Is there any point in earthquake forecasting?

[Thankyou4calling]

With the terrible tragedy that has just struck Nepal it made me wonder if there is much point in the efforts put into forecasting and predicting earthquakes.

They seem to happen very randomly with regard to location, intensity and size and, whilst there is a lot of money spent keeping experts at there computers and elsewhere does it all really amount to much?

Have the experts ever forecast an earthquake and as a consequence had an area evacuated saving lives?