Scientists underestimated potential for Tohoku quake
The massive Tohoku, Japan, earthquake in 2011 and Sumatra-Andaman superquake in 2004 stunned scientists because neither region was thought to be capable of producing a megathrust earthquake with a magnitude exceeding 8.4. Now earthquake scientists are going back to the proverbial drawing board and admitting that existing predictive models looking at maximum earthquake size are no longer valid. Read more
German-Japanese Expedition Uncovers the Traces of the Tohoku Earthquake
One year ago, on March 11, 2011, a devastating earthquake struck off the north-eastern shore of Honshu. The Tohoku quake and the subsequent Tsunami killed more than 15,000 people. Now, one year later, German and Japanese scientists are setting out on an expedition with the German research vessel SONNE. From March 8 to April 6 they will investigate the traces that the earthquake left behind at the sea floor. Diving vehicles and other state-of-the-art marine technologies will be used in water depths up to 7,000 metres. Read more