Live in or planning to visit California? Suspect there’ll be an earthquake in the next 24 hours? Check out the US Geological Services’ new online Earthquake Predictor. According to the Associated Press, these are “real-time, color-coded maps that provide earthquake probabilities in a specific region. Areas shaded in red represent a high chance of strong shaking within the next 24 hours (less than a 1 in 10 chance) while those in blue represent a very remote chance, say, more than 1 in a million.” The predictive maps are updated hourly with seismic data and if you’re interested in a specific place in California, you can zoom in to take a close look.
Scientists say that it’s not designed to predict when the big quake will happen but instead where and how big the aftershocks will be.
For those of you who want more details about the models, here’s the background: Real-time Forecasts of Tomorrow’s Earthquakes in California: a New Mapping Tool.