Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Earthquake Prediction on SMS



I got several same SMS that say: "Received a forwarded message about a predicted 6.8 earthquake will hit (sic) philippine plates tonite from the u.s. geological society in hawaii. let's be alert and pray for miracle. please share with others for stronger prayers." How true is this? I know some people go ballistic on hearing calamities that are beyond the common sense.

However, according to Wikipedia:

"An earthquake prediction is a prediction that an earthquake in a specific magnitude range will occur in a specific region and time window. Predictions are considered as such to the extent that they are reliable for practical, as well as scientific, purposes. Although there is evidence that at least some earthquakes in some tectonic regimes are predictable with useful accuracy of time and space, the reliability and reproducibility of prediction techniques have not been established and are therefore generally not accepted by seismologists. For practical purposes, seismologists bring forth seismic hazard assessment programs by estimating the probabilities that a given earthquake or suite of earthquakes will occur."

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