Is every snowflake truly unique? Physicist Kenneth Libbrecht has made a career out of photographing the variety of snowflake shapes, from familiar six-sided forms to more exotic "bullet rosettes" and "capped columns." EARTH's latest slideshow takes you on a visual tour of these delicate ice crystals.

Ravaged by war, drought and natural hazards such as earthquakes and landslides, Afghanistan’s people face many challenges. Two stories in the most recent issue of EARTH magazine highlight the daunting challenges these scientists dealt with in the past and continue to face.

Since 1939, a progression of deadly earthquakes has been marching westward across Turkey's North Anatolian Fault. All signs point to Istanbul as the next likely target — but Turkey's largest city may be struck by a series of moderate earthquakes, rather than one big event.

Is every snowflake truly unique? Physicist Kenneth Libbrecht has made a career out of photographing the variety of snowflake shapes, from familiar six-sided forms to more exotic "bullet rosettes" and "capped columns." EARTH's latest slideshow takes you on a visual tour of these delicate ice crystals.

Since 1939, a progression of deadly earthquakes has been marching westward across Turkey's North Anatolian Fault. All signs point to Istanbul as the next likely target — but Turkey's largest city may be struck by a series of moderate earthquakes, rather than one big event.

Is every snowflake truly unique? Physicist Kenneth Libbrecht has made a career out of photographing the variety of snowflake shapes, from familiar six-sided forms to more exotic "bullet rosettes" and "capped columns." EARTH's latest slideshow takes you on a visual tour of these delicate ice crystals.

Scientists have upgraded the potential earthquake threat to cities including Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash., and Vancouver, British Columbia in the Pacific Northwest. Although it was once thought that large earthquakes in this region, called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, would more likely happen offshore, they could occur much closer to the coast.

As you would expect, there's been tons of coverage of the earthquake off the coast of Chile and the resulting tsunami in the mainstream media. And yes, some of it has been notoriously poor.

A magnitude-8.8 earthquake struck offshore Maule, Chile, on Feb. 27, killing at least 711 people and displacing 2 million people. Why was the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti in January more deadly? Geological differences as well as social factors are both part of the explanation.

As you would expect, there's been tons of coverage of the earthquake off the coast of Chile and the resulting tsunami in the mainstream media. And yes, some of it has been notoriously poor.

We recommend: One of EARTH's regular contributors, Callan Bentley, has a thoughtful post up on his blog about what makes a natural disaster. Click through for the link.