Illustrative: wavefronts spreading from a source across a surface, seismic P and S fronts, a tsunami shoaling, or interfering sources

Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium · Course catalogue · Hazards, Disasters and Resilience

Hazard Science

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides, taught twice over: as the working methods of the field and as its frontier since 2024, with labs on the Academy's tools, open data and the Nexus Standards.

Core course Frontier course

The discipline

01Core course · L2 Intermediate

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides: foundations and practice

This area covers geophysical hazards: earthquakes and ground shaking, tsunamis, volcanic activity, landslides and other mass movement and ground subsidence, with an introduction to space weather, which hazard classifications group with extraterrestrial hazards.

Level
L2 Intermediate
Study time
about 24 hours (planning estimate)
Status
In authoring
Prerequisites
An L1 course in the area, or an entry review

Why now

Faster solar storm warnings give grid, satellite, navigation and aviation operators more lead time to protect assets during geomagnetic storms. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring, 10 June 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Define magnitude and intensity and the other key terms of the discipline and use them correctly in a written case
  2. Explain earthquake source, shaking and intensity and seismic hazard assessment with a worked example and its source
  3. Apply the discipline's method to a documented case and explain each result with its source
  4. Analyse a named case against tsunami generation and warning, stating evidence, date and limits

Modules

  1. Earthquake source, shaking and intensity
    • Earthquake source, shaking and intensity
    • Seismic hazard assessment
    • Tsunami generation and warning
  2. Volcanic hazards and monitoring
    • Volcanic hazards and monitoring
    • Landslides and debris flows
    • Ground subsidence
  3. Space weather
    • Space weather
    • Secondary and cascading geohazards
    • Building codes and seismic retrofit
  4. Lab: the discipline's method
    • An earthquake catalogue gives the rate of events by magnitude; a recurrence law extends it to the rare large ones; a Poisson assumption turns a rate into a chance in a stated period; a ground-motion model turns the magnitude at a distance into acceleration; the code fixes which exceedance chance the building must survive.
    • Work the method through a documented case and explain each result
    • Read the method's sources and stated values

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X2 Disaster risk reduction and crisis management
  • NRS-H17 Hazard family: Fault shaking and rupture
  • NRS-H18 Hazard family: Eruption products and unrest
  • NRS-H19 Hazard family: Slope failure and mass movement
  • NRS-H20 Hazard family: Ground deformation and subsidence
  • NRS-H21 Hazard family: Erosion and sediment movement
  • NRS-H63 Hazard family: Seabed and deep-sea hazards
  • NRS-M2 Method fabric: Hazard science

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action
  • NRS-C8 Evidence, uncertainty and provenance

Assessment

  • 40%Lab recordWork the discipline's method through a documented case and explain each result with its source and date
  • 40%Case memoApply the discipline's methods to a named place or organisation, stating evidence and limits
  • 20%Key terms checkShort answers on the key terms, marked against the definitions

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Intermediate, 4 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

References

  1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring, 10 June 2026
  2. Cornell, Engineering seismic risk analysis, 1968
  3. Gutenberg and Richter, Frequency of earthquakes in California, 1944
  4. Stein, Geller and Liu, Why earthquake hazard maps often fail and what to do about it, 2012
02Live map

Hazards now in Türkiye

Flood water, active fires, heavy rain and smoke, beside where people live, over Türkiye.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

Hazards now

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

Hazards now, framed on Türkiye.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date. They are indicators, not assessments of any place.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · NASA EONET · U.S. Geological SurveySources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • GPM IMERG precipitation, NASA Precipitation Processing System; distributed by the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). doi:10.7927/H49C6VHW. CC BY 4.0
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). Cite as: NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (2019). ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003. doi:10.5067/ASTER/ASTGTM.003. NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live events: NASA Earth Observatory Natural Event Tracker (EONET); events are indicative and keep their original source links.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • Live: U.S. Geological Survey Events are indicative, not authority warnings.
  • NASA GIBS: We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
  • River discharge forecast, 30 days with range (GloFAS via Open-Meteo): Contains modified Copernicus Emergency Management Service information 2026; not a flood warning.
  • Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
  • Optional layers (20 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • Precipitation rate, daily mean: GPM IMERG, NASA GES DISC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Aerosol optical depth, daily: VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static

03How learning runs

How learning runs, as a process you can run

Select a scenario and press Play: course, pathway, practice, faculty, cells and record.

