what scientist worked on researchng earthquakes?
79993
Charles Francis Richter
905919
An earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy in the crust that propagates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property.\n\nEarthquakes may occur naturally or as a result of human activities. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans—that generates seismic waves.\n\nTypes of earthquakes\n\nNaturally occurring earthquakes :-\nMost naturally occurring earthquakes are related to the tectonic nature of the Earth. Such earthquakes are called tectonic earthquakes. The Earth's lithosphere is a patchwork of plates in slow but constant motion caused by the heat in the Earth's mantle and core. Plate boundaries grind past each other, creating frictional stress. When the frictional stress exceeds a critical value, called local strength, a sudden failure occurs. The boundary of tectonic plates along which failure occurs is called the fault plane. When the failure at the fault plane results in a violent displacement of the Earth's crust, the elastic strain energy is released and seismic waves are radiated, thus causing an earthquake. This processes of strain, stress, and failure is referred to as the Elastic-rebound theory. It is estimated that only 10 percent or less of an earthquake's total energy is radiated as seismic energy. Most of the earthquake's energy is used to power the earthquake fracture growth and is converted into heat. Therefore, earthquakes lower the Earth's available potential energy, though these losses are negligible\nEarthquakes occurring at boundaries of tectonic plates are called interplate earthquakes, while the less frequent events that occur in the interior of the lithospheric plates are called intraplate earthquakes.\n\nThe majority of tectonic earthquakes originate at depths not exceeding a few tens of kilometers. In subduction zones, where older and colder oceanic crust descends beneath another tectonic plate, earthquakes may occur at much greater depths (up to hundreds of kilometers). These seismically active areas of subduction are known as Wadati-Benioff zones. Deep focus earthquakes are another phenomenon associated with a subducting slab. These are earthquakes that occur at a depth at which the subducted lithosphere should no longer be brittle, due to the high temperature and pressure. A possible mechanism for the generation of deep focus earthquakes is faulting caused by olivine undergoing a phase transition into a spinel structure.\nEarthquakes may also occur in volcanic regions and are caused by the movement of magma in volcanoes. Such quakes can be an early warning of volcanic eruptions.\n\nA recently proposed theory suggests that some earthquakes may occur in a sort of earthquake storm, where one earthquake will trigger a series of earthquakes each triggered by the previous shifts on the fault lines, similar to aftershocks, but occurring years later, and with some of the later earthquakes as damaging as the early ones. Such a pattern was observed in the sequence of about a dozen earthquakes that struck the North Anatolian Fault in Turkey in the 20th Century, the half dozen large earthquakes in New Madrid in 1811-1812, and has been inferred for older anomalous clusters of large earthquakes in the Middle East and in the Mojave Desert.\n\n\nInduced earthquakes :- \n\nSome earthquakes have anthropogenic sources, such as extraction of minerals and fossil fuel from the Earth's crust, the removal or injection of fluids into the crust, reservoir-induced seismicity, massive explosions, and collapse of large buildings. Seismic events caused by human activity are referred to by the term induced seismicity. They however are not strictly earthquakes and usually show a dif
643922
No doubt, it's a fact. Besides all evidence already discussed by other answerers (earthquakes, fossil record, continent shapes, geological models), today there are *direct measurements* of the changing distance between tectonic plates, using laser or radio interferometry (see reference).
556155
(m)\n\nAustralian and American researchers investigating forces exerted on the Indo-Australian tectonic plate have discovered that the considerable stresses being exerted on the plate could be leading to its breaking up.\n\nARC Professorial Fellow, Mike Sandiford, from the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Sciences was recently awarded ARC funding for research aimed at understanding the forces that drive the motion of the Earth’s tectonic plates and the distribution of stresses in the Earth’s crust that give rise to great earthquakes such as the magnitude 9 Boxing Day Sumatran quake.\n\nProfessor Sandiford says the research shows that as much as 10 per cent of the huge amounts of energy being created at plate connection points at Sumatra and Java are being transferred back into our plate and causing major stresses.\n\n“This is enough stress to contribute to mild earthquake activity in the central regions of the plate, such as in the Australian continent or central Indian Ocean, and provides us with clues as to why our plate has been slowly breaking up,” he says.\n\n“The Indian Ocean quakes are, in effect, leading to the active rupture of the Indo-Australian plate into separate Indian and Australian plates. This new research provides us with important information about the stresses that are driving this drawn out tectonic plate divorce.”\n\nThe research, which was conducted in collaboration with Wouter Pieter Schellart of the Australian National University and David Coblentz of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US, will be published in the journal Geology (27 January).\n\nThe research is also important for understanding why smaller intra-plate earthquakes such as the 1989 Newcastle quake, which occurred nowhere near the edge of the plate, take place. Up to now, why earthquakes occur in apparently safe zones in the centre of plates has not been very well understood.\n\nProfessor Sandiford says, “Earthquakes such as the 1989 Newcastle quake that killed 13 people and caused more than $1 billion in damages are just one manifestation of mild tectonic activity that has been affecting the Australian continent for the last 5-10 million years.”\n\nThe new research shows that stresses originating at points of collision between two plates are being dissipated back into our plate and generating enormous internal stresses.\n\nThe ARC funded project will map the spatial and temporal pattern of this tectonic activity and relate it to the factors that drive the motion of the Indo-Australian plate.\n\n“This research will contribute to our understanding of the factors that drive plate motion, to earthquake risk assessment in Australia and other comparatively stable continental regions, and to the factors that have shaped our distinctive Australian landscapes,” he says.\n\nBACKGROUND INFORMATION\n\nWhat causes tectonic plates to move?\nThe Earth is made up of a series of layers. The outermost layer is called the crust and the innermost is the core. In between lies an area called the mantle (in turn made up of upper and lower mantle), which is arguably the most important when it comes to understanding where big earthquakes occur.\n\nThe outer part of the Earth, comprising the crust and top 100 or so kilometres of the mantle (together called the lithosphere), consists of a collection of eight major plates which almost fit perfectly together. The continents and oceans all lie on these plates, the major ones referred to as the African, Eurasian, Indo-Australian, Antarctic, Philippine, Pacific, Nazca, North American and South American, depending on their geographic location.\n\nThese plates (also referred to as tectonic plates) float on the softer mantle underneath. Convection currents within the upper mantle layer are a major driving force driving plate motion and therefore behind earthquake activity.\n\nThe lower sections of the mantle closest to the molten core of the earth are also the hottest parts of this la
452011
You mean earthquakes?  Spelling it right is probably a good starting point.
