India, Sept. 7 -- Geophysicists at the University of California, Riverside have developed a new method for identifying exactly where the world's largest earthquakes are likely to strike next, offering what researchers describe as a powerful new tool for long-term disaster preparedness in high-risk seismic zones.

The method does not predict when an earthquake will occur, but instead identifies which sections of a fault have been quietly accumulating strain over years, allowing scientists to pinpoint where a future rupture is most likely to take place, according to findings published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Earthquake Prediction: How does the new method work?

The research, led by UC Riverside geophysicists Gareth Fun...