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Earthquakes are a terrifying and devastating natural
disaster. They can strike without warning. They often cause billions of dollars in property
damage, completely disrupt daily lives,
and normal community services and business activities. To be able to predict a major trembler would be a wonderful benefit to those living and working in earthquake country.
One Silicon Valley company may be closing in on a reliable method of earthquake prediction and they’re doing it from space.
QuakeFinder
, a start-up company
based in Palo Alto, California, has
developed a satellite and ground-based
detection method that, when completed
and tested, would allow for warning of an
earthquake one week in advance.
QuakeFinder uses a network of
commercial ground-based sensors for
local coverage, relying on curious
homeowners who are willing to have
sensitive magnetometers buried in the
ground of their property. To date there are
55 ground sensors buried in private yards
throughout Northern California, and they
measure
Extremely Low Frequency (ELF)
magnetic field fluctuations that have been
observed prior to earthquakes.
Each of these sites has three
magnetometers that connect to the
Internet via a radio link and modem. The
sensor transmits changes in the earth’s
magnetic field near the fault lines toQuakeFinder’s Operations Center in Palo
Alto where this data is collected and
analyzed. Essentially, these electronic
components allow activity, a.k.a. magnetic
fluctuations, to be “tracked.”
Changes in the earth’s magnetic
fluctuations (ELF activity) prior to several
large earthquakes have been observed.
The most notable ground based observation
was by Professor Tony Fraser-Smith
at Stanford University in conjunction with
the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake activity,
which he recorded large magnetic
anomalies for two weeks before the actual
earthquake.
Researchers at QuakeFinder believe
there is a correlation between these
fluctuations and the occurrence of
earthquakes. The ground sensors are
part of a collaborative science project
currently being funded by QuakeFinder,
NASA, Stellar Solutions Inc., and the
California Space Authority. The project’s
goal is to monitor these ELF activities and
provide short term (days to hours)
warning to the State of California OES
personnel. This research has been
underway since 1999, and involves a
growing network since the ground
sensors can only detect earthquakes.
QuakeFinder also has a research
agreement with the French to utilize their within approximately 10 miles of the
sensor location.
These satellites are designed to
detect magnetic fluctuations associated
with large earthquakes – magnitude 6 .0 or
higher – which occur worldwide, 70 to 100
times per year. To date, QuakeSat 1 has
recorded over 2,000 ELF collections over
earthquake areas.
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