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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Faint Tremors May Signal "Silent" Earthquakes, Study Suggests


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A cross-section view of the active earthquake region under Shikoku Island, Japan, shows where the Philippine and Eurasian tectonic plates meet (center line). Black dots are conventional earthquakes, and red dots are nonvolcanic tremors, which occur in the same regions where silent earthquakes are believed to originate.

Mapping the nonvolcanic tremors could help scientists understand how silent quakes affect—and potentially foreshadow—powerful surface earthquakes.

Image courtesy David Shelly, Stanford University