Recent large earthquakes from a geophysical perspective

Abstract

In recent times our society has been disturbed by the effect of various earthquakes (Haiti, Chile, New Zealand, and Japan). These are not new phenomena, the Earth has been and will be subjected to their action, but large earthquakes are not frequent or occur elsewhere. There are regions of the Earth more likely than others to be affected by them. In addition, an adequately society can be prepared to mitigate the risk. Knowing the hazard of each area is essential in order to reduce the effect of earthquakes, which implies the thorough study of their features and of areas in which they occur. This article reviews the recent major earthquakes from a geophysical perspective and analyzes the characteristics and the specific geological context in which they occur. For this analysis, the records of earthquakes obtained at LEGEF stations, which can be found on our website (http://sismic2.iec.cat) have been used.