Ross Becker's photographs of Christchurch. The central business district reopens this weekend for the first time since the earthquake (Previously: 1, 2, 3) on February 22, 2011. [more inside]
posted by doublehappy on Oct 26, 2011 - 3 comments

Thinking about natural disasters in your area? There's a map for that! For earthquakes, there is an interactive map of the US showing the maximum peak ground acceleration that your area has a 10% chance of encountering over the next ten years (about PGA, worldwide risks), and a map of global tsunamis. For weather, look at all F5 tornadoes in the US, tornado risks abroad, US hurricanes and cyclones (this map can also do hail, floods, drought and other weather hazards), and billion dollar natural disasters in the US. For bonus worries: global nuclear sites and volcanoes. More generally, a PDF of Presidential disaster declarations and Reliefweb's global crises maps. And a big map of all natural disasters going on right now.
posted by blahblahblah on Mar 14, 2011 - 23 comments

Strong earthquake hits Japan, hundreds of homes have been destroyed, bridges have been leveled, tsunamis are forming, and most frightening, the nuclear power plant appears to be leaking radioactive water. The quake registered as a 6.8 on the Richter scale. I hope that our Japanese Mefites are safe and sound and will let us know if there is anything we can do to help.
posted by dejah420 on Jul 16, 2007 - 52 comments

8.0 Earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan. Holy crap. The Kobe quake in 1994 was a 6.9 - am I right to think that an 8.0 is about ten times worse than that one? Any mefites in Japan who can give us more information?
posted by majcher on Sep 25, 2003 - 61 comments

Californians, did you feel the quake? This 5.2 quake was near the surface which, according to the San Francisco local news, allowed it to travel farther than usual. Did you feel it? If so, where? Did it create any problems? Was anyone at the Sharks game?
posted by emptyage on May 13, 2002 - 40 comments

Earthquakes rock Afghanistan... 20,000 are homeless, 4,000 injured, and 5,000 feared dead. The epicenter was about 90 miles north of Kabul.
posted by Kevin Sanders on Mar 26, 2002 - 15 comments

Another NW Earthquake At 5.0, this one was substantially smaller than the last one, but it was strong enough to have us sitting bolt upright in bed at 6:19 this morning here in Olympia, WA. How was it in Seattle and Portland?
posted by arielmeadow on Jun 10, 2001 - 13 comments