Читать книгу Geology For Dummies - Alecia M. Spooner - Страница 60

You may have firsthand experience with the literally earth-shaking event of an earthquake. If not, you certainly have seen news reports of the terrible devastation that occurs in some regions of the world when strong earthquakes occur. The ability to predict an earthquake event could lead to lifesaving preparations such as evacuation. Much research is focused on looking for early warning signs of an impending quake, with the hope that we could use early warning systems to initiate evacuations and reduce the damage to human lives that occurs with such events.

Researchers have had little luck successfully predicting most destructive earthquakes. Occasionally a large earthquake will be preceded by smaller earthquakes, slight tremors, volcanic activity, or changes in land level relative to sea level. Such was the case in Haicheng, China in 1975, when warnings a day before a large earthquake occurred saved many lives. However, very few earthquakes send advance warning signals.

Current research around the Pacific Ocean focuses on trying to measure the amount of strain being put on two crustal plates as they press against one another. (When the pressure builds to a certain point and is released, an earthquake occurs; see Chapter 10 for details.) Unfortunately, many complex factors lead to an earthquake event, which makes the effort to predict them very challenging. Fortunately, scientists love a good challenge!