Hi All. I watched the documentary on the Izmit earthquake tonight. That quake was something else. The destruction from it was horrific. I can only imagine how Ross Stein must have felt to know a quake was going to occur, but had no ideas as to when and couldn't get anyone to act on it. They are now facing the same situation for Istanbul. He told them there was a 62% chance plus or minus 25% in the next 30 years and the newspaper put it on the back page and said 47%. Again they aren't listening. Seems to be the same no matter where you go. They play it down so as not to scare the people. Maybe it is time to scare the people, but if you do and the quake doesn't occur you're a villain. Of course if you know that it just might occur and tell no one you can still be a villain. Ross Stein said they kept the results of the research on the North Anatolian fault until the last moment. Not sure as to why they kept it a secret until the press conference. I’m going to have to ask him about that.

The Latin American countries have a problem that seems to be unique to them. The people are terrified of earthquakes. More so then most people of other countries. It seems to be a culture thing for them. Of course if you live in a country that has a lot of quakes, and some of them are the type that will bring the house down around you and on you, maybe you do have the right to be terrified. My mother’s neighbors who were Mexican slept outside for 4 or 5 days after the Loma Prieta quake. They lived in a mobile home which didn’t come down during the quake, but that didn’t matter. They weren’t going back inside until they felt that it was safe.

My neighbors are Mexican. Bertha was born and raised in California, but her husband Arturo was born and raised in Mexico. When it comes to earthquakes they are as different as night is from day. He panics at the slightest movement. He even starts to panic when he sees something about an earthquake on the idiot machine. My Spanish isn’t all that great and his English isn’t much better then my Spanish, but I understand that he has been in 2 large quakes and the whole house caved in on top of him. That would be a good enough reason to be a little scared of quakes.

Speaking of quakes there was a sound a couple of hours ago that sounded like an explosion. I didn’t feel the pressure wave and my home didn’t shake, but the windows rattled a little bit. When quakes occur to the south of us we almost always hear them before we feel them. This wasn’t the same kind of sound. Didn’t hear any sirens so I have no idea as to what it might have been. Sure was an attention getter though. Take Care…Don in creepy town