An 8.5 Earthquake Flattens Los Angeles at 5:31 a.m. on April 10, 1981
Wall Street Guru Joseph Granville Called an 8.5 Quake for Los Angeles at Exactly 5:31 a.m., April 10, 1981
The market-timing newsletter writer who had just moved the Dow with a 'sell everything' call went on national TV with a time, a magnitude and an epicenter.
What was claimed (paraphrase)
Wall Street guru Joseph Granville's prediction the nation's third largest city would be flattened Friday morning by a devastating earthquake was an earth-shaking flop.
— Joseph Granville (stock-market newsletter writer and forecaster) · said 1981 · due April 10, 1981, 5:31 a.m. PST
5:31 a.m. came and went 'with nary a jolt,' UPI reported. Granville spent the morning at the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
The fine print
UPI's summary, not his words: he 'warned of a huge quake measuring 8.5 on the Richter Scale' and 'said the epicenter would be 23 miles east of Los Angeles.' He made the call on Tom Snyder's 'Tomorrow' TV show. Afterwards: 'I am grateful that it did not happen.' Caltech seismologist Clarence Allen: 'This is a very irresponsible thing to do.' Other quake dates: jupiter-effect-1982, ernesto-montgomery-quake-1992.
Sources
- Wall Street guru Joseph Granville's prediction... - UPI (April 10, 1981)accessed 2026-10-09
- People and Events: a look back at the 1980s - Los Angeles Times (December 28, 1989)accessed 2026-10-09
- Why do these things always have to... - Los Angeles Times (May 6, 1993)accessed 2026-10-09
As of Oct 9, 2026
since it didn't happen
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