Meteorological specialist Riyad al-Quraishi commented today, Friday, on the possibility of Iraq experiencing a strong earthquake in the coming days. Al-Quraishi stated in an interview with "Baghdad Today" that "anyone who claims an earthquake will occur at a specific time and place is either delusional or not an expert," emphasizing that "it is impossible to predict the time of any earthquake due to the lack of scientific capability."
He added that "despite significant technological advancements, the United States has not succeeded in predicting the timing of any earthquake, even though it experiences a high frequency of earthquakes in several states, which is the same for other developed countries."
Al-Quraishi explained that "the area stretching from northern Maysan, through the Zagros Mountains, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and reaching the Hossarust Mountains is geologically weak due to the convergence of the Arabian and Persian plates; therefore, seismic boundaries and their aftershocks are natural as they are unstable areas," while noting that "it is impossible to determine the timing of any earthquake or accurately state its location."
He pointed out that "talking about a strong earthquake hitting Iraq soon is intended to attract attention for the sake of comments on social media," affirming that "in expert terminology, it is not possible to determine the time or location of any earthquake, but it is possible to indicate areas where the frequency of tremors is higher compared to other regions for scientific reasons."
Social media has been abuzz over the past two days with unverified news and warnings about the seismic fault on the Iraqi-Iranian border potentially experiencing a strong earthquake. It is worth mentioning that the Meteorological Authority announced on Tuesday that eight earthquakes were recorded in Iraq during March. A report from the authority received by "Baghdad Today" stated that "the total number of recorded earthquakes in the Iraqi seismic monitoring network for this month was (22), including (8) earthquakes within Iraq, (12) earthquakes within Turkish territory, one earthquake within Iranian borders, and one earthquake within Syrian territory."
The report indicated that "the seismic activity outside Iraq is clearly concentrated during March, specifically in Turkey near its borders with Iraq, as well as in Iran and Syria, according to the earthquakes included in the monthly report of the seismic monitoring network."
