New research uses medical CT technology to help reveal earthquake history

A new study in New Zealand shows that computer tomography (CT) technology from the medical field can be used to analyze ancient sediment cores, helping to reveal the history of seismic activity and assess earthquake risk. Researchers from institutions including the University of Waikato recently published a paper in the American academic journal “Science Advances” stating that they used medical CT equipment to scan 161 sediment cores collected from 18 ancient lakes in the Hamilton Basin in northern New Zealand, successfully identifying signs of liquefaction deformation in volcanic ash layers. Since this type of change typically occurs during strong earthquakes, the researchers inferred that at least four geological faults in the area have experienced five significant earthquakes over the past 15,700 years, three of which had magnitudes exceeding 7. After analyzing these geological faults, the researchers believe that the local earthquake risk is low to moderate, but there is also a possibility of experiencing strong earthquakes. The researchers stated that this is the first time globally that medical CT technology has been used to help analyze seismic activity, and this method is applicable to other regions, providing a new tool for assessing earthquake risk. (Xinhua)