GISCafe Voice Susan Smith
Susan Smith has worked as an editor and writer in the technology industry for over 16 years. As an editor she has been responsible for the launch of a number of technology trade publications, both in print and online. Currently, Susan is the Editor of GISCafe and AECCafe, as well as those sites’ … More » Laser radar image of 2010 Mexicali earthquake releasedFebruary 14th, 2012 by Susan Smith
Released by an international team of scientists is a laser-radar image of the area surrounding the site of a Magnitude 7.2 earthquake that occurred in Mexicali, Mexico, in 2010. The laser radar technique can spot surface changes of just a few centimetres; in this image the blue represents a post-quake reduction in height and red indicates an increase.
Geologists have a new tool to study how earthquakes change the landscape, and it’s giving them insight into how earthquake faults behave. In the Feb. 10 issue of the journal Science, a team of scientists from the United States, Mexico and China, including geophysicist Eric Fielding of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., reports the most comprehensive before-and-after picture yet of an earthquake zone, using data from the magnitude 7.2 event that struck near Mexicali, northern Mexico in April 2010. “This study provides new information on how rocks in and around fault zones are deformed during earthquakes,” said Fielding. “It helps scientists understand past events and assess the likelihood of future earthquakes in other complex systems of faults.” -NASA Tags: 2010, earthquake, geospatial, GIS, laser radar, Mexcali, Mexico, NASA, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, remote sensing, satellite imagery, UC Davis Categories: climate change, laser radar, NASA, remote sensing, satellite imagery |