Earth Observatory of Singapore

Spotlight: Myanmar

A View from the Trenches: The 2017 Earthquake Geology Training and Field Camp in Myanmar and Thailand

"One of the things that first made me interested in geology was hearing about the number of places that geologists travel to for work." Tim Dawson, a Senior Engineering Geologist at California Geological Survey, reflects on the perks of being a geologist, and describes his most recent adventure in the trenches in northern Myanmar and Thailand during an earthquake geology...

Is Mount Sinabung's Behaviour Changing?

Sinabung volcano in Sumatra, Indonesia, has been almost continuously erupting in the last three years. It has been on the highest alert level since 2013.

Covered in Golden Dust: Learning to Survey Active Faults in Myanmar

In February 2017, scientists from the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS) led an earthquake geology training camp in Myanmar and Thailand. The course was designed to allow scientists to share their knowledge about active fault trenching and paleoseismology with geology students who may not have had prior field experience.

Mentawai Gap–Tsunami Earthquake Risk Assessment (MEGA-TERA)

The Mentawai Gap–Tsunami Earthquake Risk Assessment is a joint project between Schmidt Ocean Institute, the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.

How Bad Will the Haze Be in Singapore This Year?

How bad will the haze be in Singapore this year? Why was it so bad in 2013 and 2015? Channel NewsAsia brings together two experts to find out more.

Nepal Seismotectonics

One major issue addressed here is to know whether the recent great earthquakes on the MFT ruptured the surface or not. EOS confirmed with 14C dating that the rupture of the 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake (Mw 8.2) reached the surface. It is a major breakthrough as the hitherto entrenched consensus had been that the 20th century catastrophic events along the Himalayan Frontal Thrust were blind.

Myanmar Seismology

Myanmar, located on the eastern margin of the ongoing Indo-Eurasian collision system, has experienced a complex tectonic history. The region is characterized by the southward extrusion of the Shan-Thai plateau to the east and the highly oblique subduction of the India plate to the west. A large portion of the plate conversion is partitioned onto the nearly N-S-oriented Sagaing Fault (SF) running through the country. Due to the active tectonics in the region, Myanmar is threatened by a high level of seismic hazard.

What You Should Know About Tsunamis

Today is World Tsunami Awareness Day. It is a timely opportunity to create greater global awareness about tsunamis as a geological hazard.

Unraveling Myanmar’s Underground Structure to Better Prepare for Future Geohazards

Lying at the junction of several tectonic plates, Myanmar is exposed to geohazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. To help prepare for these hazards, scientists produce hazard assessments using their understanding of the region’s geology and tectonic activity. They seek to answer questions such as: how do the tectonic plates interact with each other, how deep the magma is...

Folklore and Farmers: The Role of Non-Scientists in Active Fault Research in Myanmar and Thailand

“We scientists usually think we know everything,” said Dr Wang Yu, a Research Fellow at the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), “but when we go into the field, we start to realise that actually farmers have most of the important knowledge about the land, and that we are just visitors with lots to learn.”