Free Republic

A swarm of earthquakes that rattled the Salton Sea area earlier this week has increased the probability of a major quake hitting Southern California. The California Office of Emergency Services (OES) issued an earthquake advisory warning residents and officials in Ventura, San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Kern and Imperial counties that there was a greater possibility of a major earthquake through Oct. 4. ... The swarm occurred in a region known as the Brawley seismic zone, which is located near a fault network that connects the southernmost end of the San Andreas fault with the Imperial fault....

Jim Berkland, a former US Geological Survey scientist, who once famously predicted the Loma Prieta quake, said mega quakes usually strike at a new moon or full moon because of the gravitation effect on the Earth…and the next full moon is on FRIDAY. The maverick, now retired, scientist spoke out after eight powerful earthquakes struck across south Asia and the pacific in the past 80 hours, claiming hundreds of lives in Japan and Ecuador. Mr Berkland predicted on October 13, 1989, an earthquake of magnitude 3.5 to 6.0 would strike San Francisco within the next week. Four days later on...

The rate of earthquakes in Oklahoma has increased remarkably since October 2013 – by about 50 percent – significantly increasing the chance for a damaging magnitude 5.5 or greater quake in central Oklahoma. View map of Oklahoma seismicity. View animation of Oklahoma Seismicity. A new U.S. Geological Survey and Oklahoma Geological Survey analysis found that 145 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater occurred in Oklahoma from January 2014 (through May 2; see accompanying graphic). The previous annual record, set in 2013, was 109 earthquakes, while the long-term average earthquake rate, from 1978 to 2008, was just two magnitude 3.0...

An Italian court convicted seven scientists and experts of manslaughter on Monday for failing to adequately warn citizens before an earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy in 2009, killing more than 300 people. The court in L'Aquila sentenced the defendants to six years in prison. Each is a member of the country's Grand Commission on High Risks. … Scientists worldwide had decried the trial as ridiculous, contending that science has no reliable way to predict earthquakes.Among those convicted were some of Italy's most prominent and internationally respected seismologists and geological experts, including Enzo Boschi, former head of the country's Institute...