Natural Disasters

Damage from the 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake.

Since 1900, There Have Been Six Earthquakes Greater Than Magnitude 8 in Alaska

Alaska is no stranger to huge earthquakes

Floodwaters gushing through a dam on the Yellow River.

Humans Have Been Messing With China's Yellow River for 3,000 Years

When humans try to tame nature things rarely go according to plan

Double Tornadoes Aren't Particularly Rare, But Yesterday's Was Remarkable

Double, triple, quad and quintuple tornadoes are more common than you'd think

Residents walk near a destroyed house after a landslide in Teresopolis January 15, 2011.

Deadly Flooding Hits Brazil Two Days Before World Cup Begins

Flooding in southeastern Brazil has killed at least nine

Six Hikers Are Missing in Mt. Rainier's Worst Climbing Accident Since 1981

The climbers are still missing, but authorities suspect they were buried by an avalanche

A view looking down Pine Street in the wake of the 1906 Earthquake.

What's Worse Than One, Big Earthquake? A String of Slightly Smaller Ones

Historical earthquake activity shows that California may not just be set for one big earthquake, but a cluster of smaller shakers

The Devastation in Moore, Oklahoma, One Year Later

These side-by-side satellite photos show how Moore, Okla., is rebuilding

Hurricane Felix off Grand Cayman Island, September 3, 2007.

The Tropics are Moving, And They’re Bringing Their Cyclones With Them

Over the past 30 years hurricanes have been hitting their peak intensities nearer to the poles

Waves breaking on a coral reef in Hawaii.

Coral Reefs Absorb 97 Percent of the Energy From Waves Headed Toward Shore

This finding applies to reefs around the world

A map of earthquake activity around the U.S. from 2009 to 2012. Black dots are earthquakes above magnitude 3.0, with bigger circles for bigger earthquakes.

Government Says Oil and Gas Development Have Raised Risk of Earthquakes in Oklahoma

Oklahoma's recent surge in earthquake activity due in part to wastewater injection

Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes, but only the small, feathered variety survived.

Ancient Birds Avoided Mass Extinction By Shrinking

The shrinkage process was well underway before an asteroid brought doom to the dinosaurs 66 million years ago

An Avalanche on Mount Everest Made This the Deadliest Day in the Mountain’s History

With at least 12 dead, today is worse than the day in 1996 when eight people were killed in a storm

Marijuana Grow Ops Are Drying Out California's Water Supply

Illegal marijuana grow ops use thousands of gallons of water a day

Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, by Simon de Myle

Ten Ancient Stories and the Geological Events That May Have Inspired Them

If you dig deep enough, say scientists, you can find some truth to legends and creation stories

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Watch How Tuesday's Tsunami Waves Moved From Chile All the Way to Australia

A computer model shows how the tsunami crossed the Pacific

Snow in the Sierra Nevadas, January 18, 2014.

California’s Snowpack is 68 Percent Below Normal, Threatening Another Dry Summer

California's snowpack is running low, a bad sign for a state plagued by drought

The projected tsunami propagation for last night's Chile earthquake.

It Is Now Technically Possible to Stop an Earthquake

Scientists have devised a way to reflect seismic waves

Concert Hall in L'Aquila, Italy

Take a Tour of Pritzker Winner Shigeru Ban's Paper Tube Structures

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has been awarded the Pritzker prize, one of architecture’s top prizes

Explore Every Tornado Across the United States Since 1980 Through This Interactive Map

See why they call it Tornado Alley, but don't be fooled into thinking a tornado can't happen in your own backyard

A Haitian woman collects peanuts in 2012.

California's Not the Only Place With a Drought, and Haitians are Faring Much, Much Worse

A string of disasters has made it hard for Haitians to weather the ongoing drought

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