Jim Berkland

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Jim Berkland, is a controversial retired geologist who worked many years for the U.S. Geological Survey. He was also the first County Geologist for Santa Clara County (in northern California) and was in that position for 21 years. He has published over 50 scientific papers. He has been a popular guest on many network news programs and talk shows on the subject of earthquake prediction. Mr. Berkland claims he has developed a method for predicting earthquakes, and on his web site and in a monthly newsletter, he lays out a detailed set of signs and precursors that he uses for his predictions. He also lists dozens of major earthquakes he claims to have predicted.

[edit] Controversy

Berkland was suspended for 2 months from his Santa Clara County geology position in late October, 1989 after an article appeared in the Gilroy Dispatch (Gilroy, California) on October 13, one day before the 1989 World Series baseball championship began. In an interview with the reporter, he made a prediction that a major earthquake would occur in the San Francisco Bay Area during the championship series, which featured local teams and was being held in the area. The Loma Prieta earthquake occured on October 17, just before the start of the third game of the Series. Berkland claims that the government told him not to make any more predictions fearing mass panic.

Critics counter that the majority of other predictions he has made are much less specific than his 1989 prediction, and that he has since been unable to make a public prediction of that significance before an event. Notably, his website does not maintain a complete, detailed list of earthquakes he has failed to predict, or predicted earthquakes which did not occur.

[edit] Not yet mainstream

Fans of Mr. Berkland find logic in his method and maintain that he has an 80% accuracy rate. He claims to use tidal flooding tables based upon lunar perigee (time when the moon is closest to earth which affects gravitational pull) and the twice monthly alignment of the Sun and Moon. He also considers strange animal behavior, such as, the number of ads in newspapers for lost or runaway pets and the mass beaching of whales and dolphins. He attributes the strange behaviors to radical changes in the Earth's magnetic field just prior to earthquakes and in the general area of the quakes. He says when this occurs, it interferes with sea mammals and even migratory birds ability to navigate, which explains the mass beachings. He says even dogs and cats can sense the disruptions, which explains elevated rates of runaway pets in local newspapers. Research on Earth's magnetic field and how it is affected by moving tectonic plates and earthquakes is ongoing.

Jim Berkland has, on many occasions, been a guest on late night radio program Coast to Coast AM, created by Art Bell. On television, he has been seen on Frontline, Sightings, Strange Universe, Town Meeting and many other programs. In January 2006 a new book was released about Jim Berkland -- "The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes: Jim Berkland, Maverick Geologist--How His Quake Warnings Can Save Lives" (Sentient Publications), by Cal Orey, ISBN 1-59181-036-1.