Lighting a New Way to Predict Earthquakes: Laboratory Model Links Fault Contact Area to Earthquake Occurrences

Lighting a new way to predict earthquakes: Laboratory model links fault contact area to earthquake occurrences

Researchers have developed a laboratory earthquake model that connects the microscopic real contact area between fault surfaces to the possibility of earthquake occurrences. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this breakthrough demonstrates the connection between microscopic friction and earthquakes, offering new insights into earthquake mechanics and potential prediction.

Bay Area lab charts breakthrough in imaging earthquakes

The technology used to measure and monitor earthquakes has remained largely unchanged over the past century, but a breakthrough from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory utilizing telecommunication lines as earthquake sensors has given researchers a magnified window into the Earth’s crust. The instrument that makes it possible, known as an interrogator, enables seismic researchers to effectively hijack fiber optic cables for use as thousands o…