“It might never happen…” Remembering forgotten earthquakes in Central Asia

Wednesday 18th Jun 2025, 9.45am

Where in the world do earthquakes pose the greatest risk? Japan, perhaps…or California? When devastating earthquakes hit the news headlines, they implant themselves in our memory, and we create a long-lasting association between the location and the event. But what about the earthquakes that lie outside of living memory? Are the locations of these events perceived to hold the same degree of risk? In this film, Professor Richard Walker and Dr Neill Marshall from Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences share their work on the forgotten earthquakes of Central Asia, and explain the societal implications of natural disasters that have faded into the past.