Astrology and Earthquakes: Can Astrologers Predict Earthquakes?
Since the earliest times of history, human beings have tended to attribute certain movements in the sky to natural phenomena on earth. This has led to the idea that there is a connection between astrology and earthquakes even today.
Some people have even suggested that many natural disasters, such as earthquakes, can be predicted by astrology. Likewise, the fact that some astrologers such as Frank Hoogerbeets claimed that there could be an earthquake in this region before the Gaziantep-Kahramanmaraş earthquake on February 6 strengthened these beliefs.
According to these people, a full moon occurred in Leo on the night of February 5, and the Full Moon came into right angle with Uranus. This situation shows that various natural disasters, especially earthquakes, are expected. Likewise, the planet Uranus is directly associated with earthquakes in modern astrology.
Since Aristotle, philosophers, thinkers, and scientists have sought to discover the connections between earthquakes and planetary motions. Aristotle, in his book Meteorologica, pointed out that there seems to be an accidental connection between eclipses in the sky and earthquakes.
In its aftermath, various astronomers during the Middle Ages came to the idea that there was a connection between planets and natural disasters. Especially in the 16th century. A large number of books were written on this subject in the twentieth century.
Such beliefs continued for centuries, reaching the world of modern science. For example, in the late 19th century, British physician and astrologer Alfred J. Pearce published The Science of the Stars in 1881. In it, “he cited planetary eclipses and their positions as causes or signs of earthquakes. He wrote a large chapter in his work on this subject.
The search for correlations between planetary positions and motions and earthquakes continued unabated. Such sciences were also trying to establish the connection between the planets and weather. Such connections even spread to “mainstream” or “official” literature. The practice of predicting weather by planets was so widespread that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s “Weekly Bulletin” in 1914 had to explain that there was no connection between the planets and the weather.
When it comes to earthquakes, the U.S. Department of the Interior Geological Survey examined the connection between planets and earthquakes in their official publication, the Earthquake Information Bulletin, in 1971. Here Roger N. Hunter claimed that there was no significant relationship between the positions of the planets and earthquakes. After all, modern science had excluded astrology when it came to earthquakes.
So What Are the Astrologers’ Claims Based On?
At first, they believed that various negativities would arise according to the positions of the sun, moon and other planets. For example, according to them, the planet Uranus was associated with disasters such as earthquakes, and it was predicted that a catastrophe would occur on earth if it fell perpendicular to the full moon.
To explain in a general way, according to such beliefs; When a stressful angle arose between the planets, earthquakes and catastrophes were bound to break out. For example, if there is an Earth at the intersection of the electromagnetic radiation of two planets at an angle of 0-90-180 degrees to each other, the center of the Earth is affected, and the increased center activity affects the Earth’s magnetic field. This situation causes earthquakes.
Or, according to astrologers, earthquakes are also associated with the position of the moon. Studies on the relationship between moon phases and earthquakes show that destructive earthquakes occur most often in periods close to the new moon and full moon phase. During full moon periods, ionization occurs in the Earth’s electromagnetic field. In this process, the Moon is in the magnetic tail at the back of the Earth and exits from there in 4 days, causing a current in the magnetic tail. This current hits the Earth, creating a kind of magnetic storm.
And according to astrologers, the Gaziantep-Kahramanmaraş Earthquake of February 6, 2023 occurred just after the full moon.
As a result, according to the claims put forward by astrologers, there is a direct communication between the movements of the sun, moon and other planets in the formation of earthquakes.
What does science say about it?
As stated above, modern science tends to exclude astrology in this respect. However, at some points, they stated that the gravitational effects of the planets also cause earthquakes. Modern science accepts that some natural disasters, such as the eruptions of volcanoes in Alaska, are caused by the tendency on the moon or other planets to accelerate towards each other. But it excludes the idea that such accelerations or gravitational forces can create large earthquakes. Due to the distance of planets such as Jupiter and Saturn from the earth; These planets are not thought to be capable of producing a devastating earthquake on Earth. At the same time, the earthquakes that the Moon can create on Earth are very small tremors that are difficult to feel according to modern science.
After all, the idea that the positions of the planets or their movements with each other can cause deep and destructive earthquakes on Earth is a claim that contradicts scientific facts.