Coming Saturday—the March Supermoon!

This Saturday, March 19, the moon will swing around Earth more closely than it has in the past eighteen years, lighting up the night sky from just 221,567 miles (356,577 kilometers) away. 

Could this cause real damage? Noted astrologer, Richard Nolle, who runs the website astropro.com, has calls the upcoming full moon a “lunar perigee” (a moon taking its closest approach during orbit) an "extreme supermoon." He claims chaos will ensue: huge storms, earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural disasters. 

How much do you believe in the mysticism of astrology? In light of the horrific and desperate recent events occurring in Japan, I doubt any of us want to believe his prediction.

There are normal measurable effects the moon has on the Earth. The moon is close enough to Earth to produce ocean tides. Also, the moon’s gravity brings about small oscillating movements of the continents, called land tide or solid Earth tides. These are greatest during full and new moons, when sun and moon are aligned either on the same or opposite sides of the Earth.

According to John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington in Seattle and director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, "Both the moon and sun do stress the Earth a tiny bit, and when we look hard we can see a very small increase in tectonic activity when they're aligned.” During full and new moons, "you see a less-than-one-percent increase in earthquake activity, and a slightly higher response in volcanoes.”

According to William Wilcock, seismologist also at the University of Washington, earthquake activity in subduction zones, like the Pacific Northwest, is ten percent higher at low tides than at the times of high tides. Water pressure at high tide clamps the fault together, while when low, with less water pressure, it’s easier for a fault to slip.

And will the Supermoon cause greater effects? Those quoted above say the gravitational pull of the lunar pedigree moon does not increase enough to significantly change height of tides and thus the likelihood of natural disasters is nil.

Folklore describes the March full moon as a time of change in nature. It is called the Worm Moon, being at the time of snow thaw when worms begin to appear and become a source of food for returning robins. Northern American Indian tribes knew this moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter. It’s also named the Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, when the sap flows. 

I hope changes of spring are the only ones this March full moon heralds. Watch for its rise this Saturday night.

References: Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to SPACE.com.

Art reference: Crossie