The ripple effect of small earthquakes near major faults

Minor quakes can disrupt natural tectonic patterns deep underground and change stress landscape, new study finds.

Scientists believe they can serve as useful analogs of how major earthquakes begin and behave.

Small earthquakes, even those tens of kilometers away from the main fault, can disturb a tremor's natural rhythm.

By listening to the Earth 's quietest rumbles, we may be able to learn how to better anticipate its loudest ones.

"The fact that we can measure and understand the effects of earthquakes' perturbation on slow fault ruptures gives us hope that we could use the same logic to understand where earthquakes should be expected to be regular, and where not".