Latest Hazard analysis Stories

HONOLULU (AP) -- Planting trees and bushy plants between buildings and the ocean helped to lessen the impact of the waves when the Dec. 26 killer tsunami struck in the Maldives Islands, University of Hawaii researchers said. Planting pandanus (hala) trees and plants such as hibiscus, which are less intrusive than mangrove, is among the observations contained in a study by Barbara Keating and Charles Helsley published in the online "Science of Tsunami Hazards" journal. "They do...

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A 3.5 magnitude earthquake jolted thecity of Yakima in south central Washington state on Wednesday,the U.S. Geological Survey said. The earthquake happened at 7:37 a.m. (1437 GMT) 6 milesbelow the ground in Yakima, located 105 miles southeast ofSeattle, according to a report by the Pacific NorthwestSeismographic Network, a local lab that works with the U.S.Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage. A series of stronger quakes jolted California farther...