Carbon dioxide gas bubbles up from deep fissures underground to create geothermal mudpots, or mud volcanoes, over California's San Andreas Fault in January 2010. After the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti several days earlier, scientists fear that a record-breaking earthquake may initiate from this spot at any time.
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Brad Aagaard, a research geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, looks at illustrations of how a high-magnitude earthquake on the San Andreas Fault in California could cause devastation across the southern part of the state.
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The devastating January 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, left more than 200,000 people dead and around 1.5 million homeless. It will take years for the country to rebuild. On the next page, you'll see the output of sophisticated earthquake monitoring equipment.
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This representative of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency shows a seismograph image of a 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Indonesia in 2007. The earthquake was followed by several aftershocks, but luckily, it caused only minimal damage.
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John Taber, of the Museum of Natural History, shows off a chart on earthquake activity at the facility's 2004 opening of its earthquake monitoring station. The exhibit features a three-drum seismograph that constantly monitors shaking ground in various locations around the world.
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This nighttime photograph of the aurora borealis was shot as the International Space Station flew over the American Midwest. One of the subjects studied by geophysicists is the way the Earth's magnetosphere interacts with solar phenomena. This interaction is what causes the lights of the aurora.
Image Credit: NASA
This illustration depicts the magnetic field generated by the Earth's iron core deflecting solar winds, which are rivers of charged particles emitted by the sun. The interaction of these charged particles with the gases in our upper atmosphere causes the colors we see in the night sky.
Image Credit: Image courtesy NASA
A color map of the world at the Museum of Natural History's earthquake monitoring station shows real-time seismic activity. The exhibit emphasizes the importance of monitoring earthquakes on a daily basis.
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This seismograph image depicts the tremors caused by a 4.3-magnitude earthquake in the English Channel in April 2007. The earthquake caused structural damage to local buildings.
Image Credit: British Geological Survey/Getty Images
This illustration depicts a U.S. Geological Survey project that investigates the hydrogeologic framework along the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Colorado. The project is designed in part to provide information on seismic and landslide hazards in the area.
Image Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Geophysicists use gravimeters, like this FG5 Absolute Gravimeter, to measure the local gravitational field of the Earth. Gravimeters measure even the smallest changes in the Earth's gravity and are helpful in geophysical surveys and research.
Image Credit: NOAA
To learn more about the Earth's shifting plates and geological landscape, geophysicists study mountain ranges, such as the High Sierras in Yosemite, Calif. Some mountains are the work of volcanic activity, while others are caused by the erosion of glaciers or bracing pressure at the edges of tectonic plates.
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In 2004, scientists monitored Mount Saint Helens in Washington as seismic activity slowed and steam rose from the crater. By 2008, though, the risk of a major eruption had subsided. Seismic activity had also slowed in the days leading up to the volcano's famous eruption in 1980.
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Dr. Stuart Weinstein, a geophysicist at the National Weather Service Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, was on duty at the Hawaii station in 2004 when the devastating tidal waves struck Southeast Asia and India.
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Days after the 2004 tsunami, geophysicist Dr. Charles McCreery monitored computer tracking systems at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center that searched for tsunami activity in the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami was caused by a massive earthquake near Indonesia.
Image Credit: Marco Garcia/Getty Images
More than 50,000 people were killed by the 2004 tsunami. In Banda Aceh, Indonesia, the government restricted the movement of foreigners by sending out troops to patrol the streets. The safety of surviving Indonesians was a major concern as they struggled with the devastation around them.
Image Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
For people living in areas susceptible to tsunami activity, even the slightest ability to predict and prepare for these events is crucial. A 9.0-magnitude undersea earthquake caused a tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011. This photo, taken aboard an SH-60B helicopter from Naval Air Facility Atsugi, shows just some of the devastation the day after the earthquake.
Image Credit: U.S. Navy via Getty Images
Firefighters from the Osaka Prefecture answer the call for emergency workers. In a very unfortunate development to the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan, there were several nuclear accidents in addition to the damages the tsunami itself caused. The fear of radiation effects forced evacuations of the affected areas.
Image Credit: Patrick Fuller/Japanese Red Cross/IFRC via Getty Images
Volcano formation is the result of an eruption of underground gases and magma at a hot spot at a particular point on the earth. A flow of molten mineral that escapes the ground is known as lava, which eventually cools, hardens and produces the surface rock of the same name.
Image Credit: Photo courtesy USGS
Geophysicists track storms to learn more about the geological movements of the earth. This September 2010 storm off the coast of New England caused 85-mile-per hour winds, but luckily, it weakened as it approached the shore.
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Researchers with the U.S. Geological Survey used a subbottom-profiling system to gather high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles off the coast of California in 2009. Part of the Earthquake and Tsunami Hazards Project, the study assessed recent fault motion and the threat of earthquakes and tsunamis in the area.
Image Credit: U.S. Geological Survey
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) DART program was designed to improve systems for early detection and real-time reporting of tsunamis. Here, the crew of one of NOAA's ships deploys a DART buoy in the North Pacific Ocean. DART buoys are attached to bottom pressure recorders anchored to the seafloor, which send temperature and pressure information to the surface.
Image Credit: NOAA
Magnetometers are important geophysical tools that measure the strength and direction of the Earth's magnetic field. This magnetometer is being towed behind the stern of a boat from the Virginia Capes Archaeological Society.
Image Credit: NOAA
As part of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957-58, the U.S. Navy built McMurdo Station in Antarctica, where 93 researchers spent the winter. IGY involved nearly 10,000 scientists from 66 countries studying the geophysics of earth.
Image Credit: U.S. Navy/National Science Foundation
McMurdo Station in Antarctica was one of seven stations that the U.S. Navy constructed as part of the International Geophysical Year. Today, McMurdo Station is a modern, functioning scientific hub.
Image Credit: U.S. Navy/National Science Foundation
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