The Science Behind the Japanese Earthquake

Here are some links that help explain the science behind this morning's magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan and resulting tsunami:

A summary from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

Mountain Beltway explains the geology of the quake

The USGS has a collection of links about earthquakes in Japan

Scientific American has a nice guide to earthquakes and explanation of what causes a tsunami

Discovery News has video of the tsunami in Japan

The Pacific Tsunami Warning System listed warnings around the Pacific (and has good information about tsunamis and the warning system)

And here's last month's post on the factors that contribute to the destructiveness of an earthquake

And Smithsonian's story about historic earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Northwest

Please add your own links in the comments.

Sarah Zielinski | | READ MORE

Sarah Zielinski is an award-winning science writer and editor. She is a contributing writer in science for Smithsonian.com and blogs at Wild Things, which appears on Science News.