Natural Disasters

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

Great Dane

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?

NWA Reunion Today at the Santa Monica Pier: Here Are All the Details

​ Everyone has been asking us all the details about the NWA reunion show that's supposed to happen today at the Santa Monica Pier. Here's what we know:

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 >>

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 >>

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 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:

COMEDY EMERGENCY!

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Anti Whale-Sushi Campaign Waged Against Wrong Restaurants

​The owners of a chain of Thai restaurants in the Pacific Northwest say they've been wrongly targeted by activists upset over the serving of whale meat: Apparently the eateries are in the cross-hairs of animal lovers because they happen to have the same name as the parent company of the Santa ... More >>

THE "D" STANDS FOR "DONATE"

FEMA Backs Off South L.A. Flood Zone

File photo.​Suddenly the fictitious flood waters of South Los Angeles are receding: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has backed off its expanded flood zone map that added 876 homes to an area it said was prone to a "hundred-year flood." (Info and revised map). The flood-zone expansion m ... 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 >>

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 >>

Rap Me Like a Hurricane

Sylmar fire in Los Angeles could become a "siege"

NOTE: This post is about the Sylmar fire in October of 2008. For news on the Sylmar fire of November 15, 2008, click here. Note: 10:41 a.m. update regarding the Martin Mars amphibious craft capable of dropping thermogel. With a wall of fire hundreds of feet long in places, wind-driven smoke billow ... More >>

Trouble the Water: Hard Rain

Katrina, stark and surreal, in a remarkable documentary

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 >>

A New Firefighting Tool? A Canadian Company Joins the Battle to Fight Wildfires in California. President Bush Takes a Peek at the Giant of the Sky

British Columbia resident Wayne Coulson says he has the tool that will save hundreds of homes threatened by California fires annually. It is called the Martin Mars water bomber. Owned by the Canadian company, Coulson Flying Tankers, the 162,000-pound Martin Mars can drop 7,200 gallons of water and ... More >>

California Fire Whisperers

Facing down region's wildfires by divining where the flames will spread

Air Inferiority

Is “Run!” the new strategy against firestorms on California's urban fringe?

The World on Fire

Something wicked this way will come again

Game Over

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

Running Hot and Cold: A Dozen Weird Weather Moments

Epicenter of Cool

Dr. Kate Hutton

Running Hot and Cold: A Dozen Weird Weather Moments

Hurricane Katrina Benefits

Saved... by Rock & Roll

No Second Line for New Orleans

A Drop in the Ocean

Ready To Rumble

The Northern California seismic threat to the Southland

Science or Superstition?

The mystery of earthquake prediction

Bugs and Politics

Two culprits for the Southland’s fires

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