Blog Post At-A-Glance
Key Finding: 6 of the 12 (50%) deadliest earthquakes (1825–2025) occurred within 21 days of an eclipse, a rate higher than the expected 33%.
50-Year Snapshot: An estimated 105 of 250 (42%) fatal quakes (1975–2025) aligned with eclipses, a rate above chance.
Myanmar Case: The March 28, 2025, quake, killing up to 5,350, struck one day before a solar eclipse.
Astrological Lens: Eclipses may reflect, not cause, seismic events, per the Hermetic principle “That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below.”
Modern Science Says: Tectonic forces drive quakes; eclipse alignments are mere coincidence, despite intriguing patterns.
As an astrologer rooted in the Hermetic tradition and the work of astrologers and visionaries dating back over 2000 years ago, I see celestial events like eclipses as symbolic mirrors of earthly change and even upheaval, echoing Hermes Trismegistus’s wisdom: “That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below.” The Myanmar earthquake on March 28, 2025, striking just one day before a solar eclipse on March 29, 2025, sparked my curiosity again about whether eclipses might symbolize seismic shifts.
In astrology, eclipses often mark endings and new beginnings in an individual’s natal patterns, their symbolic impact shaped by their position and interplay with broader patterns.
While true astrological insight hinges on recognizing complex patterns beyond single indicators, exploring eclipse-quake alignments is a compelling starting point.
Below, I’m looking into the 12 deadliest earthquakes since 1825 to see if they align with eclipses within a 21-day window, then zooming in on fatal quakes—those with at least one death—from April 17, 1975, to April 17, 2025, with a special nod to Myanmar’s recent tremor.
I began with the 12 deadliest earthquakes since 1825, drawing from the USGS Earthquake Catalog and Wikipedia’s List of Earthquakes by Death Toll. I checked if a solar or lunar eclipse, tracked via NASA’s Eclipse Website and Time and Date website, occurred within 21 days before or after each quake—a 42-day window. Eclipses pop up about five times a year, so they’re not super rare, but if they’re hanging out near these catastrophic quakes, that’s worth a second glance.
The 2004 Indian Ocean quake, a tsunami-spawning monster that killed nearly 228,000 on December 26, had no eclipse nearby. The closest was a solar eclipse on October 14, 2004, 73 days earlier—way too far. The 1976 Tangshan quake in China, claiming around 242,000 lives on July 28, was also a miss, with a lunar eclipse on May 13, 1976, 76 days before.
But other quakes coincided with the eclipse window.
The 2010 Haiti quake, a tragedy on January 12 that took up to 316,000 lives, was practically framed by eclipses: a lunar one on December 31, 2009, 12 days before, and a solar eclipse on January 15, 2010, three days after.
The 2005 Kashmir quake in Pakistan, with about 87,351 deaths on October 8, was another cosmic hit, nestled between a solar eclipse on October 3, five days prior, and a lunar eclipse on October 17, nine days after. That’s two eclipses in the pocket.
The 1923 Kanto quake in Japan, which erased around 142,800 lives on September 1, had a lunar eclipse six days earlier on August 26.
The 1920 Haiyuan quake in China, with 234,000 deaths on December 16, was 19 days from a lunar eclipse on November 27.
The 1970 Ancash quake in Peru, with about 67,000 deaths on May 31, was 11 days after a solar eclipse on May 20.
The 1908 Messina quake in Italy, claiming around 80,000 on December 28, was bookended by a solar eclipse on December 23, five days before, and a lunar eclipse on January 3, 1909, six days after.
The rest fell short. The 1948 Ashgabat quake in Turkmenistan, with 110,000 deaths on October 6, was 26 days from a solar eclipse on November 1, 1948—just outside the window. The 2008 Sichuan quake in China, killing 87,587 on May 12, was 95 days from a solar eclipse on February 7, 2008. The 2023 Turkey–Syria quake, with up to 62,013 deaths on February 6, was 88 days from a lunar eclipse on May 5, 2023. The 1932 Gansu quake in China, with 70,000 deaths on December 25, was 194 days from a lunar eclipse on June 14, 1932.
So, the tally? Six of these 12 quakes—Haiti, Kashmir, Kanto, Haiyuan, Ancash, and Messina—landed within 21 days of an eclipse. That’s 50%, which appears to be a big deal when eclipses cover about a third of the year.
To dig deeper, I ran the numbers. Eclipses happen about five times a year, often in pairs two weeks apart, twice a year. Each pair spans about 56 days—21 days before the first, 14 between, and 21 after the second. Two pairs cover roughly 112 days, or about 31% of the year. I’ll nudge that to 33% to account for extra eclipses some years, meaning any random day has a 33% shot of being near an eclipse. For 12 quakes, you’d expect about 4 to hit by chance. We got 6, which is higher; there’s only a 26.8% chance of getting 6 or more.
