A message saying that the biggest-ever earthquake will hit Delhi in April 2018 has been doing the rounds.
The message says that NASA has predicted the earthquake's scale to be between 9.1 and 9.2, further saying that the date is not clear yet but it will occur somewhere between 7 to 15 April.
Here is what the message reads:
“According to NASA, the biggest earthquake will hit Delhi soon. The Rector’s Scale is 9.1 or maybe 9.2.
Date has not cleared yet but it may occur in Between 7th of April to 15th April.
Loss of life has declared in Lacs.
The Centre of This Biggest rector’s scale earthquake would be Gurugram.
This is the 2nd time in World’s History that huge loss of life and property has declared by NASA.
This is biggest Earthquake may occure in Delhi NCR.
Spread to all your relatives or friends who stay in Delhi NCR.
This earthquake will be the largest as it covers the areas like In India ( Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, J&K to Tamilnadu, Rajasthan to Bihar.
In Pakistan Rector’s Scale would be 4-4.2 maximum.
If possible move at least for a week from Delhi NCR.
Govt will take action very soon on This to save life of People.
For More Details www.nasaalert.com”
A website called Social Media Hoax Slayer has given a a step-by-step explanation on why this message is completely false.
First, the message says NASA has predicted the earthquake but according to the USGS Earthquake Program’s website, there is no way scientists can predict earthquakes. Although there have been efforts to do so, they have not yet been successful.
On any particular fault, scientists know there will be another earthquake sometime in the future, but they have no way of telling when it will happen.USGS Website
Secondly, the message uses www.nasaalert.com as the source but the URL does not exist. Social Media Hoax Slayer has even given the details of the registered domain www.nasaalert.com, this is what it says:
- Domain Name: NASAALERT.COM
- Registry Domain ID: 1439266536_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
- Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.liquidnetlimited.co.uk
- Registrar URL: http://liquidnetlimited.co.uk
- Updated Date: 2017-04-06T08:20:39Z
- Creation Date: 2008-03-31T14:36:47Z
- Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2018-03-31T14:36:47Z
- Registrar: LIQUIDNET Ltd.
- Registrar IANA ID: 1472
- Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@liquidnetlimited.co.uk
- Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +44.2036951294
- Reseller:
- Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
- Domain Status: autoRenewPeriod http://icann.org/epp#autoRenewPeriod
- Registry Registrant ID:
- Registrant Name: oouna phelps
- Registrant Organization: N/A
- Registrant Street: 1254 jenna dv.
- Registrant City: south elgin
- Registrant State/Province: illinois
- Registrant Postal Code: 60177
- Registrant Country: US
- Registrant Phone: +1.3127311840
- Registrant Phone Ext:
- Registrant Fax:
- Registrant Fax Ext:
- Registrant Email: heckova_replica@yahoo.com
Finally, the actual NASA has not made any similar announcement relating to an earthquake in India. According to Social Media Hoax Slayer, this information is nowhere to be found on any of NASA's official platforms.
(With inputs from Social Media Hoax Slayer)
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