PORTUGAL: PRESS COVERAGE OF DISCOVERY BY MOSCOW UNIVERSITY TO FORECAST EARTQUACKES

The discovery by the team of Prof. V.S. Rostovsky of the University of Moscow’s Physics Department that it will be possible to forecast earthquakes by measuring the polarisation of solar light reflected by the Earth’s surface has been mentioned by Portugal’s “Diario de Noticias” daily newspaper. This topic is especially interesting in Lisbon, the scene of the most destructive earthquake in history when on 1st November, 1755, the city was razed by an earthquake, with ten thousand houses being destroyed. The survivors fled to the riverside and the river Tagus then threw up an enormous tidal wave. The total number of deaths was around 30,000 which at the time was monumental – around a third of the city’s population. Moscow University’s discovery is based on the study of the Earth’s geoelectrical field, observing alterations in areas which are traditionally prone to earthquakes and thus forecasting the short-term future. It is thought that these alterations will forecast the impending earthquake and therefore it will be possible to warn populations to evacuate the area before the event. This will be confirmed by a measurement beneath the area of the altered geoelectrical field of the underground pressure near the surface. The Russian scientists state that in future, their discovery will mean that it will be enough to set up observation posts which monitor magnetic fields.

TIMOTHY BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.RU LISBON