"Earthquake. Earthquake. Shaking to begin in ...15 seconds". The particular message preceded by a siren is going to warn people in a group of trial public and private institutions of an imminent earthquake. The specialized software, developed by the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, based in University of Washington, will be installed in their computers and is the first earthquake early warning system tested outside the research community in the region. 

With half a million dollars spent to adress direct flooding costs in the U.S. in 2012, flood risk evaluation is still hard to perform, since not all contributing factors are recognized, frequently leading to questionable river basin management decisions. A new study by UC Santa Barbara focuses on the basic principles of flood hazard analysis, indicating that not accounting for channel capacity may result into misleading estimates of the flood susceptibility levels also affecting flood insurance premiums calculation. 

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According to a recent study, the number of people living in flood susceptible regions has increased in the last 20 years, causing a significant rise of deaths and associated financial damage. The study was approved for publication in Geophysical Research Letters and was based on satellite nightlight images.

Destruction pictures like this could be avoided in the near future and casualties could be reduced or even eliminated with a new promising technology currently under development. A new project launched and coordinated by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), with the participation of terrain research experts will aim in the development of an Early Warning System (EWS) for landslides, identifying the most hazardous sites and reducing casualties. 

Last year's massive flooding in Colorado's Front Range affected a widespread area, destroyed roads and bridges, blocking access to residential areas for extended periods of time, and washed away homes. Based on a study conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder, the tweets sent during the flooding events played an important role in the preliminary reconnaissance of the infrastructure damage and helped geotechnical and structural engineers to more efficiently spend their time and efforts during their visit to the affected areas.