[2] In the 1970s, scientists were optimistic that a practical method for predicting earthquakes would soon be found, but by the 1990s continuing failure led many to question whether it was even possible.
[5] QuakeFinder has deployed a network of sensor stations that detect the electromagnetic pulses the team believes precede major earthquakes.
In 2010, QuakeFinder researchers said that they had observed ultra low frequency magnetic pulses emitted by the Earth near the 2007 magnitude 5.4 Alum Rock earthquake near San Jose, California, starting two weeks prior to the event.
[12] Researchers from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) studied similar phenomena during the Parkfield earthquake experiment.
[13] QuakeFinder advisor Friedemann Freund suggests that slip along a fault activates charge carriers and underground electrical currents, producing electromagnetic pulses that can be detected with magnetometers.