Boobquake phenom goes viral

The Boobquake event illustrates the sheer power of social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook.

A woman who was disgruntled when an Iranian cleric preached that female cleavage causes earthquakes has caused her own social networking phenomenon.

More than 62,000 people have signed up to the internet campaign on Facebook for "Boobquake" day, AFP reported today.

Boobquake is the branchild of of Jennifer McCreight, a self-described "geeky, perverted atheist feminist".

McCreight, who lives in the US state of Indiana, used the world's leading social network and microblogging service Twitter to enlist women worldwide to test the cleric's assertion that natural disasters like earthquakes are God's response to scantily clad women.

"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupting their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted last week as saying by Iranian media.

"I encourage other female sceptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts," McCreight said on the Boobquake Facebook page. "Or short shorts, if that's your preferred form of immodesty."