Thursday, December 16, 2010

[Geology2] Mysterious EQ Fault Tremors to be Studied



Rumblings along stretch of San Andreas Fault could be quake precursors

By OurAmazingPlanet Staff
OurAmazingPlanet OurAmazingPlanet
updated 12/14/2010 11:09:48 AM ET 2010-12-14T16:09:48

Seismic detectors will be installed along a stretch of the San Andreas Fault early next year to study mysterious tremors deep underneath, in the hope they will provide information about events that lead up to major quakes.

Seismologists will begin the installation in early 2011 near the town of Cholame, Calif., where the tremors were first detected in 2004. Tremors, which are different from earthquakes, are extremely faint, periodic rumblings some 12 to 25 miles underground — far deeper than earthquakes. Studies suggest tremors may serve as precursors to earthquakes.

"The discovery of tremors deep in the roots of active plate boundary fault zones is arguably the most important discovery in earthquake science in decades," said Roland Bürgmann of the University of California, Berkeley, part of the team that will install the sensors, in a news release about the project. "This is the first project in which a permanent instrument network has been specifically designed with tremor in mind."

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Read entire article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40659287/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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