Soil analysis can help predict impact of earthquakes: Study

Soil behaviour combined with evidence left by previous earthquakes can help predict the incidence of earthquakes at a low cost in developing countries that lack seismic monitoring systems, according to a study released on Tuesday.

"The rock record can be used to not only to investigate the timing and frequency of past events, but also provide important insights into how the ground will behave in certain areas to seismic shock," said Hannah Hilbert-Wolf, research head at James Cook University.

Hilbert-Wolf used innovative techniques to analyse the soil in Mbeya in Tanzania, where powerful earthquakes occurred about 25,000 years ago, Efe news agency reported citing a statement from the Australian University.

She said her team found traces of massive soil deformation, as well as new forms of liquefaction and fluidisation (surface acting like quicksand), caused by previous earthquakes in Tanzania, which will have about 130 million inhabitants by 2050.

"This could be a major concern for the growing urban population of East Africa, which has similar tectonic settings and surface conditions," said the researcher.

Evidence of fluidisation and rise of unprecedented material in a continental environment, found in Mbeya, raised questions about the strength of cities rapidly growing in the region, against an earthquake.

The evidence, found in studies that used this inexpensive method, contribute towards evaluating how the surface will be deformed in a modern earthquake and calculate how structures may be affected by future events.

--Indo-Asian News service

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