Sun and Moon May Be Triggering Slow Earthquakes

Researchers at PSL University simulated how tidal stresses from the Sun and Moon affect faults and found that even weak periodic forces cause significant slip when they resonate with a fault's natural response timescale. Slow earthquakes may precede larger, more dangerous ones.

• Tidal stresses are comparable to the pressure of a gentle hand press
• Resonance with a fault's response timescale sharply increases its sensitivity
• A prior analysis of 10,000+ quakes linked high tidal stress to growth up to magnitude 8
• The model simplifies reality, using a single isolated fault