海上的暴风雨会给水手提供合理的警告:气压计度数下降、风向的突然转变以及天空中某些不祥的预兆都预示着暴风雨即将来临。而地震学家却没有这么幸运。数十载的监测未能提供一次即将来临的地震的任何警报信号,因此,多数地震学家都转而研究其他方面的问题。 Tempest at sea gives sailors reasonable warnings that a drop in the barometer, a sudden shift in wind direction, and some ominous omen in the sky are all signals that the storm is coming. Seismologists are not so lucky. For decades, monitoring failed to provide any warning of an upcoming earthquake, so most seismologists turned to other aspects of the problem.