The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said that the nation’s magnetic anomaly signal map has already been made public, but added that using the information to make earthquake predictions would violate the Meteorological Act (氣象法).
The bureau decided to release the map on Jan. 2, following a suggestion made last year on the online Public Policy Participation Platform, Bureau Seismological Center chief Lin Po-yu (林柏佑) said.
The platform was set up by the National Development Council to solicit policy proposals from the public.
However, the person who made the suggestion has been using map information to predict the occurrence of earthquakes, particularly those measuring magnitude 5 and higher, Lin said.
The act stipulates that the bureau is the only agency authorized to publicly forecast or issue alerts on weather, earthquakes or marine weather, Lin said, adding that weather forecasting agencies in the military and Civil Aeronautics Administration are exempt, because they only announce information to specific agencies.
Agencies, schools and groups can issue weather or marine weather forecasts only after obtaining authorization from the bureau, the act stipulates.
However, it bans them from forecasting torrential rainfall, typhoons, weather that can lead to natural disasters and earthquakes.
As such, people who use observation data to make predictions about earthquakes could face a fine of NT$200,000 to NT$1 million (US$6,839 to US$34,194), Lin said.
The penalty does not apply to people who predict earthquakes after experiencing tinnitus or observing changes in the sky or animal behavior, Lin said.
“People who spread rumors about earthquakes with the intention to intimidate are subject to penalties under the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which is enforced by the Ministry of the Interior,” he said.
The bureau also issued a statement that the map was made available to facilitate earthquake research, not to predict the occurrence of large earthquakes.
Earthquake prediction research is ongoing, it said, adding that some commonly used methods include observing changes in the groundwater level, the Earth’s magnetic field and electron density in the ionosphere and crustal forms.
“The goal is to integrate various research methods to evaluate the probability of earthquakes at a specific time and location,” the bureau said. “There is no single method or technology mature enough to make earthquake predictions.”
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