Early warning: A map of the 12 May quake zone showing the epicentre in Sichuan, China.
Credit: Wikipedia
Hot hints
In the 28 May issue of the Chinese language journal Science and Technology Review, experts led by Wu Lixin from the Chinese University of Mining and Technology in Beijing, report an abnormal temperature rise in the thermal satellite images of the eastern front of Qinghai–Tibet plateau – the fault that caused the earthquake – 20 days before the Sichuan earthquake.
The authors suggested this rise could be caused by tectonic plate movement, and could be an indicator for earthquake prediction.
But Ren said many factors could cause the abnormal temperature increases, leading to uncertainty in using temperature change to predict earthquakes.
In a separate article published in the same issue, however, Wu writes that there should be more intensive, accurate and consistent analyses of thermal satellite images, and that these should be frequently checked against seismic wave monitoring.
In addition, he said an earthquake information sharing system should be established, so that general researchers can analyse or input data about abnormal observations into a system for professional seismologists to screen.
