Posted by
CowboyNeal
on from the plate-tectonics dept.
evilocity writes "A BBC story reports that scientists are now using satellite radar to study earthquakes and fault lines, gathering more data than was ever before possible. Already the findings are challenging current theories, but the practical goal of course is earthquake forecasting."
Similar technology...
by
aaronsb
·
· Score: 4, Informative
This is similar to the USGS's identification of a volcanic uplift in Oregon. There's a large bulg developing near the Three Sisters Peaks. (it's only a couple inches different though).
Here's a link.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/West Up lift/ground_uplift_may2001.html
The time scale is the problem
by
Bjarne+Bula
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I'm pretty sure forecasts are possible. Geologists can already today measure the increasing pressure in a fault that eventually produces a quake. The technology described in this article only gives them a more comprehensive tool to do this.
However, we need to keep in mind that these processes operate on geological time scales. When you start seeing pressure in a fault, and no slippage, you pretty much know there will be a quake "soon". However, our society need predictions accurate to the day, and I doubt we'll see better accuracy than month, year or decade.
There are, apparently, signs of an impending quake that operate on shorter (week or month) time scales, but there are enough false positives (or rather, again the time scale is such that they seem to be false positives on the human time scale), that these warnings will not be taken seriously enough.
Geological evidence suggests that the Californian peninsula eventually will be an island outside Seattle (not sinking in the sea as some SF suggests). We can pretty much assume it won't walk there, so if you live around the fault, you pretty much know what's going to happen, just not exactly when.
Myself, I was in the SF-area for the first time in 1989, just in time for the Loma Prieta earthquake. I have never returned - I can take a hint.
Navagent's EarthQuake
by
Jamyang
·
· Score: 5, Informative
EarthQuake is a slick little app that contacts the USGS and gathers the latest quake data, and then plots it onto a spinning globe on your desktop. You can customize the style display, set alarms to trigger when a new quake occurs anywhere in the world, and sort data by Richter scale quake magnitude.
Slashdot Mirror
This is similar to the USGS's identification of a volcanic uplift in Oregon. There's a large bulg developing near the Three Sisters Peaks. (it's only a couple inches different though).
t Up lift/ground_uplift_may2001.html
Here's a link.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Sisters/Wes
I'm pretty sure forecasts are possible. Geologists can already today measure the increasing pressure in a fault that eventually produces a quake. The technology described in this article only gives them a more comprehensive tool to do this.
However, we need to keep in mind that these processes operate on geological time scales. When you start seeing pressure in a fault, and no slippage, you pretty much know there will be a quake "soon". However, our society need predictions accurate to the day, and I doubt we'll see better accuracy than month, year or decade.
There are, apparently, signs of an impending quake that operate on shorter (week or month) time scales, but there are enough false positives (or rather, again the time scale is such that they seem to be false positives on the human time scale), that these warnings will not be taken seriously enough.
Geological evidence suggests that the Californian peninsula eventually will be an island outside Seattle (not sinking in the sea as some SF suggests). We can pretty much assume it won't walk there, so if you live around the fault, you pretty much know what's going to happen, just not exactly when.
Myself, I was in the SF-area for the first time in 1989, just in time for the Loma Prieta earthquake. I have never returned - I can take a hint.
250k ZIP file download
Only available for Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Navagent also offer a powerful search and data visualization tool that i've found useful for tracking the China Googlebomb: Surf3D