Jakarta –
Currently, there is no tool or method that can accurately predict when and where an earthquake will occur. But scientists now believe that data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) can help spot signs of an earthquake two hours before it occurs.
Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates suddenly slide past one another. This releases waves of energy that trigger shocks on the surface, from small rumblings to large earthquakes.
For decades, scientists have tried to find patterns that precede major earthquakes so that people have time to prepare. However, so far none of these attempts have been successful.
Now that there are GPS satellites, there is hope for researchers to identify signs of a strong earthquake two hours before it occurs by tracking small ‘slips’ in the tectonic plates.
Earthquake Detection with GPS Satellites
GPS satellites are able to detect ground movement by measuring the position of sensors embedded around the Earth, as quoted from Live Science. The magnitude of the displacement over time is also recorded.
The researchers analyzed GPS data from more than 90 earthquakes with magnitudes above 7. This data was taken from the Nevada Geodesy Laboratory, a research laboratory at the University of Nevada.
Scientists tracked how ground motion shifted in the 48 hours leading up to each event, noting specifically the amount and direction of shaking. They found that two hours before the earthquake ruptured, the horizontal ground motion accelerated in a pattern consistent with a condition called slow fault slip.
Slow fault slip is when the ground moves without generating any seismic waves or vibrations.
Warning 2 Hours before the Earthquake
Identifying subtle movement patterns can help scientists warn people about earthquakes hours in advance. With a note, the GPS system was developed to be more sophisticated, as explained by study co-author Quentin Bletery.
“We can’t detect at the scale of a single earthquake, so we can’t make predictions,” said Bletery, a geophysicist at the University of Côte d’Azur in France.
“But it tells us that something is going on, and if we make significant progress in the measurements–either the sensor itself, increasing its sensitivity, or just having more of it-we can see something and make predictions.”
But according to John Rundle, a lecturer in the Department of Physics and Geology at the University of California, Davis, the findings from this new study may not be applicable to predicting earthquakes.
“While the conclusions may support the hypothesis that there may be a slow slip physical process that [mendahului] big earthquakes, I think it would be a mistake to think that this could be used as some kind of earthquake prediction observation,” he explained.
Watch Video “Central Aceh Shaken by a M 2.7 Earthquake”
(nir/twu)
2023-07-28 10:30:00
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