Blogger Predicted Indonesian Earthquake

(2005-01-10)

Business idea blogger, Dan Sherman, used his blog to predict a major seismic event 4 months before the southeast Asian tsunami. Reading his words now, in light of what has happened, is eerie.

On September 2, 2004, business blogger Dan Sherman posted the following on his blog, "I just hope the intensity of the [seismic event doesn't directly correlate with the intensity of the physical manifestation I've been experiencing. If it does, it will be absolutely devastating. Let's hope I'm wrong."

As we know now, he wasn't wrong.

But how does Sherman explain his ability to predict seismic activity?

"It's a sensation I feel in my ears. While the sensation is happening, my hearing in that particular ear is affected until it subsides. The stronger or louder the sensation, the stronger the seismic activity seems to be once it occurs."

Sherman first associated this physical reaction to seismic activity when he was in high school in the late 1970s while living in the central valley of California.

"I started to notice that an earthquake would be reported in the news shortly after I had experienced this hearing sensation," Sherman says. "So I began to write down dates when I would feel this sensation and then log when earthquakes would be reported in the news. Because I was relying on my local paper and television news for the reporting of any seismic event, they would have to be large enough to make it to the news. About 70% of the time there would be an earthquake of 6.5 or larger somewhere in the world within 5 days of hearing sensation occurring. They are typically always 6.5 and above. Although, if one is close to me geographically, they can be in the 5's."

After all these years of experiencing this physical manifestation, why did Sherman risk his reputation as a respectable business blogger to go off-topic and go so far as to predict a major seismic event in the near future?

Sherman says, "I had to get it in the public domain because I knew with 100% certainty that there was going be a major event. In the 24 years that I've been experiencing this physical sensation, I had never experienced the intensity as I had in the last few days of August of 2004. First major indicator was that it lasted for almost 2 days. Previously, it's only lasted for no more than 10 minutes. So of course, that was odd. But the biggest tip was the absolute intensity of the sensation. Typically, it will feel like there is a electrical transformer near my ear and it'll just tingle and feel weird. This time, it overpowered my hearing in one of my ears to where I was completely deaf in that ear for more than 2 days. I was just about to go to the doctor when it subsided. I just knew this was going to be a big one. So I posted it on my blog on September 2nd."

The blog entry he's talking about (http://www.dansherman.com/2004/09/im-predicting-earthquake-literally.html) is titled, "I'm Predicting an Earthquake - Literally!" In it, he writes this ominous statement, "I just hope the intensity of the [seismic event doesn't directly correlate with the intensity of the physical manifestation I've been experiencing. If it does, it will be absolutely devastating. Let's hope I'm wrong."

Two days after that ominous post, there were two back-to-back earthquakes in Japan. They occurred 5 hours apart and were 6.8 and 7.3 in magnitude, respectively.

Sherman reported this in his blog (http://www.dansherman.com/2004/09/earthquake-prediction-correct.html). However, because the sensation he experienced wasn't like his normal sensations prior to seismic activity, he wrote this in that follow-up blog post, "But, for some reason, because of the intensity of the 'thing' that happens to me before earthquakes, I don't think those two earthquakes are going to be the end of it. I believe we have some more coming up in the next 24 hours or so. But because seismic activity is so dependent on many things, it could be that what I experienced is the set up for something really major in the near future. Who knows... it's such an inexact science. But don't be surprised if we get another big jolt somewhere before it quiets down."

It's already well known that animals are able to sense seismic activity. Indeed, there are reports of animals in a game reserve on Sri Lanka were all spared because they sought higher ground prior to the tsunami's arrival. Perhaps Sherman's ability is related in some way. The science community should test Sherman's abilities and try to understand what it is he experiences.

Dan Sherman writes about his unorthodox and off the wall business ideas on DanSherman.com. He can be reach at 503-709-2200

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