Ok, yeah, I love weirdness and this kind of stuff really piques my interest. It also I believe demonstrates that events happen before earthquakes and makes it far more plausible that people like me can hear earthquakes before they occur. Over time when I've thought about the process of this sound or vibration, it seems to me that at the epicenter of the impending quake, there is a rock shearing that is happening and that is what sends out the signal. But as Don pointed out, when no resulting earthquake happens, it could be that the rock shearing at that time was not sufficient to deliver an earthquake. It may also explain the time differential from the time I hear it to when the quake arrives. If the rock shearing down below occurs and the fault is ready to go, then it may occur quickly, but if it takes more pressure before it moves, then the delay in days occurs. Therefore, the timing problem is a huge one. What I think it needs is for me to listen more carefully to the sound/vibration and see if I can detect anything special about it and perhaps I might be able to discern something that will indentify the difference.

These stories also tickled the memory cells. About two or so years ago Jim Berkland was talking about magnetic changes before earthquakes and he said any of us who wanted to participate could join in this experiment.

You simply put light weight magnets on your refrigerator and if any of them began to slid down you reported it. (when I said light weight, I meant the usual decorative refer magnets)(Canie, you might remember this one). Anyway, quite a few people hopped onto the experiment wagon. Not 100% of the time, but in the higher percentage brackets people were reporting magnet slippage and a subsequent earthquake occurred. I tried it, but at the time we didn't have any earthquake activity, so in time I gave up.

Jim has some kind of instrument now that is like a pendulum and it moves prior to earthquakes in this area, so we are waiting for the man who makes them to make one for me. Then we can see if my instrument changes when Jims does and if an earthquake results. Jim lives about 8 miles NE of me on the other side of the Rodgers Creek Fault. (Don has the details on the instrument and its to complicated for me to understand.)

So, any of our readers, if you want to try this experiment, you might find it kind of fun. I think I'm going to line my magnets up again. Seems its more possible to get activity now, so maybe I'll have something to report. I put my magnets on the side of the refrigerator, not on the door. (if you don't live alone, its a good idea to let the others in your household know it is an experiment) Like all experiments, its a good idea to put them on an exact line and then measure the exact length of slippage.

Science can be fun!

Petra