A magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurred on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Sept. 6, leaving at least seven dead and damaging buildings and structures in the region, including a 1,650MW coal-fired thermal power plant that was taken offline.
A bill to help communities identify buildings at risk of failure in an earthquake is headed to the California Senate for a final vote; the Assembly approved it on May 31.
In the next 30 years, California has a 99.7% chance of a magnitude-6.7 or higher earthquake, and the Pacific Northwest has a 10% chance of a magnitude-8 to -9 mega-thrust Cascadia subduction-zone quake, says the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
