After the February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, a conspiracy theory that the natural disaster was man-made became widespread. The echoes of delusions spread in other countries have reached Latvia as well. However, there is no basis for the claims that the powerful earthquake was caused by the US or anyone else in the name of their own geopolitical interests. The earthquake was of natural origin, and if it were man-made, it would not be missed.
After the February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria, a conspiracy theory that the natural disaster was man-made became widespread. The echoes of delusions spread in other countries have reached Latvia as well. However, there is no basis for the claims that the powerful earthquake was caused by the US or anyone else in the name of their own geopolitical interests. The earthquake was of natural origin, and if it were man-made, it would not be missed.
In Latvia, messages about the supposed artificial origin of the earthquake have not gained much popularity. Mostly, profiles that regularly share misleading information and conspiracy theories posted videos in Russian from abroad. A popular TikTok video has been shared by more than 2,000 users on the Facebook platform, including in Latvia.
It claims that the earthquake in Turkey was caused by the US using a special machine that creates earthquakes:
“Why did the USA make an earthquake? Yes, you heard me right. This earthquake was conceived and carried out by America.”
This was done because the Americans are allegedly angry with Turkey for cooperating with Russia on the gas issue. There is no evidence for this claim.
Another Facebook user on February 7, a day after the tragedy in Turkey and Syria, published suspicions that the earthquake was most likely artificial. Reasoning: “Collapsed houses in Turkey, people walking calmly do not fit the description of an earthquake”. To prove it, a video has been added showing how the ground trembles under people’s feet and the trees tremble. The caption says it’s Indonesia and it looks like a ‘real earthquake’. Soon, in response to the reprimands received, the user published another post:
“Judging by the apocalyptic attacks of trolls under my video that the so-called Earthquakes in Turkey claimed many lives and were probably organized explosions, events and not earthquakes, it is understandable that I probably told the truth.”
However, there is no justification for “organized explosions”.
In another very popular TikTok video, a few days after the earthquake, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a Russian politician who died last year, speaks. In the clip, he is seen in a television program where he says that earthquakes and other natural disasters can be caused by humans if necessary. The caption above it reads: “He was right.” The TikTok video published on February 9 has been seen by 2.5 million users and 68 thousand have marked it with “like”. It was also published on Facebook by a user in Latvia. The clip is captioned with the words: “This video is 20 years old. He knew the future. Not only did he say all this, he knew all this, but he made a fool of him.”
However, there is no reason to suspect that the earthquake was artificially caused. This is also confirmed by Re:Check, the head of the Geology Department of the Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences of the University of Latvia, Jānis Karušs. The earthquake in Turkey and Syria was strong – 7.8 magnitudes. The number of its victims in both countries has exceeded 50 thousand. “The earthquake in Turkey is clearly of natural origin – there has been a rapid movement of tectonic plates,” explains Karuš. He points out that the vibrations caused by the earthquake were picked up by seismographs located all over the world. By analyzing the vibrations, it is possible to tell whether the shock was of natural origin or man-made. Therefore, in this case there is no doubt about the natural origin of the earthquake.
Is it possible to cause such an earthquake artificially? Karuš explains that to artificially cause fluctuations of such a level, nuclear weapons would have to be used. Other methods of creating such an earthquake would be difficult to develop even at a theoretical level, he points out. “To cause an earthquake of this magnitude would require an explosion comparable to one of the most powerful nuclear tests ever conducted by man, which would be impossible to miss.” Scientist Talks About ‘Czar’s Bombs’ trial USSR in 1961. Humanity has not repeated anything similar since then. It happened in the sparsely populated Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The explosion occurred about four kilometers above the ground, its power been over 50 megatons, and the atomic bomb mushroom cloud reached a height of more than 60 kilometers. The media reports that the flash of the explosion lasted more than a minute, but the cloud kept its shape for a long time and was visible even several hundreds of kilometers away. It was impossible to keep it a secret.
Being evaluated, that the “Czar’s bomb” caused a 5-5.25 magnitude strong tremor. There are other estimates, but Re:Check was unable to find any confirmation of them. Karuš also emphasizes that it would be impossible not to notice an explosion of this magnitude.
The reasons for the earthquake in Turkey and Syria have also been previously explained in the media (e.g. here, here and here). Previously, the assumption that the earthquake was caused by a tectonic weapon and the former US military program HAARP has also spread in other countries. However, it has already been refuted by such fact checkers as Reuters, Politifact and USA Today. Contrary to popular belief, this program cannot alter the weather by causing earthquakes. Other social media users wrongly called the earthquake a planned politically motivated attack on the Kurds. This is also not the truth, the fact checkers explained LeadStories.
Conclusion: There is no basis for the conspiracy theory that the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is man-made. Artificially causing a shock of this magnitude would require a very powerful atomic bomb explosion, but it could not go unnoticed.
