This quake has been referred to as the “most anticipated earthquake in history.” It was predicted to occur more than a decade ago, before the end of 1993, and it’s failure to occur–until now–left many seismologists wondering about the future of the scientific study of earthquake prediction. The reaction of seismologists across the world (and at Weston Observatory) is well expressed in an article in the October 1 Chronicle of Higher Education. The following excerpt taken from Richard Monastersky’s article “California Quake, Long Awaited By Scientists, Sends Tremor Through Theories And Yields Flood Of Data.”
“When a magnitude 6 earthquake struck the tiny town of Parkfield, CA on Tuesday, it was too small to cause much damage. But the vibrations caused a whole lot of shaking among geoscientists. Some shook hands with colleagues, others shook their fists at the sky, and still others shook their heads in amazement. The most anticipated earthquake in history had finally happened.”
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created the Boston College Educational Seismology Project
Examples of our seismograms of this earthquake