Slow Earthquakes Sometimes Come Before Big Ones. The Sun and Moon May Be Setting Them Off

The British Geological Survey says scientists have seriously contemplated the role of solar and lunar activity on earthquakes for over 100 years. But they weren’t able to find a compelling explanation for how exactly that occurred—until now.

Turns out, scientists don’t need that complex of a design to see how tidal stresses—caused by the gravitational tug-of-war between the Moon and the Sun—affect Earth’s fault networks. In a study recently published in JGR Solid Earth, a team of geologists primarily based…