natural hazards

Counting the cost of natural disasters

Hazel Gibson April 21, 2016

'Earthquake damage in Zona Rossa, L’Aquila'. Credit: Nadine Hoffman (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Often, in the news, we are used to seeing disaster statistics reported as isolated figures, placed into context by the tragic human cost of floods, earthquakes and drought. The recent Ecuadorian earthquake that occurred on Saturday the 16th April, for example, was described as having an estimated economic cost of $820 million, which could rise as the scale of the disaster is revealed. But beyond t ...[Read More]

GeoSciences Column: Mapping floods with social media

Laura Roberts-Artal March 11, 2016

Flood at Trans-en-Provence (Var - France) . Credit: Dimitri Defrance (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Picture this: you are on your commute home, smartphone or tablet in hand, surfing the internet. You might quickly catch up on the latest news, check in with your friend’s on Facebook, or take to Twitter to share a morsel of information with your followers. This scenario is common in the modern era of technology. No doubt we are all guilty of indulging in a serious session of internet navigation ev ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: An international effort to understand the hazard risk posed by Nepal’s 2015 Gorkha earthquake

Laura Roberts-Artal February 12, 2016

The upper part of the Pokhara Valley and view towards the Annapurna Massif. Debris flows and floods triggered by three major medieval earthquakes delivered the vast, flat-lying and steeply dissected deposits of the Pokhara Formation. The photo was taken by Amelie Stolle. Distributed via NASA Goddard on Flickr.

Nine months ago the ground in Nepal shook, and it shook hard: on April 25th 2015 the M7.8 Gorkha earthquake struck and was followed by some 250 aftershocks, five of which were greater than M 6.0. The devastation left behind in the aftermath of such an event, and how to coordinate disaster-relief efforts in a vast, mountainous region, is difficult to imagine. Yet, this December at the 2015 AGU Fall ...[Read More]

Geoscience hot topics – The finale: Understanding planet Earth

Laura Roberts-Artal December 22, 2015

The Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park. Credit: David Mencin (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

What are the most interesting, cutting-edge and compelling research topics within the scientific areas represented in the EGU divisions? Ground-breaking and innovative research features yearly at our annual General Assembly, but what are the overarching ideas and big research questions that still remain unanswered? We spoke to some of our division presidents and canvased their thoughts on what the ...[Read More]