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CrowdScience: When will the next earthquake hit?

Discussion & Talk

When will the next earthquake hit?

09/02/2024 GMT

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, When will the next earthquake hit?

Will we ever be able to predict earthquakes?

In 2011, CrowdScience listener Amanda survived the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

It arrived unannounced - as all earthquakes do - leaving her with no time to prepare a response. So Amanda wants to know whether science will ever be able to give us advance warning of quakes.

To explore her question CrowdScience heads to New Zealand to meet listener Amanda, as well as the brains behind the country’s earthquake forecasting models. We dig in a field for thousand-year-old tectonic clues that could help us understand when the next earthquake might strike. But even if we could get a head start against a quake, would we respond in the right way?

Please note: earthquake response advice varies by location. Please check local guidance and individual building procedures.

Featuring:

Nicola Litchfield, Principal Scientist in Paleoseismology at GNS, Wellington, New Zealand
Matt Gerstenberger, Seismologist and leader of the National Seismic Hazard Model, GNS, Wellington, New Zealand
Andy Howell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Lauren Vinnell, Lecturer in Emergency Management at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University

Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Emily Bird
Editor: Cathy Edwards
Production: Jonathan Harris, Jana Holesworth
Sound Engineer: Steve Greenwood

(Photo: Earthquake damage in Christchurch. Credit: John Crux Photography)

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