Iranians search for their belongings in Kuik village, Kermanshah Province, Iran EPA

Earth’s rotation is going to slow down next year – and it could unleash dozens of devastating earthquakes in heavily populated areas, scientists have warned.

Researchers believe that tiny variations in the speed of Earth’s rotation can release huge amounts of energy beneath the ground – triggering intense earthquakes.

Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado said, ‘The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquake activity is strong and suggests there is going to be an increase in numbers of intense earthquakes next year.’

Bilham and his colleague Rebecca Bendick of the University of Montana analysed earthquakes going back to 1900.

Debris from a nearby building lies on a street in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea EPA

The researchers found that periods where Earth’s rotation slowed coincided with a rise in intense earthquakes from around 15 a year to 25-30, the Guardian reports.

Bilham said, ‘It is straightforward. The Earth is offering us a five-year heads-up on future earthquakes.’

‘The inference is clear. Next year we should see a significant increase in numbers of severe earthquakes.

‘We have had it easy this year. So far we have only had about six severe earthquakes. We could easily have 20 a year starting in 2018.’