Report dashes hopes for (quake) early warning system

[Eugene]

Report dashes hopes for early warning system

Ian Sample, science correspondent
Thursday October 13, 2005
The Guardian

Despite decades of intense research, predicting when earthquakes are
likely to strike is a lost cause, according to a report published
today by some of the world's top earthquake scientists.

The gloomy conclusion dashes hopes that early warning systems could
be developed. Instead, the team urges countries in high risk regions
to develop and enforce strict building codes to ensure homes,
hospitals and fire stations are more resilient to earthquakes.

The research team, made up of seismologists from the US Geological
Survey in California and a number of universities, set out to predict
when an earthquake would occur near the ranch town of Parkfield on
the San Andreas fault in California. Records show that at least six
powerful earthquakes have struck since 1857, making it one of the
most earthquake-prone sites in the world.

<snip>

But when the earthquake struck last year, there was no warning.
"Even with such a well monitored area, we weren't able to tell that
it was coming. There was nothing that might have been useful in
predicting it," said Dr Nadeau, whose study appears in the journal
Nature.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/naturaldisasters/story/0,7369,1590951,00.html