Will seismologists ever be able to reliably predict the exact location, time and magnitude of earthquakes like the one that just devastated Japan and sent tsunamis racing across the Pacific Ocean? If so, they might be able to save many lives. Consider how many people have been killed by large earthquakes just in the last decade: more than 20,000 people in India in 2001, 30,000 in Iran in 2003, 227,000 in Sumatra in 2004, 86,000 in Pakistan in 2005, 87,000 in China in 2008, and 222,000 in Haiti last year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey . Early reports from Japan suggest that the death toll could be in the tens of thousands. [More]














Source: Japan earthquake demonstrates the limits—and power—of science