In 2006, Haering's company was drilling in Basel, Switzerland, as part of a project to convert heat in the underground rocks into electricity. But Swiss authorities charge that the drilling activated the major fault line that runs underneath the city, triggering a series of small earthquakes. Although the most intense of these quakes only rated a 3.4 on the Richter Scale and resulted in no injuries, the Swiss government claims Haering's drilling caused $9 million worth of property damage. Furthermore, they claim there is a 15 percent chance that, had the drilling continued, it would have triggered a major quake that could have caused $500 million in damage.

If Haering is found guilty of deliberately triggering the quakes, he could be jailed for up to five years. But this wouldn't be the first time human actions led to shaky ground. Wired lists five ways humans can cause earthquakes of their very own, including examples of a handful of other accidental Lex Luthors.

Switzerland geologist on trial for 'causing quakes' [BBC via Slashdot]

According to the UM researchers, this discovery may make sense of previously unexplained earthquakes, such as 2008's Sichuan quake, that registered 7.9 on the Richter scale; the theory is that earthquakes farther from fault lines may be aftershocks of much earlier movements along the fault line, with the further the distance meaning the later the quake:

The study, reported in the journal Nature, found that aftershocks near to tectonic boundaries continue for only a few years but further away they can occur over a timescale of decades and centuries. Recent earthquakes in Canada's Saint Lawrence valley, for instance, may be the aftershocks of an earthquake that occurred in 1663.

Similarly, a magnitude 7 earthquake that occurred near a town called New Madrid in Mississippi in 1811 is still causing aftershocks that can be felt in the American mid-west because these shocks are the result of movements that are 100 times slower than the movements that occur near to a tectonic fault line.

Scientists hope to use this discovery to work out where future earthquakes may occur. Evil scientists hope to use this discovery to annex California and create a base of operations from which they can destroy Superman once and for all.

Scientists unearth evidence of centuries-old aftershocks [Independent.co.uk

How can researchers predict earthquakes? By studying coral reefs in the region. Not only are coral reefs many centuries old, but their shape is a direct response to water levels. After a series of earthquakes, usually the reef winds up higher or lower than it was before - and any part of it that's exposed to air dies.

Scientists studying Sumatran reefs say the coral there have experienced massive die-offs as well as new horizontal growth about every two hundred years. Moreover, these changes happened in fits and starts over phases of about 30 - 100 years. That suggests the area experiences what's called an "earthquake supercycle" for several decades every two centuries.

Last year's 8.4 quake off the coast of Sumatra is probably the first quake in a new supercycle, since the last big die-off in the coral reefs took place in 1833. Other quake cycles hit in 1374, 1596, 1675, and 1797.

Geophysicist Yehuda Bock co-authored a study published in Nature last week that asserted the recent Sumatra quakes were just the beginning. According to Science News:

The region’s 2007 quake released only one-quarter of the energy that had accumulated along this stretch of subduction zone since 1833. So, Bock notes, quakes in the region in the coming decades may be even larger than expected.

“This is the best area in the world to be able to predict a quake,” Bock says. “It’s clear that there’s going to be an event … We just can’t say for sure when it will happen.”

Reef Record Suggests Impending Sumatra Quakes [via Science News]

Freund's theory has been around for years, and it basically goes like this: when squeezed, rocks turn into big batteries. Oxygen molecules in the rocks undergo chemical reactions, which builds up a positive electrical charge. When a big enough section of rock is under a lot of stress, the charge becomes strong enough to cause a disturbance in the planet's ionosphere.

Satellites orbiting in the ionosphere should be able to detect those changes (they may even mess with GPS satellites a bit), and one report says they already have:

Other proponents [of the prediction theory] expect new research confirming their theory will appear later this summer, based on a leaked memo written by Dimitar Ouzounov, a NASA-funded researcher at George Mason University.

On May 2, 2008, Ouzounov was looking for these same infrared light sources and found one over Sichuan province. Ouzounov sent a memo to colleagues reporting his finding, which he said was later leaked to the press.

On May 12 a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck the Chinese province, killing thousands.

If this proves to be true, it's the holy grail of earthquake research. Imagine being able to predict quakes better than any other natural disaster (when was the last time someone accurately predicted where a hurricane would strike ten days in advance?).

But there are still two big red flags here: 1) if this is so awesome, why isn't NASA falling all over itself to get Freund's satellites in orbit? 2) if Freund has ponied up $1 million in personal cash to see this project through, he's probably going to want to make his money back. Fair enough, but things could get ugly if he builds one of the most potent life-saving technologies ever invented, but holds the information for ransom, charging world governments a subscription fee to protect their citizens from disaster.

Source: Discovery News

Designed by Australian John Doyle, the shacks would be deployed to disaster zones in trucks, snapped together, and then covered in a massive, inflatable, weatherproof shell.

Green park? Check. Bicyclists zooming everywhere? Check. Disastrous earthquake devastates everything and takes out all services except high-speed internet? Check. Yep, it's San Francisco.

Here's what you get inside one.

John Doyle's Plans [New York Hurricane Relief]

io9's Geoff Manaugh has a post about another plan for disaster relief that involves giant floating suburban blimps.