Man who 'predicted' second earthquake in Turkey, Syria is going viral; Netizens calling it pseudoscience

Man who predicted earthquake and aftershocks in Turkey and neighbouring regions is going viral on various social media platform.

Istanbul, Feb 06: Two powerful earthquakes of magnitude 7.8 and 7.6 hit Turkey and Syria on Monday, killing more than 1400 people, damaging buildings while many were still asleep. The quake were felt as far away as the island of Cyprus, Cairo and Egypt.

A Dutch researcher with Solar System Geomatry Survey (SSGEOS) named Frank Hoogerbeets had apparently made a 'prediction' about today's deadly earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 3, 2023.

Not only that, he had even predicted additional strong seismic activity in Central Turkey and nearby regions. This prediction too came true as a second quake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit Turkey and Syria hours after the tweet.

Taking to micro-blogging platform Twitter, he wrote,''additional strong seismic activity in Central Turkey and nearby regions. Aftershocks usually continue for a while after a major earthquake.''

Three days ago, Frank Hoogerbeets wrote, ''Sooner or later there will be a ~M 7.5 earthquake in this region (South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon).''

SSGS describes itself as a research institute for monitoring geometry between celestial bodies related to seismic activity on Twitter.

After Frank Hoogerbeets' prediction went viral, he responded to the earthquake, saying, ''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.''

However, some users have questioned the Dutch expert's prediction, calling it pseudoscience.

So, now the question is can you predict earthquakes?

The answer is No. According to US Geological Survey website, either the USGS nor any other scientists have ever predicted a major earthquake. We do not know how, and we do not expect to know how any time in the foreseeable future. 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.