CLAIM: The earthquake in Myanmar was not natural and was caused by HAARP.
CONCLUSION: The earthquake was caused by natural tectonic activity along the Sagaing Fault, not by HAARP.
A few hours after the devastating earthquake in Myanmar, conspiracy theories began circulating, suggesting it was caused by HAARP.
A powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on March 28, 2025, causing widespread destruction. The epicenter was near Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. As of March 29, the death toll has surpassed 1,000, with more than 2,376 injured and 30 people reported missing. Authorities estimate these numbers will rise as search and rescue operations continue.
Myanmar lies in a seismically active zone between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates. The Sagaing Fault is one of the most active faults in the region and has caused major earthquakes in the past. The recent earthquake (7.7 magnitude) was of the strike-slip type and occurred at a shallow depth (10 km), which increased its intensity — characteristics that are entirely natural and expected in the region.
Following major natural disasters, conspiracy theories often emerge, attributing blame to technologies like HAARP. The HAARP program is a scientific research project that studies the ionosphere and does not have the capability to cause earthquakes.
HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) is a research effort by the University of Alaska Fairbanks focused on studying the properties and behavior of the ionosphere — the Earth’s highest ionized atmospheric layer. It is the most powerful transmitter available in both power and frequency for ionospheric research and is part of a larger research unit dedicated to that purpose, which includes the Ionospheric Research Instrument and other scientific and diagnostic tools.
HAARP consists of an observatory and an adjacent 28-acre area with 180 HF (high-frequency) antennas, each 25 meters tall, with a maximum transmission power of 3,600 kilowatts — about 75 times the power of a commercial radio station, but only a tiny fraction of the energy naturally received from the sun in the same region of the ionosphere.
Communication and navigation signals are transmitted through the atmosphere for a wide range of civilian and military uses. Guided missiles rely on digital signals that can be affected or blocked by various natural and artificial causes. GPS and encrypted communications must be able to reach their recipients even in wartime, regardless of atmospheric or electromagnetic conditions. Studying these phenomena is the primary reason DARPA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy helped fund HAARP.
Additionally, by bouncing signals off the ionosphere at an altitude of 100 km, HAARP can produce extremely low frequency (ELF) waves — as low as 1 Hertz — which can theoretically be used for global communication, even reaching submarines. However, the data transmission rate is so slow it is practically useless. Before concluding that ELF waves could be used to generate earthquakes, note that the maximum amplitude of ELF signals generated by HAARP has been measured at less than one ten-billionth of the Earth’s natural background field.
This research program has long been the target of numerous conspiracy theories and misinformation, falsely claiming it can control human minds, manipulate the weather, and cause earthquakes. Similar claims have been debunked by various fact-checking organizations, such as USA Today. Our organization has also debunked similar claims in the past, including after the earthquake in Kos, more recently in Santorini, the 2017 earthquake on the Turkey–Syria border, and the floods in Valencia in 2024.
Conclusion:
The earthquake was caused by natural tectonic activity along the Sagaing Fault, not by HAARP.