The Earthquake Forecaster Man

He is said to be the one who knows everything that goes on in the rather restless subsoil of the spa town of Covasna. Sándor Gyila, a retired physicist at the Dr. Benedek Géza Heart Hospital, is, of course, familiar with the saying that if the people of Covasna knew what was going on underneath them, they would move, but he, perhaps the one who is most aware of it, has no intention of running away. He believes that people should be informed about all this and that it is not only ethical but also obligatory to dispel a series of misconceptions, such as the fact that there is post-volcanism in Covasna when there is no such thing. It is nothing more than a product of an older, university-level geology teaching.

He constantly monitors the "behaviour" of the waters in Covasna and the isotopic behaviour of the gases. The waters even had the "audacity" to "swap" chemical compositions between the two springs in the Elvira tent in the central square. In January 2020, a similar case made it clear that something would happen. For two weeks, the Vrancea zone has been quiet, even though there should have been small earthquakes daily. He warned the city's mayor - according to his assumptions - two days before the earthquake was due to hit and, fortunately, the 5.2 magnitude earthquake a day and a half later caused no major damage. Sándor Gyila has so far predicted three earthquakes with epicentres in Vrancea.

Samu Csinta