Who are we?
Dr. Judith Hubbard (BS Caltech 2005, PhD Harvard University 2011) — publications
Dr. Kyle Bradley (BS Caltech 2005, PhD MIT 2012) — publications
Contact:
earthquakeinsights@gmail.com
Who are we? Well, until two years ago, we were professors in Singapore: doing research, teaching students, writing grants. We were doing fieldwork in countries around the world. We were writing papers. We were discovering how earthquakes work. But something was missing...
We saw a huge gap between what we were doing — studying earthquakes — and the people who were impacted by those events. So, we decided to try to fill that gap.
We quit our jobs, moved around the world, and started this project: a newsletter aimed at helping people around the world understand why they were feeling shaking.
But we don’t just want to tell people what’s going on — we want to show them. That’s why each of our posts includes brand-new maps, graphs, and 3D models showing how earthquakes work.
We’re also people, spouses, and parents. We met as undergraduates at Caltech in 2001, and have been together ever since — through PhDs at Harvard and MIT, ten years working at the Earth Observatory of Singapore as faculty, and now as visiting scientists at Cornell University. Over the years, we have collaborated on science, public communication, and the raising of three children!
We communicate broadly. We are regularly asked to provide insight on recent earthquakes by major media organizations, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, BBC, and National Geographic. You can find an incomplete list of news highlights here.
You can also follow Judith (@JudithGeology) on X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky (@judithgeology.bsky.social), Mastodon (@judithgeology@mastodon.social), and LinkedIn. We sometimes put out smaller chunks of information — the occasional map, or comment — on those sites (especially X) that don’t make it into a larger post.
Interested in more? We occasionally do consulting work related to earthquake hazards. If you represent a group that is interested in paid consulting, contact us at earthquakeinsights@gmail.com. Work like this includes training on how to rapidly assess earthquakes or how to communicate about hazards, and more in-depth hazard assessments for regions of interest.
Why subscribe?
Who subscribes to Earthquake Insights? We have readers from more than 100 countries around the world. Subscribers include earthquake scientists, journalists, people recently impacted by earthquakes, and interested laypeople. We write our posts to reach all of these audiences — presenting new and exciting results in everyday language.
Subscribe to get regular updates when new posts come out — typically every few days, sometimes longer, depending on what earthquakes have been happening.
We make all of our new posts (<1 month old) free, because we believe that everyone around the world should have access to the latest information when they are impacted by an earthquake.
Some of our posts contain critical, in-depth analyses of recent earthquake research. These posts are permanently free, in order to allow open discussion within the scientific community.
Why pay to subscribe?
Help us keep the site running by choosing a paid subscription. This Substack is a full-time job; we aren’t employed elsewhere, and need paid subscribers to help keep the lights on!
Paid subscribers also get full access to the newsletter and website — including our full archive. Search the site to find posts relevant to the tectonic area of interest! Note: if you are a student or researchers from a low-income country and cannot afford a paid subscription, less us know — we can help.
Academics may find that they are able to charge a subscription to a grant — supporting open science and getting access to a wide range of tectonic visualizations to support teaching and research. We also offer group discounts.
Organizational subscriptions: If you represent an organization interested in earthquakes or earthquake hazards, we offer some additional services with an organizational subscription, including Zoom meetings, exclusive chat groups, custom maps, and the rights to republish some of our posts. Contact us (earthquakeinsights@gmail.com) to discuss your needs.
Other ways to help:
If you enjoy Earthquake Insights, it would mean the world to us if you invited friends to subscribe and read with us. If you refer friends, you will receive benefits that give you special access to Earthquake Insights.
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