A Mexico City-based seismologist has predicted an earthquake of devastating magnitude in that city that could potentially occur before December.
According to Mexican Engineer Gabriel Curiel Flores, an earthquake of at least 8 points in the Richter scale is slated to occur before year's end in accordance to a theory he has developed off of records of past seismic activity which predicts future tectonic plate movements.
Curiel Flores runs a website called PredicTerremotos.blogspot.mx in which he posts the basis of his predictions and explains a theory he developed which he has called "Theory Of Gravitational Forces." According to Flores, the theory helped him accurately predict the earthquake that shook Japan in March.
The theory, which has yet to be peer reviewed and approved by other members of the scientific community, states that earthquakes and other tectonic movements are in fact events that can be predicted and prepared for before they actually occur. Longstanding scientific consensus is that earthquakes are complex events that stem from a number of variable occurrences along earth's tectonic plates and therefore are too complex to predict accurately.
Flores' website has gone viral in Mexico among Twitter users due to a recent surge in earthquake activity that included a 4.5 magnitude movement which took place today. Some users have embraced the theory while others question the scientific validity of it.
In his website, Flores usually addresses his posts directly to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in an open letter format urging him to take action against what he believes is an imminent disaster that would devastate a city that he claims is "largely unprepared" for an earthquake of a severe magnitude. His claim stems from the fact that several central neighborhoods in Mexico City still host old buildings, which are seen as having poor structural support and that could be in danger in a severe earthquake scenario.
Flores states that he has already met with senior level officials of several government offices that are already aware of his theory but have yet to act upon it. He has also approached the Geological Society of America who redirected him towards submitting his paper to the peer-reviewed publication GSA Today.
Mexico City is no stranger to large magnitude earthquakes. In September 1985, a 8.1 magnitude earthquake stuck Mexico City to devastating effects. The death toll from that event was estimated at around 10,000 casualties.