Snow and rain tug on earthquake faults in California
Seasonal changes in water weight can set off small tremors
By
Maria Temming
7:00am, July 3, 2017
Winter weather brings seismic tremors. A new study reveals how water buildup and runoff throughout the year can increase stress along faults in California, triggering small earthquakes.
“This kind of observation is extremely important to constrain our models of earthquakes,” says Jean-Philippe Avouac, a geologist at Caltech who was not involved in the study. Improved models could ultimately help scientists better forecast seismic activity.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/snow-and-rain-tug-earthquake-faults-california
