Dennis - in answer to your question as to giving people credit to know whom to trust for a good vs bad prediction - Yes it is a problem - many people read sites like this for the first time (or like Syzygyjob) and don't know any person's history. There are lots of folks out there making predictions - who is sometimes right and who isn't? (I really don't want to name names here)

There are really very few who are close that I'll even give any significance to and I've been watching for several years now. You, Barb Orme, Mary Maya, Coles to name a few more often than not correct ones (no flames please). I have to admit its the quake prediction sites that sent me back to school to really learn about geology so I could learn to tell the good ones from the bad ones. Before I went back I didn't know if California could fall off into the pacific ocean or not - now i know we can't but there are lots of people out there with absolutely no geological knowledge and no way to tell if what someone says is true or not.

People believe the darndest things. There are people on a mailing list you and I both participated in that think submarines float around under Bakersfield... and these folks are also predicting quakes! It can be scary and gullible people believe them and get very scared, nervous and upset by it. This is part of the reason I will question any predictions that I don't agree with or why I gave martin so hard of a time - He predicted lots of large, potentially devestating quakes for california and not a one has happened yet. He got some of his right but he predicted so many that the rate of accurate predictions was very low. But just the fact that he gets a few right make people think he's right when he makes them and then when he predicts for a location they live in they can react badly.

I really think of this place as a clearinghouse where we should be working together. If more than one person is getting their signals for an area then the possibility for a quake goes up in my opinion. If you and jack are both getting something, a few small quakes cluster in an area and then a sensitive chips in with something then maybe its time to be on your toes and double check those supplies and not park in a parking structure and be a little more aware of your surroundings.

I still think it will take time to get this right but we must start somewhere - even if its just to keep the idea alive.

Canie