(1) The government of the People’s Republic of China has apparently had a program in place for years for evacuating cities when forecasters conclude that an earthquake might be about to occur near one. And I understand that it has been successfully used at least once and probably on a number of occasions to save large numbers of lives.

Question: If they can do this in a country which many consider to be a developing nation, why can’t it be done in technologically advanced nations such as the U.S.?

Answer: Earthquake politics (what else?).

(2) Setting aside the matter of evacuating cities, if you talk with senior representatives of any of a number of disaster mitigation groups as I have over the years they will state emphatically that if you can just provide them with some fairly reliable information regarding when they need to get prepared to respond to a highly destructive earthquake then that advance notice can save them some response time. And saved response time days, hours, and even minutes can be translated into saved lives.

They don’t need to know exactly where or even when the earthquake is going to occur. Just stating that it is likely to occur in some undetermined location in some country can be invaluable information. For example, it will enable them to save time by getting the entry visas secured for their disaster response personnel.

Give it a try and see if I am correct on this. Get in contact with a senior official at any major disaster mitigation group (which not part of some government agency) and ask him or her that question.