Twitter
Advertisement

Nepal quake: Why Whatsapp, SMS predictions of earthquake in North India are bunkum

The Central government has advised citizens to ignore any rumours or text messages of a strong earthquake striking North India. It has said that NASA has not provided any such warning.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The Central government has advised citizens to ignore any rumours or text messages of a strong earthquake striking North India. It has said that NASA has not provided any such warning.

"It is fake. The NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) cannot predict earthquakes. Such messages are only seeking to create panic among people," a seismologist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) told IANS.

The IMD said the Indian government had received no such intimation from the US.

"No country can predict earthquakes. The technology has not advanced so much as yet. There is some research going on in China, but even they have not reached any substantial result," the official said to IANS.

A text message doing the rounds of mobile phones on Sunday says: "North India will face next earthquake at 8.06 p.m... The next richer (Richter) scale of earthquake will be 8.2. News from NASA. Plz forward message as much as u can." 

Indicating mischief, the government has clarified that the messages have 'no substance' and that no earthquake can be predicted 'unless it has actually struck'.

NASA predictions of an earthquake have been doing the rounds on Whatsapp as well. However, this is illogical because NASA being a space agency is not concerned with earthquakes, let alone predicting them.

The USGS on the other hand, deals with geology and earthquakes and this is what they have to say:

Fact and Fiction about Earthquakes

We can predict earthquakes.
FICTION: Earthquake prediction is the holy grail for earthquake scientists, but there currently is no accepted method to accomplish the goal of predicting the time, place and magnitude of an impending quake. Research into earthquake prediction continues. For example, scientists estimate that over the next 30 years the probability of a major earthquake occurring in the San Francisco Bay area is 62%, and 60% in Southern California. Scientists are also able to predict the type of ground motion to expect based on the geology and the history of earthquake activity of the region. Engineers and building code developers use these models of site response to improve the safety of structures, thereby reducing the ultimate earthquake risk.

Animals can predict earthquakes.
FICTION: Changes in animal behavior cannot be used to predict earthquakes. Even though there have been documented cases of unusual animal behavior prior to earthquakes, a reproducible connection between a specific behavior and the occurrence of an earthquake has not been made. Because of their finely tuned senses, animals can often feel the earthquake at its earliest stages before the humans around it can. This feeds the myth that the animal knew the earthquake was coming. But animals also change their behavior for many reasons, and given that an earthquake can shake millions of people, it is likely that a few of their pets will, by chance, be acting strangely before an earthquake.

Some people can sense that an earthquake is about to happen.
MAYBE: There is no scientific explanation for the symptoms some people claim to have preceding an earthquake, and more often than not there is no earthquake following the symptoms.

It’s been raining a lot, or very hot--it must be earthquake weather! 
FICTION: Many people believe that earthquakes are more common in certain kinds of weather. In fact, no correlation with weather has been found. Earthquakes begin many kilometers (miles) below the region affected by surface weather. People tend to notice earthquakes that fit the pattern and forget the ones that don't. Also, every region of the world has a story about earthquake weather, but the type of weather is whatever they had for their most memorable earthquake.

(Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/)

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement