How many lives would be saved if some people could predict
the time, the place and the intensity of an earthquake before it happens? The answer
is millions. Since a long time, there has been an endless discussion about if scientists
can predict earthquakes before it occurs or not. Up to now, earthquake
prediction is still very much an imperfect science; however, there have been
some progress in the last decades.
Even though there have existed a few precise
earthquake predictions, scientist can’t asseverate they have an exact formula
to know when or where is going to happen the next movement of the earth’s surface.
Most of the information scientists can validate as accurate is from the
prolonged observation from the changes in rocks compression, sound waves
propagation, and electrical resistance of the tectonic plates.
Besides all that, it is even worse when earthquakes
are predicted by psychic or people who don’t know anything about this matter. These
types of predictions only bring hysteria among people and, in some cases, a lot
of monetary expenditure. This is because false alarms, cancelled alarms, and
preventive evacuations not can only affect the confidence of people, but can
also influence negatively the effectiveness of any kind of warning.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way of predicting big
earthquakes, but can you imagine that, in a near future, scientists could be
able to anticipate a tremor? Impossible is nothing.
