The four recent major earthquakes of the Himalayan Convergence Zone, viz., the Kangra earthquake of 1905, the Bihar-Nepal earthquake of 1934, and the two Assam earthquakes of 1897 and 1950 were assigned magnitudes greater than 8 by Richter. Although estimates of areas vary, it is agreed that an extended rupture with its long dimension parallel to the local strike of the Himalaya was involved in each case.

The water resources of a Miocene limestone aquifer in northwest Sri Lanka were investigated. The limestone aquifer receives recharge although it is buried beneath a thick sequence of Quaternary deposits of low permeability which cover the whole basin. Hydrochemical and pumping-test data show that this recharge occurs as leakage through the semi-permeable cover.

Brief studies of microearthquakes in four separate parts of eastern Afghanistan reveal a high level of seismicity over a broad area. In general, the activity is not concentrated on well-defined faults, nor does it define new faults, but seismicity on or close to the Chainart and Sarubi faults attests to their activity. First motions of P waves are consistent with left- and right-lateral strike-slip motion, respectively, on these two faults.

In the last quarter of the 19th century, Assam’s oilfields became part of the larger global petroleum economy and thus played a key role in the British imperial economy.

Africa's Lake Kivu contains vast quantities of gas, which makes it both dangerous and valuable. Anjali Nayar asks whether it is possible to tap the gas without causing a disaster.

The launch of a UK project to extract geothermal energy from hot dry rocks comes soon after two high-profile setbacks elsewhere in the world.