This is most of the text of a report which I recently posted to a number of Internet Newsgroups including comp.programming, sci.geo.earthquakes, and sci.physics. The information in this report represents expressions of personal opinion.

NEWSGROUP READERS: I recommend that you send copies of this report to physics department personnel in colleges and universities located in areas where earthquakes occur. Teachers and students in some of them might want to see if they can get the relatively simple earthquake forecasting program discussed towards the end of this report to work.

1. Computer Program Question
2. Electromagnetic Energy Field Type Earthquake Precursors
3. Sun Shadow Based Earthquake Forecasting Program

1. COMPUTER PROGRAM QUESTION

In reports circulated not too long ago I requested information regarding a good computer programming language to use for creating an earthquake forecasting related computer program which would generate data regarding how earthquake fault zones around the world are being bent, stretched, and compressed at any point in time. Responses that I received from people recommended several of the BASIC languages, "Ada" which is apparently used for important systems control applications, and PERL. I myself might favor PERL because it is so widely used for Web site applications and because people who are familiar with BASIC can learn it fairly easily.

My present earthquake forecasting program involves the use of about a dozen computer programs. Three of the most important ones were originally designed for other types of applications. And what I have had to do is create special "batch operations" programs which can start one program running, tell it to access a particular data file, collect the output from the program, get another program running, feed it the data from that first program, and on and on. One of the problems is that the batch control program which I am using is fairly old and limited in it power. For example, it will work only with strings and with integer numbers in the approximate range -32,000 to +32,000.

Question: Can anyone recommend a good Windows compatible batch operations program which has a structure similar to BASIC? It has to have the ability to initiate and control other programs including ones which can be run by Windows but which will not recognize the normal Windows "cut and paste" commands etc. A downloadable freeware program would be nice as it could be shared freely with other people. The one that I am presently using cannot be.

2. ELECTROMAGNETIC ENERGY FIELD TYPE EARTHQUAKE PRECURSORS

The earthquake precursors which I am working with appear to be a variety of different types of electromagnetic energy field fluctuations which are linked with a number of phenomena including geomagnetic storms, the gravitational pulls of the sun and the moon on the Earth's crust, ocean and Solid Earth Tides, and a variety of processes taking place in fault zones which probably involve physical and chemical changes in the rock layers which take place just before many earthquakes occur. One theory which is popular in certain circles is that solar storm induced geomagnetic storm energy can trigger earthquakes. However it appears to me that to at least some extent, the opposite may be taking place. Approaching earthquakes are either or both causing geomagnetic storms to occur or are producing conditions which prolong and/or intensify the storms.

The following report discusses one way in which fault zone activities might be initiating or affecting geomagnetic storms:

http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2001/01-100AR.html

It proposes that positive charges being generated in the fault zones before earthquakes can travel in large numbers towards the Earth's surface and affect the Earth's geomagnetic field. It would be interesting to learn how that process affects both proton and electron type solar storm induced geomagnetic storms.

This report attempts to present a cohesive picture regarding some of the important processes taking place before earthquakes:

Earthquake Triggering, Precursors, and Sensitivity
http://www.freewebz.com/eq-forecasting/128.html

3. SUN SHADOW BASED EARTHQUAKE FORECASTING PROGRAM

Physics teachers and students in colleges and universities located in areas where earthquakes occur might want to see if they can get the relatively simple earthquake forecasting program described at the following Web site to work for them:

http://earthquake.itgo.com/

I believe that it relies on the following theories:

Before many powerful earthquakes occur, fresh cracks can be observed in building foundations. That indicates that the ground in the area has shifted. What the person at that Web site is doing (I believe he is a physicist) is using the wall of a building to measure how much shift is taking place. And he can calculate from that shift when and where earthquakes within a certain distance are going to occur.

Obviously you need some type of reference point if you are going to measure that type of shift. And to obtain such a reference he traces the sun shadow which some object makes on the building wall during the course of a year. Deviations from the figure "8" shaped path of that sun shadow indicate to him the probable location and magnitude of approaching earthquakes.

I myself cannot say if that approach works though it looks like he has made some good predictions. In any case it is supposed to be a very inexpensive and relatively simple procedure for forecasting earthquakes. And it might be a good one for college and university physics teachers and students around the world and in particular on the U.S. West Coast to test. If it can be shown that it does work then perhaps people in even remote villages in developing nations might be able to duplicate the program and forecast some of their own earthquakes.