Dutch scientist’s ‘prophecy’ of Turkey quake hints correlation with planets, triggers debate

‘Sooner or later:’ Frank Hoogerbeets had tweeted on 3 February about an imminent 7.5-magnitude earthquake in South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria & Lebanon.

A woman stands near a collapsed building after an earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, 6 February | Reuters/Cagla Gurdogan

New Delhi: A Dutch researcher’s uncanny prediction of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday has not only gone viral but also ignited a debate on whether critical planetary geometry precedes such disasters.

Frank Hoogerbeets, whose Twitter handle says he is a researcher at Netherlands’ Solar System Geometry Survey or SSGEOS, had on 3 February posted: “Sooner or later there will be a M 7.5 #earthquake in this region (South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon).”

Hoogerbeets’ post has turned out to be prophetic since a 7.8-magnitute hit the exact region three days later on Monday, 6 February and killed over 4,300 people.

Multiple aftershocks continue to rumble through Turkey and neighbouring Syria as nations join the two countries in rescue and rehabilitation work in severe wintry conditions.

SSGEO, a research institute for monitoring geometry between celestial bodies related to seismic activity, had also tweeted on 2 February: “Larger seismic activity may occur from 4-6 February, most likely up to mid or high 6 altitude.”

In the video attached with the tweet, Hoogerbeets speaks about “two lunar peaks that could potentially trigger some serious seismic activity… overall, because we have planetary peaks on the 4^th and the 5^th, my estimate is that we could see some seismic increase from the 4^th to the 6^th… that would be something to keep in mind”.

He goes on to say that “there is a possibility of a larger seismic activity following the next lunar peak on 6^th February…”

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Larger seismic activity may occur from 4 to 6 February, most likely up to mid or high 6 magnitude. There is a slight possibility of a larger seismic event around 4 February.https://t.co/75I3PjAarX

— SSGEOS (@ssgeos) February 2, 2023

Soon after the earthquake, Hoogerbeets tweeted: “… 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.”

The two handles received a deluge of responses, with many claiming there was no scientific basis for earthquake predictions. One said, “There is always a chance for earthquakes in places with active faults, but specific forecasts perform no better than random when tested. Claims of correlation with planetary alignment have been disproven.”

To this, Hoogerbeets replied, “Yes, there is much resistance within the scientific community regarding the influence of the planets and the Moon. But there’s no extended research that ‘disproves’ it.”

He attached to his tweet a paper published in science journal “Nature” in 1959 that spoke of a “remarkable correlation between the positions of Uranus and the moment of great earthquakes…”