Jun 7, 2008 12:08 am US/Pacific
NASA Ames Researchers Work On Quake Warning System
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS 5 / KCBS) ―
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A magnitude 7.9 earthquake that struck Central China on May 12th has killed more than 69,000 people.
Global Risk Myamoto
The idea of predicting earthquakes hasn't quite become a reality yet, but research out of NASA Ames could one day lead to effective earthquake warnings.
Friedemann Freund, a physicist and professor at San Jose State University, said research he and his son have done suggests that electrical activity in the ionosphere, along with temperature changes above an earthquake's epicenter may be precursors to large temblors.
"At least three to six days before we can see changes in the ionosphere. And in about the same time-frame you can see these changes at the surface of the Earth that translate into an infrared transmission," said Freund, who is an associate at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.
He said there is a relationship between electronic disturbances in the atmosphere and earthquakes because of the nature of shifting rock.
There are many people in the scientific community who are highly skeptical of this research and the connections being made, but Freund is cautiously optimistic that in five years or so scientists may be able to issue fairly accurate earthquake warnings.
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