The world's largest earthquake simulator is an 800-ton shake table facility in Miki, Japan, which was built to test the resilience of structures after the 1995 Kobe earthquake killed over 6,000 people.

Techniques to earthquake-proof a building include the use of counterweights, such as a massive column or pendulum, to dampen the impact of seismic activity and isolating a building's structure from its base.

Rather than predicting them in advance, earthquake early warning systems detect tremors moments after they begin and send notifications that reach users before the seismic activity does.

Infrastructure built to limit tsunami damage includes channels to divert water, floodgates, and seawalls, such as the approximately 400-kilometer (249-mile) wall built in Japan after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

What makes the Earth shake?

Researchers are demystifying the science of earthquakes—from their origins deep within the Earth to the scales that measure their strength. This article, which was part of a series of weekly reports from Cornell University, serves as a guide to...

Visualize the power and frequency of earthquakes across the moment magnitude scale, where a whole number increase corresponds to about 32 times more energy released.

The frequency of earthquakes and the distribution of their magnitudes have not changed significantly over long-term records, but technological improvements have enabled scientists to detect more of them as they occur.

View a map of the world's major earthquakes from 1956 to 2022, which can be used to identify tectonic plate boundaries.

Earthquakes of identical magnitudes are unlikely to cause equal damage because magnitude only measures energy released, and earthquake severity depends on environmental factors, such as local architecture and geological conditions.

View the 10 largest earthquakes ever recorded as of 2025, led by a 1960 magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile, which left about 2 million people unhoused.

A magnitude 25 earthquake would release enough energy to destroy the sun, while a particle of dust drifting onto a table would have a magnitude of about -15.

The tallest tsunami in recorded history was 524 meters (1,720 feet) high—taller than the Empire State Building—and occurred in Lituya Bay, Alaska, in 1958 after an earthquake dislodged a rockface into the water.

Although earthquakes cause about 80% of tsunamis, almost all earthquakes lack sufficient energy to cause the sudden shift in the ocean floor needed to substantially displace enormous volumes of water.

Micro-seismic activity has been produced from people cheering or dancing at sporting events, concerts, and other large gatherings, but scientists can easily distinguish these vibrations from natural earthquakes using seismometers.

Simulate geological activity at plate boundaries using virtual planetary models.

Because the Richter scale was calibrated to crustal and mantle properties in Southern California, seismologists have instead used the moment magnitude scale to quantify earthquakes since the 1970s.

View the past month of earthquakes worldwide with this digital globe, which displays data from the US Geological Survey.

Some earthquakes can produce smaller tremors called boomerang earthquakes, which travel in the opposite direction and ripple back to the original earthquake's source.

Scientists determine earthquake locations by comparing how long it takes different seismic waves to be detected at three stations around the world, from which an origin, or hypocenter, can be triangulated.

Reported earthquake magnitudes often change because initial values are based on limited information, whereas revised magnitudes account for factors such as fault size, rupture duration, and seismic wave behavior.

Engineering tall structures requires managing wind, earthquakes, and other destabilizing factors

Reinforced concrete, energy dampers, braced frames, flexible structures, and aerodynamic decks were among the methods implemented when building structures such as the Shanghai Tower, the Texas Super Skyscraper, and the South Rangitīkei Viaduct.

If, not when: An earthquake is destined to destroy the Pacific Northwest.

When the Cascadia fault line ruptures, it could be North America’s worst natural disaster in recorded history. Read a deep dive into the history of the region and the potential impact of the eventual seismic boom.

Explore an interactive map of volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis from 2150 BCE to the present.

Why Turkey's earthquakes were so deadly

The death toll from February 2023 has reached the tens of thousands, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters of the century. The intense seismic activity combined with poor and unregulated construction in many areas to drive fatalities....

How the Turkish earthquake created a 100-mile rupture

A February 2023 earthquake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria destroying entire blocks, with more than 50,000 people killed. A scientific analysis revealed a fault line with a 100-mile-long rupture, where separate tectonic plates moved more than...

A breakdown of the Detonation Research Test Facility, which features a 500-foot explosion tube

Located at Texas A&M University, DRTF is the largest explosions lab in the world as of 2026 and features a steel-and-concrete structure that scientists use to initiate and track explosions with split-second precision. Among the facility's goals are studying the large industrial explosions, hypersonic flight, and supernovae.

NASA's GUARDIAN software uses changes in satellite navigation signals and AI-powered detection algorithms to anticipate tsunamis and provide real-time alerts to at-risk communities before the phenomena are detected by tidal sensors.

