In Issue 33 of PSIgate Spotlight, I discuss new insights into the differences between the subduction zones where the Earth’s tectonic plates slide across each other. The research in questsion could help in earthquake prediction and allow seismologists to discover in advance whether an imminent earthquake will be weaker or as powerful as those that shook Indonesia in 2004, Alaska in 1964, Chile in 1960 and the Pacific Northwest United States in 1700.