May/June 2001 AstroMeteorology Forecast

By Jennifer Lawson

June 12-21, 2001 Australia's East Coast
On Thursday April 19, 2001 the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane (QLD, Australia) was rocked by something, but no one knows for sure what it was, other than it felt like a tremor.

The earth moved for thousands of Sunshine Coast residents with reports of tremors rattling windows and rumbling floors from Yandina to Caloundra. Seismographs in Brisbane did not show any ground movement, so the culprit was thought to be the RAAF supersonic training taking place south of Brisbane.

According to Wing Commander Rob Lawson, the RAAF's training area was situated 100 km off the coast between Beenleigh and Tweed Heads making it extremely unlikely the boom could have caused tremors north of Brisbane 20 minutes later. It was a low-level training exercise which means it would be extremely unusual for shock-waves to propagate that far north without affecting areas in between.We go supersonic there all the time and people in Brisbane don't ever notice it.?

Richard Dudley, a spokesperson with Air traffic control agency Airservices Australia, said, that while it was possible given certain weather conditions that the sound of a sonic boom might travel some distance, it would not explain vibrations people reported experiencing.

A few years ago a similar event was felt all the way from Northwest Mexico and California West Coast north to the Canadian border. No seismographs were rattled at all, but seismologists announced that it was a deep seated quake- too far down to effect seismographs, and most likely was some sort of shift occurring along tectonic boundaries. More recently in the latest Science Magazine is an article written by Robert Matas- B.C Quake Study Heightens Fear of Big One. Matas reports that prior to the quake that rocked Seattle in January this year, US scientists had thought that the Juan de Fuca plate was gradually moving under the North American plate pushing the West Coast eastward by a few millimeters each year. But a computer analysis of the 1999 movements in the fall of 2000 indicated that the North American plate is moving in spurts or discreet pulses referred to as a silent deep-slip event. Scientists now believe that these spurts, where a step east is followed by a much smaller retreat to the west, followed by another step east, could bring a major quake closer and that one of these slip events may evolve into a trigger mechanism for a major earthquake.

There is so much about earthquakes that seismologists simply don't understand. Even on the simplest level they don't know the forces that drive or activate plates and tectonics or whether a big quake is on its way or not. Seismographs can only measure activity so far down and when they go beserk and it a big one- it's usually too late for any warning.

So what did rattle houses on April 19? What may well have happened on the Sunshine Coast is a silent deep-slip event - an event that did not make any impression on seismographs.

In all probability what everybody felt was a silent deep-slip event along the intraplate region of the Australian tectonic plate, the epicentre of which could have been either onshore or offshore. This possible tremor, if it was that, could be the first in a possible series, that could lead to a major quake targeting the Southeast coast from Brisbane to Gladstone in June. It is also possible for a powerful offshore tremor to hit the continental slope. Because the Sunshine Coast was the region that felt the tremor on April 19, this could be the region that registers further tremors in the coming weeks. If other tremors do follow this one, then June's prediction of a major quake could well eventuate.

In my book Violent Weather Predictions 2000-2001 I drew special attention to the mid-May through June 2001 period - especially June 12-22, stating that this time period was one of the most significant for natural disasters in the form of severe weather, tornadoes, tropical storms, great floods, and particularly earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, for the year 2001. Many areas of the world will be affected during this time-frame, among them Australia's East Coast, New Zealand and Northern California.

The combined influences of the planets Mercury, Mars, Jupiter will be directly affecting Central to Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales from May 14-18, May 24-31 and especially June 12-22 when these planets are conjoined by the Sun and Moon. From May 14-18 Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales could experience heavy rainfall and thunderstorms which could be quite severe. From May 24-31 and June 12-21 heavy rains, powerful storms and flooding is more wide-spread, affecting inland to coastal regions from Far North Queensland south to New South Wales.

Apart from weather conditions, the potential for a powerful tremor to rock the Southeast Queensland coast in June, is very high.

For the past three months I have researched extensively all tsunami events that have occurred in the SW Pacific region over the past 100 years, as well as every Australian earthquake above 5M that has occurred during that same time period. From deducing what combinations of planets, sun and moon were responsible for triggering all these events, my findings lead me to conclude that events from June 11-21 for Australia's East Coast will be severe and that in all probability a powerful tremor is likely to strike onshore or offshore Southeast Queensland. And dependent on the magnitude- a possible tsunami.

Because the Sunshine Coast may have already experienced a deep-seated tremor, this will be one region that will need close observation over the coming weeks. Listed below are dates when more tremors could be experienced on the Sunshine Coast, or elsewhere- even Brisbane or further south into New South Wales. Some will coincide with severe weather, others could be more seismic.

May 9-12 Possible tremor (minor)
May 14-18 Storms, heavy rains
May 24-31 Possible tremor (minor), severe weather, flooding
June 5-8 Possible tremor (minor)
June 11-21 Tremor (severe), severe weather, flooding (especially June 21)

If tremors do not occur in May or early June, chances of a major quake from June 11-21 will be lessened and may not happen at all. In that case major flooding could be the case. In predictive work it is extremely difficult at times to differentiate between a weather-related disaster and seismic activity.

However, if more tremors are felt in May to early June, then a powerful quake is very likely to strike onshore/offshore Southeast Queensland June 11-21, especially June 21. One thing is for certain. By the end of May and early June the picture of what is likely to transpire June 12-21 will become much clearer.

Other Australian states may also be affected by severe weather, flooding and maybe tremors, including Cape York, Far North Queensland to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory- Darwin and Arnhem Land, Kimberley/J.B Gulf region of Western Australia.