Hacker News Reader

I suppose the amount of stress/strain held within these rocks will be hard to ascertain. If these earthquakes occur periodically, sure that gives us a better estimate, but we still don't know the unintended consequences of triggering a quake. Not to mention the property damage.

View on HN

In theory, 10 magnitude 5.4 quakes will cause a lot less damage than a single 6.4 magnitude quake. But of course if that energy were to be dissipated in micro-quakes instead the 5.4 quake is much worse.

It isn't certain that an earthquake would happen either way. Take the example of a spaghetti noodle. If you bend it and it breaks, it releases a lot of energy due to the bending stress. If you introduce a defect in the middle of it, it breaks before building up that much stress. However, we don't know if whatever is bending the noddle would eventually do so until it breaks. Maybe it wouldn't.

Plus, knowing exactly when the quake will happen can reduce a lot of damage. You can stop surgeries, trains, and stuff during that time if you have a warning.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com