Hi All. If the gentleman is right then the Tokyo area is in for a good shake in the next couple of days. Take Care…Don in creepy town

Astronomer Predicts Major Earthquake for Japan, Other Experts Express Doubts
By Associated Press
posted: 03:40 pm ET
15 September 2003
TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese researcher is causing a stir in Tokyo with a prediction based on his study of radio waves that a major destructive earthquake is highly likely to hit the city this week.
Yoshio Kushida, a well-known self-taught astronomer who runs his own observatory just outside Tokyo, published on its Internet site his prediction that a quake with a magnitude of 7 or greater was likely to strike the metropolitan area on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The prediction was soon picked up by a popular weekly magazine and a major daily. It has since been spread by word of mouth, prompting some of the more nervous residents of Japan's quake-prone capital to stock up on bottled water, candles and other disaster preparations.
``It's quite frightening,'' said Ichiro Makita, 48, a company employee who said he had heard about the prediction from a friend. ``I'm trying to avoid old buildings and have stocked up on emergency supplies like an emergency radio and lamp.''

The earthquake research establishment has largely ignored the warning.
Forecasting quakes is generally considered to be impossible with current technology, and Kushida's method of using anomalies in the VHF range of radio waves to predict the timing and intensity of tremors has not gained many believers in the scientific community.
Yukio Misumi, a spokesman for the Central Meteorological Agency, said he was familiar with Kushida's prediction but added that the agency was not doing anything in particular in response to it.
``Our stance is that we are prepared for a magnitude-8 quake in Japan,'' he said. ``But presently, there is no scientific method or technology that would allow us to predict where or when a magnitude-7 might occur. We can't predict earthquakes.''

• Earthquake Prediction