3:29 PM
April 6, 2009
...A little over a week ago, a scientist little known in earthquake circles made a bold prediction of a destructive earthquake around the small town of Sulmona, Italy, based on readings of radon gas. Giampaolo Guiliani went so far as to tell the mayor of Sulmona that it would strike within the next 24 hours. The deadline passed, and nothing happened.
Then, early Tuesday, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck about 35 miles away, near the town of L’aquila, sparking a controversy in Italy and around the world about whether Guiliani actually predicted the temblor. That prediction is the latest twist in the maddening scientific quest to predict earthquakes....
On Tuesday, January 17th 1995, at 5.46 a.m. (local time), an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 on the Richter Scale struck the Kobe region of south-central Japan. (click here)
If one examines closely the Eurasian Plate it will be noted there is a 'double fold' if you will very near Italy. As a matter of fact, it is due to this region that Italy moved away from the continent and forms a 'peninsula' in the shape of a boot.
The Eurasian Plate is also responsible for some of Japan's earthquakes which are very frequent.
When I consider this earthquake along with others on the Pacfic Rim, it is easy to say they are all related as the Pacific Plate and Eurasian plate contact each other and when the Pacific Plate moves Japan gets a bolt. It is not a far stretch to realize as the Pacific Plate moves, so the Eurasian Plate does as well impacting Japan with a double dose of a dynamic Earth.
It makes sense that as the Eurasian Plate 'accepts' friction and strain from the Pacific Plate, the first major 'slip' would occur at its weakest spot, Italy where the plate is weaker than in other areas.
