April 30, 2008 1972 written report significant earthquake in Ngawa Prefecture around May 8 droughts reports predicting the earthquake
When was the confidential written report sent to the State Seismological Bureau? When was Geng's drought-earthquake correlation theory released? What did researcher Geng Qingguo say was sent to the State Seismological Bureau? What did this report warn about? What was the predicted time of the quake? What did Geng long try to establish as a relationship with earthquakes? What did an official with the Seismological Bureau deny receiving?
Malaysia-based Yazhou Zhoukan conducted an interview with former researcher at the China Seismological Bureau Geng Qingguo (耿庆国), in which Geng claimed that a confidential written report was sent to the State Seismological Bureau on April 30, 2008, warning about the possible occurrence of a significant earthquake in Ngawa Prefecture region of Sichuan around May 8, with a range of 10 days before or after the quake. Geng, while acknowledging that earthquake prediction was broadly considered problematic by the scientific community, believed that "the bigger the earthquake, the easier it is to predict." Geng had long attempted to establish a correlation between the occurrence of droughts and earthquakes; Premier Zhou Enlai reportedly took an interest in Geng's work. Geng's drought-earthquake correlation theory was first released in 1972, and said to have successfully predicted the 1975 Haicheng and 1976 Tangshan earthquakes. The same Yazhou Zhoukan article pointed out the inherent difficulties associated with predicting earthquakes. In response, an official with the Seismological Bureau stated that "earthquake prediction is widely acknowledged around the world to be difficult from a scientific standpoint." The official also denied that the Seismological Bureau had received reports predicting the earthquake.
question: When was the confidential written report sent to the State Seismological Bureau?, answer: April 30, 2008 | question: When was Geng's drought-earthquake correlation theory released?, answer: 1972 | question: What did researcher Geng Qingguo say was sent to the State Seismological Bureau?, answer: written report | question: What did this report warn about?, answer: significant earthquake in Ngawa Prefecture | question: What was the predicted time of the quake?, answer: around May 8 | question: What did Geng long try to establish as a relationship with earthquakes?, answer: droughts | question: What did an official with the Seismological Bureau deny receiving?, answer: reports predicting the earthquake