Gerald Galgana

The M8.3 Illapel earthquake that struck the coast of Chile near Santiago late on Wednesday, September 16, serves as a reminder that the western coast of South America is one of the most seismically active regions of the world.

You can't forecast earthquakes the way you can hurricanes or floods, but Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems may be the next best thing.

At one time or another, fleeing toads, magnetic waves, thermal radiation, planetary alignments, tidal forces and disruptions in the ionosphere have all been said to foretell earthquakes. Ask most geoscientists to predict an earthquake, however, and they will scoff at the notion.

Amidst the sweet serenade of Salsa and Latin folk music, attendees at this year's Latin American Seismology Congress in Bogota, Colombia were treated to a series of groundbreaking (pun intended) research results from AIR's seismic hazards team.