Chinese scientists expected an earthquake to strike hours before the deadly 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Gansu – but were unable to say where it would happen, a report claimed. Over 120 people have died since the temblor struck with the epicentre in Jishishan. Although, earthquakes cannot be predicted, researchers in the Chinese province of Shaanxi developed a technique which has allowed them to forecast successfully every earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 or more in the past 10 years, South China Morning Post reported.
The scientists could not, however, predict the location of these earthquakes. Using high-precision equipment in order to monitor the Earth’s gravitational field at low frequencies, scientists look for any anomalies in the gravitational waves- sign that an earthquake is imminent.
What about Gansu earthquake? Did they know?
The researchers said that they knew the latest earthquake was on the way when they received a text alert about abnormal data readings from multiple sensors. The team then began discussing where the earthquake might strike and calculated that the earthquake had a high probability of hitting within three to five days. The team also knew that the magnitude of the earthquake would be around 6.27.
Zhang Maoshen said, “[We] didn’t think it would be this close” while Liu Huaqiang, a professor at Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xian said that as the sensors were located in different cities, the anomalous waves were all recorded at nearly the same time.
“So it wasn’t hard to understand whether this was an earthquake precursor”, he said, adding, “The only aspect we cannot determine is the location.”
Were early warning signals sent?
The China Earthquake Early Warning Network sent text alerts within 30 seconds of the earthquake hitting areas around the Gansu quake’s epicentre. Those closest to it received a text alert in only 12 seconds.
