Tremors Predict California Earthquakes

Posted by michael on Friday December 10, 2004 @06:46AM from the drop-off-into-the-ocean dept.

johkir writes "A seismologist at the University of California Berkeley Seismological Laboratory has discovered mysterious tremors deep under the San Andreas Fault that may help predict future earthquakes. The episodes of tremors, which he calls chatter, last from four to twenty minutes and are being recorded from as deep as 40 kilometers beneath the surface -- up to four times the depth of normal earthquakes! These tremors also seem to occur a few weeks prior to detectable surface tremors. Article is published in Science Magazine, but you'll need a subscription, and it is covered in the San Francisco Chronicle and a UC Berkeley press release."

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UC Davis by eikonoklastes · 2004-12-10 06:54 · Score: 5, Interesting

Researchers at UC Davis have also recently made headlines trying to forecast earthquakes (Press release). I wonder if we're on the brink of a new understanding of earth's geophysical processes.