Two massive quakes off Indonesia’s Sumatra island in April showed something scientists have long been trying to prove – they can trigger a swarm of more tremors around the globe. Lead author, Fred Pollitz, of the U.S. Geological Survey and colleagues found in a study published in Nature that over the six days after the quakes hit on April 11th, the number of tremors of magnitude greater than 5.5 jumped nearly 5X globally. Today’s graphic helps visualize these fascinating findings.

An earthquake of 8.6 magnitude struck off the coast of Indonesia last week, sending residents there and in India dashing out of their homes and offices in fear. Today’s graphic shows the anatomy of an earthquake .

March 11th marks a year since the tsunami generated by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 15,000 people, displaced thousands more and caused radiation leaks at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Today’s graphic lists the key events during this tragedy. It also shows the locations of the different disasters.

 

We’re proud of the outstanding contributions our employees make to Thomson Reuters, so we asked them to share their stories about their work, their teams and their colleagues.  Whether supporting customers or colleagues, or managing our systems and information our employees put the right information in the hands of the right people so our customers can achieve amazing things. Each week we will feature one of these stories to show their passion, collaboration, creativity and how they drive our business forward.

My Colleagues, My Inspiration

By Gerald Joson

March 11, 2011.  It was a day that we’ll not soon forget and yet one that showed the true meaning of how a tragedy, though daunting at the time, can help you realize things about yourself and your colleagues and even help bring people closer together.  For me, this was the case after the catastrophic earthquake hit my hometown of Tokyo, Japan last year.

My memories are as clear as if the tragedy happened yesterday.  The office building was shaking and, although they were afraid, our customer representatives still managed to speak calmly and courteously to our clients, asking if they could call them back later.  I realized at that very moment how incredibly brave they were and was amazed at the team of wonderful frontline agents that I work with.  Of course, as soon as they put down the phone, they were back to ordinary human beings, afraid and trembling.

For days after the earthquake, even with fear of aftershocks, power shortages, and the catastrophe of nuclear radiation, this team still somehow walked into to the office, ready to serve our clients.  This commitment to our clients, along with our focus and dedication to ensure excellent service was so strong it was, and continues to be, an inspiration to me.

Gerald Joson is a Senior Technical Customer Support Executive for Thomson Reuters and is based in Tokyo, Japan.”

 

 

 

Natural disasters, led by catastrophic earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand, cost a record of $380 billion in 2011, more than double the figure for 2010 and triple the average for the past decade. Today’s graphic looks at the 6 biggest disasters in 2011, while comparing the number of natural disasters and the resulting deaths over the past 10 years.

Natural disasters like March’s earthquake in Japan will cost the global economy a record $350 billion this year, with losses for the insurance industry second only to 2005 when Hurrican Katrina hit New Orleans. Today’s graphic ranks the ten most costly insured disaster losses in 2011.

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More than 200 people were confirmed killed and hundreds more feared dead after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Turkey on Sunday. Rescue teams worked through the night to free trapped survivors. Today’s graphic shows where the earthquake hit and the severity for certain locations.

Engineers maneuver around the top of the Washington Monument to assess damage to the D.C. landmark after an August earthquake. Sarah Irwin reports.

The strong earthquake that rattled the eastern United States on Tuesday was highly unusual in its severity, though it was centered in a part of Virginia known for smaller quakes, seismologists said. The graphic below has some geographical information  about the quake.