Science Unwrapped - Earthquakes: Predicting the Unpredictable

Inquiring minds of all ages are invited to Science Unwrapped, the free, public outreach program of USU's College of Arts and Sciences. Our events begin with a brief presentation, and are followed by hands-on learning activities and refreshments. At our April 10 event: You can see dark clouds forming in the distance and prepare for a storm. Hurricane forecasters can pinpoint disturbances over oceans, track their movements and predict where and when they might strike land. Not so with earthquakes, says USU geophysicist Srisharan Shreedharan – at least not yet. Srisharan and his graduate students make tiny earthquakes or “labquakes” in his innovative “earthquake machines.” At Science Unwrapped, Srisharan and master’s student Lindsey Broderick will share what they’re learning and how their efforts could improve earthquake forecasting broadly, and closer to home, along the Wasatch Fault Zone in Utah.