Curious cloud formations linked to quakes

April 14, 2008 | Source: NewScientist Environment

Chinese geophysicists noticed a gap in the clouds in satellite images from December 2004 that precisely matched the location of the main fault in southern Iran.

It stretched for hundreds of kilometers, was visible for several hours, and remained in the same place, although the clouds around it were moving.

They suggest that an eruption of hot gases from inside the fault could have caused water in the clouds to evaporate.