An Islamic cleric’s suggestion that “immodestly” dressed women are the cause of earthquakes has resulted in nearly 200,000 women around the globe pledging to show their cleavage today to prove him wrong, in an online phenomenon aptly named “Boobquake”.

Last week, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi , an Iranian cleric, was quoted as saying: “Many women who do not dress modestly…lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.”

On Friday, Jen McCreight, a US student took to her blog to promote Boobquake as a way for “other female skeptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts”.

The combined Boobquake Facebook pages have almost 250,000 members vowing to “dress immodestly”, including a photo album with over 300 pictures. On Twitter, #boobquake is a trending topic in the UK and US. Users can also purchase an official Boobquake t-shirt, with all proceeds going to charity.

On her blog, McCreight admitted Boobquake is all in good humour: “Really, it’s not supposed to be serious activism that is going to revolutionize women’s rights, but just a bit of fun juvenile humor. I’m a firm believer that when someone says something so stupid and hateful, serious discourse isn’t going to accomplish anything – sometimes light-hearted mockery is worthwhile.”

Today, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake was reported in Taiwan. However, according to NASA, more than 8,000 minor earthquakes occur each day without causing any damage. Of those, only about 1,100 are strong enough to be felt.