Parkfield Experiment

Question 1

What did they do?

Answer 1

• Californian seismologists invested heavily in monitoring the SA fault around Parkfield
• Believed there was an interval of medium size quakes every 26 years

Question 2

Why?

Answer 2

The Loma Prieta 1989 earthquake caused scientists to want to “catch a quake”.

Question 3

Outcome?

Answer 3

This pattern in time was not proven; the estimated wait of 5 years for another quake was actually 15. This proved they had failed to identify a pattern.