Haitian earthquake was predicted

[howaboutme]

While the USA has spent mega dollars waging wars whose primary beneficiaries have been corporate interests including the defense industry; expenditures on science to forecast catastrophic natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and collisions from asteroids, etc. languishes. These events have the ability to destroy Earth as we know it but there has been no priority to even implementing existing technology that could save many lives. Could it be because business interests prefer that we continue shopping and consuming right up until the end?

This is an interesting article linked to and excerpted below.
===========================================

Haitian quake was predicted, some experts say

HIGH TECH: Satellite imaging showed fore-shock of 2002 Alaska quake.

By ALBERTO ENRIQUEZ
Special to the Daily News Ned Rozell

Published: January 23rd, 2010 10:39 PM
Last Modified: January 23rd, 2010 10:48 PM

In the aftermath of the massive Haitian earthquake on Jan. 12, officials have repeated the long-held opinion that "earthquakes cannot be predicted."

That's no longer true.

New electromagnetic techniques (EM) are detecting ominous signs of a killer earthquake's approach. American and French satellites independently detected signs of danger over Haiti three and four days before the earthquake struck, killing an estimated 200,000 people.

****Snipped****
http://www.adn.com/news/environment/earthquakes/story/1107324.html

[spanone]

1. so was 911

[uppityperson]

2. It would be very good to be able to accurately predict. How many false predictions,

or would it be predictions that didn't happen, have these people had?

[Speck Tater]

3. This thread was predicted!

Scientists have discovered that when ever some major event occurs, within a few weeks several sources will reveal how they predicted that event before it happened.

[SidDithers]

11. +1...nt

Sid

[howaboutme]

12. Do they already know?

I'd suggest that the major point of the article was that "positive ion earthquake forecasting technology" (Google it), which is far from new, has been proven to be an effective forecaster of earthquakes. Animals have historically reacted differently before major earthquakes and it is likely because they are more tuned into the environment. Yet no one in our government sees protecting the citizenry as a priority. The private sector is doing more in this regard than our government which is allegedly entrusted to protect the greater good. NASA had one person involved who was on vacation before Haiti.

The really relevant issue here is as someone said...what would government actually do if they knew the "BIG ONE" one was impending in 2-3 days in LA? Do you think they would react preemptively and aggressively to move out the citizens temporarily and to where? Or would they just lie low and take care of their own and the connected people such as Hollywood, the mayor, and other tycoons as NASA tried to do with their academic counterparts in China?

We need to understand that there are interests involved...political, commercial, military, local governments that have no idea how to be proactive in such an impending disaster. I'd suggest that our government will let the chips fall and protect their own (as some have said they did on 9-11), and may already developed a system in LA and elsewhere that will warn them but not us.

[FarCenter]

4. Supposed NASA announced that an 8+ earthquake was predicted for LA between 1/27-29

What would happen?

[crikkett]

6. LA handles disasters and gigantic events better than anyplace I've been

or read about.

If you want to evoke images of handing an impending disaster badly, maybe use Houston in the lead-up to 2005's Hurricane Wilma as an example.

[FarCenter]

8. But what, actually, would they do between now and Friday?

By the time the earthquake would have happened or not?

Would people be moved out of homes and into open spaces?

Would all the freeways be shut down Wed - Friday so people wouldn't be killed by collapses?

Would office buildings and other workplaces be evacuated Wed - Fri?

[crikkett]

16. My bet is that they have a plan & could pull it off. Yours is that they don't.

I have reason to imagine that LA could pull off an evacuation if there was as much as a 2-day warning because they've handled disasters and big events before - olympics, wildfires, and yes, earthquakes.

As a matter of fact, freeways and buildings are already retrofitted to withstand very strong earthquakes in LA.

You're the one imagining that it's justifiable for a govt to sit still and do nothing when there's a warning of impending disaster because there's nothing that can be done... so I can imagine your skepticism about anyone's opinion to the contrary.

[howaboutme]

13. Food for thought

We all need to watch some disaster movies. How many such movies have you seen where the government knows of impending disaster that openly warns all the citizens? Usually it is the relatives, comrades and connected.

If "they" (NASA) knew about a big one in LA, average people will be the last to know. Such an announcement would negatively affect the business interests and economy. They can't take a chance it could be wrong. What would governments do with millions and an impending panic?

On the other hand there will be those (if you are in the category of Hollywood moguls, rich, powerful, politically connected, and elite) who will know in advance and they will be called to an emergency government conference in DC, or will go to their third vacation home on the Mediterranean.

Most of us will never know until it hits.

[Warpy]

5. This stuff is being put together in retrospect

We're not able to predict severe quakes, not yet, except in the most general terms. Instead of "Wednesday, 3 PM," it's "sometime in the next ten or so years."

If we're precise enough in all these measurements on known fault lines, it could very well shrink to "within the next month," something that would give us ample preparation time and reduce death tolls considerably.

Scientists in Cuba predicted this quake back in 2008. They were simply unable to tell us exactly when it would strike, and that's the real problem.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. So will the big one in california

[peacetalksforall]

9. So what was done with the information?

[jwirr]

10. Can the strength be foretold. I ask because there are hundreds of

small to large earthquakes all around the world all the time. Without the strength it would not be feasible to have prior warning for everyone of them.

[timeforpeace]

14. It's a safe claim. No way to prove it wasn't predicted.

[Zywiec]

15. So was the 2004 tsunami. n/t