- Petra Civic
- BBC World Service
image source, Reuters
More than 44,000 killed in earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
Since the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, killing more than 44,000 people, millions of posts, photos and videos of the disaster have been shared on Twitter.
But the BBC found Some posts have accused HAARP, or harp, a powerful transducer located in the US state of Alaska, of causing earthquakes.
Harp’s full name is High Frequency Aurora Beam Energy Research Project The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) was established by the U.S. Army in 1990 and the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Moderator since 2014
This transducer is used to study the ionosphere. which is the area where Earth’s atmosphere connects to outer space
Inaccurate information about the harp
after the earthquake There are many user accounts posting about Harp on Twitter. A review of the BBC’s data found that The harp has been mentioned more than 550,000 times.
one of those posts The author asked “What really happened in Turkey…they use the harp. Weather modification geoengineering!”
Another user shared a video of the birds and said the birds were “behaving strangely” before the earthquake. He then asked if Turkey was “was attacked by the Harp?”
image source, Twitter
Posts containing inaccurate information about earthquakes. was forwarded via twitter
A lot of people have posted pictures of clouds. which is falsely accused of It appeared in Turkey before the earthquake and was a cloud created by the harp.
Jessica Matthews, harp project manager told the BBC that “Research Equipment at the Harp Natural disasters cannot be created or enlarged.”
Aaron Ridley, a professor of climate and space science at the University of Michigan, agrees: “There is no scientific evidence that the Harp can control the weather.”
This is not the first time Harp has been falsely accused of causing a natural disaster.
“In conspiracy theories for many years The Harp Project is regularly referred to as It is the main cause of many natural disasters. even though experts and scientists have thoroughly refuted those claims,” Shayan Serdarizadeh said. BBC misinformation news desk correspondent says
what does the harp do
Harp was initially established to research the effects of the ionosphere. to civilian and military navigation and communication systems
Naturally occurring disturbances in the ionosphere can interfere with radio signals being sent from Earth. Many modern technologies require this signal. including GPS satellites, wireless (Wi-Fi) and radio and space communications.
image source, Getty Images
Harp Antenna Image generated by computer
“In the ionosphere You may face many variations… that can absorb radio waves. and can no longer communicate The radio signal disappears in the ionosphere,” Ridley said.
It is difficult to predict these disturbances. So the scientists at Harp used high-frequency radio transducers. This heats a small portion of the ionosphere and creates an environment similar to that naturally occurring. in order to be able to study
Jessica Matthews said the process did not trigger any climate events. “Radio waves in the spectrum that the Harp transmits are not absorbed in the other two layers of the atmosphere that create Earth’s climate.”
David Heizel, a professor of space and earth sciences at Cornell University, agrees that the Harp cannot affect the climate.
He argues that these things are not in the same context. and no correlation
Other conspiracy theories about the harp
image source, Reuters
Harp was wrongly accused of Causing Massive Floods in China in 2021
Shayan Serdarizadeh A BBC correspondent said: “Other conspiracy theories are being discussed a lot on social media. in the aftermath of this catastrophe.”
In 2022, when the Bulgarian city of Karlovo was flooded, it was erroneously claimed on social media that The harp caused heavy rain.
Harp has also been wrongly accused of It caused floods that killed many people in China. and massive forest fires in Turkey in 2021.
After Hurricane Ian hit the Caribbean and the southeastern United States in 2022, false claims were made about the harp. social media
The earthquake in Turkey and Syria was The latest trigger to make false claims. But it probably won’t be the last claim.
“Old theories are often reintroduced. Because the additional evidence on the matter that has been refuted reinforces the views of those who believe in these stories. and increase the number of followers,” said Serdarizadeh.
