Natural Disasters: The most earthquake-prone countries in the world

Earthquakes are a deadly danger in places where tectonic plates bump, slide, and cleave. Some countries have more to worry about than others.

Read more at
https://www.businessinsider.com/most-earthquake-prone-countries-in-the-world-2018-12

Turkey: a major Earthquake in the Istanbul area could kill at least 30.000 people say experts

Read more:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/expected-istanbul-earthquake-could-kill-up-to-30-000-people-expert-warns-135865

Dutch earthquakes: Oil giants facing more legal action

Oil giants Shell and Exxon Mobil are facing a new legal battle with residents of a province in the Netherlands.

Earthquakes, said to be caused by drilling for gas, have wrecked hundreds of homes.

The people of Groningen are demanding the government take more action to limit gas production.

Read more: Dutch earthquakes: Oil giants facing more legal action | Netherlands 2017 News | Al Jazeera

Earthquakes Europe: Series of quakes hit Macedonia capital causing panic

 A moderate 5.3-magnitude earthquake, preceded by two and followed by several tremors, struck the Macedonian capital Skopje on Sunday, causing panic but only minor damage, officials said.

Skopje was almost destroyed by a powerful quake in 1963 which killed around a thousand people.

Sunday's quake hit at 3:10 pm (1310 GMT), with the epicentre in the Skopje area, seismologists said, adding some 10 weaker tremors were later registered.

"In Skopje and surroundings some damages have been reported that occurred on older buildings," the country's seismological service said in a statement.

The quake was felt throughout the Balkan country, Dragana Cernic of the seismological service said earlier citing reports on minor damage, such as cracked walls and broken furniture.

However, some 60 panicked Skopje residents sought hospital treatment, some suffering broken limbs while trying to flee.

All but three were later discharged, hospital officials said.

Parts of Skopje were without power and some mobile phone providers were down.

Many residents said they were terrified.

Read more: Flash - Series of quakes hit Macedonia capital causing panic - France 24

USA : Controversial study claims 99.9 percent chance of major Los Angeles earthquake in 3 years

Angelenos live under constant threat of a major earthquake, but a controversial new study from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory puts a number on that threat. The scientific paper claims there is a 99.9 percent chance of an earthquake between magnitude 5 and 6.3 in less than three years.

The study was published earlier this month by the American Geophysical Union's Earth and Space Science journal. The bold claim has taken many in the seismic community by surprise.

Lead author, Andrea Donnellan of JPL, said this study used GPS and airborne radar data to look at land deformation caused by last year's 5.1 La Habra earthquake. Her team determined that, based on the surface changes, there is still a fair amount of pent-up seismic energy in the region that needs to be released.

“It’s almost like using the surface of the Earth as an instrument to understand what is going on deeper," she explained.
That energy could spawn shaking associated with a magnitude 5 or 6 temblor, she added, but that energy could crop up on any number of faults within a 100-kilometer range of last year's quake.

This sort of prediction is quite common. What isn't common is claiming a 99.9 percent chance of such a quake in a window of time as small as three years.

Read more: Controversial study claims 99.9 percent chance of major Los Angeles earthquake in 3 years | 89.3 KPCC