Quake Expectations: We\'re Getting Better at Anticipating the Next Big Tremor

Quake Expectations: We’re Getting Better at Anticipating the Next Big Tremor

Recent advances including aquatic robots, ultra-precise sonar beacons and GPS systems are letting scientists better predict seismic upheaval

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Humans have tried for centuries to forecast earthquakes. The ancient Greeks thought snakes and rats fled their burrows when one was coming. Others looked for unusual cloud formations, or tried to calculate when other planets might align to push the Earth’s tectonic plates.

None of it really worked.

But recent advances including aquatic robots,...