Large earthquakes could be identified months or even years in advance by finding unique signals, according to a new research from a team of German researchers.

The research suggests more exact earthquake warning systems require more local and regional sites that can find underground signals. Along with this, finding second faults(断层)after the main rupturing (断裂) fault would further increase the exactness of these readings.

To find this out, the team led by Dr Patricia Martinez-Garzon studied the Kahramanamras earthquake that shook Turkey in early 2023. They found that there was an increase in the earthshaking event rates and larger energy release starting around eight months before the earthquakes.

These signals were found within 65 km of the epicenter (震中). Although the main rupture occurred on a fault line and in an area that was known to be the cause of earthquakes, signals before the event took place both on the main and secondary faults, which hadn’t received much attention from scientists in the past.

Now, short-term prediction (预测) of earthquake size, time and location is just possible. The scientists behind this study believe that long-term finding is seminal to help build our understanding of earthquakes and future events.

But not everyone, including Bill McGuire, professor at UCL, agrees with how useful this could be. “While this is interesting from a scientific viewpoint, it is unlikely that knowing a big earthquake might be on the way within months or years really gets us any further forward in preparing for them,” he says. “The only useful prediction of future earthquakes is arguably the one that exactly fixes the location of a coming quake and its timing to within a few weeks, so as to move people to a safe place.”

Makai Simmons had his first day back at school on Monday in Pembroke Pines, Florida, after missing a week of school while he and his mom, Tekara Capron, were stuck in the Bahamas, a country to the southeast of Florida, because of Hurricane Dorian.

“As soon as he walked in, everyone just jumped up,” Capron said. “It was really moving.”

Capron and Makai had planned on traveling over the weekend to visit family in the Bahamas. When they left, they thought they were dodging a bullet because Dorian was on track to hit Florida.

By the time they were in the Bahamas, Dorian had become a Category 5 storm and was on track to ruin the island. Capron stayed put in the Bahamas with her son because leaving was too difficult and, even more so, because she wanted to stay with her family members through the hurricane.

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, with 183 mph winds causing great destruction (破坏) and killing at least 50 people.

Capron and Makai rode out the storm at her grandparents’ house in Freeport. Capron’s grandparent’s house remained unharmed by the storm, but it was flooded and they lost nearly everything, including most of their clothes and Makai’s toys. “He dealt with it well,” Capron added. “He said, ‘It’s OK, Mommy.’” When Capron told Makai that some people, including children, were trapped (使困住) after the hurricane, Makai offered to help. “He said, ‘Mommy, I have to go save the children,’” Capron said.

Capron and Makai were able to board a ship back to the U.S. on Friday evening. Capron said the joyful welcome Makai got at school was “something he needed, and I needed it too.”

She shared the video on the website, where it already has more than 11, 000 views. Capron said her grandmother, still in the Bahamas, called her crying after watching the video of her great-grandson. “Right now, we’re seeing so many disasters, so to see the love that kids are showing is beautiful,” she said. “The rest of the world needed to see that too.”

The world’s first named heat wave hit Seville, Spain, pushing temperatures past 110 degrees Fahrenheit and earning the most severe tier (级别) in the city’s new heat wave ranking system. Heat wave “Zoe” has brought burning temperatures to the southern part of the country for the last few days, particularly the area where Seville is located.

Zoe is the first named heat wave to hit Seville since it officially used a new system last month to name and rank heat waves, similar to hurricanes (Climatewire, June 22). Only the most severe heat waves get names, named this year in reverse (颠倒的) alphabetical order. After Zoe come Yago, Xenia, Wenceslao and Vega. The worst of the heat is expected to begin tapering off (减弱) today, but it has already posed a significant risk to human health.

Seville’s new ranking system takes a three-tiered approach to categorizing heat waves, with Category 1 as the lowest ranking and Category 3 as the most severe. The system has specific criteria for each category, involving not only daytime temperatures, but also nighttime lows, humidity and the heat’s expected effects on human health.

Spain has been struggling with extreme temperatures for much of the summer already. High heat broke local records around the country last month, and the first two weeks of June were the hottest on record in the country. Across the continent, this year was Europe’s second hottest June on record. Extreme heat returned again earlier this month. Cities across Spain broke monthly temperature records and wildfires broke out on the landscape.

Climate change is causing heat waves to become more frequent, more severe and longer-lasting all over the world, increasing the risks to human health. Seville’s new naming and ranking system is intended to raise public awareness about the dangers of extreme heat.