Oh Cali how you crack and pop

Oh my God, if it ain’t one thing it’s another. Now Twitterville is gaffing and gasping about some rumor of a 8.5, 8.6 or 8.7 earthquake to happen within the next 24-hours in SoCal. Really? And who is doing this wonderful prediction?

Yes, certainly, there has been an uptick in earthquakes here in California but I just don’t believe such an animal exists — >8.0 mag — for SoCal. I could be wrong and heck, what do I know?

I personally believe we will see a nice sized earthquake in the SoCal area this year but I cannot say when or where. I have been pretty sensitive to earthquakes this year and my heightened sense of awareness started in January. I’m beginning to believe my heightened sensitivity and interest in earthquakes stems more from planetary activity than what’s going on in the world — Haiti, Chile, and recently Baja.

There is enough going on in the universe and at the core of the earth to frighten anyone. At times the earth reacts to these changes — like high tides with full moons — and sometimes it all gets worked out with a little quake here, a tiny quake there, here a quake, there a quake, everywhere a tiny quake.

Quite frankly, SoCal may be overdue for a sizable quake. We’ve been pretty quiet for about a decade or so since 1994 with the Northridge quake. Perhaps we will experience something on the order of a high 6 or low 7 this year. Where is anyone’s guess and who knows the size.

My advice to everyone is be prepared. Get your flashlights ready, have backup batteries, keep lots of water on hand and get a battery operated radio. I keep all of these things and more in my house and both cars. I even have several slimline phones that are not electronic. I have been keeping phones like these around because, in my area, losing electricity is common.

Now, as for the Twitter earthquake predictions, if the seismologists at CalTech can’t tell you don’t believe anyone else. I certainly won’t tell you my predictions. There are, however, numerous sites on the web that entertain predictions and I do mean entertain. Some have been in the ballpark within a day or two while others have been way off base.

As for me, I’ll continue to delve and study but I won’t make any predictions. Actually, with the recent Baja earthquake I discovered something about myself that I thought was true but didn’t want to admit until it happened. I tend to zone out just prior to an earthquake. I did it with the Landers/Big Bear quake, I did it with Northridge and I zoned out just prior to the Baja quake a week ago. With that, don’t look to me for any pre-warning unless you’re sitting next to me and see me actually zone out.

Now, on the 15th you might experience some shaking and shock waves. These will come as big checks are dropped into yonder mail box in payment to Uncle Sam — she said, tongue . . . in . . . cheek.