THE MAN WHO PREDICTS EARTHQUAKES
Jim Berkland, Maverick Geologist--
How His Quake Warnings Can Save Lives
by Cal Orey
Here is what influential reviewers had to say about the book:
Cal Orey, the local health and pets writer, is not just an author. A native of California, this sensitive animal lover recalls that when she was 12, she sat on the porch steps of her house in San Jose, with her Dalmatian, Casey. It finally hit home.
Arts & Entertainment | January 20, 2006
"The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes" by Cal Orey
Have you ever wondered about earthquake prediction? Are you a dog or cat owner? Then Cal Orey's "The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes" may be an interesting read for you.
Arts & Entertainment | January 6, 2006
Sometime within the last 60,000 years, scientists think an earthquake shattered the West Shore, sending humongous blocks of shoreline into the depths of Lake Tahoe.
News | June 28, 2005
She's back. This time, the local health and pet writer has spread her wings. Her muse is the fountain of youth, earthquakes (yes, we have quakes here, too), and Lake Tahoe's felines. As an accomplished author and journalist Cal Orey will offer her...
Your Town | November 19, 2004
2006 Pet Horoscope
by Kerouac
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kerouac is the co-author of 202 Pets’ Peeves, and is noted as a seismically sensitive cat in the new book, “The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes,” by Cal Orey, based on geologist Jim Berkland’s quake warnings which include moons, tides, strange animal behavior (disoriented pets, lost cats and dogs). Available at www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com.
Ever hear of arthritis predicting the weather? Read on. In this fascinating book, Cal Orey introduces us to Jim Berkland, a maverick geologist who studies earthquakes and the events that surround them. He is known as a maverick inasmuch as many of his theories and conclusions are ignored by the establishment, but often prove to be correct. He has researched earthquakes and their patterns. He has tracked the behavior of animals such as the increase in “missing pets” just prior to a quake. By studying the physical reactions of humans (like headaches and the hearing of high-pitched tones) before a quake and charting the lunar and planetary alignments and tides, he has been able to predict with great accuracy the likelihood of impending earthquakes. While other scientists scoff at his “unscientific” methods, his work has been invaluable. In this book, Cal Orey discusses the circumstances of the multitude of past quakes, the behaviors and activities surrounding them and gives the reader a thorough understanding of what earthquakes are all about. She even offers “to do” lists for earthquake preparation. A very interesting read, particularly with the anniversary of the great tsunami, this book brings the reader into a world where many people live on a daily basis – that world whose inhabitants anxiously await “the next big one.”
Fascinated by earthquakes: Author, geologist visits bookstore
Provided to the Tribune
January 20, 2006
Cal Orey, the local health and pets writer, is not just an author. A native of California, this sensitive animal lover recalls that when she was 12, she sat on the porch steps of her house in San Jose, with her Dalmatian, Casey. It finally hit home. She was awestruck at the National Geographic magazine pages of snow-covered ground with gigantic cracks. Anchorage and other Alaskan cities were devastated by the great Alaskan earthquake of March 27, 1964.
"And then, I put the pieces together. I, too, was living on shaky ground - near the San Andreas fault, which runs almost the entire length of the Golden state. My life no longer seemed like the perfect Father Knows Best safe haven of the 1950s. And things changed," she said.
That was 40 years ago, and today she can still find herself pondering deadly fault lines and many of the earthquakes that she personally survived. Like Orey and other people, you're likely to be both fascinated and freaked out by the power of earthquakes.
"At 17," she said, "I lived an hour's drive from the Pacific Ocean. Scientists also claimed that a quake was overdue on the Hayward fault, 30 miles from our house. Since I was a teenager with an overactive imagination, my fear of tremors manifested into an earthquake phobia. I shared this fear factor with my wood shop teacher in high school. He listened. He laughed. He tagged me 'Earthquake Annie.' But his joking attitude didn't stop my serious anxieties and interest in the worldwide phenomenon."
In the summer of 2004, Orey sat outdoors in the sunshine on the deck of her cabin in South Lake Tahoe, suffering from writer's boredom. "I had just sold my previously published article, 'What Kitty Knows: ESP, superior senses, and feline intuition,' to the Reno-based PetFolio magazine. I covered the four-legged potential earthquake predictors. Then, it hit me. I thought of retired geologist Jim Berkland. His quake prediction theories, such as counting lost cat and dog ads in newspapers, always intrigued me."
One year later, Orey had written her latest book, "The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes: Jim Berkland, Maverick Geologist - How His Quake Warnings Can Save Lives" (Sentient Publications, January 2006). The author knew her late pets sensed the Oct. 17, 1989, "World Series Quake," a 7.1 monster that Berkland predicted and coined. But through her research for the book, she has discovered that she, too, can sense imminent earthquakes. She is one of countless "earthquake sensitives" - humans who have shown an ability to detect precursors that signal an upcoming quake.
In "The Man Who Predicts Earthquakes," written in a warm and witty first-person narrative, Orey discusses how her own dreams, visions, ear tones, and tuning into her current pets - seismically sensitive cat, Kerouac, and dog, Simon - have led to sensing, predicting (on Berkland's Web site www.syzygyjob.com), and getting accurate earthquake "hits" in both Northern and Southern California, Lake Tahoe, and even Japan.
Each month, Orey follows the "shaky-ground specialist's earthquake prediction methods" and puts her own uncanny sixth sense to work. Many of Berkland's theories - based on tides, moons, strange animal behavior, and magnetic field changes - were factors in the great Indian Ocean quake-tsunami disaster on Dec. 26, 2004.
To find out more about earthquake prediction, you can meet Orey and the man who predicts earthquakes himself at a signing and discussion of her book on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. at Neighbors Bookstore, 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Suite 23, in the Village Center.
Orey and Berkland will also discuss the book during a live interview at Neighbors Bookstore starting at noon Friday, Jan. 20, on KTHO AM 590 radio.
Cal Orey can be contacted at www.calorey.com.
Sentient Publications, December, ISBN: 1-59181-036-1
“Can Berkland predict earthquakes? It seems so, and veteran author Cal Orey does an extraordinary job of not only telling Jim's story to the world, but also providing readers with an enormous amount of valuable information about earthquakes. Frankly, I wish I had had this book when I was researching my own book about disasters. Highly recommend
ed.”
—Stephen Spignesi, author of Catastrophe! The 100 Greatest Disasters of All Time
"A fascinating read full of amazing anecdotes and provocative information. Orey's book entertains while challenging conventional science. So be warned, once you start reading this book, you won't put it down."
—Kathleen Antrim, author of Capital Offense, columnist for the San Francisco Examiner
“Twenty to thirty percent of children in the area woke up more than a minute before the Kobe, Japan, earthquake in 1995. Cal Orey's book shows that a nature-loving geologist like Jim Berkland, with a heart of a child, can forecast earthquakes.”
—Motoji Ikeya, Professor Emeritus of Osaka University, Japan; author of Earthquakes and Animals
“Cal Orey's wonderfully written book about geologist Jim Berkland's unique but scientifically unorthodox approach to predictions of forthcoming earth tremors should register 9.9 on the Richter Scale!”
—Clarisa Bernhardt, columnist for shirleymaclaine.com
”In this landmark book, journalist Cal Orey demonstrates that Berkland will cross any chasm to deliver his quake wisdom.”
—Jim Baker, County Geologist of Santa Clara County, California
”Berkland's predictions have been ‘on the mark’ on numerous occasions, and Cal Orey's new book delves into the science and the psychic phenomena behind it all."
—Lisa Baran, editor of PetFolio
