11.   Caltech seismologist Kate Hutton said the quakes were not unexpected.

12.   Earth quakes are a major concern for the Japanese.

13.   East of Delhi lies a stretch of the fault where a major quake is long overdue.

14.   Louis Lichtenstein, a tourist from Minnesota visiting the Guerrero resort town of Ixtapa, told the Reuters news service that the quake was strong.

15.   One new theory of earthquake prediction -- based on the observation that big quakes are always preceded by unusual periods of seismic calm -- seems particularly promising.

16.   Part of the current apprehension about a quake comes from the sense that in some respects the Kobe quake should have been relatively managable.

17.   Others are skeptical, saying that quakes are essentially random events and impossible to forecast.

18.   Predicting earthquakes is, however, still virtually impossible, particularly if an attempt is made to predict which quakes will be mild and which damaging.

19.   Quake III is an easy mark for such efforts.

20.   Regardless of its relative strength, and regardless of its final damage numbers, the quake was plenty strong enough to damage individual lives.