John,

I think what I was looking for was whether or not credentialed scientists are required by some kind of law or rule or hierarchy to get permission before they talk to government officials in foreign countries. I know people such as Roger Bilham frequenty travels the globe and talks to government officials about better building codes in hopes of making some progress toward disaster mitigation. Money is always the prime concern everywhere, but the lesson from this quake in Indonesia may give some more reason to place some emphasis on better instrumentation and more public awareness. I doubt but a few souls on the Earth today don't know to move to higher ground when a large earthquake occurs and they are near water.

I cannot begin to imagine how Kerry must have felt when the earthquake occurred as he suspected it would and the disaster was everything he imagined and more. But few in this world would go to the lengths he did and he should take pride in not chosing to be a spectator.

The science of earthquake prediction I think has taken a major step forward since Keilis-Borok and his team came forward this past year and with Kerry's work new opportunities for advancement may be at hand.

But most of all, people near and far learned about predictions and now know education about preparedness wherever you live does make a difference.

Petra