Beijing: Certain “high risk zones” around the world do require a close watch, geophysicists now believe after a spate of high-intensity earthquakes rattled different parts of the world and reignited the question whether the Earth is experiencing another round of seismic-active period.
During the past two months, unusually active seismic activities have been witnessed around the globe, with a string of powerful quakes jolting Ecuador, Indonesia, Myanmar, Japan and Afghanistan. Many cannot help but wonder: Is this just coincidence, or is our planet once again on a “quake mode”?
It is hard to judge whether the Earth is experiencing another seismic-active period, Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with the US Geological Survey, told Xinhua.
The last cycle of frequent earthquakes were witnessed in the first 60 years of the 20th century, when there were seven quakes above 8.5 on the Richter scale. In the following 40 years there were no major quakes.
Mr Baldwin says quake-prone zones could see strong shocks anytime, but so far there have been no signs of connection between seismic activities in different zones.
They say the geographic location of Japan and Indonesia, both of which sit on the Circum-Pacific Seismic Belt, is the reason behind such tremors. The belt, which extends all the way through the US Pacific coast, Taiwan, the Philippines and New Zealand, releases about three quarters of quake-discharged energy from the interior of our planet. It has earned a befitting name — the Pacific Ring of Fire. Though it may seem early to sound alarm for a new wave of disastrous earthquakes, some scientists insist that certain “high risk zones” do require attention.
