A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday, toppling buildings and triggering a frantic search for survivors in the rubble in cities and towns across the area. At least 245 were killed and hundreds injured, and the toll was expected to rise, AFP reported. LIVE Updates
The quake, felt as far away as Cairo, was centered north of the city of Gaziantep in an about 90 kilometers (60 miles) from the Syrian border.
According to Google Maps, Gaziantep is located approximately 11 hours away from the Aegean Sea region, and 12 hours from Marmara, where a massive earthquake was predicted in December 2022 by an earthquake expert, according to a Turkish pro-government daily the Daily Sabah.
Another Dutch researcher Frank Hoogerbeets, who works for organisation Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGS) based in Netherlands had apparently predicted the quake on February 3, 2023, just three days ago.
Using his Twitter account Dutch expert 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.
What Was the Prediction?
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.”
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.
— Frank Hoogerbeets (@hogrbe) February 6, 2023
And in another prediction, Serkan Içelli, an expert in mining geology, earth sciences, and earthquakes told Daily Sabah in December 2022 that a “big one,” or a massive earthquake was expected for Turkey’s Marmara region, where the nation’s most populous metropolis, Istanbul, is situated, and would ‘probably shortly strike the Aegean region’.
Içelli had predicted that the significant earthquake would strike Istanbul and that the Aegean region would see a catastrophic quake.
However, he had stated that the intensity of the earthquake would not exceed over 7.0 on the Richter Scale as ‘the Gölcük earthquakes in 1963 and 1999 significantly reduced the amount of tension in Marmara.’ “Therefore, an earthquake of more than 5.8 to 6.2 in the Marmara Sea is not possible,” he had told the daily.
“The Aegean region is a very complex place for us. Unfortunately, we do not follow that region very well. Especially the area under the island of Crete, called the Hellenic Arc, is dangerously prone to earthquakes. This region has previously produced earthquakes with a magnitude of 8.0 and is now causing the biggest earthquakes. In terms of our country, a tsunami may occur in parts of Muğla,” he had explained.
“First of all, you need to know the annual sliding rate of that fracture, the earthquake repetition period and the largest earthquake it produced and analyze it with various formulas accordingly,” he had told Daily Sabah.
More About SSGEOS and Critical Planet Geometry
SSGEOS describes itself as ‘a research institute for monitoring geometry between celestial bodies related to seismic activity.’
Linking planetary conjunctions to earthquakes, the organisation states, “a first clue that specific geometry in the Solar System may cause larger earthquakes was found on 23 June 2014, when three magnitude 6 earthquakes occurred in the South Pacific, followed by three more in the North Pacific peaking magnitude 7.9, all of which occurred within several hours. It was a sudden seismic increase in a relatively quiet month. It is the ultimate grouping of larger earthquakes, a well-known but unexplained phenomenon in seismology. Using Solar System simulation software, it appears that around 23 June 2014 six celestial bodies were engaged in planetary conjunctions that converged into a near triangle.”
Critical planetary geometry, or critical lunar geometry if the Moon is involved, refers to the unique geometry between celestial planets that is linked to greater earthquakes, the organisation states on its website.
However, greater earthquakes are not usually the result of critical geometry. Sometimes only a small increase in seismic activity, up to magnitude 6.0, is seen, SSGEOS says, adding that in some cases, it appears that there is no seismic increase at all.
“This leads us to the conclusion that the condition of the Earth’s crust, specifically the tension between tectonic plates and whether or not a fault section has reached its strain budget, are crucial factors. This would naturally suggest a connection between electromagnetic charge from the planetary geometry and the development of stress in the Earth’s crust,” it says.
Turkey an Earthquake-prone Zone
Reports point out that Turkey is located in one of the seismically active regions of the planet.
One of the areas affected by the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey in 1999 and was one of the worst in decades was Düzce. Over 17,000 individuals were killed in that earthquake, including about 1,000 in Istanbul. READ MORE
Experts have long cautioned that Istanbul, which has permitted extensive building without safety safeguards, may be completely destroyed by a huge earthquake, a report by the Guardian said.
In January 2020, a magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck Elaz, killing about 40 people. In addition, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck the Aegean Sea in October of that same year left more than 1,000 people injured.
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