Typhoon triggered miniquakes release geological stress

ScienceNOW: Taming the infamous San Andreas fault with buried nuclear bombs or deep grease injections is the stuff of science fiction, but Mother Nature herself may be defusing a major fault in Taiwan, China.

Researchers are now showing that typhoons passing over the island have been triggering quakes that harmlessly release fault strain over hours and days rather than destructively over seconds or minutes. And these slow earthquakes, they speculate, may be staving off a big one.