Chris,

I'm on vacation this week in Seattle.

But more problematically, my approach is to work on what I know. Earthquakes release stress which builds up from tectonic processes, and I know something about this. Solar activity and magnetic field have other experts, and I'll leave the connection between magnetic signal and quakes to them.

A specific comment - Rings: I understand the triplications that cause the "rings", having examined the Earth structures that focus the seismic waves, and cannot imagine why a noticeable amount of earthquake activity would be caused half way around the world from big earthquakes.

John