Turkey's top seismologist appealed to a nervous public that there was no link between eclipses and earthquakes and gave assurances that there was nothing to fear from the March 29 total solar eclipse.  (Noontime darkness over Israel and the Middle East! - Miriam Howard)

"When we check to see whether there is a scientific or statistical model to link solar eclispse with earthquakes, we find none," Gulay Barbarasoglu, the head of the Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory, told a news conference.

"Right now, we unfortunately see a serious lack of knowledge and a serious mix-up of facts out there," she added Thursday.

Turks have become increasingly wary of eclipses since a solar eclipse preceded two massive earthquakes in the country's heavily industrialized and densely populated northwest in August and November 1999 which killed some 20,000 people.

Since some experts have claimed that the 1999 earthquakes were triggered by the eclipse and their remarks have been widely reported in the press.

The scenario has surfaced again with the upcoming total eclipse, which is expected to be viewed clearly in a belt extending from the tourist resort of Antalya on the southern Mediterranean cost to the city of Ordu on the northern Black Sea coast.