Earthquakes cannot be predicted in advance: Saudi Geological Survey spokesperson
It is not possible to predict the exact time and location of an earthquake even though seismic activities are monitored around the clock, according to the Saudi Geological Survey (SGS).
The SGS said that recent claims are just personal views that are not based on studies, follow-ups, and monitoring.
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In a press release issued on Saturday, the official spokesperson for the SGS, Tariq Aba al-Khail, said that the Geological Hazards Center monitors seismic activity around the clock in the central Red Sea region along the groove rift.
He also said there is a region of tectonic tension due to the divergence of the African tectonic plate from the Arabian tectonic plate, which is characterized by mostly weak to moderate seismic activity.
Aba al-Khail added that the number of tremors that are registered in the Red Sea are considered “imperceptible and does not constitute any danger.”
He also stressed that the SGS is the sole authority entrusted with seismic monitoring in the Kingdom, calling for the need to take the correct information from the official authorities regarding earthquake monitoring.
Three days before the devastating earthquake hit Turkey and Syria, a Dutch researcher predicted the natural disaster would happen.In a tweet, the Netherlands-based researcher at the Solar System Geometry Survey (SSGEOS) Frank Hoogerbeets said: “Sooner or later there will be a ~M 7.5 #earthquake in this region (South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon).”
However, shortly after, several experts in the field debunked the claims, confirming earthquakes cannot be predicted with specific times and locations.
Turkey-Syria earthquake devastation
The death toll from the February 6 devastating earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria has passed more than 33,000 people, making it the region’s worst earthquake in nearly a century.
The quake is now the sixth most deadly natural disaster this century, behind the 2005 tremor that killed at least 73,000 in Pakistan.
The phase of the rescue after a week ago is “coming to a close” with urgency now switching to shelter, food, schooling and psy-chosocial care, the UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said during a visit to Syria on Monday.
Read more:
Can earthquakes be predicted? UAE-based expert seismologist weighs in
Children among those pulled from ruins of collapsed buildings in Turkey’s Hatay
Saudi rescue workers continue relief operations in earthquake-struck Turkey
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