Scientists Claim To Successfully Predict Earthquakes

from the but-they-won't-tell-you-when-the-next-one-is dept

When I first moved to California from New York, and expressed to someone my concern about earthquakes, I was told that it's no different than natural disasters like hurricanes that hit the east coast. Of course, there is a very big difference: with a hurricane, you know it's coming and can protect yourself or get the hell out of town. Scientists have been working on ways to predict earthquakes for years, with little success. Some say it can't be done. However, some researchers are now claiming that they successfully predicted the recent California earthquake and an earlier one in Japan. The predictions are not pinpoint predictions, but suggest a magnitude earthquake that is likely in a specific location within the next nine months. Many researchers are skeptical, but others do say that it's unlikely they were correct twice by dumb luck. Of course, the researchers don't want to reveal all their predictions publicly, because they say they don't want to spread fear and economic hardship on certain areas. However, they do plan to work with "the appropriate authorities" (whoever they may be) to continue to test their methodology. In the meantime, they will leak one prediction (in a sparsely populated area): a possible 6.4 magnitude quake in an area south of the Mojave Desert sometime before Sept. 5.
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  1. identicon
    Philip, 9 Jan 2004 @ 11:52am

    No Subject Given

    Mike,
    How about keeping an eye on this one and see
    if the prediction is correct or wrong.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    Mike (profile), 9 Jan 2004 @ 11:57am

    Re: No Subject Given

    Yup. That's why I made sure to post it here. Hopefully, I'll remember... but if I don't, I'm expecting someone else to bring it up.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    dorpus, 9 Jan 2004 @ 12:13pm

    Pseudoquakes

    At my last apartment, I lived next to the Amtrak fault, which would make the windows shake and dishes rattle every hour.

    Some homes in parts of the country on swampy land have furniture with a tendency to spontaneously slide across the room, as the land settles.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Precision Blogger, 12 Jan 2004 @ 8:25am

    Hurricanes IN NEW YORK do less damage than Earthqu

    Hurrincanes considerably south of the USA's NorthEast might be compared to earthquakes.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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