Earthquake Detection: Well Water May Contain Earthquake Warning Signs

The Húsavík-Flatey Fault in Iceland. Mineral levels in groundwater near the fault changed before two earthquakes.

 It has been said that spikes in sodium and hydrogen in well water warned of mounting strain before two Iceland earthquakes, geologists say.

The new study, published today (Sept. 21) in the journal Nature Geoscience, provides some of the best evidence yet for earthquake precursors. Despite centuries of effort, no one has discovered reliable precursors, which are changes seen before an earthquake. But while seismologists would dearly love to save lives by predicting earthquakes, the well-water evidence is not a first step toward early warnings — it's more like a glimpse of a long, bumpy road.

"All we found is chemical changes before two earthquakes, and that's it," said lead study author Alasdair Skelton, a geochemist at Stockholm University in Sweden. "I don't want to give any false hope."

The artesian well tested during the study.

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