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Earthquake Predictions
Mexico to Costa Rica
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Aztec Calendar, © copyright Soren Pilman, iStockphoto Inc. All rights reserved.
MEXICO to COSTA RICA REGIONS
are newly defined (Oct 2010) and treated as the following three regions, ignoring political boundaries:
1. MEXICO - Southern Region is now represented by its most seismically active areas within a 550 km radius of Oaxaca, OAXACA (Lat 17.064° Lon -96.720°). Since 1975 this southern region, which includes Mexico City, has experienced 48 strong (M6.0-6.9), and 14 major (M7.0-7.9) earthquakes. (USGS/NEIC & Google Earth sources).
2. GUATEMALA - Coastal Region
newly defined (Oct 2010) to be within ≈275 km radius* of a center point at Lat 14.07°N, Lon -91.92°W , offshore Guatemala, extending NW to Southern Chiapas, Mexico, and Southeast to El Salvador. Since 1975 this region has experienced 46 strong (M6.0-6.9) earthquakes and 2 major ones (M7.1 & M7.2).
(USGS/NEIC & Google Earth sources).
3. EL SALVADOR - NICARAGUA - NW COSTA RICA
Pacific Coasts and Offshore Regions
New Region (Oct 2010) defined as being within ≈350 km radius* of a center point at Lat 11.74 Lon -87.34 off the coast of Nicaragua. Since 1975 this region has experienced 38 strong (M6-M6.9) earthquakes and 6 major ones (M7.0-M7.7).
(USGS/NEIC & Google Earth sources).
*The radius of each region has an additional error margin of ≈10% in order to include earthquake events close to the nominated regional boundaries.
All earthquake predictions for the above regions are for the largest earthquake in a nominated period, plus an error margin of about one day, but no attempt is made to make forecasts for all periods because of the constraints of private research. Each table, with its original earthquake prediction, will remain subject to revisions or updates for 10 days.
Why updates may be necessary... because earthquakes interact in a very dynamic system. Just as in reporting the weather, the latest information must be taken into account to improve forecasting.
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SCROLL DOWN FOR TABLES
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STATISTICS FOR EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION For period 13 August 2007 - 12 July 2008 (256 predictions)
SUCCESS RATES*
Mag Observed Events Predicted Events
(How many predicted?) (How many observed?)
Pred. Obs. %Correct Obs. Pred. %Correct
<M4 60 67 = 90% 58 66 = 88%
M4.0-4.9 76 85 = 89% 57 60 = 95%
M5.0-5.9 73 77 = 95% 90 96 = 94%
M6.0+ 25 27 = 93% 29 34 = 85%
___________________________________________ *These statistics are updated periodically and refer to tabled predictions only, as no attempt
is made to predict all large earthquakes worldwide. Note that currently successful predictions are those which are ≈80% accurate on magnitude, and within a 10-day time window (plus an error margin of about one day), reflecting the fact that earthquake prediction is still an imprecise science. However, research here is aimed at improving this margin and currently 75% of all magnitude predictions have an error margin of only 15%. Any apparent numerical discrepancies between the two halves of the above table are due to the error margins: for example, an M6 category predicted quake might have come in at M5.8
OVERALL success rate from 256 predictions worldwide-
Observed events that were predicted (234/256) = 91.4%
Predicted events that were observed (234/256) = 91.4%
SCIENTIFIC: Correlation of Predicted & Observed Magnitudes
There is a highly significant correlation (r=0.90, P< .0001) between the full set of observed and predicted magnitudes, including 'false alarms' (Worldwide N=256 as of 12 July 2008).
EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION TABLES
M= Earthquake magnitude. See HOME page for further explanation of table entries.
Earthquake Location Maps - see the USGS web site for maps of earthquakes in these tables.
New 3-layer Table Format & Prediction Rules (25 Nov 07)
Please read following points to fully explain tables below:
1. The Original Earthquake Prediction, and details relating to it, are given in the top light blue layer of each table.
The 'expected date' (or dates) given here provide the best current estimate of when the largest earthquake event is most likely within the nominated 10-day window (date prediction made +10, or possibly ≈11 days). Please note that the time window now includes an error margin of ≈1 day which may extend it to include some closely predicted events, reflecting the fact that earthquake prediction is an imprecise science. The above estimates and other details may be updated, if necessary, in the next section of the table.
