Japanese researchers may have found a way to immediately gauge the severity of earthquakes and other natural disasters by viewing sudden drops in electricity usage.
A system to track such data is in the works, and might be operational in about two years.
Study of such a system was prompted after researchers noted a correlation between low energy consumption and areas worst affected by the magnitude-7.2 temblor that struck Kobe in 1995, said Yasunari Hata, one of the principle researchers from Kobe's Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution.