Geology Dept. makes strides in new approach to earthquake studies

If an earthquake were to hit St. Louis, Carbondale residents would have less than two minutes to prepare using the earthquake warning system that exists now, said Eric C. Ferré, SIUC professor of structural geology.

Two years ago, Ferré, along with a handful of other scientists from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Schiziko University in Japan, began creating an earthquake warning system they hope will predict natural disasters days in advance.

"Instead of waiting with our arms crossed for an earthquake to take place, we go out in the field and we look for the rocks that we know have been formed by previous earthquakes," Ferré said. "It's a completely different attitude."

Ferré's approach in developing a more advanced warning system is unique because it is based on an innovative method of studying earthquakes. Ferré said all of the information that exists on today's earthquakes is based on seismology, which studies the vibrations that travel through the earth after an earthquake.

Using the current earthquake system of seismology, scientists only have information about earthquakes for as long as man recorded earthquakes, Ferré said. So Ferré plans to study rocks that contain pseudotachylites, which carry magnetic memory of past earthquakes.

Earthquake-related melts, called pseudotachylites, solidify rapidly and may capture local changes in electrical or magnetic fields. At first glance, they look like mere rocks, but it is what lies inside that may hold the key to creating a new earthquake warning system and ultimately saving lives, Ferré said.

Matthew Zechmeister, a graduate research assistant who is also working alongside Ferré, said the group is focusing on regions including southern California's Santa Rosa Mountains, a section of the western Alps, and Japan's southwest region, which has been known to have large concentrations of rocks that contain pseudotachylite veins.

Ferré said the rocks that have been formed during an earthquake are distinctive because they contain properties that no other rocks have.

A large portion of funding for the study comes from The National Science Foundation, which has given the study $190,000 for the project, and Ferré is hopeful the foundation will award funding for another project near the San Andres fault in Parkview, Calif. Ferré's goal is to examine the rocks that lie beneath the San Andres Fault to determine if there is a link with his studies so far.

Ferré said he is hopeful The National Science Foundation will fund the trip to the San Andres Fault and that he realizes the importance of being pioneers in this field of study.