Hi Canie,

You made a good point, the only problem is that the government will set aside funds for prediction, such as the annual budget for Parkfield, which is plus or minus one million dollars a year. But to retrofit a single family home is up to the homeowner and in downtown area's that have unreinforced masonry buildings in some cities they support low cost loans, but most of these projects cost nearly a millions dollars per building.

So where is the funding going to come from to help everyone? You see, its easier to get the money to predict earthquakes than fix things. Its like that in other area's as well, particularly in medicine. Some diseases get lots of funding, but others not so, even if some of them warrant the money, sometimes its the kind of disease that makes it something one wants to invest in or not. When Katie Couric lost her husband to colon cancer it promoted nationwide attention on an area of the body few wish to discuss. But now she has done a splended job on bringing this lesser known, but curable disease to the forefront of public attention.

Thusly, if one were to talk about prediction in a more public way, at the same time you'd have to talk about preparedness. Each is important, but you must be prepared even if you get a prediction. So in that, education is the answer and funding needs to be there to support both.

Wishing you a wonderful day...Pat