Rescuers clear debris in Arquata del Tronto, Italy. Photo / Getty Images
It's a type of pain you've never imagined.
A sharp sensation under the left rib; a crushing feeling in the upper back; stabbing in the ears.
But for Charlotte King, every moment of agony she experiences is a sign that a major natural disaster is about to strike and that people could die.
Ms King, 70, of Oregon, US, claims to have experienced intense physical symptoms before every major earthquake and volcanic eruption for the past 40 years.
She describes herself as the "self-styled doyenne of the earthquake sensitives".
Late geologist Jim Berkland coined the pseudoscientific term "earthquake sensitive" to refer to people who claim sensitivity to the precursors of impending natural disasters.
He said it was manifested in "dreams or visions, psychic impressions, or physiological symptoms", the latter including "ear tones" (ringing in the ears), headaches, and agitation.
There are reportedly thousands of people worldwide who claim to be "earthquake sensitive".
Ms King warns the masses of her predictions via a free weekly newsletter emailed to her website subscribers and is in regular contact with journalists, scientists, geologists and volcanologists around the globe. She calls them when her body warns her of ominous danger, she said.
Her latest forecast is that a magnitude 7 earthquake is set to strike somewhere around the globe within seven days.
It's not yet close enough for her to hone in on the location, she said.
Ms King told news.com.au she can forecast three "different type of events" - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and solar flares - based on sounds and her physical symptoms.
"(I hear a) sound (that) is a general area precursor ... long tones, dual tones, short tones and waved tones, some that sound like a horn honking but deeper in tone," she said.
"While the (physical) symptoms are much more tied to each area."
Ms King said she has accurately predicted some of the world's most infamous major natural disasters minutes before they occurred, including the major eruption of Washington's Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980.
"(I also forecast) the major eruption of Pinatubo in the Philippines, I was seven minutes off," she told news.com.au.
"I had been on the phone with (a) volcanologist less than an hour before the major eruption.
"I predicted the Indonesia major quake in December 24, 2004 and the Bio Bio Chile quake on February 27, 2010 and the major quake in Japan March 11, 2011.
"I am also on record for my prediction of Landers and Northridge (California) which caused major damage and Loma Prieta quake in 1989 as well.
"I predicted the Nepal quake in April of 2015 and a recent swarm of activity at Mt Hood (Oregon) and Mammoth Lakes (California) here in the US.
"There are literally thousands of quakes I have predicted in the 30 plus years of doing this."
News.com.au was unable to verify Ms King's claims.
HOW SHE DOES IT
According to Ms King, her body has become a seismic archipelago of nervous sensations, a kind of earthquake acupuncture, which she says she experiences against her will.
She has mapped parts of her body to the earth's surface: "Pain in ears, this is usually Italy, Sicily, Greece and Crete," she said.
"Upper back as I have repeatedly said is for Japan."
Ms King said she craves popcorn and gets "intense rib pain" when a natural disaster is about to strike in Australia.
"The symptoms for Australia and Oceania at large are left rib pains, they can go from just under the left armpit to just before the left side waistline," she said.
"They can wrap around the chest and cause lots of pain.
"Some symptoms kind of merge with others, like Southern California has very similar symptoms to Italy and New Zealand has very similar symptoms to Australia and Papua New Guinea and the Kermadec Islands.
"If I have not experienced a quake or eruption in that area or with that particular mountain it would be hard to identify it. But I can give a general location on almost all events."
Ms King said she typically senses that a quake or other major natural disaster is about to happen up to 12-72 hours beforehand.
"The pain ... will increase as the time for the event gets closer. Many times there will be a period of quiescence 12 hours before the quake happens, kind of like the 'calm before the storm'," she said.
Living with pain linked to natural disasters is no easy feat, according to Ms King.
"Many times I have ended up in hospital emergency rooms due to the severity of the symptoms," she said.
Ms King said she has repeatedly sought medical advice for her symptoms and been given a clean bill of health on every occasion.
"I have had Cat scans, and ECGs and have had to be sedated due to the pain on several occasions but the final outcome is that there was nothing wrong with me physically," she said.
"I also went through a test to be sure I was mentally sound, they also came back OK."
Despite the suffering she said she endures, Ms King doesn't consider her alleged ability to predict natural disasters through pain to be a burden.
"I believe it's a gift but sometimes it's very painful," she said.
"I am not as young and healthy as I was when this started when I was 30 so it's harder on me physically.
"But if it will help one person be more prepared for a quake, then it's worth it."
DISCOVERING HER 'POWERS'
Ms King said she has had the ability to forecast natural disasters since May 1976.
"(It was then) I first heard what I now refer to as 'the sound'. It sounds like overlapping fog horns," she said.
According to Ms King, she first made a connection between the sounds and natural disasters in June 1979.
"The sound had changed and I called the local TV station in Portland to ask them if anything had happened," she said.
"I had been calling them with my feelings about quakes for some time, each time the sound would change, I would call them and within 12-72 hours a moderate quake 5-6 plus (magnitude) would happen.
"Whales beached, and 72 hours later there was a series of moderate quakes in Big Bear (California)."
It was later that same year she developed her physical symptoms, she said.
"I had heart pains and earaches, went to both specialists and nothing was wrong, three days later the pain stopped and I heard about the (Umbrian) quakes in Italy," she said.
"I believe it was nearly an 8.0 or greater with major damage and injuries and loss of life.
"Then I heard on a radio program about the quake that they had many people seeking medical attention before the quake with complaints of earaches and heart pains ... That's how I put it together."
Ms King said there was a simple explanation for how her body came to be connected to natural disasters.
"The scientists who have talked with me early on believe I am reacting to changes in the Earth's magnetic field and these changes happen before quakes, and volcanic eruptions," she said.
"When others feel the same thing at the same time in the same place in their body no matter where they live, it's pretty compelling evidence.
"Each of us reacts pretty much the same way since we are all basically wired the same.
"The doctors and scientists coined it 'The Charlotte King Effect' back in 1980."
WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE NEXT NATURAL DISASTER STRIKE?
Ms King doesn't yet know where the next major disaster will strike because she "can only report something when I feel the symptoms".
"At this time there is a lot of activity happening: aftershocks in (Oklahoma and California) from the two moderate quakes of the weekend ... 5.7 magnitude each."
She is currently "watching" the North Island of New Zealand, Kermadecs, Vanuatu, Marianas, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia".
"I am also watching for China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India and Nepal activity to pick up again," she said.
"I do think there is a good chance for another major quake, 7 magnitude or greater to hit within the next seven days."
STICKING IT TO THE DETRACTORS
After 40 years of claiming to sense earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, she's been called everything in the book. But Ms King isn't put off by her detractors who accuse her of being delusional or crazy.
"I tell them to watch and listen and pay attention to what they are feeling and or sensing. Most are sensitive but do not know it. I know this is not easy since it's out of the box but time and a 93 per cent accuracy record is hard to argue with," she said.
Ms King accepts donations through her site but told news.com.au it's "not a money maker". She earns an average of $US30 per month and posts a free email natural disaster forecast update to subscribers to keep them informed.
"I am not unique in this," Ms King said.
"Thousands if not hundreds of thousands of persons around the world are reacting. Each time there is a major quake a new group of persons become sensitive," she said.
"Many of these symptoms mimic serious health conditions so everyone should make sure they are healthy before they assume they are picking up symptoms from quakes, and volcanoes.
"I am not a doctor and can only share my personal experiences."
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