Once in a Blue (Super) Moon

If you live in a coastal area or near an earthquake fault, you might consider moving to safer ground on March 19th. That's when a rare "lunar perigee" will occur that some people are calling an extreme "Super Moon" and believe it will trigger massive earthquakes, tsunamis and other disasters.

"Lunar perigee" simply refers to the day when the moon is closest to the Earth during its monthly orbit. The perigee that occurs on March 19th will be unusual in that the moon will be closer to Earth than it has been in 18 years and will also be full. Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer, says that combination is a recipe for natural disasters of biblical proportions. Some people who agree with Nolle are connecting the terrible earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan with the looming Super Moon.

As noted above, Nolle is an astrologer, not an astronomer or seismologist, and much of the scientific community remains skeptical of his doomsday predictions. (He also claims to have predicted many other historic events including the 9/11 terrorist attacks.) While it has been shown that lunar tides can have some effect on seismic activity, their impact, scientists say, is minimal. At times of full and new moons earthquake activity increases by a less than scary one percent. Volcanic activity shows a slightly greater increase.

So can Super Moons be dismissed as mere pseudo science? People on either side of the issue have examined past Super Moon events in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005, and pointed to natural disasters that have or have not occurred around the same time as evidence of their points of view. Those who believe that Super Moons have the power to wreak havoc note, for example, that the Super Moon of January 10, 2005 occurred right about the same time as a deadly 9.0 earthquake in Indonesia.

In the next few days and weeks we'll all learn the truth about Super Moons...or not. In the meantime, if you wish to read about the case in favor of Super Moons you might checkout Richard Nolle's website, www.astropro.com. If on the other hand, you want to see Super Moons debunked, visit Discover Magazine's Bad Astronomy blog.