8.8 Magnitude Tremor to Hit West Coast, 'Earthquake Enthusiast' Predicts

Scientists have often repeated that earthquakes cannot be predicted. Apparently, Frank Hoogerbeets remained unconvinced.

"I believe I know when exactly it is going to be. I hope I am wrong," the Dutch man told Fox40 on Wednesday. He also admitted that he is no science degree holder but is an "enthusiast" in the subject.

Hoogerbeets uploaded a video on YouTube, telling viewers that there will be a planetary alignment on Thursday, May 28.

"At 4 p.m. PT, an 8.8+ magnitude earthquake will rattle the western shore of the United States," the news source noted him as saying.

"Towards the end of the 26th and on the 27th we may see the first signs of the powerful convergence of planetary alignments growing full on the 28th and 29th," he was quoted by The Washington Post as saying. "Everyone near fault lines and other seismically active areas, but especially around the Pacific Ocean should be on alert during the critical days ahead."

Hoogerbeets also said that he "came within two days of predicting the Nepal earthquake, which killed nearly 8,800 people last month."

Fox40 also noted that his Facebook post on the Nepal forecast, which was unedited, showed that he did predict the catastrophic earthquake within that same week.

Hoogerbeets' prediction has since been dismissed by experts, with a rep from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California saying that there is no way planetary alignments can cause earthquakes.

"The gravitational forces involved are not of a magnitude great enough to trigger geologic activity on Earth," the source told LA Weekly.

"It's literally impossible. I've done the math on this before; the maximum combined gravity of all the planets under ideal conditions is still far less than the gravitational influence of the Moon on the Earth, and the Moon at very best has an extremely weak influence on earthquakes," Slate's Phil Plait added.

In addition, Fox40 reported that, as of March 2015, the USGS had estimated that there is a 7% chance that an 8.0 magnitude shaker will rock California in the next 30 years.

As for Hoogerbeets' penchant for predicting earthquakes, Plait offered this explanation:

"I think that many people who turn to pseudo- (and outright anti-) science may do so because they feel that things are out of their control. That's too bad, because-even though it may not seem like it at first-when you begin down the path of studying science, of becoming a critical thinker, these tools actually help you be more in control of your life, not less."

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