Did March supermoon spark earthquake?

Weather bloggers noted that the 2004 boxing day tsunami was on a supermoon night too

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


The massive earthquake shook Japan, unleashing powerful tsunamis that sent ships crashing into the shore and carried cars through the streets of coastal towns

On March 19, the moon will loom large in our skies and be at its closest distance from the Earth in 18 years. And weather bloggers noted there was a supermoon just before the last monster tsunami in Asia on Boxing Day 2004.

Conspiracy theorists on the Internet have made catastrophic predictions of tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Next week, the moon will pass a mere 2,21,567 miles from our planet and a few amateur scientists have predicted extreme conditions all over the world.
u00a0
The event known as a lunar perigee happens when a full or new moon comes within 90 per cent of its closest approach possible.

Theories

Those that come nearest to Earth are called extreme supermoons, just like the one expected next week.
u00a0
Blogger Daniel Vogler wrote on weather website AccuWeather, "The last extreme supermoon occurred on January 10th, 2005, right around the time of the 9.0 Indonesia earthquake.

That extreme supermoon was a new moon. So be forewarned. Something big could happen on or around this date."

Previous supermoons were sighted in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005 all years that had extreme weather events.
u00a0
The tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia happened two weeks before the January 2005 supermoon.

Did you know?
Previous supermoons were sighted in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005u00a0all years that had extreme weather events.

Boxing Day tsunami
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which resulted in a tsunami is called the Boxing Day Tsunami

Off Twitter

Sending condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who lost loved ones in the earthquake & tsunamis. US stands ready to help.
Barack Obama

One of the worst calamities has hit Japan. May the departed souls rest in peace. God bless the world.
Bipasha Basu

My heart goes out to Japan. Having lived thru one in Chennai I can't even imagine how this must be.
R Madhavan

Its so sad and scary to see Japan going through such a horrible time. My prayers go to everyone there and all the families affected.
Serena Williams

You are constantly in our thoughts and prayers at this most dreadful and challenging of times.
The Prince of Wales to the Emperor of Japan

Number Game
1,200 - Twitter use skyrocketed, with tweets coming out of Tokyo topping 1,200 per minute, according to Tweet-o-Meter, a traffic-monitoring system at University College of London.

$50 Billion - Approximate cost of damage caused by the earthquake in Japan

Japan's worst quake in 100 years

8.3
March 3, 1933
Toll: 3,064

8.0
Dec 21, 1946
Toll: 1,443

7.9
Sept 1, 1923
Toll: 1,42,807

7.9
October 28, 1891
Toll: 7,273

7.9
Dec 7, 1944
Toll: 1,223

7.5
March 7, 1927
Toll: 2,925

7.3
January 17, 1995
Toll: 6,434

7.2
Sept 10, 1943
Toll: 1,083

7.1
June 15, 1896
Toll: 21,959

7.1
June 28, 1948
Toll: 3,769

6.8
Jan 13, 1945
Toll: 2,306