UC Riverside researchers use GPS to map future quake risk
Researchers at UC Riverside have come up with a smart new way to figure out where big earthquakes might hit next.
By using GPS data to track how stress builds up deep underground, their method can highlight fault zones that are likely to rupture.
The findings, recently published in the Geophysical Research Letters, could help communities get better prepared for future quakes.
UC Riverside flagged Kamchatka locked zone
The team focused on subduction zones, places where one tectonic plate slides under another, using GPS to pinpoint "locked" areas where energy piles up until it's released in an earthquake.
Impressively, their method identified a risky zone under Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, where an 8.8 quake struck in July 2025, even triggering a tsunami warning for the US West Coast.
Now, they're testing this approach in other high-risk regions like Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and the Pacific Northwest.