Hi All. Maybe there is some hope that the seismologist through out the State of California can finely come together instead of lone wolfing it. Take Care…Don in creepy town

At the earthquake conference in Palm Springs, longtime researcher Ray Weldon of the University of Oregon said rivalries and possessiveness limit progress in the field.

"I’m pretty disappointed in my field," he told a group of scientists. "Over the last 10 years or so we haven’t really made a lot of progress."

Weldon urged colleagues to trade notions of "trench ownership" and "lone geologist" work habits for a more cooperative approach to researching the fault.

"I’d like to see us just totally change how we operate," said Weldon. "Really interesting results are within our grasp."

Still others say the seismology research community would learn more by welcoming new theories about what causes earthquakes.

Larry Park said scientists have ignored his earthquake research because it doesn’t conform to the traditional "brittle-break" theories of tectonics.

Park, an Oregon man who has successfully forecast individual quakes in the Pacific Northwest and accurately predicted an unusual swarm of quakes that struck this month near the California border with Nevada, said geologists and seismologists resist new theories.

Park said researchers have flatly refused to evaluate documentation of his track record or witness a demonstration of the technology he uses to predict earthquakes.

"They throw up their hands, they don’t understand," Park said. "What surprises me is they don’t get curious and ask further questions."

• Ray Weldon