From Popular Mechanics, which just had its 108th birthday:
On January 12, around dinnertime, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, decimating the island nation and leaving hundreds of thousands presumed dead. A rescue effort is underway now, but as government officials and rescue agencies sort through the rubble, it is worth asking: Could this tragedy have been prevented?
One group of scientists thinks so. Back in 2008, Eric Calais and Paul Mann, geophysicists who study fault lines in the Caribbean, predicted that Haiti would soon face such a devastating quake. The researchers reported that the Enriquillo fault, the line that Haiti sits upon, could produce a 7.2-magnitude quake if strained enough. Using GPS measurements, the team said that the fault was inching along at 7 millimeters per year, a moderate crawl in the realm of fault lines. But since this highly strung fault line has stretched several millimeters per year for the last 250 years, it was time for it to snap.
Agreed, the headline is ridiculous, there’s nothing in the article about preventing the earthquake, nor could we do anything whatsoever to prevent the earthquake, we just don’t have the technology. We might be able to evacuate or retrofit the buildings to make them better able to withstand the earthquake, but since Haiti is a poor nation that can’t afford to do anything, that’s unlikely as well.
Personally, I think Cherman’s first name is pedro.
By the way, where is everybody? Only Cherman seems to be posting subjects. And his ability to choose sensibly is suspect.
#22 The plot thickens. Don’t make me put you in the sheeple list.
#3 dude, wahtever you’re smoking, I’d love a hit
“geophysicists who study fault lines in the Caribbean, predicted that Haiti would soon face such a devastating quake.” Please define soon in geological time please.
I’m predicting a 7.0 magnitude quake along the San Andreas Fault in the next few years. You heard it here first.
Let me know how this could be prevented.
Thanks
cherman/pedro
Great job !!! You should be proud of yourself.
Basically I go with #4. Haiti is on a major fault zone that has produced large quakes before and predicting that one would occur sooner or later wasn’t all that hard to do.
The people of Haiti didn’t have the resources to do anything about it. They had no safe place to move to and most were lucky to have any shelter much less earthquake proof shelter.
My prediction is also that in the future, Haiti will be hit by a hurricane.
Can I work for Popular Mechanics now?
#27 I’ve said it before, you’re so conFused it’s hilarious
I believe what Danny said is true.And I don’t see you coming up with something better”Dr.Todd.You’re the that’s pathetic!