Since 2015 the SSGEOS forecasts larger earthquakes (~M ≥ 6.0) based on planetary and lunar positions in the Solar System. The first forecasts in April and May 2015 (both followed by M 7.8 earthquakes) were based on ten months of research, that started on 23 June 2014. More details on this date are discussed below. The primary basis of our forecast system is the fact that the majority of larger earthquakes occur near the time of planetary and lunar conjunctions.
In this article we provide the data and statistics that demonstrate an obvious correlation between the occurrence of planetary conjunctions (alignments) and major (M ≥ 7) earthquakes. To our knowledge a similar scientific research has not been done in recent decades. The research that probably comes closest was done by RCA radio engineer John Henry Nelson in the 1940s and 1950s who discovered an obvious correlation between specific planetary positions and atmospheric disturbance that could result in short-wave radio signal interference and blackouts.
It should be noted that the data and statistics presented here do not fully reflect the SSGEOS forecast model, which makes heavy use of lunar geometry to determine whether or not a planetary conjunction is more critical. In this respect, the data and statistics merely serve as a general indication of the significance of planetary conjunctions in the Solar System.
The following analysis is based on M ≥ 7 earthquakes from 2011 to February 2023. According to the EMSC database a total of 182 of these major earthquakes occurred in this time-period. The data-set can be downloaded here.
For each earthquake a narrow time-window of +/- 1 day has been used to scan for planetary conjunctions < 2°. If a planetary conjunction was not found, the time-window was extended to a maximum of +/- 2 days. For 12 earthquakes the time-window had to be extended and 3 earthquakes occurred without a planetary conjunction in the extended time-window.
From the 182 earthquakes for which we analyzed the specified time-windows, 153 earthquakes occurred with one or more planetary conjunctions ≤ 1° within 2 days, which is 84.1%. 148 of these earthquakes occurred within 1 day, which is 81.3%.
135 earthquakes occurred at the time of a convergence, i.e. two or more planetary conjunctions ≤ 2° within 2 days, which is 74.2%. 134 of these earthquakes occurred within 1 day, which is 73.6%.
If planetary conjunctions have this major influence, then what would the mechanism be? Clearly it is not the gravitational force as described in classical mechanics. Large earthquakes have occurred at the time of planetary conjunctions, such as the 1960 Chilean earthquake and the 1964 Alaskan earthquake, whereby Earth was not part of a conjunction. Also, both the work of John H. Nelson and observations such as described below suggest that the mechanism is primarily electromagnetic. This would seem logical since electromagnetism is the next stronger force of the four fundamental forces in the Universe.
Because the electromagnetic force is stronger than the gravitational force and the electromagnetic force dominates the gravitational force and electromagnetic waves greatly interact with matter, the proposed hypothesis is that planetary conjunctions, especially those involving Mercury and Venus with their high orbital velocity, generate strong electromagnetic currents for a brief time that differ from the currents transmitted by the Sun. These currents would then affect Earth, both its atmosphere and crust (down to the core) and excite electrons, which would result in a destabilization of atoms and molecules and subsequent large-scale deformation where stress in Earth’s crust has reached a maximum level.
Indication of atmospheric disturbance is provided by an example from 23-24 June 2014 when three planetary conjunctions converged with Earth between Mars and Uranus and a series of six earthquakes ranging from magnitude 6.0 to 7.9 occurred in the Pacific within 8 hours. See images below. On the same day a meteo-tsunami began to propagate through the Mediterranean. A scientifc report from 2015 concluded that the meteo-tsunami was the result of ‘high altitude atmospheric forcing’.
Does this mechanism guarantee that every planetary conjunction results in a major earthquake? No. As stated above, the SSGEOS forecast model includes lunar geometry to determine if a planetary conjunction should be considered more critical. In addition, the great variable is the condition of Earth's crust, i.e. the amount of stress along faults. If a greater fault section has not reached its strain budget, no major earthquake occurs. This means that the mechanism allows for the anticipation of larger earthquakes near the time of critical planetary and lunar geometry, but there is never a guarantee that a larger earthquake will occur.
While the proposed hypothesis is open for debate, statistics clearly show an obvious correlation between the occurrence of larger earthquakes and planetary conjunctions. In particular the statistics of earthquake occurrence at the time of a convergence of two or more planetary conjunctions provides a strong case that cannot be dismissed.