Final answer:
Short-range earthquake predictions provide timely warnings about imminent earthquakes, while long-range forecasts estimate the probabilities of future earthquakes over longer periods.
Step-by-step explanation:
The goals of short-range earthquake predictions and long-range forecasts both involve understanding and predicting the occurrence of earthquakes, but they differ in terms of their timeframes and level of certainty.
Short-range earthquake predictions aim to provide timely warnings and alerts about imminent or ongoing earthquakes. These predictions typically cover a small temporal window, usually within a few hours to a few days of the expected earthquake. They rely on monitoring of seismic activity, geodetic data, and historical patterns to identify earthquake precursors and patterns that suggest an imminent earthquake.
In contrast, long-range earthquake forecasts focus on estimating the probabilities of future earthquakes over longer periods, typically spanning several decades to centuries. These forecasts use statistical analysis of historical seismic and geological data to identify earthquake-prone regions and estimate the likelihood of future earthquakes. While they cannot predict specific earthquakes with precision, they provide valuable information for assessing the seismic hazards and informing long-term planning and engineering.