In recent weeks, a French seer has become a very common name 
in American households. This is primarily a result of an 
earthquake that he supposedly predicted to occur in California
during the month of May. But what is the story behind the man who
is sending Californians running for cover?

   Michel Nostradamus was a sixteenth century French astrologer 
and physician. His Centuries (an assortment of brief rhymed
prophecies call quatrains), have been interpreted as predictions
of the French Revolution, the Second World War, and many other
events ranging over half a millennium. Nostradamus is perhaps the
most respected occult prophet of all time.

   In Italy, Nostradamus reportedly predicted that Felix Paretti, 
a young swine herder who had become a monk, would one day be 
Pope.  Two years after Nostradamus's death Paretti became Pope
Sixtus V.  Many other accurate predictions of events in his own
era are attributed to Nostradamus.

   Nostradamus's more astonishing prophecies, however, are those 
that seem to foretell major European events that occurred 200-400 
years after his death. It must be admitted that some of his 
predictions do seem to fit certain events well, such as the 
flight of Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette from Paris,
their capture in Varennes, and their ultimate execution. However, 
most of his predictions are vague and open-ended. As it is 
observed in _Man, Myth and Magic - An Illustrated Encyclopedia of 
the Supernatural:_ "Generation after generation of Nostradamus
enthusiasts have supposed that the quatrains, no mater how
obscure their contents, must be regarded as genuine prophetic
messages. It is conceivable, however, that Nostradamus composed
them with tongue in cheek, and that he was well aware that there
is an enduring market for prophecies and particularly for veiled
ones." (Vol.15, p.2017).

   The prediction of a giant earthquake to occur in California
actually gets its base from a film about Nostradamus. In the
Orson Welles narrated film "The Man Who Saw Tomorrow," the
details about the prediction are made.

   Nostradamus bases his predictions on the alignment of planets 
and constellations particularly Saturn, Capricorn, Jupiter, 
Mercury in Taurus, Venus, Cancer, and Virgo. Unfortunately for 
his prognostitions, the planets are not lined up according to how 
they were predicted to be.

   The possibility of an earthquake occurring in California 
around the time of Nostradamus's prediction is likely. The 
primary reason though is that California is earthquake country. 
Particularly over the past several months, earthquakes have been
happening on a regular basis.