You might just want to go ahead and ask for am earthquake survival kit for Christmas.
A pair of geologists are predicting more earthquakes with a magnitude of 7.0 or greater in 2018. Roger Bilham, of the University of Colorado along with Rebecca Bendick, of the University of Montana, looked at 100 years worth of data and noticed a pattern when it came to major shakers: when the Earth’s rotation slows it is followed by an increase in major earthquakes, reports The Guardian. The pair say that we could see an additional two to five additional earthquakes than normal next year – which would be somewhere between 17 to 20 total.
The slowdown in the rotation, not noticeable to you or I as it is in milliseconds, is a regular occurrence, notes Forbes. As for why it happens, one theory is that the earth’s outer core might get, at times, “stuck” to the mantle underneath it, causing a disruption.
According to Science, this results in a peak in major earthquakes every 32 years – with 2018 being one of those peaks.
So yeah, if you grabbed a new HDTV this weekend, get some of that museum putty for it before New Year’s.
