Certain weather events, like heavy snowfall and rain, might trigger earthquakes: Study

Earthquakes are caused by a sudden movement along faults within the Earth, but new research by MIT scientists suggests that heavy snowfall and rain could play a role play in setting off tremors.

The study, published on Wednesday (May 8) in the journal Science Advances, indicates a potential link between heavy snowfall on Japan's Noto Peninsula and thousands of quakes measured there since late 2020.

William Frank, who is the study author and an assistant professor in MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), said, "We see that snowfall and other environmental loading at the surface impacts the stress state underground, and the timing of intense precipitation events is well-correlated with the start of this earthquake swarm."

"So, climate obviously has an impact on the response of the solid earth, and part of that response is earthquakes," he added.

On January 1 this year, the west coast of Japan was struck by a massive magnitude-7.6 earthquake near the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa prefecture. It was the strongest quake to hit the area in over a century. The quake killed 213 people and left 26,000 in emergency shelters.

The satellite images later revealed that the powerful quake even shifted its coastline by 800 kilometres. Since the initial earthquake, the Noto peninsula, which is located about 190 miles northwest of Tokyo on the Sea of Japan, experienced nearly 600 aftershocks.

Hundreds of small earthquakes have shaken up the Noto Peninsula since late 2020. The researchers analysed thousands of earthquakes that hit the peninsula. It found that the number of earthquakes in the area increased significantly, with hundreds being recorded daily, after a big snowfall in 2021.

In the latest study, researchersfocused on a series of earthquakes on the Noto Peninsula. The findings revealed that the seismic activity in the region is unexpectedly linked to changes in subterranean pressure, which are controlled by seasonal patterns of snowfall and rainfall.

The researchers believe that this new connection between earthquakes and climate may not be limited only to Japan and they also think that the climate's influence on earthquakes could be even bigger with global warming and rise in temperature.

Frank added, "If we're going into a climate that's changing, with more extreme precipitation events, and we expect a redistribution of water in the atmosphere, oceans, and continents, that will change how the Earth's crust is loaded. That will have an impact for sure, and it's a link we could further explore."

(With inputs from agencies)