Japan Must Stop Forecasting Quake Near Tokyo, Geller Says

The Japanese government should stop trying to forecast when a major quake will hit near Tokyo because models behind the predictions are flawed, according to a geophysicist.

Since 1979, a year after Japan introduced a system that aims to predict big earthquakes three days prior to the event, temblors causing 10 or more mortalities have struck in areas assigned a low seismic risk rating, said Robert Geller, a professor of geophysics at the University of Tokyo.