Cloudy with a chance of earthquake

Nov 12, 2009

Cloudy with a chance of earthquake

earthquakes

This is a really interesting theory and article from USA Today, check it out.

A recent study published in the journal Nature Geosciences proposes “atmospheric pressure changes associated with some weather systems could help trigger earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions.” This theory dates as far back as Aristotle, “who in the fourth century B.C. believed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves.”

The report also does a good job pointing out that the entire Earth system—from the atmosphere to the land surfaces—is all one, interconnected system… duh, I have seen enough cartoons to have learned that lesson.

Read the full article on earthquakes and weather here.

description: gend? Dating back to Aristotle, who in the fourth century B.C. believed that earthquakes were caused by winds trapped in subterranean caves, there have been those who thought that warm, calm, cloudy weather was a sign of an impending quake. Until recently, though, the official line from geologists is that such beliefs are false, that there's no relationship between atmospheric and seismic phenomena. But research published recently in the journal Nature Geosciences says the atmospheric pressure changes associated with some weather systems could help trigger earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and even the movement of glaciers. What type of weather? Study lead author William Schulz of the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver says it depends on the speed of the weather systems skirting above quake-prone regions. Rapidly moving areas of low atmospheric pressure – storms – could trigger certain types of slides and quakes, he says. During these periods of low pressure, when there is less force exerted upon the ground, the upward movement of air and water molecules in the soil would serve to reduce the friction that usually holds the soil or rocks in place, potentially leading to landslides and earthquakes. On the other hand, long periods of unusually high atmospheric pressure, meaning extended periods of calm, quiet weather, also could trigger slides and quakes. "This positive pressure can also result in destabilization," he says. Schulz and his colleagues analyzed a huge, extremely slow-moving landslide in southwestern Colorado for nine months. They examined how the slide was affected by "atmospheric tides," daily cycles of high and low pressure that are triggered as the sun heats the atmosphere each day.