Bad ‘supermoon’ rising?

Tokyo Japan's devastating earthquake comes a day after a warning that an extreme "supermoon" would spark chaos across the globe.



While astronomers and other scientists suggest everyone just take a chill pill and enjoy the prospect of a larger moon on March 19, internet is abuzz with doomsday prophecy - termed by US astrologer Richard Nolle as moonageddon.

Supermoons are closer to Earth and occur every 10 to 20 years - the most recent being in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005.

On March 19, the moon will be 356,577 kilometres from Earth, the closest it has been since 1992.

And weather bloggers noted that the last monster tsunami in Asia on Boxing Day 2004 was just a week before the January 2005 supermoon.
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On March 19th 2011, the moon will make its closest approach to Earth in almost 20 years, possibly triggering earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other disasters.

The phenomenon, called lunar perigee or Supermoon, happens when the moon reaches its absolute closest point to Earth. On March 19, the natural satellite will be only 221,567 miles away from our planet.
There were Supermoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005, and these years had their share of extreme weather conditions, too. Although there are scientific laws that say the moon affects the Earth, it's still ambiguous whether the lunar perigee and natural disasters is coincidence or not.
Two days after online warnings that the Supermoon might trigger disasters, the devastating Japanese tsunami forced everyone to think - could the movement of the moon cause natural calamities?
"Supermoons have a historical association with strong storms, very high tides, extreme tides and also earthquakes," the Daily Mail quoted astrologer Richard Nolle, who first coined the term in 1979, as saying in an interview with ABC radio.
However, scientists dismiss this as utter nonsense.
Dr David Harland, space historian and author, said, "It's possible that the moon may be a kilometre or two closer to Earth than normal at a perigee, but it's an utterly insignificant event."
Professor George Helffrich, a seismologist at the University of Bristol was equally dismissive.
"Complete nonsense. The moon has no significant effect on earthquake triggering. If the moon triggers "big" earthquakes, it would trigger the many of millions of times more "small" earthquakes that happen daily. There is no time dependence of those; hence no moon effect," he said.
According to Dr Roger Musson, of the British Geological Survey (BGS), the devastating earthquake occurred because the Pacific Plate is plunging underneath Japan.
However, while hoping for a non-disastrous ‘moon giant’, point your eyes and camera lenses toward the night sky on 19th. If the sky is clear, you’re gonna get an exceptional celestial treat.



On March 19, moon will be closest to earth since 1992
Japan's quake comes just three weeks after the earthquake which devastated Christchurch in New Zealand killing hundreds.

However, experts deny that supermoons are responsible for these apocalyptic events.

Pete Wheeler, of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy, explained: "There will be no earthquakes or volcanoes erupting, unless they are to happen anyway.

"The Earth will experience just a lower than usual low tide and a higher than usual high tide around the time of the event, but nothing to get excited about."