Petra,

No one in the field thinks I'm predicting quakes from reading the newspapers.

There's little use trying to predict where breakthroughs will arise.

Some promising developments:
KB's overall record remains encouraging, although not surefire or even necessary with much power.
Bowman at CSUFullerton is searching for more precise patterns.
Recently, the LURR technique (finding when tides or correlating), is getting some support.
Looking for times and places where focal mechanisms are changing may help.
Geodetic signals are less steady than thought and will provide hints.

Maybe we're getting closer to prediction, maybe there's nothing for us to get closer to.
It's research.

John