Wave tanks can be used to create and study the impacts of tsunamis by building tension in an underwater object before allowing it to slip and rapidly displace water.

Thunderquakes—seismic waves created when lightning strikes the ground—have enabled scientists to image underground environments near Earth's surface by detecting vibrations along subterranean fiber-optic cables.

The Ring of Fire, which spans 40,000 kilometers (24,900 miles) around the Pacific Ocean, is the most geologically active region on Earth.

Predicting earthquakes is difficult because different rock types can withstand different amounts of stress before breaking and melt at different temperatures within Earth's interior, introducing uncertainty into predictive models.

Machu Picchu, 101

Machu Picchu was built right on top of two intersecting fault lines, which makes it even more baffling how its temples and terraces have survived for more than 500 years—especially since no mortar was used to hold the precisely cut stones together. As this three-minute NatGeo video explains, this ingenious construction method allows the stones to bounce in place when earthquakes hit, shaking and rattling but rarely collapsing.

Explore an interactive time-lapse of reported tsunami events since 1850, with identified cause, recorded observations, known deaths, and other information available for each.

NUKEMAP lets you model the effects of a nuclear detonation anywhere on Earth

The tool was built by Alex Wellerstein, a historian of nuclear technology at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. NUKEMAP uses declassified weapons data to calculate blast radius, thermal radiation, fallout patterns, and estimated casualties for any nuclear device dropped on any city. More than 50 million people have used it since its 2012 launch.

Explore the effects of tornadoes of different scales

In this simulation, users can adjust the tornado's diameter and rotation speed to see its impact as it passes through a series of trees and a one-story home.

Tectonic earthquakes are caused by tectonic plates sliding past one another at fault zones, deforming rock through friction as energy builds like a stretched rubber band.

Explore the decommissioning work at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

This virtual tour explores the nuclear disaster site, which resulted from a magnitude 9.1 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, and the various processes underway to remove debris, fuel, and contaminated water.

Longer-duration space missions may amplify astronaut motion sickness

NASA is using the Kraken, a 50-foot-long, 100-ton US Navy research device, to simulate space motion sickness and vertigo and test possible recovery strategies, including testing out different, specific head movements. The Kraken, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, can rotate participants at exposures of up to 3G.

View maps of seafloor topography, earthquakes, and volcanic activity, which scientists use to create outlines of Earth's tectonic plates.

Scientists monitor volcanoes with a suitcase-sized observatory called SKATE

Short for Setup for the Kinematic Acquisition of Explosive Eruptions, the device is left to record heat, sound and visual data while volcanologists remain at a safe distance. The $58,000 tool is the successor to the FAMoUS (Fast Multiparametric Setup) prototype.

The construction of LIGO needed to compensate for Earth's curvature

Across the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) arms, the height of Earth's surface falls by almost a meter, preventing the lasers traveling within the arms from meeting the mirror at the end of each. Concrete slabs built beneath the arms help keep them level and provide structural support against seismic vibrations.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

The earliest earthquake-detection device—the seismoscope—was invented in China in 132 CE and featured eight ball-wielding dragons facing different directions.

Enhanced geothermal power systems can trigger earthquakes by injecting fluid into rock, increasing subterranean pressure.

Rather than being triggered by a massive displacement of water from a geological event, meteotsunamis are caused by rapid changes in air pressure from fast-moving weather systems.

The San Andreas Fault is an example of tectonic plates sliding past each other

The transform boundary divides the opposing movements of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, which create shear zones that distort and fracture rock. These movements produce shallow earthquakes as rocks are gradually displaced hundreds of miles.

Explore how global teams coordinated by the UN's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group find and rescue survivors of large-scale earthquakes, from preliminary surveys to recovering bodies.

Watch a time-lapse of the installation of the New Safe Confinement structure

The world's largest movable metal structure was built to contain the radioactive material from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which had previously been confined within a structure built to last no more than 30 years. The new structure was slowly rolled along rails over the course of two weeks.

As of 2025, the world's largest tropical cyclone spanned half the continental US

Typhoon Tip traveled across the western Pacific Ocean in 1979, achieving winds of 300 kilometers per hour. Though it weakened significantly before making landfall in Japan, its rainfall produced over 600 mudslides and killed 42 people.

Should you get earthquake insurance?

Standard home insurance doesn’t typically cover earthquakes. Even if you don't live in a state that's known for its earthquakes like California, it might be worth considering—although it's worth noting that only 13% of California residents have earthquake insurance. Learn more about earthquake insurance in this article.

Portugal's 1775 earthquake is considered Europe's first modern natural disaster.