3970
There is no reliable method to predict an earth quake.What scientists do is use mathematical models based on historical information of earth quakes and estimate the probability in different regions.Lasers and satellite based data and evaluations are used by some.
330837
I can't find what you are looking for - it appears your book is likely out of print. However, there is a new novel baed during the 1906 earthquake called 1906: A Novel by James Dalessandro that was just published. I hope that helps.\n\nGood luck!
598797
seismographs and seismometers
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That would be a Geologist who specializes in the study of plate tectonics.
678582
www.seismology.harvard.edu/\n\nConsult the above link, textbooks will be helpful.
746545
There are earthquakes all the time.  Do you mean a destructive one?  That would be the quake that interrupted a game during the 1989 World Series when the Giants were playing at home.  Do you mean one some people just barely felt or noticed?  Earlier this month.  Do you mean one detected only by seismograph?  Probably within the last fifteen minutes.\nThe San Andreas fault runs right through San Francisco Bay, and there are plenty of other active faults in the area.
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Here is a list: \n\nhttp://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/environment/naturalhazards/majorearthquakes/earthquakes_stats_new.html
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I like this one  \nhttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/neic/
720402
Not really. Meteorologists study the atmosphere. Earthquakes and volcanoes are studied by Geologists.
127553
Earthquakes are caused by the shifting of the Earth's tectonic plates. We don't get earthquakes like the West coast here on the east coast because there simply isn't as much shifting.
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is this what your talking about\n\n\nAn earthquake is a phenomenon that results from and is powered by the sudden release of stored energy that radiates seismic waves. At the Earth's surface, earthquakes may manifest themselves by a shaking or displacement of the ground and sometimes tsunamis, which may lead to loss of life and destruction of property.\n\nEarthquakes may occur naturally or as a result of human activities. In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event—whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans—that generates seismic waves\n\nEarth (often referred to as "The Earth") is the third planet in the solar system in terms of distance from the Sun, and the fifth in order of size. It is the largest of its planetary system's terrestrial planets and the only place in the universe currently known to support life. The Earth was formed around 4.57 billion (4.57×109)[1] years ago (see Age of the Earth) and its largest natural satellite, the Moon, was orbiting it shortly thereafter, around 4.533 billion years ago.\n\nSince it formed, the Earth has evolved through geologic and biological processes so that any traces of the original conditions have been virtually eliminated. The outer surface is divided into several tectonic plates that gradually migrate across the surface over geologic time spans. The interior of the planet remains active, with a thick layer of molten mantle and an iron core that generates a magnetic field. The atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered by the presence of life forms, which create an ecological balance that modifies the surface conditions. About 70% of the surface is presently covered in salt water oceans, and the remainder consists of continents and islands.\n\nThere is significant interaction between the Earth and the space environment. The relatively large Moon provides ocean tides and has gradually modified the length of the planet's rotation period. A cometary bombardment during the early history of the planet is believed to have formed the oceans. Later, asteroid impacts are understood to have caused significant changes to the surface environment. Changes in the orbit of the planet may also be responsible for the ice ages that have covered significant portions of the surface in glacial sheets.\n\nThe Earth does not have another natural orbiting body other than the Moon, although Cruithne has been erroneously described as such. Cruithne was discovered in 1986 and follows an elliptical orbit around the Sun at about the same average orbital radius as the Earth. However, from the point of view of the moving Earth, Cruithne follows a horseshoe orbit around the Sun that avoids close proximity with the Earth.
113993
Yes. Earthquake activity in this region is due to plate tectonics. In Kashmir the two plates involved are the Eurasion and Indian tectonic plates. \n\nHere are a few good ways to demonstrate this for elementary school children:\n\n*Have them use their hands with thumbs hooked together and move push one hand forward while pulling one hand back. Force builds up, but when one of the thumbs breaks free both hands makes a big movement (earthquake).\n\n*make playdough "plates" and have slowly pushed together to see uplifting and subduction.\n\n*take model cars/trucks. Predict what would happen if they have met head-on and continue to move. Let cars represent oceanic plates (less dense) and trucks represent continental plates (more dense). This is a good visual to see uplifting (rumpled hoods when they are the same density--car/car or truck/truck) and subduction (truck runs over top of car).\n\nGreat website for kids is:\n\nhttp://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/kids.php?\n\nGreat website for kids with links to many science websites is:\n\nhttp://members.tripod.com/~ozpk/00000science1-4\n\nHope this helps!