Despite the lack of large quakes in the gap, some researchers had suggested the region might be overdue for a large temblor. (sciencemag.org)
Also, extremely large quakes in one part of the world can trigger earthquakes in another part. (science.howstuffworks.com)
For the new study, Page and Hough considered three sets of data: the number and size of the original set of quakes, the number and spacing of magnitude - 6 or larger aftershocks recorded in the years after the original group of temblors, and the number and size of magnitude - 4 or larger quakes recorded by seismometers in the region today. (sciencemag.org)