Can earthquakes be predicted? Big question raised by researcher’s tweet on Turkey-Syria
2 min read
A tweet by a researcher from the Netherlands is becoming increasingly viral on social media, in which he allegedly predicted earthquakes in Turkey and Syria three days in advance. Just three days after this, on Monday, February 6, two major earthquakes occurred in this area. On Friday, February 3, Frank Hoogerbeats posted on Twitter, ‘Sooner or later a 7.5 magnitude earthquake will hit this region (south-central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon).’
The post was accompanied by a map, highlighting the areas most likely to be affected by Hugarbeats’ seismic activity. Huggerbeats works for a research institute called SSGEOS. The objective of the institute is to ‘monitor the geometries between celestial bodies related to seismic activity’.
According to SSGEOS, their monitoring activities are based on evidence that ‘specific geometry in the Solar System can cause large earthquakes.’ On 2 February, SSGEOS posted an earthquake forecast, saying ‘major seismic activity is likely to occur from 4 to 6 February, most likely with a magnitude of medium or high 6’. There is a slight possibility of a major seismic event around February 4.
The methodology and scientific reasoning used by Frank Hoogerbeits and SSGEOS is not universally accepted. However, the viral tweet of the researcher has given rise to a new debate on Twitter as to the validity of the earthquake prediction.
According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), for an earthquake forecast to be valid, three criteria must be accurately predicted: 1) the date and time; 2) Location and 3) Magnitude.
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Tags: Earthquake, Syria, Turkish
FIRST PUBLISHED : February 07, 2023, 11:46 AM
