Posted on 10/25/2006 3:04:06 PM PDT by blam
Moon and rain could mean quakes
25 October 2006
From New Scientist Print Edition.
A full moon may have triggered the Indian Ocean earthquake that caused the tsunami on 26 December 2004, a new study concludes.
Between October 2004 and August 2005 Robin Crockett from the University of Northampton, UK, and his colleagues monitored tremors and collected tidal data along the Java/Sumatra trench. They found that major quakes were 86 per cent more likely around new and full moons, when tides are at their greatest.
"At new and full moons the biggest mass of water is being loaded and unloaded at the plate boundary," Crockett says. That might be the final push that initiates a quake.
(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...
Me first!
Bush's fault!
Damn.
Earthquake Ping List. Please send a Freepmail if you want to be added or removed from this list.
*BUMP*!
I wonder what they mean by "around" full and near moons -- if they're counting three days before and after, that covers half the lunar cycle. Add to that a small sample size (only 10 months), and you've got a pretty week for a causal connection.
I really have to wonder, too, why the sample size is so small -- every tremor is recorded and lunar cycles are perfectly predictable, so I'd think it would be pretty east to set up a computer to process 20 or 30 years' worth of data, maybe more, going back however far the seismographic measurements are considered reliable.
Does this mean the Earth causes Moonquakes? :-P
I learned the difference between "spring tides" (solar and lunar gravity pulls aligned) and "neap tides" (solar and lunar gravity pulls counteracting each other) in grade school.
Are they a factor in earthquakes/tsunamis as well?
Jim Berkland's been saying that for years on Art Bell. He "predicted" the World Series quake on his Moon/tides model.
He factors in the "increase in missing pets ads in the paper" too.
Check out his website at http://www.syzygyjob.com/
His model's not perfect, either. He admitted it would have missed the 1906 San Francisco quake.
I don't know about the heavy rains. Exactly how long does it take to "lubricate" the faults?
I remember a proposal twenty or thirty years ago to pump water in to faults to get to slip a lot, rather than
letting go all at once.
Interesting.
I used to have a subscription to New Scientist,but dropped it after reading just a few issues.
What a waste of paper !
Thanks. Will read later.
Farmers Almanac approach to tsunamis.
near = new; pretty week = pretty weak case; pretty east= pretty easy
And that with the automatic preview and everything.
Yup. Berkland somewhat vindicated.
I remember watching a lunar eclipse in the late 60's sometime. Later that morning in the predawn timeframe, there was quite a large temblor in the Los Angeles basin area somewhere.
I have always believed there is a possible connection.
BTTT
I feel bad for the people but I hope the earthquakes stay down there. I had no idea there was a fault line in southern Maine!!!
Is not!!! It's Wisconsin's fault because they are the Cheese Capitol of the world! and they are 180 degrees opposite of Indonesia!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.