What Science Really Says About Frank Hoogerbeets' Controversial Earthquake Predictions

Rumors regarding a major earthquake in Egypt have frequently circulated on social media, often associated with Dutch earthquake researcher Frank Hoogerbeets. Despite Hoogerbeets denying any such prediction for Egypt, numerous viral videos and posts continue to spread under his name, leading to widespread public curiosity about his methodology.

Sherif al-Hady, Head of the Earthquake Department at the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, firmly stated that predicting earthquakes anywhere in the world is fundamentally impossible. Hady pointed out that Hoogerbeets relies on unscientific methods linking planetary alignments to terrestrial phenomena—a hypothesis universally rejected by seismologists, geologists, and astronomers worldwide.

According to Hady, earthquakes originate strictly from the movement of tectonic plates and faults within the Earth. He noted that Hoogerbeets lacks the scientific qualifications required for this specialized field, and his frequent predictions multiple times a week simply result in occasional statistical coincidences rather than proof of a valid method.

Scientific studies have repeatedly debunked the planetary alignment theory. In a 2023 study published in the journal Seismica, researcher Pierre Romanet analyzed whether planetary and solar alignments could forecast large earthquakes. The findings revealed that alignments and major earthquakes occur at very similar statistical frequencies due to the sheer commonality of alignments, meaning they cannot be used to predict seismic events.

Hady reiterated that true advance prediction is impossible according to established scientific principles. Modern early warning systems operate only at the exact onset of a seismic event rather than beforehand, making claims of vague, unlocalized predictions scientifically worthless.