04What is changing

Frontier course · L3 advanced, programme courses and standards

Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides: frontier methods

The methods, data, tools and studies that changed earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides between 2024 and 2026, taught by reproducing them on open data.

Level
L3 Advanced
Study time
about 28 hours (planning estimate)
Status
Planned
Prerequisites
Earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides: foundations and practice; Working knowledge of a scripting language (Python or R) for the labs

Why now

Faster solar storm warnings give grid, satellite, navigation and aviation operators more lead time to protect assets during geomagnetic storms. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring, 10 June 2026

Learning outcomes

  1. Explain what changed in earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and landslides since 2024 and cite the studies, data or rules behind each change
  2. Reproduce NOAA's SOLAR-1 becomes first dedicated operational space weather satellite on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  3. Evaluate a 2024 to 2026 study: its question, data, method, limits and what it changes for practice
  4. Design an analysis that combines a frontier method with the faculty's instruments, and justify each choice

Modules

  1. NOAA's SOLAR-1 becomes first dedicated operational space weather satellite
    • Launched in September 2025 as SWFO-L1 and renamed SOLAR-1, the satellite reached operations at the Sun-Earth L1 point, delivering coronal mass ejection imagery to forecasters within 30 minutes, versus up to eight hours from SOHO.
    • Faster solar storm warnings give grid, satellite, navigation and aviation operators more lead time to protect assets during geomagnetic storms.
    • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 10 June 2026
  2. M8.8 Kamchatka earthquake triggers Pacific-wide tsunami warnings
    • The M8.8 earthquake off Kamchatka on 29 July 2025, tied for sixth largest instrumentally recorded, followed a ten-day foreshock sequence and triggered Pacific-wide tsunami watches and warnings; USGS issued a probabilistic aftershock forecast within days.
    • It tested basin-wide tsunami warning chains and showed how operational aftershock forecasts can inform response and reoccupation decisions after great earthquakes.
    • U.S. Geological Survey, 31 July 2025
  3. Birch Glacier collapse buries Blatten after precautionary evacuation
    • On 28 May 2025 the Birch Glacier collapsed onto the Swiss village of Blatten after rockfalls loaded it with debris.
    • A documented case where monitoring-led evacuation worked for a rapid cascading mountain hazard, while showing such collapses remain hard to predict precisely.
    • ETH Zurich, 4 June 2025
  4. M7.7 Mandalay earthquake ruptures about 460 km of the Sagaing Fault
    • The shallow M7.7 earthquake near Mandalay on 28 March 2025 produced a red PAGER alert, likely extensive liquefaction and landslides, and preliminary mapping of a surface rupture about 460 km long; shaking was felt in Bangkok.
    • Exceptionally long strike-slip ruptures challenge hazard models that cap rupture length, with consequences for distant cities and building code assumptions.
    • U.S. Geological Survey, 3 April 2025
  5. Reproduction lab
    • Extend the discipline's method with one frontier method and compare its results
    • State the uncertainty and the limits of the result
    • Peer review against a shared checklist
  6. Technology that helps and the risks it carries
    • Drones, Earth observation, machine learning forecasting and cell broadcast warnings.
    • Telecom and positioning failure, and AI-generated misinformation in a crisis.