The Expected Range in Magnitude, for each event after 14th July 2008, is given as the predicted magnitude +/-1 magnitude (previously it was given as +/-0.5M). Statistical analyses of over 100 of the latest predictions show that 95% of them can be expected to fall within +/-1M of the predicted values, regardless of the region of the world involved. From 14th July 2008, any predictions which fall outside these limits by as little as 0.1M will be regarded as unsuccessful.
2. Revisions, if required, are given in the mid blue layer of each table, and these revisions are used in the final assessments of the results. Please see the statement above explaining why updates are desirable, and note that revisions are limited to a 10-day window. Revisions usually relate to
earthquake magnitude and expected timing, but may also include location.
3. The Observed Earthquake and details (for the event we were attempting to predict) are given in the bottom dark blue layer of each table. The event recorded here is the largest earthquake for the nominated 10-11 day period. 'PENDING...' simply means that the anticipated event has not yet happened, or that we are waiting for the event to be posted on the web site.
MEXICO & GUATEMALA REGIONS
Two tables may be running concurrently, so please scroll down.
See also Long-term Forecasts
These Long-term Forecasts now give the approximate timing of the largest regional earthquakes for the lunar period ahead.
The Short-term tables below will be used to make revisable and, generally, more precise earthquake predictions for some of the important events that are indicated as being imminent in the Long-term Forecasts.
No.32 Mexico Region
PREDICTED M4.9 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 2nd August 9th August +/-3 days (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 0438 hrs UTC (time window open until 19th August) Probability of event >90% within approx. 500 km of Acapulco
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OBSERVED M5.3 Expected Date/Location |
No. 31 Guatemala Region
PREDICTED M4.8 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 15th April 15-24 April (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 0205 hrs UTC (time window open to 24th April +1 day margin) Probability of event >90% within ≈300 km of Guatemala City
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OBSERVED M4.8 Observed Date/Location |
No. 30 Guatemala Region
PREDICTED M4.5 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 27 Jan 27-31 January (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 1045 hrs UTC (time window open to 5th February) Probability of event >85% within 300 km of Guatemala City
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| OBSERVED M4.8 Observed Date/Location Magnitude accuracy 93.8% 28th January at Lat 13.35 Lon -89.698 Predicted one day ahead 65 km SW of San Salvador, and 170 km SW of Guatemala City (USGS & Google Earth sources) Offshore El Salvador |
No. 29 MEXICO - 'Colima Region'
PREDICTED M4.5 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 16 Jan 16-25 January (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 1053 hrs UTC (time window open to 25th January) Probability of event >85% within 450 km of Guadalajara
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| OBSERVED M4.3 Observed Date/Location Magnitude accuracy 95.6% 19th January at Lat 17.24 Lon -101.40 Predicted 3 days ahead 165 km WNW of Acapulco (USGS source) Offshore Guerrero, Mexico |
No. 28 MEXICO - 'Oaxaca Region'
PREDICTED M5.1 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 11 January 17 January +/-3 days (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 0657 hrs UTC (time window open to 21 January) Probability of event >90% within 350 km of Oaxaca, Oaxaca
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REVISION nil |
| OBSERVED M4.2 Observed Date/Location Magnitude accuracy 82.3% 20th January at Lat 15.83 Lon -96.12 Predicted 9 days ahead 150 km SSE of Oaxaca (USGS source) Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mex. |
No. 27 GUATEMALA REGION
PREDICTED M4.8 Expected Date/Location Original prediction 11 January 15 January +/-3 days (UTC) 2009 Predicted at 0523 hrs UTC (time window open to 21 January) Probability of event >85% within 300 km of Guatemala City
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REVISION nil |
| OBSERVED M5.8 Observed Date/Location Magnitude accuracy 82.7% 17th January at Lat 15.80 Lon -92.48 Predicted 6 days ahead 250 km WNW of Guatemala City Guatemala Region |
Previous tables have been deleted to save space