GIZMODO - Earthquakes may strike without warning, but the ground beneath us is rarely completely still. Current systems can measure these tiny movements with remarkable precision, but until now, they have been used mainly to understand how faults behave rather than to predict where an earthquake might strike. Now, a new approach is challenging that limitation.
A team of researchers from the University of California, Riverside has developed a method to help identify where the biggest earthquakes are likely to occur. Using a GPS-based algorithm to measure subtle ground movements, the researchers can determine where a rupture might take place.
The findings, recently published in the Geophysical Research Letters, could potentially improve disaster response efforts in some of the most vulnerable regions.