One would be forgiven for thinking the End Times are upon us after events in Iran and Iraq on Tuesday night.
- An Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Iraq
- A deadly plane crash in Iran
- A pair of earthquakes in Iran
PJM reported Tuesday on an Iranian missile attack on a U.S. airbase in Iraq. The provocative attack by the Iranians was in response to the U.S. killing terrorist-thug Qasem Soleimani at the Baghdad airport late last week. By all accounts, the attack on the U.S. base Tuesday was a complete failure, with no reports of fatalities. That didn’t stop Iranian propagandists (read: liars) from claiming victory:
Iranian TV says 80 people killed in missile attack. Yeah, okay buddy, sure. https://t.co/JNWL2MjctQ
— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) January 8, 2020
But that’s not all.
While all this was going on, a 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck Borazjan, Iran, less than 50 miles from in the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
A 4.9 magnitude earthquake struck near #Iran's #Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. The depth and epicenter indicate it was a natural event and unrelated to this evenings events. A similar earthquake struck in late December. USGS report enclosed. https://t.co/WcfNffwSOm
— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) January 8, 2020
#Earthquake M5.0 Southern Iran 7mins ago 8 Jan 02:20 UTC – report/info: https://t.co/20rZila2O0
— Earthquake Monitor (@EQAlerts) January 8, 2020
A natural, 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck Iran near the Bushehr nuclear plant Wednesday, reports said, as tensions in the Middle East soared following Iranian missile strikes on Iraqi bases housing US troops.
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck 10 km southeast of Borazjan, Iran — marked with a gold star on the map below — and at a depth of 10 km.
The map shows the respective locations of the earthquake’s epicentre and the city of Bushehr, near which the nuclear plant is located.
Borazjan is a nearly 70-km drive away from Bushehr.
“The depth and epicenter indicate it was a natural event and unrelated to this evening’s [US time] events. A similar earthquake struck in late December,” the website Strategic Sentinel tweeted.
According to the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake began six miles below the surface, an indication that this was indeed an earthquake and not something more sinister. There were no immediate reports of injuries or nuclear events.
While officials are calling this a “natural” event, a website that tracks earthquakes and volcanos crowdsourced some man-on-the-street “I felt it” reports from the area where the earthquake struck:
Bunker Outside Tehran / MMI V (Moderate shaking): Maybe not earthquake US Bombing :)Southern Iran / MMI V (Moderate shaking): This is either Trump or god telling us we we are evil. Time to remove the mullahs before they have Iran wiped out.iran / MMI IX (Violent shaking): ok boomeriran / MMI VIII (Severe shaking): energy weaponShiraz / MMI V (Moderate shaking): Saw a bright flashing light, followed by lots of shaking.(7.3 km SSE from epicenter) [Map] / MMI IX (Violent shaking): it feel like bomb no earthquake god help usBorazjan / MMI VIII (Severe shaking): This was not an earthquake, explosion and shockwave it nightmareShiraz / MMI V (Moderate shaking)
The plane had taken off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in the Iranian capital when a fire struck one of its engines, said Qassem Biniaz, a spokesman for Iran’s Road and Transportation Ministry. The pilot of the aircraft then lost control of the plane, sending it crashing into the ground, Biniaz said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The plane carried 167 passengers and nine crew members from different nations on its flight to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Biniaz said. The crash killed all on board, Iranian emergency officials and Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said.
Flight data from the airport showed a Ukrainian 737-800 flown by Ukraine International Airlines took off Wednesday morning, then stopped sending data almost immediately afterward, according to website FlightRadar24. The airline did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alleged footage of #Ukraine International Airline #UIA flight number #PS752 that crashed in #Tehran #Iran. Flight ends in a massive fireball… https://t.co/5Gw8e5jRHb
— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) January 8, 2020
Note: Officials have not confirmed that this is actual footage of the plane crash.
There is absolutely no confirmation on this claim at this time. The video purported to be #PS752 going down *could* potentially indicate an extraordinary circumstance, but no comment has been made by a reliable source at this point. Lots of misinformation out there.
— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) January 8, 2020
Update: Early reports out of the Ukranian Embassy in Iran said the crash was likely caused by an engine problem and ruled out terrorism and a rocket attack as possible causes. Now, that explanation has been removed from the Ukranian Embassy website and they are saying the cause of the crash is undetermined at this time. Iran is reportedly refusing to release the critical black box to Boeing for examination.
(Aside: Did we ever get to the bottom of who used Russian surface-to-air missiles to shoot down MH-17 over Ukraine in 2014?)
After the attack on U.S. troops in Iraq, the Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. carriers from flying in the airspace over Iran, Iraq, the Gulf of Oman, and the waters between Iran and Saudia Arabia.
This hat-trick of Big Events in the world’s hottest of hotspots Tuesday kept Twitter buzzing late into the night with unsubstantiated speculation and lots of wild conspiracy theories. Of course.
Iran's strange day
Stampede at Solemani's funeral, > 50 killed.
Launched 15 missiles at US troops in Iraq, 4 down in Iran, rest hit nothing. No US causalities/damage reported.
Ukrainian 737 crashes on take-off from Teheran's airport, 180 onboard
Earthquake in Southern Iran.
— Jim Bianco (@biancoresearch) January 8, 2020
Oh, did I forget to mention there was a stampede? This day keeps getting stranger.
Notice that even Fox News isn't talking about the 4.9 Earthquake in Iran… Or the Ukrainian Airlines Boeing 737 with 180 on board that crashed….
This is how you know there is more to these stories..
— Matt Couch 🎙 (@RealMattCouch) January 8, 2020
Actually, they are, Matt.
So we've got a missile attack, a 4.9 magnitude random earthquake and a crashing airliner all happening the same night in Iran? Maybe I'm crazy but someone runs me the Vegas odds on all this happening the same night. Please.
— Ryan Hawkes (@ryanhawkesma) January 8, 2020
Australia burned down, Indonesia was flooding, US and Iran starting WWIII, Alaska and Guatemala having volcanic eruptions, LA, Puerto Rico, And Iran having earthquakes, Ukraine Airlines plane with 180 people crashed… y’all this is really it… pic.twitter.com/w4dOMUvwcw
— Dieghoe👾 (@diegheaux) January 8, 2020
It all does sound a bit strange, doesn’t it? But fear not, there’s one thing we can be sure of:
Iran has a plane crash and an earthquake near their nuclear facility on the same night they launch an attack on U.S. forces in Iraq.
At least 90% chance they will be blaming Jews by tomorrow.
— (((AG))) (@AGHamilton29) January 8, 2020
And this:
Alex Jones after finding out there was a plane crash and an earthquake in Iran on same night as their attack on Iraqi airbase pic.twitter.com/QHd0EJjfbW
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) January 8, 2020
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m hoping for a quiet news day on Wednesday. Or the Rapture.
Follow me on Twitter @pbolyard.
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