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GMAT Reading Comprehension (RC) | In 1971 researchers hoping to predict earthquakes in the short term by

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    In 1971 researchers hoping to predict earthquakes in
    the short term by identifying precursory phenomena
    (those that occur a few days before large quakes
    but not otherwise) turned their attention to changes
(5)
    in seismic waves that had been detected prior to
    earthquakes. An explanation for such changes was
    offered by “dilatancy theory,” based on a well-known
    phenomenon observed in rocks in the laboratory:
    as stress builds, microfractures in rock close,
(10)
    decreasing the rock’s volume. But as stress
    continues to increase, the rock begins to crack and
    expand in volume, allowing groundwater to seep in,
    weakening the rock. According to this theory, such
    effects could lead to several precursory phenomena in
(15)
    the field, including a change in the velocity of seismic
    waves, and an increase in small, nearby tremors.
    Researchers initially reported success in identifying
    these possible precursors, but subsequent analyses
    of their data proved disheartening. Seismic waves
(20)
    with unusual velocities were recorded before some
    earthquakes, but while the historical record confirms
    that most large earthquakes are preceded by minor
    tremors, these foreshocks indicate nothing about
    the magnitude of an impending quake and are
(25)
    indistinguishable from other minor tremors that occur
    without large earthquakes.
    In the 1980s, some researchers turned their
    efforts from short-term to long-term prediction.
    Noting that earthquakes tend to occur repeatedly in
(30)
    certain regions, Lindh and Baker attempted to identify
    patterns of recurrence, or earthquake cycles, on which
    to base predictions. In a study of earthquake-prone
    sites along the San Andreas Fault, they determined
    that quakes occurred at intervals of approximately 22
(35)
    years near one site and concluded that there was a
    95 percent probability of an earthquake in that area
    by 1992. The earthquake did not occur within the time
    frame predicted, however.
    Evidence against the kind of regular
(40)
    earthquake cycles that Lindh and Baker tried
    to establish has come from a relatively new
    field, paleoseismology. Paleoseismologists
    have unearthed and dated geological features
    such as fault scarps that were caused by
(45)
    earthquakes thousands of years ago. They have
    determined that the average interval between ten
    earthquakes that took place at one site along the
    San Andreas Fault in the past two millennia was
    132 years, but individual intervals ranged greatly,
(50)
    from 44 to 332 years.


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