No. Neither the USGS nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake. They do not know how, and they do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future.
The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC. Rats, weasels, snakes, and centipedes reportedly left their homes and headed for safety several days before a destructive earthquake.
Why are we having so many earthquakes? Has earthquake activity been increasing? Does this mean a big one is going to hit? OR We haven't had any earthquakes in a long time; does this mean that the pressure is building up and a big one is coming?
A temporary increase or decrease in seismicity is part of the normal fluctuation of earthquake rates. Neither an increase or decrease worldwide is a positive indication that a large earthquake is imminent.
The "Triangle of Life" is a misguided idea about the best location a person should try to occupy during an earthquake.
Theoretically yes, but realistically the answer is probably no. The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the length of the fault on which it occurs. That is, the longer the fault, the larger the earthquake.
There is no scientific explanation for the symptoms some people claim to have preceding an earthquake, and more often than not there is no earthquake following the symptoms.
Shallow crevasses can form during earthquake-induced landslides, lateral spreads, or othe
No. The San Andreas Fault System, which crosses California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, is the boundary between the Pacific Plate and North American Plate.
In the 4th Century B.C., Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought to have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones by the air breaking the surface.
Can you prevent large earthquakes by making lots of small ones, or by "lubricating" the fault with water or another material?
Seismologists have observed that for every magnitude 6 earthquake it would take 32 magnitude 5's, 1000 magnitude 4's, 32,000 magnitude 3's (and so on for smaller earthquakes) to equal the energy of one magnitude 6 event.
- 1 of 2
- next ›