Mais uma

Everyone knows a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered the massive tsunamis that have killed more than 150,000 in South Asia, right?

Wrong, reports Al-Jazeera, the popular Arab news service.

Some think the U.S. and Indian militaries deliberately caused the tsunamis with electromagnetic pulse technology.

Some of the theories reported on seriously by Al-Jazeera include:


The U.S. government knew of the disaster ahead of time and failed to warn Asians in affected countries, as evidenced by the American Navy base situated on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia that was alerted and escaped unscathed from the effects of the tsunamis;

Indian and U.S. military testing of weapons using electromagnetic waves triggered the earthquake;

Aliens caused the disaster as a way to correct the planet's "wobbly" rotation;

The Australian and Thai governments deliberately failed to respond to warning of the impending earthquake.

Dr. Bart Bautisda, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology's chief science research specialist, categorically rejects any claim of foul play having been the reason behind the disaster.

The weapons-testing theory holds no water, he says, because of the amount of energy needed to cause such a quake.

"You would need a very huge amount of energy. It's impossible. A billion tons could not do it," he told Al-Jazeera.

Bautisda admits that wave activity might be triggered very close to the scene of a giant explosion, but the effect would only be a tiny fraction of the tsunamis that hit the Asian coastline on Dec. 26.

"It's possible to cause vibration, but not sufficient to cause disruption," he said. "We can tell the difference between an artificial explosion and an earthquake. The mechanisms are different."

But what about a nuclear explosion?

An Egyptian magazine today claimed the tsunami "was possibly" caused by a secret Indian nuclear experiment in which "Israeli and American nuclear experts participated," the Jerusalem Post reported.

According to Al-Osboa', India, in its heated nuclear race with Pakistan, has received sophisticated nuclear know-how from the U.S. and Israel, both of which "showed readiness to cooperate with India in experiments to exterminate humankind."

The magazine claimed geologists have warned about holding nuke tests "in the region of the Indian Ocean known as 'the Fire Belt,' in which the epicenter of the earthquake lies."

The Fire Belt includes dangerous terrain that can move at anytime, without human intervention, Al-Osboa' reported.