My original spreadsheet chart is much clearer. But for storage at that Web site I had to use a rougher GIF file format. Most of the waves in the chart have about the same crest - trough heights. That is just to make it easier to compare them. Their true magnitudes are quite different. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data in the chart. Getting the various waves properly aligned with one another required quite an effort. If any errors are discovered I plan to try to correct them.

The complete chart covers the years 1990 to the present. With this first chart version data for only the year 2001 have been displayed because of Web site data transfer limitations. That year was chosen in part because there were 3 earthquakes which had magnitudes of 8 or more. The one in India reportedly claimed some 10,000 lives. The ones in or near Peru and China were quite powerful but fortunately did not occur in heavily populated areas.

The purpose of the chart is not to prove to anyone that earthquakes are being triggered by this or that force. Instead, what I have been saying to other scientists around the world for some time now is that I believe that they are not making much progress in learning how earthquakes are being triggered and how they might be forecast because they have been studying the wrong types of data. Explanation data which are scheduled to be gradually added to that 130.html Web page will tell them what types of data they should be studying.

Some of the waves in the chart with names like “Earth velocity” should be understandable without much explanation. Others with names like “Sun and moon gravity point” will require a little explaining.

A FEW PRELIMINARY EXPLANATIONS

*** The “O P E A” data can be ignored for the moment. They will be used to show how certain precursors, earthquakes, and aftershocks are linked with one another.

*** The chart shows that the Peru and China earthquakes occurred when most of the waves were at a high point indicating that the different forces combined at those times to produce an especially strong earthquake triggering force. However the one in India occurred when the moon gravity was at a low point in its cycle.

*** Most of the waves on the chart have about the same frequency. The notable exception is the moon gravity (which can also be thought of as the Earth – moon distance -- closer means a stronger gravitational force). The reason is that the other waves are cresting when the sun and moon are at about the same location in the sky (the time when the sun, moon, and Earth are in a straight line, in that order). That happens roughly once each month. The moon in its orbit also moves closer to and farther from the Earth once each month. But it requires a little longer for it to complete one full orbit like that.