Earthquake Prediction Earthquake where I live soon?

[FLaKes 0]

Hi, I dont know if this is the right forum for this, but its the one that fit the best. Im writing here to find out about what you think on predicting an earthquake. Because I got this mail from a trusted friend who also got it from a trusted friend, that got it from a trusted friend and so on... The point is, that the person who wrote it, was a person that works in a siemens plant here where I live, and on the mail, he said that recently in that plant and some other foreign companies they have been exercising a lot of earthquake drills lately. He said that he heard, and he said it probably was a rumor but it was best to be prepared anyway, that an earthquake at around 8 magnitude is supposed to hit in a few days, the day its most likely to hit would be tomorrow (december 7), according to his mail.

At first I didnt really believe it especially cause I thought earthquakes were unpredictable and I was about to throw the spam away, but then something struck me, so I started looking for info on the web about predicting earthquakes, and I randomly picked a link, and it said it was impossible to predict earthquakes. I looked at another link that said it was possible to predict earthqueakes, so I kept on reading and found out that high level earthquakes are possible to predict months before, I looked at the date and found out the article was from 2004, and it said they had predicted a couple of quakes a couple of months before. I went back to the first article and its date was 2000 or 2001. Which led me to believe the mail, and search a bit further. I found out an earthquake warning page on the following link:

earthquake warning page

and guess what? Where I live in is inside a white circle, meaning that it can hit between december 5 and the next 4 days (december 9). So then I totally freaked out, and I am freaked out, So I like put tvs on the floor and secured some stuff. Its totally better to prevent than to feel sorry for not taking advantage of the warning right?

Do you think this information is right? And If they can predict earthquakes, why wouldnt they put a warning on the news or something?

[jlhaslip 4]

Well, if you had an infinite number of chimpanzees typing long enough, eventually one of them will produce an award winning novel. Point being, just because this site says there will be an earthquake in your area tomorrow (today) doesn't mean it will happen. There were a lot of circles on the map, and they indicate other things as well, like storms and "Ring of Fire" activity. If they all were correct predictions, there would be a fair bit of damage, but, looking at his archves, there are lots of 'misses', so don't lose any sleep over this.

[savge17 0]

Ive only been in one erthquake in my life, so farm for the past 17 years I havent experianced one. I dont know about you but 17 years and no earthquakes... seems odd. I would expect that I would run into more quakes, but I guess now. But then again who knows....

[sportytalk 0]

yep, like jlhaslip said, it's very complicated for scientists to predict natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanoes.It's kinda like the weather. Here, in England, whenever they say it's gonna snow, it always appears to pour hard with rain. This is because the wind pressures and the direction of the wind influences the conditions experienced.This is a similar case with the earthquakes. No-one, not even scientists, are fully aware what's going on with the magma deep underground. Therefore, it is incredibly difficult to predict whether shockwaves will be sent around the surface of the Earth. With the modern age of technology (The technological revolution) more precise means of prediction have been necessary, although these still aren't as good as we would like them to be.Like jhaslip said above. Remain calm. THere's a high chance you won't even feel a minute vibration. Unfortunately, there's still a chance it could happen.At the end of the day though, natural hazards are natural.Natural = life - Without nature, the life simply wouldn't exist as we know it today. Just relax and enjoy yourself!!(Hope this helps anyway:))