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March 19 supermoon to spell havoc?
by Jaspreet Virk - March 10, 2011 - comments
This year, the sky will be lighted with supermoon on March 19. The moon will be just 221,567 miles from Earth, thus closest to the planet since 1992.
Will we see tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other disasters with 'supermoon' next week? Well, while astrologers are warning that moon's closest approach to Earth will wreck havoc, the scientists have ruled out the prediction.
Wondering what a supermoon is? Don't confuse it with a harvest moon or a blue moon. A supermoon is new or a full moon which is very close to Earth, and it happens just once in every two or three years.
This year, the sky will be lighted with supermoon on March 19. The moon will be just 221,567 miles from Earth, thus closest to the planet since 1992.
Astrologers warn of chaos
While the sight of the big and bright moon in the sky will definitely be beautiful, astrologers are dreading its impact.
Richard Nolle, a noted astrologer, stated on his website astropro.com, “The March 19 SuperMoon is by far the most significant storm and seismic indicator this month.”
According to Nolle, supermoon might trigger disaster. Strong storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes are expected to wreck havoc.
Though astrologers are saying that the month of March could witness severe weather and seismic activity, the scientists have rubbished the claims.
Supermoon disasters in past
The astrologers claim that predictions are not baseless, as extreme supermoons in the past years, 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005, have wrecked havoc.
In fact, one can chronologically associate many natural disasters with supermoons.
For instance, the supermoon in 1974 has been linked to to Cyclone Tracy that caused havoc in Darwin, Australia.
Later in July 2005, supermoon was blamed for the tsunami that killed thousands of people in Indonesia.
Scientists dismiss theories
Though astrologers are saying that the month of March could witness severe weather and seismic activity, the scientists have rubbished the claims.
John Bellini, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told Life's Little Mysteries, "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."
Similarly, John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, stated that though both sun and moon stress the Earth a bit, there is “a very small increase in tectonic activity when they're aligned.”
"Practically speaking, you'll never see any effect of lunar perigee. It's somewhere between 'It has no effect' and 'It's so small you don't see any effect.”