Labs with Academy tools

Nexus Standards

Teaches

  • NRS-X2 Disaster risk reduction and crisis management
  • NRS-H17 Hazard family: Fault shaking and rupture
  • NRS-H18 Hazard family: Eruption products and unrest
  • NRS-H19 Hazard family: Slope failure and mass movement
  • NRS-H20 Hazard family: Ground deformation and subsidence
  • NRS-H21 Hazard family: Erosion and sediment movement
  • NRS-H63 Hazard family: Seabed and deep-sea hazards
  • NRS-M2 Method fabric: Hazard science

Relies on

  • NS-1 The UNI and the artefact catalogue
  • NS-16 UNI application profile (how articles, documents, code, data, APIs and interfaces carry the UNI)
  • NRS-C1 Risk vocabulary and ontology
  • NRS-C2 Risk assessment method
  • NRS-C3 Hazard, exposure, vulnerability and capacity data
  • NRS-C4 Risk data model, identifiers and exchange
  • NRS-C7 Early warning, triggers and anticipatory action
  • NRS-C8 Evidence, uncertainty and provenance

Assessment

  • 50%Method reproductionReproduce one frontier method on open data and state the uncertainty of the result
  • 30%Study reviewA critical review of a 2024 to 2026 study: question, data, method, limits, what it changes
  • 20%Peer reviewReview two other learners' reproductions against a shared checklist

Delivery

  • Self-paced online, with the labs in the browser
  • Cohort study over six to eight weeks, with a weekly lab review
  • Co-delivered with a partner institution, inside its own courses

Partner on this course

  • Co-teach a module and bring a current case from your work
  • Host a cohort for your learners, with your own schedule and review
  • Contribute a lab: a dataset your institution publishes openly, or a model
  • Review the course content and its references before it opens
  • Translate the course and adapt its cases to your region

How institutions and experts take part

In the Academy LMS

Course on the learning platform
Expert, 6 topics
Cohort group
A community group for each cohort of learners
Achievement
Recorded on completion of the assessed work

References

  1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA's SOLAR-1 enters new era of space weather monitoring, 10 June 2026
  2. U.S. Geological Survey, USGS releases aftershock forecast for M8.8 Russian Kamchatka Peninsula Earthquake, 31 July 2025
  3. ETH Zurich, What ETH Zurich glacier researchers know about the collapse of the Birch Glacier, 4 June 2025
  4. U.S. Geological Survey, M7.7 Mandalay, Burma (Myanmar) Earthquake, 3 April 2025
  5. Cornell, Engineering seismic risk analysis, 1968
  6. Gutenberg and Richter, Frequency of earthquakes in California, 1944
  7. Stein, Geller and Liu, Why earthquake hazard maps often fail and what to do about it, 2012
05Take part

Take part in the work

Start from who you are.

06Questions

Questions, answers and key terms

Is the course free?
Yes. Every course and learning material of Risk Academy, led by the Nexus Consortium, is free to study, self-paced or with a cohort. Ordinary participation has no fee; paid work, internships and fellowships are separate arrangements.
What does completing a course give me?
A completion record: the course, its version, the date and what was assessed, private by default and shared by you. It stacks into discipline, department and programme achievements. A record states what was studied and assessed and does not certify competence; it is not a licence, a professional title or an employment status.
Where do the data and the places come from?
Every faculty teaches on a twin of a real place built from open data; each layer carries its provider, licence and date, and every result on the Academy states its source. Maps and figures are indicators for teaching, never an assessment of a place.
How do I take part beyond the course?
Form a competence cell of three to seven people, study a shared pathway, take a supervised assignment in the National Working Groups, or bring a cohort from your institution. For organisations.

Key terms

Term

Magnitude and intensity

Magnitude measures the size of an earthquake at its source, related to the energy it releases; intensity describes the shaking and damage at a place.

Term

Peak ground acceleration

The largest ground acceleration recorded or expected at a site during shaking.

Term

Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis

A method that combines all possible earthquakes to estimate the probability of exceeding a shaking level.

Term

Tsunami travel time

The time a tsunami takes to reach a coast from its source, which sets the warning window.

ReportsContribute

Contribute evidence from this page.

Reports is the Consortium's quarterly publication. What you know about this subject can become evidence, a case or a correction in the next edition, credited to you and published under CC BY 4.0 where it is your own work.

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