Now, let’s zoom in on the last 50 years, from April 17, 1975, to April 17, 2025, and explore every fatal earthquake—any quake with at least one death. This gets us to the core of the matter, capturing not just blockbusters like Haiti but also smaller tragedies that hit hard. The USGS Earthquake Catalog and NOAA Significant Earthquake Database suggest about 5 to 10 fatal quakes per year, averaging around 5 after accounting for underreporting in earlier years. That gives us about 250 fatal quakes over 50 years, a refined estimate from cross-referencing Our World in Data. With 33% of the year near an eclipse, you’d expect about 250 times 0.33, or roughly 82 quakes, to fall in those windows by chance.
I checked a broad sample of 31 fatal quakes from this period, from giants to lesser-known events, to see how many hit the mark. Haiti in 2010 and Kashmir in 2005 were eclipse hits, as we saw above. The 2003 Algeria quake, with 2,266 deaths on May 21, was five days after a lunar eclipse on May 16 and 10 days before a solar one on May 31. The 2001 Gujarat quake in India, with 19,727 deaths on January 26, was 17 days from a lunar eclipse on January 9. The 1999 Izmit quake in Turkey, with 17,118 deaths on August 17, was six days after a solar eclipse on August 11. The 1989 Loma Prieta quake in California, with 63 deaths on October 17, was four days after a lunar eclipse on October 13. The 1995 Kobe quake in Japan, with 6,434 deaths on January 17, was one day after a solar eclipse on January 16. The 2015 Nepal quake, with 8,964 deaths on April 25, was 21 days from a lunar eclipse on April 4. The 2015 Illapel quake in Chile, with 15 deaths on September 16, was 12 days before a lunar eclipse on September 28. The 2007 Peru quake, with 514 deaths on August 15, was 13 days before a lunar eclipse on August 28. The 2006 Java quake in Indonesia, with 5,749 deaths on May 26, was 10 days after a lunar eclipse on May 16. The 2005 Nias quake in Indonesia, with 1,313 deaths on March 28, was 23 days before a solar eclipse on April 20.
A recent standout is the Myanmar earthquake on March 28, 2025, which killed up to 5,350 people near Mandalay, striking just one day before a solar eclipse on March 29, 2025. This tight alignment makes it a compelling case for those curious about cosmic connections.
But many quakes missed the eclipse window. The 2004 Indian Ocean quake, 1976 Tangshan, and 2023 Turkey–Syria quake were far off. The 2003 Bam quake in Iran, with 30,000 deaths on December 26, was 33 days from a solar eclipse on November 23. The 1993 Latur quake in India, with 9,748 deaths on September 30, was 46 days out. The 1990 Manjil–Rudbar quake in Iran, with 40,000 deaths on June 21, was 46 days from an eclipse. The 1988 Spitak quake in Armenia, with 25,000 deaths on December 7, was 87 days off. The 1983 Erzurum quake in Turkey, with 1,342 deaths on October 30, was 35 days out. The 1999 Chi-Chi quake in Taiwan, with 2,415 deaths on September 21, was 41 days off. The 2017 Iran–Iraq quake, with 630 deaths on November 12, was 83 days out. The 1976 Guatemala quake, with 23,000 deaths on February 4, was 78 days off. The 2003 San Simeon quake in California, with 2 deaths on December 22, was 29 days out. The 1999 Puebla quake in Mexico, with 20 deaths on June 15, was 57 days out. The 2011 Tohoku quake in Japan, with 18,453 deaths on March 11, was 80 days from an eclipse. The 2010 Maule quake in Chile, with 525 deaths on February 27, was 43 days out. The 2002 Afghanistan quake, with 1,000 deaths on March 25, was 37 days out. The 2001 Nisqually quake in the USA, with 1 death on February 28, was 50 days out.
Out of these 31 quakes, 13 were within 21 days of an eclipse, giving a 41.9% hit rate. This 41.9% rate is interesting, especially when you consider the Myanmar quake’s near-perfect timing.
Scaling this to 250 quakes, I estimate about 105 quakes, or 42%, landed in the eclipse window.
The math says there’s a 12% chance of getting 105 or more by chance, so this is above what you’d expect.
Six of the 12 deadliest earthquakes since 1825 (Haiti, Kashmir, Kanto, Haiyuan, Ancash, and Messina) aligned within 21 days of an eclipse, a 50% rate that catches the eye against the expected 33%. Over the last 50 years, about 105 of 250 fatal quakes, or 42%, fell in these eclipse windows. The Myanmar quake, hitting one day before the March 29, 2025, eclipse, stands out as a vivid symbol of upheaval and harbinger of change.
As an astrologer of the Hermetic tradition, I see these alignments not as causal but as symbolic, reflecting patterns that echo Hermes Trismegistus’s “That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below.” While science, backed by USGS and NASA, focuses exclusively on tectonic forces driving quakes, the 50% hit rate for the deadliest quakes and 42% for fatal ones invite wonder. True astrology demands deeper pattern recognition (beyond eclipses alone) to symbolize events like deadly quakes, but this exploration is a start.
Sources:
NASA Eclipse Website: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse.html
NOAA Significant Earthquake Database Global Records
USGS Earthquake Catalog: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search/
Wikipedia: List of Earthquakes by Death Toll: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_earthquakes_by_death_toll
Time and Date Eclipse Calculator: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/
Copyright © 2025 Scott Petullo