Idea: Does the Sun Trigger Earthquakes?

Courtesy of 'big think' website

   The Sun is our closest star, and many of us tend to take for granted just how important this celestial body truly is. You, me and almost all life on Earth (except for some potential microorganisms that could possibly survive in the crust by heat generated from the Earth's core) have much to be thankful for toward our Sun. Thankfully, it would be extremely, extremely unlikely that the Sun would ever just disappear, and we don't have to worry about it ending all life on Earth until about 3.5 billion years from now.

   However, even though we have much to be grateful for, its not always rainbows and sunshine (no pun intended.) We know about solar flares, geomagnetic storms and the threat that this poses to our vulnerable power grid. But what if there was more to worry about?

 According to J.D. Ben Davidson, founder of the Suspicious0bservers website and YouTube channel, there is a causal relationship between the Sun's magnetic fields and earthquakes. If Ben is correct, then he may be credited for having made one of the most important discoveries in modern history. The Sun has large magnetic fields that extend across the solar atmosphere, but 'holes' in that magnetic field leave openings for other magnetic fields to stream away from the surface of the Sun. Those magnetic fields in particular are the most important to us because they are interplanetary magnetic fields. What does that mean? It means that these magnetic fields stretch out across the solar system, and connect the planets (including us) to the sun through electromagnetic field tubes. At the same time, electromagnetic field tubes move around a field of electrically charged particles that are emitted from the Sun known as solar wind.

Solar wind artist depiction. Courtesy of 'end of the world' blogspot.' 

   This leads one to understand that there are two 'special' events on the Sun according to Ben, namely peaks in magnetic strength and reversals of polarity. What is most compelling however, is the peaks in magnetic strength. In the graphic at the 3:51 mark in the video I will link to, there is a plot graph showing the natural intervals of magnetic strength emanating from our Sun from a time period of 2010-2013. What Ben observes is that during peaks of magnetic strength there were large earthquakes on Earth, specifically the Magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile in 2010, a Magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan in 2011, Magnitude 8.6 & 8.2 quick succession earthquakes in Sumatra in 2012, and a Magnitude 8.0 earthquake in the Solomon islands in 2013. A Magnitude 8.3 Earthquake in E. Russia in 2013 was also recorded in this time period, but Ben has associated that one with a magnetic reversal, which he goes into further detail to in the video. The video makes a compelling case that solar events are somehow triggering a large portion of the major earthquakes we experience here on Earth. He claims that in 2015, 75% of the major earthquakes struck on the marks where there were peaks of magnetic strength.

   If J.D. Ben Davidson is truly on to something,   then this individual certainly deserves to be   credited with discovering information that could potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives in the future. Certainly this potential is too great to be ignored. His mission now is to get the United States Geological Survey to pay attention to his and his colleagues' research papers. To learn more about J.D. Ben Davidson click here.

*Contact the USGS
*Contact Ben or his staff