Truth About 'Supermoon': Will Quakes, Extreme Weather Hit Earth On March 19?

By Jijo Jacob | March 09 2011 11:20 PM

Will there be chaos, a flurry of natural disasters and extreme weather on March 19 when the moon will come close to Earth? The full moon at lunar perigee, the closest approach during its orbit, can wreak havoc on Earth, according to astrologers. But the scientific community doesn't see reason for hiding under the table and stocking up supplies though it doesn’t rubbish the impact of the phenomenon altogether.

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There are reports that the instances of perigee moon, termed by one astrologer as 'super moon', has triggered natural disasters before. Though there is no way to predict the course of events on March 19, what you will see for certain is a bigger moon on that day, which will light up the night sky from just 221,567 miles away.

Astrologer Richard Nolle says disasters like huge storms, earthquakes and volcanoes could strike earth on March 19 as a closer moon will exert more gravitational pull on earth.

Will there be greater seismic and volcanic activity on March 19, when the full moon will be very close to Earth?

The question is not actually so crazy. In fact scientists have studied related scenarios for decades. Even under normal conditions, the moon is close enough to Earth to make its weighty presence felt: It causes the ebb and flow of the ocean tides, Space.com said in an article.

But the article quotes scientists as saying the impact of the lunar perigee will not assume disastrous proportions. A lot of studies have been done on this kind of thing by USGS scientists and others... They haven't found anything significant at all, John Bellini, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told the site.

But several websites are saying that historical evidence shows there is the likelihood of untoward weather events allied with the lunar perigee.

Get ready for what could be moderate to severe weather patterns, increased seismic activity, tsunamis and more volcanic eruptions than normal, says website psychiccosmos.com.

This site also says extreme weather conditions have occurred during past instances of the supermoon phenomenon. According to it Hurricane Katrina, which happened in 2005, was the result of the supermoon phenomenon. The super moon occurred in 1955, 1974 and 1992, accompanied by extreme weather conditions.

Also, the earthquake in Indonesia which had a magnitude of 9.0 happened due to the super moon, the report says.

This March may prove to be one of the worst months for severe weather and seismic activity yet this year, according to the site.

However, there is also the argument that every perigee moon in history hasn't caused natural disasters.

The bottom line is, the upcoming supermoon won't cause a preponderance of earthquakes, although the idea isn't a crazy one, according to space.com.