• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

New way of measuring earthquakes ‘may unlock holy grail of where and when they will strike’

Scientists have long struggled to identify patterns for earthquakes, leading to suggestions they strike at random

Jim Leffman by Jim Leffman
2019-06-24 11:26
in Environment, News, Science
credit;SWNS

credit;SWNS

FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A new way of measuring earthquakes may unlock the ‘holy grail’ of where and when they will strike.

Scientists have long struggled to identify patterns for earthquakes leading to suggestions they strike at random.

But new evidence revealed the majority of earthquakes strike fault lines which are under stress built up from centuries of past tremors.

Lead researcher Dr Zoë Mildon, lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University of Plymouth, said: “Earthquakes are caused by rock sliding past each other along fault lines which causes the forces and stress in the surrounding rocks to change after a big earthquake.

“It is often assumed that the nearest fault to a particular earthquake will be the next to rupture. However, our study shows this is never the case.”

Looking at the stresses caused by historical earthquakes is a “step change” in explaining why they are triggered, researchers said.

Italy’s central Apennines region, an area hit by centuries’ of quakes, was the main focus for Dr Mildon and her colleagues from UCL, Birkbeck, University of London and Tohoku University in Japan.

RelatedPosts

Brits will be charged to enter EU countries such as Spain, Germany, France and Portugal

Son of Tory donor who hosted Boris Johnson’s wedding party handed lucrative government contract

Omicron booster jab approved for use in the UK

Right-wing dating app to be launched next month in US

The shaky region holds records of damage and deaths by earthquakes in individual towns and villages dating back to 1349.

credit;SWNS

Dr Mildon said: “Looking at the records of 700 years’ of earthquakes make it easy to assume these incidents struck at random.”

But by combining the written evidence with state-of-the-art modelling researchers found 97 per cent (28 out of 29) of the earthquakes between 1703 and 2016 occurred on faults ‘stressed’ by previous tremors.

This includes the series of earthquakes that devastated the town of Amatrice and Norcia in 2016, leaving almost 300 people dead.

Dr Mildon added: “Earthquakes are hugely destructive to both people and property, and the Holy Grail of earthquake science would be to predict where they are going to happen and when.

“We are a very long way from that, and indeed it may never be possible to accurately predict the location, time and size of future earthquakes.

“Our research, however, could be a starting point in helping us develop better forecasts of which fault lines might be more susceptible based on previous tremors.”

The study was published in the Nature Communications.

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Review: Mozez – Wings

Bizarre Times column postulates life under Jeremy Corbyn ‘as PM’

Starmer and Rayner receive police questionnaires over ‘Beergate’

Watch: Starmer says he ‘believes in honour’ as he commits to resigning

Brexit UK faces sluggish growth as global economy is “firing on all cylinders”

UK Weather forecast, Thursday 11 November 2021

Trump’s visit to UK cost the police nearly £18m

Second Brexit vote is the “only credible solution to end gridlock”

Man and woman charged with murdering homeless man

Johnson and von der Leyen agree to ‘go the extra mile’ to secure deal but sides remain ‘very far apart’

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.