Roger,

Many people hear ear tones, but don't make the connection to earthquakes. I've described them to quite a few and they seem to know what it is when I explain the sound. One curious case comes from one of my group. The man lived in an inland area of California and moved to the coast and about 3 weeks after he moved there he started hearing ear tones and had never heard them before. For a total newbee his ear tones work just like everyone else in regard to direction heard and tones to matching quakes.

Exposure to information really explains it. Most people do not come home at night and cruise the Internet looking for earthquake prediction information and unless they come across it by accident and make the connection between something they've been hearing for a long time and earthquakes, they'll never know and never report it. But I don't think it is a rare experience.

When Cal Orey's book comes out about Jim Berkland she will be doing a segment on people who hear earthquakes in advance and probably for the first time in many years the public as well as some scientists will learn about it. I think it will be interesting to see what happens then. It could open the door to many making the connection. (I am not included in that work) That can be two-fold of course. Some will think it's like people who see UFO's, or take it seriously.

Petra