Frank Hoogerbeets, a self-proclaimed earthquake researcher, had recently predicted that a strong earthquake measuring more than 6 in the Richter scale could hit earth between January 16 and 19. Interestingly, an earthquake measuring 6.7 in the Richter scale hit Chile on January 19 and it has made many people believe that the predictions made by Hoogerbeets are turning true.
The strong quake struck near the city of Coquimbo in central Chile, and it has apparently caused the death of two people. Both these victims died of heart attack during the strong tremor, and the exact details regarding other casualties are still unknown. A tsunami warning was soon issued by authorities, but later they cancelled.
Frank Hoogerbeets is a Dutch earthquake researcher who continuously predicts earthquakes using a sophisticated system which he named solar system geometry index (SSGI). As per Hoogerbeets, a rare planetary alignment is causing tectonic plates to move, and it is resulting in giant tremors.
"With Earth in alignment on the 13th and Venus in two alignments on the 16th, there is a high probability of larger seismic activity, possibly approaching or even over magnitude 6. After three years of observations, it became clear that some planetary geometry in the Solar System clearly tends to cause a seismic increase, while other geometry does not," wrote Hoogerbeets on his website Ditrianum.
Even though Hoogerbeets have many times predicted possibilities of earthquakes, he has never revealed about the locations in which tremors are going to hit.
However, experts have many times dismissed the predictions made by Hoogerbeets. As per seismic researchers, no current technology could predict earthquakes precisely.
"We can't predict or forecast earthquakes. Sometimes before a large earthquake, you'll have a foreshock or two, but we don't know they're foreshocks until the big one happens," said John Bellini, a geophysicist at the US Geological Survey, Express.co.uk reports.
