a la Nostradamus

People all over the world have been predicting for years that the big earthquake, ,the one that will put most of California into the Pacific is about to happen. One scientist has gone a step further. It is going to happen today (28.May) at about 4pm local time. That is in about an hour from now as I write this. Other, equally eminent men have lined up to say his other facts are wrong. That 5 planets exerting a stronger than normal gravity pull will not be in line as he says. he's even predicted the magnitude; 9.4 making it one of the largest ever recorded. Given that volcanology is an inexact science at best. How much credence can be placed in this prediction?

katertaif wrote:People all over the world have been predicting for years that the big earthquake, ,the one that will put most of California into the Pacific is about to happen. One scientist has gone a step further. It is going to happen today (28.May) at about 4pm local time. That is in about an hour from now as I write this. Other, equally eminent men have lined up to say his other facts are wrong. That 5 planets exerting a stronger than normal gravity pull will not be in line as he says. he's even predicted the magnitude; 9.4 making it one of the largest ever recorded. Given that  volcanology is an inexact science at best. How much credence can be placed in this prediction?

They're on Pacific Daylight Time, so at this moment, it's 3.16pm. Not long to go!

From all I do understand about earthquake science the Californians are living on a powder keg. It will apparently happen sooner or later, However I don't actually accept that this chap is able to predict with such accuracy that it is not only going to happen today, but state the time and even the magnitude of the Earthquake. Quoting Nostradamus makes me doubly suspicious. Most of his quatrains are open to a number of different interpretations, which is why so many are claimed to have come to pass. They simply match the prediction to an event. It has even been suggested, I forget now who wrote that particular book, that he didn't scramble things up to fool the inquisition at all. He wrote in code, and once you crack the code (which he did of course) you come up with a complete set of new predictions.

It seems to me to be a little like the theory of the infinite number of monkeys. Some sect or other have been predicting the end of the world on a virtual daily basis for decades at least. Sooner or later one of them will get it right. then what do you do?

katertaif wrote:From all I do understand about earthquake science the Californians are living on a powder keg. It will apparently happen sooner or later, However I don't actually accept that this chap is able to predict with such accuracy that it is not only going to happen today, but state the time and even the magnitude of the Earthquake. Quoting Nostradamus  makes me doubly suspicious. Most of his quatrains are open to a number of different interpretations, which is why so many are claimed to have come to pass. They simply match the prediction to an event. It has even been suggested, I forget now who wrote that particular book, that he didn't scramble things up to fool the inquisition at all. He wrote in code, and once you crack the code (which he did of course) you come up with a complete set of new predictions.

It seems to me to be a little like the theory of the infinite number of monkeys. Some  sect or other have been predicting the end of the world on a virtual daily basis for decades at least. Sooner or later one of them will get it right. then what do you do?

Yes, the San Andreas Fault is possibly overdue for shifting. I haven't looked at the news yet to see if California is still there, but I reckon it will be.

ETA: Nothing on the news web sites, so I'm going to assume that California has not fallen into the sea.

AnnaEsse wrote:

katertaif wrote:From all I do understand about earthquake science the Californians are living on a powder keg. It will apparently happen sooner or later, However I don't actually accept that this chap is able to predict with such accuracy that it is not only going to happen today, but state the time and even the magnitude of the Earthquake. Quoting Nostradamus  makes me doubly suspicious. Most of his quatrains are open to a number of different interpretations, which is why so many are claimed to have come to pass. They simply match the prediction to an event. It has even been suggested, I forget now who wrote that particular book, that he didn't scramble things up to fool the inquisition at all. He wrote in code, and once you crack the code (which he did of course) you come up with a complete set of new predictions.

It seems to me to be a little like the theory of the infinite number of monkeys. Some  sect or other have been predicting the end of the world on a virtual daily basis for decades at least. Sooner or later one of them will get it right. then what do you do?

Yes, the San Andreas Fault is possibly overdue for shifting. I haven't looked at the news yet to see if California is still there, but I reckon it will be.

Good morning AnnaEsse

As you say, California is presumably still there, or one or two people would have noticed. You will find this hard to believe but perfectly true, when I worked in Taif one of the yanks was buying up every bit of land he could find in Arizona. I asked him one day why he was doing that (silly of me I know) The reply was that he was waiting for the San Andreas fault to dump most of California into the Pacific, at which point he would then own some prime beach front property. You never know, it might have been him spreading it about. You will understand I'm sure that we haven't kept in touch.

It seems to me to be a little like the theory of the infinite number of monkeys. Some  sect or other have been predicting the end of the world on a virtual daily basis for decades at least. Sooner or later one of them will get it right. then what do you do? [/quote]

Nothing, because we'll all be dead

Angelina wrote:

It seems to me to be a little like the theory of the infinite number of monkeys. Some  sect or other have been predicting the end of the world on a virtual daily basis for decades at least. Sooner or later one of them will get it right. then what do you do?

Nothing, because we'll all be dead [/quote]

Quite so Angelina, that is what I meant.        

I used to read a lot of stuff about Nostradamus and I was never particularly impressed but 15/20 years ago I the last one I read mentioned something I've always remembered.  Just lately there are a lot of things happening which were mentioned in that book....of course, I better not mention any of it on here as I shall almost certainly be shot down in flames

Angelina wrote:I used to read a lot of stuff about Nostradamus and I was never particularly impressed but 15/20 years ago I the last one I read mentioned something I've always remembered.  Just lately there are a lot of things happening which were mentioned in that book....of course, I better not mention any of it on here as I shall almost certainly be shot down in flames

Now I'm intrigued Angelina. The only problem I have ever had is that his predictions are so wide reaching that they can be fitted to almost anything that happens. different people have written books, not so much interpreting his predictions, but rubbishing other peoples, and that tended to put me off. for one example Many years ago I was talking to a German who had been in the Wehrmacht during the second world war. ( He was a year or two older than me I hasten to add)he was adamant that the third beast was a Tiger Tank. I subsequently spoke to another ex soldier who was equally adamant it wasn't.

Then there was this book came out about 6 years ago I think, and I can't remember who wrote it. His claim was that basically Nostradamus wrote in code. he claimed he had cracked the code, and it revealed a whole new set of different predictions. he wasn't very forthcoming, because he had put them all in a second book which we were supposed to buy as well. Anyway, I'll send you my e-mail address in a PM. I may not agree but I certainly will not try to shoot you down in flames or otherwise.