How Terrifying

With Shen Qi's consent, the American journal Science published Shen Qi's paper, "Research on a New Earthquake Model," and sent a reporter to interview Shen Qi.

The current impact factor (IF) of Science is 37.212, slightly lower than that of Nature. They previously rejected Shen Qi 'Shen Qi Condensed Matter Physics paper because it was too profound and highly theoretical, making it unsuitable for most general readers.

In this article, "Research on a New Earthquake Model," Shen Qi's writing style leans towards popular science. He omits lengthy and complex mathematical derivations and calculations, making it easy for most people with a university-level education to understand what he has written.

System: "New achievement! The host has published a physics paper in <Science>, with a base reward of 50,000 Academic Points, multiplied by the IF value of 37.212, resulting in a final reward of 1,860,600 Academic Points."

Seismology is a branch of physics, and these 1.8 million points for top students are attributed to physics.

A reporter from Science magazine asked, "Professor Shen, how do you evaluate the famous paper published in Nature last year, 'Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted'?"

"This is misleading," Shen Qi said directly. He didn't quite agree with the views of those famous seismologists, "The article 'Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted' puts forward two assumptions. First, since most people believe that earthquakes are a self-organizing critical phenomenon, then Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted. Second, so far, earthquake prediction has not been successful, so it will not be successful in the future."

"Hehe." Shen Qi chuckled, then said, "If we conclude from these two assumptions that Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted, then physics has no reason to exist, and seismology should be classified under philosophy or theology."

"Many earthquake models studying self-organizing criticality use the spring-slider model, also known as the Bridge-Nobof model. This model does not adequately consider the physical aspects and mathematical treatment of earthquakes."

"For example, what kind of Mathematical Physics model relationship exists between aftershocks and the main shock? Can it be quantitatively described? We must know that many of the earthquakes we encounter are actually aftershocks of previous major earthquakes. We cannot simply use the self-organized criticality theory to conclude that Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted," Shen Qi explained his academic viewpoint.

The reporter highlighted the key points in his notebook. "Therefore, Professor Shen, your research findings and prediction accuracy have dealt a heavy blow to the 'Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted' faction."

Shen Qi: "Hey buddy, you said that, I never said it."

The reporter then asked, "As far as I know, in addition to issuing a warning to the New Zealand Seismological Network, Professor Shen also sent similar warning emails to the USGS and Russian Seismological Network earthquake networks on the same day?"

The media's information network was too well-informed. Shen Qi knew he couldn't hide it any longer, so he simply said, "Yes, a little over a month ago, I sent three emails to the USGS, the Russian Seismological Network, and the New Zealand Seismological Network, providing the coordinates of four locations."

"Okay, thank you." The reporter's interview was over.

After the interview with Shen Qi was published in Science, experts and scholars who believed that Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted were unhappy.

Professor Wellington of UCLA, a leading figure in the "Earthquakes Cannot Be Predicted" school of thought who has published articles in Nature, made a public statement. "I don't think Shen Qi's so-called new earthquake model is better than the classic model. Yes, he predicted the magnitude 5.5 earthquake 188 kilometers south of Campbell Island, but everyone gets lucky once or twice, and that doesn't prove anything."

The USGS and Russian Seismological Network networks are taking a wait-and-see approach, telling their citizens not to easily believe anyone's statements, and that the only authoritative and responsible early warning information will come from their own government.

Shen Qi remained silent. He entered the field of Nonlinear Dynamics research, burying himself in his studies, seeking only to find those two key elements: time and intensity.

Ou Ye became increasingly uneasy, and after not having her period for two months, she secretly went to the hospital for a checkup.

The test results showed that Ou Ye was not pregnant. The doctor also pointed out, "Ms. Ou, your anxiety is not good for your health."

Anxiety can even cause menstruation to stop; a woman's intuition can sometimes be inexplicably accurate.

Just one hour after Ou Ye left the hospital, the International Seismological Centre released the latest news:

"At approximately 19:03 Greenwich Mean Time today, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred 127 kilometers west of Kollab Reef in the South Pacific Ocean (55°47′S, 164°11′W), with a focal depth of 38 kilometers."

Shen Qi previously predicted the coordinates to be 55 degrees south latitude and 167 degrees west longitude.

This location is in the heart of the South Pacific Ocean, within a radius of 2,000 kilometers where there are no human settlements, except for the occasional research vessel and whaling ship passing by.

Kollab Reef is a coral reef completely unsuitable for human habitation; its significance lies in serving as a reference point for scientists and navigators.

Just now, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred in the waters west of Kollab Reef. The coordinates at 55 degrees south latitude match Shen Qi's prediction, with a longitude deviation of 3 degrees.

The international seismological community was shaken; the world was shocked.

Shen Qi indicated that earthquakes occurred in the sea areas near the two coordinate points in the Southern Hemisphere, one measuring 5.5 and the other 7.0.

"This... another earthquake..." Even Shen Qi himself was shocked, and even a little worried.

The latitude of the epicenter of the Kollab Reef earthquake was consistent with the data calculated by Shen Qi; the deviation in longitude was an east-west deviation.

Two coordinates remain unconfirmed; both are located in the Bering Sea in the Northern Hemisphere, belonging to the United States and Russia respectively.

Shen Qi's biggest concern is the safety of life and property of residents on Nikolskoye Island in Russia.

One of the coordinates (55 degrees north latitude, 167 degrees east longitude) is only 50 kilometers away from Nikolskoye Island. Considering the prediction error, the epicenter may be on the island.

"This is really hard to believe."

Shen Qi spread out a world map and used a pencil to connect four coordinate points on the map: (55 degrees North latitude, 167 degrees East longitude), (55 degrees North latitude, 167 degrees West longitude), (55 degrees South latitude, 167 degrees East longitude), and (55 degrees South latitude, 167 degrees West longitude).

Connecting the four points results in a square, which is unusual considering that earthquake zones shouldn't be distributed this way.

Another possibility is that humans do not truly understand earthquake zones and the principles behind earthquake models.

We have created our own systematic seismological theory, but we cannot prevent earthquakes from causing us harm.

The following day, Shen Qi saw on the television news that 22 residents of Nikolskoye Island, under the organization of the Russian government, were evacuating the island in a tense but orderly manner...