Experts Debunk HAARP Conspiracy Theory Linking Alaska Programme to Colombia Earthquake

A conspiracy theory linking a deadly earthquake in Colombia to an Alaska-based atmospheric research programme has resurfaced on social media, despite experts saying there is no scientific basis for the claim. Posts circulating online allege that the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) caused the 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday. The earthquake killed at least 270 people and caused widespread damage, but scientists have attributed the disaster to natural movements within the Earth's crust.

The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was primarily caused by strike-slip faulting, a process in which two sections of the Earth's crust move horizontally past one another. The epicentre was located in Colombia's Pacific region, an area associated with the Pacific Ring of Fire, where frequent seismic activity occurs. Seismologists said the location and characteristics of the earthquake are consistent with naturally occurring tectonic activity rather than any human-made intervention.

Suzan Van der Lee, a seismologist and professor at Northwestern University, said there was no evidence that human activity caused the earthquake. She noted that certain human activities, including gas extraction and wastewater injection, have been associated with small or moderate earthquakes in shallow parts of the Earth's crust. However, the Colombian earthquake occurred at a depth of around 110 kilometres, which is significantly deeper than earthquakes typically associated with such human activities.

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The claims have focused on HAARP, which is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and has been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades. The programme studies the upper atmosphere, particularly the thermosphere and ionosphere, using high-frequency radio transmitters and other scientific instruments. HAARP has previously been falsely accused of controlling weather, influencing human minds and triggering earthquakes, despite researchers repeatedly explaining that its work is focused on understanding atmospheric processes.

Geophysicist Dean Whitman of Florida International University said there is no physical basis for the suggestion that HAARP's radio-frequency transmissions could trigger earthquakes. He pointed out that the energy released by a major earthquake is vastly greater than the energy generated by the HAARP array. He also noted that HAARP's equipment is designed to transmit energy upward into the upper atmosphere, while earthquakes originate deep beneath the Earth's surface. The electromagnetic waves used by the programme also operate through physical processes fundamentally different from those responsible for tectonic earthquakes.

HAARP has been operating under the University of Alaska Fairbanks since 2015, after previously being associated with the US military. Its facilities include the Ionospheric Research Instrument, a powerful high-frequency radio transmitter used to study the ionosphere. While the programme's technology has contributed to scientific research into the upper atmosphere, there is no credible evidence that it can generate or manipulate earthquakes. The Colombia earthquake is therefore best understood as a natural seismic event, and claims connecting it to HAARP are unsupported by established scientific evidence.

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