Public Relations

Franz Ossing, telephone: 0049-331-2881040, ossing@gfz-potsdam.de

Press Releases

17.06.2013 | Measuring Climate with Laser Precision

Variations in the gravitational field of the Earth can be measured much more accurately in future. A novel laser distance measurement on the GRACE follow-on satellite mission due for launch in 2017 allows an unprecedented level of accuracy in the detection of climate-induced mass changes on our planet. The funds for the German participation in the German-American satellite mission GRACE Follow-On have now been approved.

05.06.2013 | Record soil moisture in May increased the June flood

The catastrophic floods in the south and east of Germany were substantially intensified in that the soils were saturated with moisture by the wet spring. The heavy rains could therefore not be absorbed into the soil. This is conclusion reached by the Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) after an analysis of the characteristics of the current floods and the comparison with previous events.

24.05.2013 | Strong earthquake at exceptional depth

This morning at 05:45 CEST, the earth trembled beneath the Okhotsk Sea in the Pacific Northwest. The quake, with a magnitude of 8.2, took place at an exceptional depth of 605 kilometers. Because of the great depth of the earthquake a tsunami is not expected and there should also be no major damage due to shaking.