Earthquake predictor who warned of deadly Colombia tremor issues dire California forecast

Nypost · Aug 12, 2026 · 594 words · By Ross O'Keefe

Natural Disaster Prediction Seismic Risk

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What to know about Natural Disaster Prediction

Earthquake predictor who warned of deadly Colombia tremor issues dire California forecast See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 3

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center0%

Right100%

1 source compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Earthquake predictor who warned of deadly Colombia tremor issues dire California forecast See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The California Post on Google A geophysicist who predicted the Colombia earthquake has warned California is “in the crosshairs” of a huge tremor.

Common ground

Stefan Burns warned the Golden State could be next after a 7.4 magnitude hit El Cairo Monday and two struck Venezuela on June 24.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear, False Cause: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Natural Disaster Prediction story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Burns cited three powerful Midwest quakes in the early 19th century that affected Caracas, Venezuela just weeks later?
What happens next if the deal stalls, and who has the power to restart talks?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/12/us-news/california-earthquake-fear-grows-as-geophy…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

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Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Appeal to Fear 90% confidence

Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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False Cause 70% confidence

Assuming causation from correlation or temporal sequence.

Why it matters: Recognizing false cause helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

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Claim 1: “Burns cited three powerful Midwest quakes in the early 19th century that affected Caracas, Venezuela just weeks later”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of general earthquake apps and a news article stating that earthquakes in different parts of the world were not connected. There is no evidence regarding 'Burns' or 19th-century Midwest quakes affecting Caracas.

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web search NEUTRAL — Although the earthquakes occurred in different parts of the world and were not connected, they served as a reminder that seismic activity can happen without warning in regions where tectonic plates ar…
https://www.news9.com/oklahoma-city-news/earthquakes-califor…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Latest Earthquakes application supports most recent browsers, view supported browsers.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

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web search NEUTRAL — The earthquake activity of the past 24 hours can be considered high compared to an average day. August 26th, 2026: So far, a total of 106 earthquakes have been detected today.Chart showing the number …
https://earthquakelist.org/latest-earthquakes-today/

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Claim 2: “The fault is the state’s longest”

CORROBORATED

While the specific Wikipedia results provided were irrelevant (SAN airport/storage), a web search result explicitly quoting Dr. Lucy Jones states: 'It is the longest fault in California'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A SAN typically is a dedicated network of storage devices not accessible through the local area network (LAN). Although a SAN provides only block-level access, file systems built on top of SANs do pro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_area_network

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web search NEUTRAL — Korean media subsequently referred to the phenomenon surrounding San as the "Choi San syndrome" (최산 신드롬), while "Bad" continued to rise on the charts for more than a month.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_(singer)

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Getting to SAN is simple, whether you’re driving, taking transit, or arriving from the cruise terminal. Looking for an easy and eco-friendly way to get to and from our airport? Discover the public tra…
https://www.san.org/

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Claim 3: “the two Venezuela earthquakes on June 24, both over 7.0 magnitude”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm two earthquakes on June 24 with magnitudes over 7.0. One source specifies 7.2 and 7.5, and another explicitly mentions 'magnitudes of more than 7'.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela within a minute of each other on June 24 were caused by movements along two interconnected fault systems at the boundary between the Caribbean and South …
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2026-06-28/Experts-explain-cause-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — On June 24, 2026, two earthquakes struck Venezuela: the first registering a magnitude of 7.2 and the second at 7.5, with a mere 39-second interval.
https://www.elciudadano.com/en/venezuela-in-motion-earthquak…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Need to know. At least 164 people have been confirmed dead, and more than 971 injured as two earthquakes with magnitudes of more than 7 hit Venezuela just seconds apart on Wednesday, June 24.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/world/articles/least-32-dead-over…

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Claim 4: “Venezuela tremors took more than 6,000 lives”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the death toll exceeded 6,000. Al Jazeera reports 6,125 deaths, and Wikipedia reports more than 6,500 deaths as of August 2026.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 24 June 2026, doublet large strike-slip earthquakes affected northwestern and central Venezuela. The epicenter of the first earthquake was in Veroes Municipality, west of San Felipe, the capital ci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Venezuela_earthquakes

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On August 21, 2018, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck just off the northern coast of Venezuela, near Cariaco, Sucre. The earthquake, at the time, was thought to be the largest in the country since the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_2018_Venezuela_earthqua…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of earthquakes with epicentres in Venezuela or significant impacts in the country. Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_in_Venezue…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Then, nine months later, California was struck by two earthquakes believed to be stronger than a magnitude 7.0”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found after searching for this specific claim.

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Claim 6: “two struck Venezuela on June 24”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including YouTube news reports, web search results, and Wikipedia, confirm that two earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24 (specifically in 2026).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 3 January 2026, the United States launched a military strike in Venezuela and captured incumbent Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The US operation, codenamed Operatio…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_interventio…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and various islands and islets in the Caribbean Se…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuela

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Caltech seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, who developed a magnitude 7.8 San Andreas rupture scenario”

CORROBORATED

Three separate web search results explicitly state that Caltech seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones developed a magnitude 7.8 San Andreas rupture scenario.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — William H. Rastetter (born 1948), a scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is the chair of Neurocrine Biosciences (NASDAQ), of Fate Therapeutics (NASDAQ), and of Daré Bioscience, Inc. (NASDA…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rastetter

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The American television sitcom franchise The Big Bang Theory, began with the multi-cam sitcom of the same name created and executive produced by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, which premiered on CBS on S…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Big_Bang_Theory_fr…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lucile M. Jones (born 1955) is an American seismologist and public voice for earthquake science and earthquake safety in California. One of the foremost and trusted public authorities on earthquakes, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Jones

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The Colombian earthquake has killed more than 200 people”

CORROBORATED

The claim that a Colombian earthquake killed more than 200 people is corroborated by Al Jazeera, BBC World Service, and Wikipedia (which specifies 331 deaths for the August 10, 2026 event).

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 10 August 2026, a Mw 7.4–7.5 earthquake struck the department of Chocó in Colombia, killing at least 331 people, injuring more than 4,600 others, leaving 240 confirmed missing and causing extensive…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Colombia_earthquake

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country located in South America, with insular regions in North America. Colombia's mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colombia

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hippopotamuses are an introduced species in Colombia. Four hippopotamuses were first kept by the drug lord Pablo Escobar in his private zoo in the early 1980s, and upon his death in 1993, they were al…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippopotamuses_in_Colombia

+ 4 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 9: “a 7.4 magnitude hit El Cairo Monday”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided for this claim consists of general definitions of 'magnitude' and unrelated Wikipedia entries about Cairo, Egypt. There is no evidence of a 7.4 magnitude earthquake hitting El Cairo on a Monday.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tamer El Said (Arabic: تامر السعيد, born 1972) is an Egyptian filmmaker. He wrote, produced and directed numerous films including Take Me (2004), an award-winning documentary about five friends who un…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamer_El_Said

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2024 PSA Women's World Squash Championship was the 2024 women's edition of the World Squash Championships, which served as the individual world championship for squash players. The event took plac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_PSA_Women's_World_Squash_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.