Seismo Blog

About Us

This blog is dedicated to spreading knowledge about earthquakes, seismology and seismic engineering among the public. Each entry is a vignette, telling a story about one small aspect of the exciting processes happening under our feet in the Earth's crust and upper mantle and about the study of these events. The blog entries do not follow an educational script or outline, but instead are driven by events. Despite their apparent randomness, when taken together, the entries provide a comprehensive picture of the restless Earth and the efforts to study all aspects of it. By disseminating this knowledge, we want to raise awareness of the hazards associated with earthquakes and thereby help everyone to be better prepared when the inevitable next one strikes.

The production of the Seismo-Blog is a team effort. Webmaster Jennifer Taggart is responsible for for the "back end" of the blog - posting blog entries and handling layout. Geophysicist and author Horst Rademacher writes most of the blog entries. Peggy Hellweg edits the blog, making sure the facts are correct and that grammar and writing style do not become too esoteric. As a longstanding former Operations Manager of the BSL, Peggy has the overall responsibility for the blog.

Because the Seismo-Blog is part of BSL's outreach program, educators at all levels, journalists and members of the public-at-large are free to use the information contained in each blog entry. When doing so, please reference us as the source. However, many illustrations are contributed for one time use in the blog by UC Berkeley's staff and faculty, scientists from other institutions, scientific organizations and journals. They may be copyrighted. Before using the illustrations, please acquire the proper permissions from the respective sources.