Do you believe all Swiss buildings are earthquake-proof? Check your knowledge of earthquake myths at Scientifica and visit the interactive exhibition wall and the Adventure Room provided by the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at the ETH Zurich. This festival of knowledge will take place from 30 August to 1 September 2019, focusing on the topic "Science Fiction – Science Facts".

A great deal is known today about the causes and effects of earthquakes, but a number of misconceptions persist, such as the notion that dogs can sense earthquakes before people feel them. SED Director Professor Stefan Wiemer probes that myth in this video. You can explore other myths on our interactive exhibition wall and find out what is fact and what is fiction.

For a more interactive examination of earthquakes, go directly to our stand and put your name down for our second activity: the Adventure Room! An alarming warning circulating on social media claims that a major earthquake is due to hit Zurich in just 15 minutes' time! You happen to be near the office of the famous seismologist, Dr Seismoritz, but he's nowhere to be seen, so you have to take over as crisis manager. In an Adventure Room, you have to find clues and solve all kinds of puzzles or riddles. Like in a scavenger hunt, solving one clue leads to the next.

Was ist bezüglich Erdbeben zu tun? Eine Frage, die sich in Gemeinden und Kantonen immer wieder stellt. Oft gibt es nur wenige Berührungspunkte mit dem Thema Erdbeben, zum Beispiel im Rahmen von Bauvorhaben, Bewilligungsverfahren oder wenn die Behörden definieren, wie sie mit solchen Ereignissen umgehen.

Der Informationsanlass richtet sich an Behördenvertreter, die sich nicht schwerpunktmässig mit Fragestellungen rund um Erdbeben befassen, aber mehr darüber erfahren möchten. Ziel ist es, eine breite Wissensgrundlage zu vermitteln, die bei Entscheidungen in Bezug auf das Erdbebenrisikomanagement hilft. Das detaillierte Programm finden Sie hier.

Der Anlass findet am 23. August 2019 an der ETH Zürich statt. Anmeldung bis 5. August unter folgendem Link: bit.ly/2GSPvLO

Above the village of Susten in the Canton of Valais, a stream is carving its way through a fascinating geological formation called 'the Illgraben'. Rock masses, both large and small, are constantly coming loose and falling away from the steep slopes of the gorge. Several times a year, mostly after precipitation, this creates a mushy mixture of sliding rocks, mud and water. These mudslides also rip out large blocks of limestone and quartzite and move down the valley at high speed as far as the River Rotten. Usually, no damage is caused near the Illgraben. In other places, in extreme cases mudslides move millions of cubic metres of rock distances of several kilometres. If these mudslides hit transport routes or human settlements, as happened in 2017 with the debris flow at Pizzo Cengalo, for example, the effects can be devastating. Sophisticated measuring systems can help to gain a better understanding of, or even predict, such processes. Researchers from the Swiss Seismological Service (SED), ETH Zurich's Laboratory of Hydraulics, Hydrology and Glaciology (VAW) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) are investigating this at the Illgraben site.

In Switzerland, earthquakes are the natural hazard with the greatest potential for causing damage. They cannot currently be prevented or reliably predicted. But, thanks to extensive research, much is now known about how often and how intensely the earth could shake at a given location in the future. Consult a variety of different maps using our interactive web tool to find out how likely certain earthquakes are in Switzerland.

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The Swiss Seismological Service (SED) at ETH Zurich is the federal agency responsible for monitoring earthquakes in Switzerland and its neighboring countries and for assessing Switzerland’s seismic hazard. When an earthquake happens, the SED informs the public, authorities, and the media about the earthquake’s location, magnitude, and possible consequences. The activities of the SED are integrated in the federal action plan for earthquake precaution.

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