(Press-News.org) A new study finds a naturally occurring "earthquake gate" that decides which earthquakes are allowed to grow into magnitude 8 or greater.
Sometimes, the "gate" stops earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range, while ones that pass through the gate grow to magnitude 8 or greater, releasing over 32 times as much energy as a magnitude 7.
"An earthquake gate is like someone directing traffic at a one-lane construction zone. Sometimes you pull up and get a green 'go' sign, other times you have a red 'stop' sign until conditions change," said UC Riverside geologist Nicolas Barth.
Researchers learned about this gate while studying New Zealand's Alpine Fault, which they determined has about a 75 percent chance of producing a damaging earthquake within the next 50 years. The modeling also suggests this next earthquake has an 82 percent chance of rupturing through the gate and being magnitude 8 or greater. These insights are now published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Barth was part of an international research team including scientists from Victoria University of Wellington, GNS Science, the University of Otago, and the US Geological Survey.
Their work combined two approaches to studying earthquakes: evidence of past earthquakes collected by geologists and computer simulations run by geophysicists. Only by using both jointly were the researchers able to get new insight into the expected behavior of future earthquakes on the Alpine Fault.
"Big earthquakes cause serious shaking and landslides that carry debris down rivers and into lakes," said lead author Jamie Howarth, Victoria University of Wellington geologist. "We can drill several meters through the lake sediments and recognize distinct patterns that indicate an earthquake shook the region nearby. By dating the sediments, we can precisely determine when the earthquake occurred."
Sedimentary records collected at six sites along the Alpine Fault identified the extent of the last 20 significant earthquakes over the past 4,000 years, making it one of the most detailed earthquake records of its kind in the world.
The completeness of this earthquake record offered a rare opportunity for the researchers to compare their data against a 100,000-year record of computer-generated earthquakes. The research team used an earthquake simulation code developed by James Dieterich, distinguished professor emeritus at UC Riverside.
Only the model with the fault geometry matching the Alpine Fault was able to reproduce the earthquake data. "The simulations show that a smaller magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake at the earthquake gate can change the stress and break the streak of larger earthquakes," Barth said. "We know the last three ruptures passed through the earthquake gate. In our best-fit model the next earthquake will also pass 82% of the time."
Looking beyond New Zealand, earthquake gates are an important area of active research in California. The Southern California Earthquake Center, a consortium of over 100 institutions of which UCR is a core member, has made earthquake gates a research priority. In particular, researchers are targeting the Cajon Pass region near San Bernardino, where the interaction of the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults may cause earthquake gate behavior that could regulate the size of the next damaging earthquake there.
"We are starting to get to the point where our data and models are detailed enough that we can begin forecasting earthquake patterns. Not just how likely an earthquake is, but how big and how widespread it may be, which will help us better prepare," Barth said.
Study reveals the workings of nature's own earthquake blocker
Findings point way toward more detailed earthquake predictions
2021-04-19
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Without major changes, gender parity in orthopaedic surgery will take two centuries
2021-04-19
April 19, 2021 - At the current rate of change, it will take more than 200 years for the proportion of women in orthopaedic surgery to reach parity with the overall medical profession, according to a study in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research® (CORR®), a publication of The Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons®. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
"Substantive changes must be made across all levels of orthopaedic education and leadership to steepen the current curve," concludes the report by Atul F. Kamath, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and colleagues. "Our findings support the need for changes in medical schools, orthopaedic residency ...
Study reveals a unique mode of cell migration on soft 'viscoelastic' surfaces
2021-04-19
Inside your body, cell movement plays a crucial role in many significant biological processes, including wound healing, immune responses and the potential spread of cancer.
"Most people don't die from having a primary tumor," said Kolade Adebowale, a graduate student in chemical engineering, and a member of the Chemical Biology Interface (CBI) graduate program in Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health (ChEM-H) at Stanford University. "The problem is when cancer cells from the tumor acquire the ability to metastasize or move to different parts ...
Pandemic led to profound changes in multiple sclerosis clinical practice
2021-04-19
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A survey of U.S. multiple sclerosis, or MS, specialist clinicians reveals the COVID-19 pandemic has created major changes in how they deliver care.
"Since the pandemic began, more than 95% of our survey respondents reported using telehealth platforms to provide care for their patients," said Dr. Elizabeth Morrison-Banks, a health sciences clinical professor of neurology in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, who led the survey reported in the journal Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. "Approximately one half of the respondents were MS specialist neurologists, four out of five of whom indicated that COVID-19 had changed ...
Airbnb hosts in college towns hike up prices game days to deter rival fans
2021-04-19
Airbnb hosts in college towns increase their listing prices much more than hotels when there are home football games against rival teams. Hosts experience a 78 percent reduction in rental income by listing prices too high, according to a new study by the University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management.
The paper, to be published in Real Estate Economics, investigates whether households set listing prices to maximize rental income.
