Can the National Seismic Hazard Maps be used as an earthquake forecast tool for the near future?
Not really. This web site is designed to display the probability of different sources that might occur in a several-year to several-decade period. The model bases all probability estimates on mean rate of earthquakes over long periods. As you shorten the time window, you should expect greater and greater fluctuations in what may be observed from the mean behavior that would be observed if you had a thousand year time span at your disposal.
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Are earthquake probabilities or forecasts the same as prediction?
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