ... More >>

Small Earthquake Jolts Los Angeles' Westside

Caltech​A small earthquake jolted L.A.'s Westside Monday afternoon. The 3.7 magnitude shaker struck about four miles west-southwest of Manhattan Beach at 4:59 p.m., according to the Southern California Seismic Network. Early Monday a 3.6 struck the Santa Monica Bay off Manhattan Beach. Twitte ... More >>

ONCE IN LOVE WITH HAITI . . .

Prediction Of Large Earthquake In L.A. Spreads Via Twitter, Email

polyvf via Twipic: http://tweetphoto.com/17203656​It started innocently enough: We received an email from a friend, who said it came from another friend, warning of an imminent earthquake in Los Angeles. "My buddy's wife works at the seismology dept. in L.A. and they called everyone in today a ... More >>

Sunday's 7.2 Earthquake Named 'Sierra El Mayor;' Mexican President Says Third Death Possible

polyvf via Twipic: http://tweetphoto.com/17203656​Caltech and the U.S. Geological Survey have come up with a name for Sunday's 7.2 shaker felt throughout the Southwest: The Sierra El Mayor earthquake. It was named for the mountain range near the temblor's epicenter on the Laguna Saluda fault. ... More >>

Three Killed, 233 Injured In Baja Quake Felt Throughout Southwest

zikeyros via Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/1db211A sign fell on a car in the Mexicali area.​The death toll from Sunday's 7.2 Baja earthquake felt across the Southwest increased to three Monday, with at least 233 people, mostly in the Mexican border town of Mexicali, reporting injuries, according ... More >>

4.4 Earthquake Strikes L.A. Area; No Injuries Reported

USGS​(UPDATED) A 4.4 shaker woke up the Los Angeles region about 4:04 a.m. Tuesday. The epicenter was about one mile east-northeast of Pico Rivera (map), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A sheriff's official from the county's Pico Rivera station told ABC7 news there were no reports o ... More >>

THE "D" STANDS FOR "DONATE"

Mega-Telethon Broadcasting From L.A., Elsewhere

CNNAnderson Cooper.​A Friday telethon to raise money for the victims of last week's earthquake in Haiti will be broadcast from Los Angeles, New York, London and Haiti, organizers announced Thursday. It will be everywhere: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Show ... More >>

Twitter Could Be Used To Quickly Measure Earthquakes; Other Warnings Possible

USGS​The U.S. Geological Survey is studying using Twitter to get fast data about the latest earthquakes, the USGS announced this week. In a separate announcement, the Survey said that separate technology could allow for warnings 10 seconds or so ahead of major quakes. First, Twitter: While th ... More >>

Lightning-Fast Earthquake Could Hit Southern California

Just when Southern Californians have begun to pat themselves on the backs for having the Ted Soqui​world's stiffest earthquake building codes, there now comes news of "supershears." These are not competitors to Supercuts, but a newly discussed type of earthquake known for the incredibly high veloc ... More >>

POEM SWEET POEM

Now They're Blaming MacArthur Park for Earthquakes!

The Eastsider L.A. reports that a Caltech seismologist is referring to last night's quake as part of the "MacArthur Park earthquakes." Seems there were four "micro quakes" spread out over a few days. The biggest one was a 2.5 job that came Tuesday, a little after 10 p.m. The jolt, which felt like a ... More >>

5.8 Quake in Chino Hills

The good old U.S. Geological Survey website is fast out of the gate pegging the recent earthquake as a 5.8 magnitude tremor. They also show the epicenter near Chino Hills, 29 miles southeast of downtown L.A. Culver City note: The new LA Weekly building shakes like a leaf (at least around my de ... More >>

Game Over

Quakes, asteroids, mass extinction — when the end comes, will it come from below, above or within?

Epicenter of Cool

Dr. Kate Hutton

Ready To Rumble

The Northern California seismic threat to the Southland

Science or Superstition?

The mystery of earthquake prediction

Personal View

Hitting the Fan in 2002

Quaking Over Belmont

News of fatal fault revealed only after school bond passed

Cracked!

The Disaster Waiting To Happen Inside L.A.'s Steel-Frame Towers

Weld Wars

Lincoln loses control over study to prevent collapse of skyscrapers

The Myth of Solid Ground

On The Science, Pseudoscience and Lunatic Logic of Earthquake Prediction

Welds Apart

Who’ll pay for L.A.’s shaky skyscrapers?

Riding Out the Apocalypse

the best place to bike when the big one hits