More Tropical Storms, Fewer Destructive Earthquakes

Tropical Storms Prevent Quakes - From Science Illustrated - March/April 2010 Issue:

"Typhoons can cause widespread destruction, but they can also prevent some disasters. So say geophysicists from the Carnegie Institution of Washington and the Institute of Earth Sciences at Academia Sinica in Tawain, who found a correlation between the tropical storms and so-called slow earthquakes in eastern Taiwan.

Between 2002 and 2007, the scientists measured 20 of these nonviolent quakes, which last from hours to more than a day rather than just seconds like the more familiar, destructive earthquakes. Eleven of the small quakes coincided with typhoons in the region, and none occurred during non-typhoon months. The storms reduce air pressure over land but not at the ocean floor. This pressure imbalance may trigger the slow quakes, researchers say, frequently releasing stress from areas of a fault--and explaining why devastating earthquakes are rare in eastern Taiwan."

-note: As a geologist and weather enthusiast, I find this fascinating!!!

gg aka rocket girl