“Airbnb hosts in college towns are individuals, not corporations and are more susceptible to biases that lead to sub-optimal pricing,” said co-author Joseph Engelberg, professor of finance and accounting at the Rady School. “In ...
Updated advice for safe COVID-19 vaccination in people with high-risk allergy histories
2021-04-19
BOSTON - At the end of 2020, experts led by allergists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) examined all information related to possible allergic reactions to COVID-19 vaccinations. Now the team has published updated insights based on their experience overseeing more than 65,000 employees who have become fully vaccinated since that time. The group's latest findings are published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.
"Our main goal is to enable as many individuals as possible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine safely and avoid unnecessary vaccine hesitancy due to a lack of knowledge around allergic reactions to vaccines," says lead author Aleena Banerji, MD, clinical director of the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Unit at MGH.
In addition to updated guidance ...
Bone microenvironment fosters breast cancer metastatic behavior
2021-04-19
Two studies led by Baylor College of Medicine shed new light on the unanswered question of why estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer sometimes grows back in the bone and spreads to other tissues despite effective endocrine therapies directed at ER.
Working with animal models that include patient tumor samples, the team discovered that the bone microenvironment surrounding ER+ breast cancer cells reduced ER expression in these cells, leading to resistance to ER-targeting endocrine therapy (findings published in the journal Developmental Cell DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.03.008). Furthermore, the bone microenvironment triggered reprogramming of the cancer cells that promoted their ability to metastasize or spread to other tissues (findings published in Cell DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.011 ...
Epidural use at birth not linked to autism risk, study finds
2021-04-19
Having an epidural during childbirth is not associated with a greater risk of autism in the child, according to a study led by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of Manitoba.
The study, which will publish online April 19 in JAMA Pediatrics, helps resolve questions raised by an earlier, widely criticized report on the topic.
"We did not find evidence for any genuine link between having an epidural and putting your baby at increased risk of autism spectrum disorder," said the study's senior author, Alexander Butwick, MD, associate professor of anesthesiology, perioperative and pain medicine at Stanford. The study should help reassure both physicians and pregnant women about the favorable safety profile of epidurals, he added. ...
Investigating epidural labor pain relief, offspring risk of autism spectrum disorders
2021-04-19
What The Study Did: This population-based study of multiple databases from Canada found no association between epidural labor pain relief and risk of autism spectrum disorders in children.
Authors: Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, Ph.D., of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0376)
Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.
INFORMATION:
Media ...
Association between hearing loss, physical activity
2021-04-19
What The Study Did: The association between hearing loss and level of physical activity among U.S. adults ages 60 to 69 was analyzed in this study.
Authors: Frank R. Lin, M.D., Ph.D., of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.5484)
Editor's Note: The article includes conflicts of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict ...
Paternal drinking before pregnancy, risk of birth defects
2021-04-19
What The Study Did: This study examined the association of paternal drinking before pregnancy with the risk of birth defects in children among couples in China.
Authors: Xiaotian Li, M.D., Ph.D., of Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, China, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.0291)
Editor's Note: The article includes funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
A new “link” to triple-negative breast cancer
Cool is cool wherever you are
Meteorological satellites observe temperatures on Venus
New hope for brain cancer: FAU awarded grants for glioblastoma treatment
AI for Good Global Summit 2025 - Exclusive press tour (ITU/United Nations)
Bacteria hijack tick cell defenses to spread disease
New study shows omega-6 does not increase inflammation
Firms raise the bar after missing the target: Strategic use of overestimated earnings targets
Pusan National University scientists uncover gene mutation tied to poor outcomes in transplant patients
How a common herpes virus outsmarts the immune system
Breakthrough resins speed up 3D printing with built-in material control
BCI robotic hand control reaches new finger-level milestone
Neurons burn sugar differently. The discovery could save the brain
AI matches doctors in mapping lung tumors for radiation therapy
A rare form of leprosy existed in the Americas for thousands of years
Researchers identify genetic bottlenecks that explain the emergence of cholera
Tests to detect marijuana-impaired driving based on ‘pseudoscience’
Pigments that can do more
How to refocus in the age of distraction
The rise of 'artificial historians': AI as humanity’s record-keeper
Older paternal age linked to higher miscarriage risk and lower live birth rates in donor egg IVF cycles, new study finds
New study provides breakthrough in pig-to-human kidney transplantation
Gut bacteria and amino acid imbalance linked to higher miscarriage risk in women with PCOS
Simple blood test detects preeclampsia risk months before symptoms appear, new study shows
3D printing breakthrough: Scientists create functional human islets for type 1 diabetes treatment
Malnutrition in children rises when economy drops
New model enables the study of how protein complex influences mitochondrial function
Device study offers hopes for spinal cord injuries
How urea forms spontaneously
Mayo Clinic’s AI tool identifies 9 dementia types, including Alzheimer’s, with one scan
[Press-News.org] Study reveals the workings of nature's own earthquake blockerFindings point way toward more detailed earthquake predictions