New model could help predict major earthquakes

Researchers have characterized several earthquakes that struck South America’s west coast over the last 100 years by using seismographic data, tsunami recordings, and models of the rapid plate movements associated with these natural disasters. The team showed that some earthquakes were linked to the same sites of rupture at plate boundaries and others to different sites. Thus, they revealed the periodicity and intensity of earthquakes associated with particular sites, potentially aiding future earthquake prediction. …read more