Apparently this guy predicted "the earthquake of January 13, 1915 which killed 30,000 people in Avezzano. He also forecast the quake of May 6, 1976 in Friuli which killed 1,000 and left another 45,000 homeless."
(article here) He also predicted another earthquake but was off by 2 days.
Don't know quite what to make of it, but I don't dismiss him as blithely as you seem to. Have learned it's unwise to dismiss something simply because I don't understand/agree with someone's methods.
Ever read the New Yorker article
re: the scientific method? It's a bit unsettling, but apparently the information the writer presents has been known by some for some time.