• Question: Does the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan have anything to do with the ' Supermoon ' on March 19 2011?

    Asked by hoppo96 to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 16 Mar 2011. This question was also asked by llamas.
    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi hoppo
      Definitely not! The supermoon has such a tiny affect on the earth that it couldn’t possibly trigger such dramatic connsequences

    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      I’m not an expert on this, but scientists who I work with study earthquakes and say that there is absolutely no connection.
      What has happened in Japan is terrible and hopefully scientists, along with everybody else can help the people affected by this and hopefully avoid something as disasterous happening again.

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      I’m not an astronomer, but every reputable scientist I have read on the subject, including Brian Cox, says that the supermoon theory is bunk. I believe him!

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      No!! The orbit of the moon around the earth is slightly non-circular – it is elipsed (i.e. egg shaped). So sometimes the moon is closer and sometimes it is further away – but not by much. The closest point is called the perigee, the furthest point the apogee.
      A supermoon is when the moon is at its perigee and is also full – this creates a strong tide.
      The earthquake though was not due to the moon – it was due to movements of tectonic plates, and not affected by the moon. The moon was not at it’s perigee when the earthquake struck anyway.
      The tsunami is a little different – it is conceivable that if it occurred at high tide then the Tsunami may be a little larger. The effect though was probably insignificant compared to the size of the tsunami.
      So as the supermoon DID NOT happen when the earthquake did it could not have caused it. A supermoon (it’s such a stupid name!) does not cause earthquakes or tsunamis.

    • Photo: Jemma Ransom

      Jemma Ransom answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      To be honest I’m not entirely sure. I guess the answer is no since the supermoon I think relates to sea levels, whereas the earthquake and subsequent tsunami were due to movement of tectonic plates below Japan.

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