Earth's Rotation Is Mysteriously Slowing Down: Experts Predict Uptick In 2018 Earthquakes
To start, the research team of geologists analyzed every earthquake to occur since 1900 at a magnitude above 7.0. They were looking for trends in the occurrence of large earthquakes. What they found is that roughly every 32 years there was an uptick in the number of significant earthquakes worldwide.
They compared it with a number of global historical datasets and found only one that showed a strong correlation with the uptick in earthquakes. That correlation was to the slowing down of Earth's rotation.
The slowing rotation historically has lasted for 5 years, with the last year triggering an increase in earthquakes. To add an interesting twist to the story, 2017 was the 4th consecutive year that Earth's rotation has slowed. This is why the research team believes we can expect more earthquakes in 2018, it is the last of a 5-year slowdown in Earth's rotation.
Sources:
-https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/11/20/earths-rotation-is-mysteriously-slowing-down-experts-predict-uptick-in-2018-earthquakes
-https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/18/2018-set-to-be-year-of-big-earthquakes
-https://qz.com/1133304/as-earths-rotation-slows-2018-could-see-a-spike-in-large-earthquakes
-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5099551/Swarms-big-earthquakes-set-devastate-Earth-2018.html
Do weak global stresses synchronize earthquakes?
Large earthquakes appear to synchronize globally, in the sense that they are organized in time according to their renewal properties, and occur in groups in response to very low stress interactions.
-http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/2017GL074934/full
Very sad