You are welcome! Did you see the USGS News release (I think last friday) about how they said they should be concentrating on predicting disasters such as earthquakes? As I cannot find it now in their list of news releases I will post it here:

Subject: USGS Director Speaks to AAAS Meeting

News Release Address: 345 Middlefield Road, MS 150
U.S. Department of the Interior Menlo Park, CA 95819-6129
U.S. Geological Survey
Contact: Phone:
Release Upon Receipt Pat Jorgenson 650-329-4011
Faxed Feb. 16, 2001 email: pjorgenson@usgs.gov

USGS DIRECTOR URGES SCIENTISTS TO HELP PREVENT DISASTERS

As more of the world's population becomes vulnerable to natural disasters, science can and should play a larger role in the mitigation of those disasters, according to Dr. Charles Groat, director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Speaking to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in San Francisco, Saturday (February 17), Groat urged his fellow scientists to become more involved in societal issues associated with natural hazards and to communicate their scientific understanding of natural processes to the general public and to officials who are responsible for public safety.

"Because hazards and disasters increasingly affect society and the global economy," Groat said, "we need to be bold in our approach to investigating and mitigating the effects of these events." Groat cited the recent loss of more than 30,000 lives in the earthquake in India and the potential for further loss of life and economic stability from future disasters.

"Predicting, rather than just investigating or describing volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other natural hazards should be our goal," Groat said, "and we should establish research programs to achieve this goal. We need to be bold in our research and then act boldly to meet the challenge of getting our scientific understanding used effectively."