Hi All. I don’t know if anyone else has noticed this or not, but 2 days before the 08/18/2002 M>3.0 quake north of Parkfield there was an acceleration in creep at 3 stations.

I have seen acceleration in creep in this area before, but not at 3 stations at the same time. As a rule the acceleration in creep occurs during the quake and not before. However there are exceptions to every rule. During the other times when there was acceleration in creep there were no quakes.

In the area of Middle Mountain there has been an ongoing episode of creep in which there have been no quakes. The quake of 08/18/2002 occurred in the area of Middle Mountain. This increase in creep is above what is considered to be normal for that area. It has been reported that the results of the increase in creep can be seen at Middle Mountain in the form of a tear in the earth. It is in the area of Middle Mountain where they expect the next M>6.0 quake to occur. The largest quake to have occurred within a 5 mile radius of the M>3.0 quake was an M>4.7 on 12/20/1994 at 35.917N/120.464W. There have been numerous M>3.0+ quakes and 5 M>4.0+ quakes in this area since 1967.

I’m not really expecting a M>6.0 in the very near future, but it is something to think about. Take Care…Don in creepy town

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