Researchers say fast computer analysis could allow quake alert in early seconds

Scientist beleive that they may be on track to delvop an early warning of sort for earthquakes. Apparently it works by detecting the first jolts when a quake is beginning to hit. Analysis of this can allow a predicition of magnitude and they can get off an alert that could allow people to shelter etc. It would be a big plus if it workes

Scientists studying the first jolts of an earthquake believe they have found the key to providing early warnings of imminent danger from a big one -- enough to give a few precious seconds to allow people to duck for cover before the earth shudders violently beneath them.

Their findings are by no means merely another in a long line of fanciful earthquake prediction claims but are based on careful study of the physics and different frequencies of the different waves that all quakes generate, the researchers say.
Shake Rattle and Roll

Pretty cool....this could save many lives over a few years time.

and within seconds predicts the size of the violent high-energy waves that follow more slowly through the earth. Those waves become the major source of destruction

They can actually predict what size the quake will be....that's just awesome, seriously it is.

This should be implemented in every country and especially the earthquake prone zones like Japan and Cali. I wonder how "simple" this is....like how easy it is to make if it's just a computer program....should'nt be all that expensive I guess.

Good find

A gravity wave was detected 5 hours before the 6.9 quake hit near Japan.

Solar and cosmic activity started acting up again 2 days agi after almost a month of lying dormant too.

Excuse my ignorance, but can you elaborate on a gravity wave? Is it a localized phenomenon? Is there any correlation to one occurring and being able to pinpoint where a repercussion may be? What causes it?

Originally posted by Relentless
Excuse my ignorance, but can you elaborate on a gravity wave? Is it a localized phenomenon? Is there any correlation to one occurring and being able to pinpoint where a repercussion may be? What causes it?

Using laser interferometers to study earthquakes and gravitational forces is still in it's infancy. Getting data without hooking into the local University may be a problem, since I have't found any real-time sites available to the public. In other words no easy to read charts and graphics. You can use the software for the LIGO data-acquisition system to view near real time data (using DTT or Data Viewer) , but it takes a lot of software knowledge and time to set it up. I'm not an astrophysicist or siesmologist, just rounding out/expanding my observations that tie into meteorology btw...aka renaissance man mindset.

Scientific data will eventually be pinpointed and tied together with all systems as we ponder closer to the "theory of everything".

Here's a few links you could peruse:
• Pimer on gravitional waves
• LIGOtools
• GeoSeismic Labs
• Japan's TAMA
• Science to ride gravitational waves- BBC



[edit on 15-11-2005 by Regenmacher]

You know, I have always known when an earthquake was going to hit in my area a few hours in advance. I call it my AWGEAS, or Advanced Warning Gerbil Alert System.

When I was 15 and living in Oregon, I had several pet gerbils and a tank of fish. I remember one night that the gerbils were acting very strange, like they were on meth just running around the cage real fast, and the fish were swimming laps. Didn’t know why, but it was strange enough that I told my dad. That night I felt my first earthquake, a 5.6 (small, I know, but big for Oregon where we don’t prepare for such things.) My dad pointed out the next day that my animals saw it coming. Didn’t think much about again till 7 years later, when, while living in Cali., my children’s gerbils began doing the same thing. I told my wife "were going to have an earthquake" and she blew me off, but sure enough, we had a 5.? that morning.

My children don’t like gerbils much, they have moved on to polecats, but I still keep a pair of them in the living room.

Sorry for the boring story, I know its not some exciting wave or machine, but just remember that just like in medicine, we can never beat what nature (God) has to offer.


[edit on 19-11-2005 by cavscout]