United Press International - NewsTrack - Earthquake early warnings may be possible

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11/10/2005 1:21:00 PM -0500

Newstrack: India wants Nepal to return to democracy and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh relayed that message this weekend at a regional conference. Two grocery workers in New York help helped save two dozen mentally handicapped residents from a fire in a three-story building in Harlem. Video of the police interrogation of an alleged fourth bomber in last week's hotel bombings in Jordan was broadcast Sunday on TV. Protesters in Spain have rallied against the government after an education bill dropped religious requirements from the curriculum. Some experts contend Germany's anti-incest law should be changed to modernize the system and keep the law out of moral issues. A top Russian official is in Iran discussing mutual topics like nuclear programs and issues surrounding them, economics and world politics. Educators, researchers, business leaders and non-profit groups plan to address literacy at an all-day summit at Georgetown University in Washington. As former White House official Lewis Libby awaits trial on five counts of giving false information, Washington, D.C., insiders speculate on what his involvement was. Rioting in France is rooted in a sense of disenfranchisement by black, Arabic French citizens, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Sunday. A report says many elderly in California are being taken advantage of because of the state's largely unregulated conservator industry.

NewsTrack

Earthquake early warnings may be possible

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Scientists believe early earthquake warnings might be possible through an analysis of the frequencies of the initial seismic waves all quakes generate.

Researchers say the first seismic waves generated when an earthquake begins may allow them to predict how strong the full-scale quake will become, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday.

In an article in the journal Nature, researchers Richard Allen of the University of California-Berkeley's Seismological Laboratory and his former graduate student, Erik Olson, say they've developed a computer-based formula that analyzes the first pulse of high-speed seismic waves generated by a developing earthquake.

The scientists say their computer formula can, within seconds, predict the size of the violent high-energy waves that will follow.

Such advance warning is enough time for utilities to shut down or isolate gas and electric services, for airports to halt takeoffs and landings, for emergency crews to spot potential trouble areas and for residents to seek shelter, the Chronicle reported.

Teams of scientists at the United States Geological Survey and at other earthquake research centers are evaluating the work.

New riots hit France's second city

By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor
11/12/2005 6:06:00 PM -0500
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By MARTIN SIEFF
UPI Senior News Analyst
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