The Egyptian space scientist, Farouk El-Baz, said in an interview with “Sky News Arabia”, on Friday, that it is difficult to predict the occurrence of earthquakes because their cause occurs at a very great depth within the earth’s crust.
Farouk Al-Baz added, “The land on which we live is not solid, but rather blocks located above a sticky layer, thousands of kilometers deep, and this means that the blocks above it, including the continents, stand above a sticky layer, and at some time these blocks will move, and as a result of this movement earthquakes occur.” “.
He said that the reason why earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates and not occur in others is that these plates do not adhere to other plates.
What is the status of the Arabian Peninsula?
Al-Baz explained that the Arabian Peninsula is a single block between Africa and Asia, pointing out that it is moving towards the northeast.
And he added that there are some very small tremors in this area to the point of not being felt, because the mass is moving without much pressure or something trying to stop it.
As for the area of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, i.e. in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula, last Monday, there are rocks moving towards other rocks, so they shake and the matter becomes disordered.
The Egyptian astronomer explained that the result of tension and attraction between the gravity of the earth and the sun, and at some point where the rocks move, and tremors will occur.
And he continued: “Because the land masses have cracks between them, it is possible for a mass to move half a centimeter to 3 cm per year, and come to a stage where it moves 3.5 cm per year, shaking the area.”
Can we predict earthquakes?
In response to a question about the possibility of predicting the time of earthquakes, Al-Baz said: “In terms of geology, the answer is no, unfortunately, because some rocks are under pressure that affects their chemical composition, deep in the earth.”
He pointed out that the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, for example, occurred at 3.5 kilometers below the surface of the earth, because there is no tool to know what is happening at this depth.
Although some believe that the Earth has entered a new stage in natural disasters, including earthquakes, the Egyptian space scientist believes that the Earth is living in a “reasonable stage after witnessing a lot.”
He said that the areas prone to earthquakes in our Arab region are the middle of the Red Sea, which expands and southwest of Iran, because it is witnessing permanent movement, and in other regions of the world, there is the west of the United States.
