The National Aeronautics and Space Aadministration is collaborating with a British company in developing an early warning system for earthquakes, which would be able to predict major quakes two weeks in advance.
According to a report in
Discovery News, the project is based on a controversial theory that may gain traction in light of new findings described in a leaked NASA memo about the May 12 earthquake in China's Sichuan province.
The researchers hope to create a global network of 20 satellites that would scan for telltale activity that some scientists say precedes large earthquakes.
The goal is to create an early warning system that would give up to two weeks notice before a quake anywhere in the world, potentially saving thousands of lives.
Current detection systems can give about a maximum of one minute's notice before a major quake and are prone to false alarms.
"Right now we're in the business of disaster monitoring," said Stuart Eves, a researcher at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited, the company behind the proposed satellite network. "We hope to be in the business of disaster avoidance," he added.
The proposed dishwasher-sized satellites could be deployed in two years and would monitor several distinct phenomena, all of which began long ago deep inside the Earth, according to NASA researcher Friedemann Freund, a leading proponent
" id="div_arti_inline_advt">