Getting Through It

From normalizing risk to making patterns, people have dealt with the uncertainty of the pandemic in many ways. In this final episode of our three part series on randomness, Dr. Jones discusses our current relationship with randomness as we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From the early humans to the modern humans of today, we are wired to enjoy theorizing and finding patterns. In this second episode of our three part series on randomness, we go back in time to these early civilizations to explore the multi-thousand year relationship humans of all cultures have had with what will happen… and why!

Earthquakes are currently not predictable…and may never be! This episode is the first in a three part series on randomness, starting first with earthquakes. Dr. Jones builds the foundation for what randomness is and explains why we might have to accept the fact that earthquake distribution is random.

We have spent every week since the beginning of the podcast talking remotely at home about how to get through earthquakes, risks, natural disasters through the perspective of science. In this special episode celebrating 100 episodes of Getting Through It, join John and Dr. Jones in the field as they visit a fault and see this feature through the eyes of a geologist.

Plate tectonics controls things you didn’t know about! It impacts the formation of our atmosphere, our oceans, our continents, and our local geology. So natural hazards, including tornadoes and earthquakes, are connected to plate tectonics. In this episode, Dr. Jones explains why plate tectonics matters to you.

As we experience increased intensity, frequency, and geographic occurrence of natural disasters, the climate crisis can feel overwhelming, with dire headlines leading to further despair and inaction. While the answers aren’t black and white, Dr. Jones reacts to the latest calls for action, UN reports, and what it means to each of us.

 

Thirty years ago, April 22, 1992, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred under Joshua Tree National Park. It was also the closest we have ever gotten to a short-term earthquake prediction in California! Dr. Jones sets the scene for how this prediction was issued and what could have followed the Joshua Tree earthquake. 

This week marks the 116th anniversary of the great San Francisco Earthquake on April 18, 1906. It inspired many classic, yet inaccurate, Hollywood movies and many fears about earthquakes in California! In this episode, Dr. Jones explores how this quake from over a century ago is impacting us today as we plan for another big earthquake.

In this special episode, Dr. Jones and John answer questions from community and business leaders in a live webinar, hosted in collaboration with Together for LA. From lessons learned during the pandemic to recommended resources, Dr. Jones and John discuss how this information can actually be used in communities to prepare for the next disaster. 

Seismology has seen major technical developments in the last few decades! And those technologies allow for some pretty innovative and impressive applications, from building health to human health to revealing if you washed your hands after using the bathroom!