Back to the RadioSpace™ home page
NewsDirect story topics:
Consumer, Business & General Interest
Current Events & Public Affairs
Entertainment & Sports
Health & Medicine
"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Tiny Rumbles"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
48 kbps |
96 kbps
(90 seconds)
-- How Will You Use This Story? --
READER SCRIPT
(DOES NOT FULLY MATCH AUDIO)
SILENT--BEFORE DEADLY... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. TO TRY TO PREDICT MAJOR EARTHQUAKES ACCURATELY, SCIENTISTS RELY ON DATA GATHERED AS A RESULT OF SEISMIC ACTIVITY. THERE'S A GROUP OF RESEARCHERS FROM STANFORD AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO WHO BELIEVE THAT WE MAY SEE A BIGGER PICTURE, BY LOOKING AT THE ACTIVITY OF SOME SMALLER TREMORS. THEY TELL US THAT "SILENT" OR "SLOW" EARTHQUAKES--TECHNICALLY, "L-F-E'S", OR "LOW-FREQUENCY EARTHQUAKES"--OFTEN ACCOMPANY THESE SMALLER TREMORS, IN SOME QUAKE-PRONE AREAS. SO, WHAT YOU HAVE GOING IS A SMALL, DEEP EARTHQUAKE THAT DISPLACES THE GROUND, WITHOUT SHAKING IT--AND THAT CAN LAST DAYS, MONTHS, OR YEARS, WITHOUT BEING FELT AT THE SURFACE--THE KIND THAT THESE SCIENTISTS BELIEVE COULD BE A PRECURSOR TO A LARGER QUAKE. BUT, "L-F-E'S" ARE TOUGH TO DETECT. THE RECENT DISCOVERY OF SOME OF THE SILENT QUAKES IN JAPAN IS HELPING TO GIVE RESEARCHERS MORE INSIGHT. LET'S JUST SAY THAT THEY'RE KEEPING THEIR EARS TO THE GROUND. BY UNDERSTANDING MORE OF THE FACTORS THAT PRECEDE MAJOR EARTHQUAKES, WE MAY BE ABLE TO PREDICT THEM MORE ACCURATELY--AND WE COULD HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHEN THE EARTH GETS READY TO RUMBLE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
