Progress Reported in Japan Quakes Inquiry

French deep-sea explorers who took part in a 42-day submarine mission with Japan said the project yielded significant clues to the origin of Japanese earthquakes.

The 12-man team of geophysicists from both countries gathered rock and animal samples to study methane gas production as far as 19,683 feet below the surface on the ocean floor near Japan.

Xavier Le Pichon, scientific director of the project, said Monday that methane gas explosions may be the cause of Japan’s frequent earthquakes.

“We have made a major discovery,” he said. “It is likely the methane used by these organisms built up to explosive proportions after escaping from the Earth’s crust.”