Dutch Researcher Predicts Earthquake in Turkey Before It Happened

VIVA – A huge earthquake hit Turkey and Syria with a magnitude of 7,8 on Monday, February 6, 2023, in the early morning. Turkey's earthquake kills around 4.800 people so far and collapsed many buildings.

Turkey also declared a seven-day mourning period to honor the victims and grieving families. On the other hand, Dutch researcher accurately predicted a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey-Syria three days before it happened.

In a post on Twitter on Friday, February 3, 2023, Netherlands-based Solar System Geometry Survey researcher Frank Hoogerbeets alluded to the potential for a devastating earthquake that would shake Turkey and its surroundings.

"Sooner or later, there will be a M 7.5 earthquake in this region (South-Central Turkey, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon," Hoogerbeets wrote on Twitter on Friday, February 3, 2023.

The tweet appeared on Twitter three days before an earthquake devastated Turkey and Syria on Monday, February 6, 2023. Researchers also said that the devastating earthquake would be felt in several other countries.

On the same day, there were several aftershocks with magnitudes of 7.5 to 6.5. As of Tuesday, at least 3,823 people were killed by the earthquake. Not only that, thousands of buildings and structures were flattened to the ground, as quoted from Al Arabiya.

A total of 2,379 people were killed in Turkey and the remaining 1,444 people died in Syria due to the Monday morning earthquake. Now, the search for victims is still ongoing.

The Turkish government estimates that the death toll will continue to rise because many are still buried under the rubble. The local government has also declared a seven-day mourning period to honor the dead and their grieving families.

Responding to the disaster, several countries in the world such as the United States, France, and Russia offered assistance to Turkey.