المملكة: Jeddah Astronomy: The alignment of the planets has nothing to do with earthquakes…and the warnings on social media sites are unscientific

Head Seismic activity on Earth is not based on any reliable scientific basis, and has contributed to raising unjustified fears among a wide segment of people.

Abu Zahra explained that the aforementioned alignment includes the Sun, Earth, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter, and it is a well-known astronomical phenomenon that occurs from time to time, as some celestial bodies appear close together in the sky from the perspective of terrestrial observation. However, linking this alignment with the occurrence of earthquakes or unusual geological activity is a claim that is not supported by any scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals.

Unscientific explanations

The President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah confirmed that earthquakes occur primarily as a result of the movement of tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust, where stress accumulates on geological faults before suddenly escaping in the form of earthquakes, stressing that the fundamental cause of earthquakes is internal processes. of the Earth, and not the positions of the planets or their alignment in the sky.

He added that what some people put forward in this context are no more than personal opinions or non-scientific explanations.

Abu Zahra pointed out that seismology, despite the great progress it has witnessed over the past decades, is still unable to predict the time or place of a specific earthquake with high accuracy, explaining that what scientists can do is limited to estimating the probability of seismic activity in certain areas over a long time period that may extend. For years or decades, and not identifying an individual event based on astronomical phenomena.

He pointed out that the gravitational forces exchanged between the planets are very weak compared to the enormous forces that cause earthquakes inside the Earth, and that any potential effect of planetary movement on seismic activity is so small that it cannot be monitored or measured scientifically.

He pointed out that even the closest celestial body to the Earth, which is the Moon, has a noticeable effect limited to the phenomenon of tides and does not lead to geological activity. Or an earthquake.

Monitoring the astronomical phenomenon

The president of the association explained that the planetary alignment is a beautiful astronomical phenomenon for observational and photographic enthusiasts, as it provides an opportunity to view the moon, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter as they appear relatively close together in the sky. However, this visual spectacle does not have any impact on terrestrial activity or earthquakes, and should not be loaded with connotations that go beyond its astronomical nature.

Abu Zahra called for the necessity of dealing with it. Be careful with the news circulating on social media platforms, and always refer to reliable scientific sources, such as global seismic monitoring centers and geological surveys, and do not be led by the scientifically unproven link between astronomical phenomena and natural disasters.

He concluded by emphasizing that even if an earthquake coincides with a period of planetary alignment, this does not mean that there is a causal relationship between them, stressing that earthquakes will remain a natural phenomenon resulting from the movement of Earth’s plates, regardless of the locations of the planets. Or lined up in the sky.

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