Over a year and a half on from the Great Eastern Japan Tsunami, and there are still boats lying overturned at the side of roads. Recovering from such a major national catastrophe is a slow process. We hope to be able learn from this tragedy and use it to lower vulnerability to future disasters, both in Japan and around the world’s coastlines. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake on the 11th March 2011 was ...[Read More]
Guest Blog: Earthquakes in the Steppes of Central Asia
Tim Middleton is a first year PhD student in the Department of Earth Science at Oxford University – studying active tectonics in central and eastern Asia. He has recently joined the GfGD National Committee as our Advocacy Development Officer. Here, Tim describes his experience of fieldwork in Kazakhstan and the importance of studying the landscape to assess the risk of future disasters. Tim ...[Read More]
Guilty: L’Aquila Earthquake Scientists Sentenced to 6 Years Imprisonment
As a young scientist undertaking research into natural hazards and disaster reduction, I found the decision yesterday to find a number of scientists guilty of manslaughter very worrying. The case against the scientists is centred on the L’Aquila earthquake of 2009 and argues that they were guilty of providing “inexact, incomplete and contradictory” information. There is helpful a ...[Read More]