Earthquake Alarm

by Tom Bleier & Friedemann Freund IEEE Spectrum, December 2005 It seems that earthquakes should be predictable. After all, we can predict hurricanes and floods using detailed satellite imagery and sophisticated computer models. Using advanced Doppler radar, we can even tell minutes ahead of time that a tornado will form. Accurate earthquake warnings are, at last, within reach. They will come not from the mechanical phenomena -- measurements of the movement of the earth’s crust -- that have been the focus of decades of study, but, rather, from electromagnetic phenomena. And, remarkably, these predictions will come from signals gathered not only at the earth’s surface but also far above it, in the ionosphere. Read more