richter scale

Texas Tech geophysicist Hua-wei Zhou touched down in Beijing just 40 minutes before the devastating Sichuan province earthquake struck. He and his colleagues were planning to embark on a project to set up 60 seismometers designed to listen for mini-quakes at the Three Gorges reservoir.

Some residents of Reno, Nevada, are leaving their homes after two months of scattered earthquakes. An earthquake that registered 4.7 on the Richter Scale hit Friday night - the strongest in a string of shakes that started way back at the end of February. But that wasn't all: More than 150 aftershocks rumbled through the region over the weekend.

The massive earthquake that struck just off Peru's coast Wednesday night has killed at least 510 people, and scientists say that powerful aftershocks could continue for weeks. The initial quake, which registered 8.0 on the Richter Scale, has given way to smaller but still forceful aftereffects in the magnitude-6 range.

The epicenter was 95 miles from Lima - if it had occurred any closer it surely would have taken more lives in the city of millions - but it has still left a huge section of the country in chaos. The port city of Pisco bore the brunt of the damage. At last count, 300 were killed there. Nearby, the quake knocked down a wall in a prison, allowing 680 prisoners to escape, only 29 of whom have been recaptured. The details in this New York Times story are absolutely frightening.—Gregory Mone

Midwesterners beware: Although you’re assailed each year by voracious tornadoes, crop-flattening hailstorms and searing heat waves, it might be wise to start worrying about what’s going on below the surface. But earthquakes are just for Californians, right?


Wrong.