California, USA, 30 March 2007: A map of California’s San Andreas Fault created with laser technology is expected to boost the accuracy of earthquake prediction efforts. Engineers with the University of Florida, the University of California, Berkeley, and other institutions are near completion of the detailed map of the 1,200-mile-plus fault and immediate adjacent terrain, the University of Florida said in a release.
By comparing the map with similar maps created after future earthquakes, seismologists will be able to determine all the earth movements around the affected region more quickly and accurately than traditional surveying tools have allowed them to do.
“We’re making it possible to get very accurate data on how much the earth around the fault is displaced during an earthquake,” said Ramesh Shrestha, director of the National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping. “Seismologists can quantify that information and input it into their equations and models and ultimately try to better predict earthquakes.”
