Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 70

Chicago Tribune, Sunday, May 22, 1994 Section 1 19 NationWorld Do earthquakes telegraph punch? Electric signals may hold key 'i rt tl ft 0 If IMt; ill if. K. 1 nF! Si'! 11 -1 5 4 i i 4 tf 1i i minded residents that several unmapped faults lie under Southern California's dense population with no hint of when, or if, they may. cause quakes. One theory suggests that the re-, gion has been uncommonly quiet, seismoloically, for the last 200 years and that earthquakes are' likely to occur much more frequently than people thought.

In New Madrid, they got; plenty of warning. But they're still waiting for the Big One. A business consultant's predic-; tion based on 60-year peaks in' tidal forces that the New Madrid Fault was due for a major quake in December 1990, alarmed an area where residents have been; fearing a repeat of the devastating 1811-12 earthquakes. While Californians would wel-; come any information that im-' proves understanding of some scientists are skeptical that the Chinese studies will provided the needed insights. "Chinese scientists haven't been-forthcoming about their so it is difficult to evaluate the value of their information," said Antony Fraser-Smith, a Stanford University electrical engineering professor who is a leader of electromagnetic quake prediction research in the U.S.

Fraser-Smith caused a scientific stir in 1989 when he noted significant changes in electromagnetic signals about two weeks before the quake that rocked the San Francisco area. The monitor, a radio-like device tuned to ultralow frequencies, that spotted those signals turned out to be located a few miles from that quake's epicenter. Fraser-Smith has four sites with the monitoring equipment in California in areas likely to produce quakes. He didn't notice any signals he could tie to January's earthquake, but he didn't have any monitor closer than 50 miles to the epicenter. Other researchers with monitors in the San Diego area say they See Quakes, Page 24 By Jon Van Tribune Staff Writer Since there's no way to prevent earthquakes, the one thing people want to know is when they're likely to hit.

Now, some scientists think they have part of the answer: They believe earthquakes may telegraph their intentions using the same force behind telegraphs, telephones and most other communications technologies electricity. Although that notion is far from accepted as fact by mainstream geologists, many consider it a serious possibility worth studying. Several respected electrical engineers and physicists expect that one day forecasters will watch for changes in electromagnetic signals emanating from within the Earth, much as today's meteorologists watch for weather conditions that spawn hurricanes and tornadoes. Scientists and disaster planners will focus on the theory this week at a UN-sponsored conference on lessening the effects of natural disasters to be held in Yokohama, Japan. Researchers from China, Japan, Greece and the U.S.

will present results of their efforts to correlate changes in low-frequency electrical signals within the Earth to subsequent quakes. Chinese scientists have been studying this phenomenon for nearly 30 years and have amassed a huge database on the subject, said Jean Chu, a former visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and now with the Chinese Academy of Science's Institute of Geology. "Chinese scientists have been reluctant to share their database with scientists in other countries," Chu said. "This UN conference will be very important in encouraging them to present their information to others." The January earthquake in Los Angeles, which left 51 people dead, hundreds injured and millions of dollars in property damage, re i -Mir i i i' i i mi lii mi AP photo Lloyd Kaufman, creator of "A Nymphoid Barbarian in Dinosaur Hell," parties down with a few of his characters in Cannes. Cannes sequel: 'Invasion of the Film Snatchers' whole lot of selling going on.

On the gorgeous, palm-lined curve of the seaside Croisette, Cannes' main street a blizzard of handbills and posters covers almost every surface, from the windshields of parked cars to the elegant, wedding-cake facade of the Carlton HoteL The venerable Belle Epoque hotel sported a two-story billboard promoting "Johnny Mnemonic," an American sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves, which hasn't even been completed yet Its graceful entry was obscured by a marquee that screamed "It's On," a reference to the Eddie Murphy vehicle, "Beverly Hills Cop EL" The Murphy film people reportedly paid $40,000 for that bit of hype. Even the stately palm trees haven't been spared, their trunks slathered with "Drag is the Drug" posters for "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," a hot Australian musical road movie about a troupe of drag queens. Meanwhile; in the bowels of the fortress-like Festival Palace, and in the corridors of the Carlton, Majestic and countless other hotels, deals are being made to See Cannes, Page 20 merchants, money and the Mediterranean. For 12 days, some 50,000 people from all over the world pay exorbitant prices, keep absurd hours, pop antacids and sit in a series of darkened screening rooms all hoping to get a piece of whatever it is they came here for. It could be to buy, to sell to make a deal or to make a name.

Indeed, under all the gloss, glitz and artistic aspirations, Cannes is essentially a non-stop international cinema casbah. Millions of dollars, deutsche marks and yen will change hands here, and, until the festival ends Monday, there's a By Lisa Anderson Tribune Staff Writer CANNES, France Sasha Kazin, president of Trimax Productions, compares it to a "convention of shoe salesmen" For neophyte filmmaker Karen Miller from Park Ridge, DL, "It's the opportunity of a lifetime." Whatever it is, the Cannes International Film Festival is like nothing else in the world. Every May this ritzy resort town shakes off its luxury-priced languor and rises, like a celluloid Brigadoon, to celebrate a legendary annual convocation of movie WE'RE LOCATED AT 900 NORTH MICHIGAN, 440-4460. WE'RE OPEN MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY 10AM-8PM; SUNDAY NOON-6PM. WE HAVE ON-SITE PARKING, JUST $5 FOR 3 HOURS WITH VALIDATION.

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