Ancient African Earthquakes May Reveal Future Threats

It turns out that Africa experienced some massive earthquakes in the past. Researchers have uncovered evidence of a large earthquake in Tanzania that occurred about 25,000 years ago.

In this latest study, the researchers found evidence of ground deformation and previously unknown styles of liquefaction and fluidization, caused by past earthquakes. This evidence, in fact, could be a major concern for the growing urban population of East Africa.

In 1910, about 7.5 million people lived in Tanzania when the most powerful earthquake in Africa of the twentieth century struck, collapsing homes and triggering liquefaction and fluidization. By 2050, it's estimated that 130 million people will live in Tanzania, mostly in constructed urban settings that are more susceptible to earthquake damage and surface deformation than traditionally fabricated buildings.

Fluidization is when soil behaves like quicksand. This particular phenomenon can be especially dangerous in urban settings. However, the new evidence may give researchers more data to work on to make locations safer.

"We can now use this to evaluate how the ground would deform in a modern earthquake," said Eric Roberts, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This is important because the approach is inexpensive and can be used to model how structures might be affected by future events, providing a valuable tool in hazard assessment."

The findings reveal that a rock record can be used to not only investigate the timing and frequency of past events, but also provide important insights into how the ground will behave in future seismic events. This is important to note when building structures that can stand under these types of events.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.

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