New airborne mapping technology could predict earthquakes in future

Earthquakes are the most devastating of all the natural disasters and it seems that by every passing day they are becoming deadlier. So, it become seven more important to predict them. Consequently, a team of scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California, has taken a step in this direction by developing a new airborne radar-based mapping technology. This technology allows the scientists to see the images of the earthquake on the ground. By using this technology an effort is being made to study the earthquake fault systems, which might aid in their predictions sometime in the future.

eartquake technology

These colored interferogram images are a photographic record of the light interference patterns. The image on top shows the movements of the ground during the 7.2 magnitude quake that struck Baja California in early April. And, were collected when Gulfstream-III aircraft equipped with a radar antenna were flown over the same line. These airborne images show the movements beneath the surface of the earth on the fault line. Donnellan, part of the team developing the new imaging system, further says, “We combine the surface image with the computer models to find out what the faults are doing at depth.” However as far as predicting the monsters is concerned, we might have to wait for sometime until that happens, as it will require years of studying and observation.

Via: CNN