According to Eid Al-Tarzi, a professor of earthquake science and natural disasters at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan, the earthquake that struck Morocco is described as "devastating," with a strength equivalent to 25 nuclear bombs in terms of the explosive energy they produce. In statements to "Sputnik," he explained that an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale is very powerful, capable of generating ground acceleration at the epicenter ranging from 200 to 300 cm² per second, which can destroy structures, especially those that were not designed to be earthquake-resistant and lacked proper geological and topographical assessments.
Regarding the impact of the Morocco earthquake on neighboring countries, Al-Tarzi ruled out any stimulatory effects on active faults in the surrounding area, particularly in North African countries or the Middle East, suggesting that it would not stimulate or lead to similar devastating earthquakes in the region.
He clarified that the Richter scale is a mathematical scale that was standardized and developed after its initial development. It starts at a magnitude of 1, which is very weak and cannot be felt by humans, only by instruments, and goes up to 9, which represents a significant and rare force.
When asked about the possibility of predicting such earthquakes before they occur, Al-Tarzi noted that it is typically not possible to predict them due to many factors that prevent scientists from knowing when earthquakes will happen. Although sometimes, and this is rare, there may be an increase in seismic activity with smaller earthquakes of around 3 or 4 before the main event.
He added that there might be some changes in the magnetic field at the epicenter and other subsurface layers, but these are not consistent, making it unreliable for scientists to use them to predict earthquakes. Al-Tarzi emphasized that there are no fixed physical variables in the Earth's interior that scientists can depend on for precise earthquake predictions.
Regarding the expectations of scientists for such strong earthquakes in this area, Al-Tarzi pointed out that Morocco is far from the tectonic plate boundaries, with the collision boundary between the African and Eurasian plates approximately 400 kilometers to the south. Therefore, scientists previously ruled out the occurrence of such a powerful earthquake in this region.
He believes that the Morocco earthquake will alter many theories followed by seismologists and geologists, as the area was hundreds of kilometers away from the fault line and was not considered capable of generating such a powerful earthquake, affirming that it will change certain scientific concepts related to seismic foci and the seismic region, as well as the capacity of faults to generate an earthquake of this magnitude in this area.
