Two emergencies are unfolding in China and Iceland.
At least 126 people were reportedly killed in a magnitude 6.2 earthquake in a freezing, mountainous region of north-western China, on the Tibetan Plateau.
Search and rescue operations are under way in the country’s Gansu and neighbouring Qinghai provinces, as rescuers work in sub-zero temperatures.
The China Earthquake Networks Centre said the quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of six miles just before midnight on Monday.
The disaster left more than 500 people injured, severely damaged houses and roads, and knocked out power and communication lines, according to Chinese state media. Tremors were felt about 60 miles northeast of the epicentre.
CCTV footage showed diners sprinting out of a restaurant as the earthquake hit.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, the long-grumbling volcano erupted on south-west Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula after weeks of intense earthquake activity - but without casualties.
Lava from the large volcanic eruption appeared to be flowing away from the only town in the area, offering hope that homes would be spared.
The eruption late on Monday in Iceland shot lava and smoke more than 330ft into the air after weeks of intense seismic activity.
Authorities last month evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik about 25 miles southwest of capital city Reykjavik.
But an Iceland government statements says the eruption doesn’t pose a risk to life, and there’s currently no disruption to flights in and out of the country,
For insight into the seismic activity, and the latest detection tech being deployed, the Standard podcast is joined by Dr Brian Baptie, an earthquake seismologist, based at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, who works on earthquake hazard and observational seismology.
You can also hear about BGS research using neural networks for earthquake detection.
Listen above, or wherever you stream your podcasts.
