The USGS is now testing out Twitter to collect early response information about earthquakes: “the USGS is developing a system that gathers real-time, earthquake-related messages from the social networking site Twitter and applies place, time, and quantity data to provide geo-located earthquake detection within 60 seconds of an event’s origin time.“ Social media can be a valuable tool in helping to assess earthquake hazards through anecdotal information from hundreds and potentially thousands of local users.

Imagine, though, owning the building centered directly over the earthquake that destroys your whole city... And imagine the weird derived value such a property might hold in the future for disaster enthusiasts.

You go to purchase a small house at 3706 W. 106th Street in Los Angeles – only to find that you've been outbid, by several orders of magnitude, approaching $50 million, by an earthquake enthusiast in Japan. He or she has gone around the world purchasing epicenters, strange plots of land in the middle of nowhere that have no apparent use or distinction other than that they figure into the unfolding seismic history of our planet's surface.

It's an otherwise unknown subculture that has remained camouflaged within the international property market.

07:17 JST 21 Sep 2008 35.6N 140.2E 80km 4.8 CHIBA KEN HOKUSEIBU

19:59 JST 22 Aug 2008 36.5N 140.7E 50km 5.1 OFF IBARAKI PREF

15:13 JST 20 Aug 2008 36.1N 139.9E 50km 4.5 IBARAKI KEN NANBU

00:26 JST 24 Jul 2008 39.7N 141.7E 120km 6.8 IWATE KEN ENGAN HOKUBU

11:39 JST 19 Jul 2008 37.5N 142.5E 10km 6.6 OFF FUKUSHIMA PREF

Meanwhile, concern is growing over a number of new lakes formed by the force of the earthquake. Thirty-four lakes were created in the province when landslides blocked rivers, Xinhua news agency said. Eight held more than 3 million cubic metres of water and one lake, less than 3km (two miles) from Beichuan town, had doubled in size in four days. Officials are monitoring the lakes and have sent experts to assess them, the agency said. Forecasters predict heavy rain in the region next week, which could further raise the water levels in the lakes.

The dam is built to withstand earthquakes up to 7.0 on the richter scale, and the largest recent earthquakes have been below 6.0. However, filling the reservoir behind the dam creates seismic pressure which triggers earthquakes. In fact, earthquakes between 6.0 and 6.5 are expected once the reservoir is filled in 2009. One of the dams designed to hold back sedimentation farther up is subject to even worse seismic problems. “The Jinsha has bad geological conditions, and there is a more severe seismic area upriver from Xiangjiaba,” said a Chinese geologist in Sichuan. He added that near this site, dam projects “should not be encouraged.”

Three Gorges Dam "Not Affected" by Earthquake: Official 2008-05-12 17:17:23 Xinhua The Three Gorges Dam was not affected by Monday's major earthquake in Sichuan Province, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, an official said. "There were no signs that the earthquake has affected the dam, and everything was going as usual," said Hu Xing'e, an executive with the China Three Gorges Project Corporation.

Un "Big One" à Tokyo (12 millions d'habitants), où la terre tremble régulièrement, ferait au moins 13 000 morts et 1 000 milliards de dollars en dégâts matériels, selon le Conseil de gestion des catastrophes naturelles, organisme gouvernemental.

09:54 JST 10 Apr 2008 35.8N 140.1E 80km 3.9 CHIBA KEN HOKUSEIBU

23:29 JST 01 Apr 2008 34.9N 140.6E 100km 4.7 SE OFF CHIBA PREF

14:49 JST 01 Apr 2008 35.7N 139.6E 100km 3.7 TOKYO TO NIJUSANKU