'Sooner or later': Researcher’s old tweet on Turkey, Syria earthquake goes viral

Frank Hoogerbeets, apparently a researcher with an institute called Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGOES), had tweeted on Friday that “sooner or later” an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 would occur in the Central-Turkey, Jordan-Syria region.

While rescuers in Turkey and Syria still searching through the frigid night into Tuesday, hoping to pull more survivors from the rubble after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, a Dutch researcher's old tweet predicting the possibility of a quake went viral on social media, dividing the internet over his theory.

Turkey, and Syria were hit by a 7.8-magnitude quake in the early hours of Monday, followed by two more quakes of high intensity later in the day. (REUTERS)

Frank Hoogerbeets, apparently a researcher with an institute called Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGOES), had tweeted on Friday that “sooner or later” an earthquake of magnitude 7.5 would occur in the Central-Turkey, Jordan-Syria region. As Turkey, and Syria were hit by a 7.8-magnitude quake in the early hours of Monday, Hoogerbeats tweeted, “My heart goes out to everyone affected by the major earthquake in Central Turkey. As I stated earlier, sooner or later this would happen in this region, similar to the years 115 and 526. These earthquakes are always preceded by critical planetary geometry, as we had on 4-5 Feb.”

According to Hoogerbeets’ theory, “Earthquakes are affected by planetary alignments." His organisation SSGEOS also claims to work on monitoring geometry between celestial bodies related to seismic activity.

But netizens remained divided over his theory as many said his hypothesis was not backed by scientific evidence.

“…Earthquakes are not triggered by planetary alignments, and there is no scientific method of predicting earthquakes. Please consult a real seismologist if you have questions,” another seismology researcher countered Hoogerbeets’ claim.

While some people also seemed to believe the Dutch researcher and cited examples such as how the Moon affects the tides on Earth.

What is the scientific reasoning for earthquakes?

The NASA explained the seismic activity that the “earth’s crust is fractured into tectonic plates that are constantly shifting as they drift around on the viscous, or slowly flowing, mantle layer below the solid, top crust…This non-stop movement causes stress on Earth’s crust….which when gets too large, leads to cracks called faults. When tectonic plates move, it also causes movements at the faults. An earthquake is the sudden movement of Earth’s crust at a fault line.”

Can you predict earthquakes?

United States Geological Survey - the US government’s body monitoring seismic activity said earthquakes cannot be predicted. “USGS scientists can only calculate the probability that a significant earthquake will occur (shown on our hazard mapping) in a specific area within a certain number of years," it said.