'Artificial earthquake' conspiracy theory sweeps Japan after Kumamoto disaster

Theory Briefing

• The Kumamoto disaster triggered a wave of 'artificial earthquake' claims across Japanese social media, spreading faster than official rebuttals.
• Experts cited the sheer energy required to generate a real earthquake as the core reason the technology is considered unrealistic.
• The pattern mirrors past disaster conspiracies worldwide, where sudden traumatic events fuel the search for a human culprit rather than random chance.
• Official scientific voices pushed back publicly, but the speed of viral sharing outpaced their corrections.