The Sun predicting earthquakes?

NASA has made significant progress in one area - predicting earthquakes?

The Times of India reports that a correlation has been discovered between major earthquakes and sun spots. This is not to say that the sun spot causes an earthquake. Rather, that it triggers a situation that is on the razor edge and the earthquake results.

NEW DELHI: It may not be long before scientists start tracking "sunspots" to predict earthquakes, some hours before they hit seismologically-active areas. And a JNU professor and his team would be behind the scenes.

The NASA and the European Geosciences Union have already put their stamp of approval on the sunspot hypothesis, which suggests that certain changes in the sun-earth environment affects the magnetic field of the earth that can trigger earthquakes in areas prone to it.

... This theory is a definite development in the field of earthquake prediction,"said Saumitra Mukherjee, associate professor, School of Environmental Sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). NASA has allowed Mukherjee’s team access to their data free of cost to work on the theory. "These changes take place about 24-36 hours before the earthquake so they can definitely help predict it,"he said