New AI system can predict earthquakes Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis

Scientists have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system to successfully predict earthquakes, an advance that may help prepare for natural disasters and potentially save lives. The study, published in the journal Geophysical Review Letters, identified a hidden signal leading up to earthquakes, and used this'fingerprint' to train a machine learning algorithm to predict future earthquakes. Researchers from University of Cambridge in the UK and Boston University in the US studied the interactions among earthquakes, precursor quakes and faults, with the hope of developing a method to predict earthquakes. Using a lab-based system that mimics real earthquakes, they used machine learning techniques to analyse the acoustic signals coming from the'fault' as it moved and search for patterns. Researchers used steel blocks to closely mimic the physical forces at work in a real earthquake, and also records the seismic signals and sounds that are emitted.