New Study On Earthquake Prediction

Posted: December 13, 2004 at 12:39 p.m.

(BCN) -- A Palo Alto company is collaborating with the French Government to see if earthquakes can be predicted by studying magnetic field disturbances in the ionosphere.

The French space agency Centre National D'Etudes Spatiales (CNES)has agreed to share information from its new satellite DEMETER with Palo Alto based QuakeFinder, reports QuakeFinder Chief of Technology Officer Tom Bleier.

The satellite's mission will be to study ionospheric disturbances in relation to seismic activity, and ionospheric disturbances in relation to volcanic activity, according to Bleier.

The company launched a similar satellite named QuakeSat 1 in June 2003, which was able to collect data prior to and after the 6.5. San Simeon earthquake, said Bleier. The satellite collects Extremely Low Frenquency precursor signals over geographic regions that are affected by earthquakes.

QuakeFinder will present four research papers at the American Geophysical Union conference held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco this week.