http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/logos/usgs_only.jpg http://gallery.usgs.gov/ en-us OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications Web Group) http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/USGS.gif http://gallery.usgs.gov/ http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/10_22_2012_otk7NAy44H_10_22_2012_1 Traditional construction throughout Burma utilizes bamboo and other lightweight building materials, resulting in structures that are not generally durable but are quite earthquake-safe.  As traditional structures such as this house give way to more modern masonry buildings, seismic risk will increase. 

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/10_22_2012_otk7NAy44H_10_22_2012_2 The Schwedagon pagoda, Burma's most revered shrine, has been damaged multiple times by earthquakes throughout its long history.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/10_22_2012_otk7NAy44H_10_22_2012_3 The historic record documents many instances of damage to pagodas throughout Burma's cities and the countryside.  These ancient and beautiful structures bear witness to a significant level of seismic hazard.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/10_22_2012_otk7NAy44H_10_22_2012_4 Burma's most populous city, Rangoon, is underlain by a thick blanket of soft sediments that will significantly amplify earthquake shaking. With a period of economic expansion on the horizon, new construction such as these buildings in the capital city will be potentially vulnerable to earthquake damage unless appropriate seismic provisions are adopted in the building code.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_25_2010_s85Are1QPl_08_25_2010_0 Small debris-free plateau glacier with glacier lakes at Gangrinchemzoe Pass at 5,200 m, south of the main Himalayan divide, Bhutan. Image courtesy of Shuji Iwata, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_25_2010_s85Are1QPl_08_25_2010_1 Landsat image of ice caps in northern Savernaya Zemlya, Russian Arctic Islands (80 degrees N.). The scene shows zones of melting on the ice caps. The largest ice cap is about 80 km across. Image courtesy of Julian Dowdeswell, Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_25_2010_s85Are1QPl_08_25_2010_2 Panoramic photographic mosaic of several glaciers on the northern slope of Gora Elbrus, a volcanic massif in the Central Caucasus Mountains. The photographic survey was done by N. Nikulin in 1957 during the International Geophysical Year. Photograph courtesy of V.M. Kotlyakov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_25_2010_s85Are1QPl_08_25_2010_3 Photograph of Bivachnyy Glacier, a surging valley glacier in the central Pamir Mountains. The glacier has a thick debris cover derived from adjacent mountains. Photograph courtesy of V.M. Kotlyakov, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_25_2010_s85Are1QPl_08_25_2010_4 Sept 9, 2001 ASTER image showing the position of the terminus of Gangotri Glacier, India, between 1780 and 2001. Image from Jesse Allen, NASA's Earth Observatory. Glacier retreat boundaries courtesy of the U.S. Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center

]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_05_2010_mqh7LXw33E_08_05_2010_0 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/05_27_2010_m62Tk87JJe_05_27_2010_0 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_0 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_2 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_3 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_4 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_5 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_6 http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2010_fkb4Eqp11X_03_25_2010_7