Discovery News > Earth News > Wide Angle: Seismic Week 2009

Wide Angle: Seismic Week 2009

There are few things that upset our sense of stability more thoroughly than an earthquake. After eons of just shivering in our boots, sandals and bare feet, however, we now know that quakes have been trying to tell us a whole lot about the Earth. They are, in fact, packed with information. In recognition of this and the annual meeting of the Seismological Society of America, we're offering up a seismic bill of fare in this Wide Angle.

Downtown Anchorage was in ruins after the 1964 quake.

America's Greatest Earthquake

The greatest earthquake in American history is recounted and explained: Alaska 1964.

Solid Earth Tide Triggers Quakes

If earthquakes only happened the moment a fault reached a critical "breaking point" level of stress, they would always occur right as the moon exerts its maximum tidal force on the fault -- earthquake high tide.

Powerful Quake Shatters Medieval Italian City

The last major quake to hit central Italy was a 5.4-magnitude temblor that struck the south-central Molise region on Oct. 31, 2002, killing 28 people.