November 14 Biggest Supermoon to Spark Huge Tidal Waves and Massive Earthquakes: Facts

Story:

Biggest Supermoon ‘to spark huge tidal waves and massive earthquakes’

Other Versions

1. The supermoon on November 14 triggers a superquake

2. Red Alert: Apocalyptic Supermoon Largest Since 1948 to Occur November 14, 2016

3. End Of The World 2016: November 14 Supermoon To Bring Tidal Waves & Earthquakes

Analysis:

According to certain stories doing rounds online, the November 14 Supermoon in 2016 is going to spark Huge Tidal Waves and Massive Earthquakes that might even lead to End of the World. Although some conspiracy theorists have raised this alarm and the stories caused some panic among netizens, the claims that the supermoon on November 14 is going to cause huge tidal waves or massive earthquakes and destruction are not facts.

Picture Suggesting November 14 Biggest Supermoon to Spark Huge Tidal Waves and Massive Earthquakes — November 14 Biggest Supermoon to Spark Huge Tidal Waves and Massive Earthquakes

Origin of Stories

Starting since late September 2016 online outlets like UFO Sightings Hotspot (ufosightingshotspot.blogspot.in), Daily Star (dailystar.co.uk) and Before It’s News (beforeitsnews.com) have come up with similar claims that the supermoon (perigee full moon) on 14 November 2016 will bring the moon closer to Earth than it has been since 26 January 1948 and that you can expect a large range in ocean tides (exceptionally low to exceptionally high) in the coming days. Notably, they also mentioned that it can generate strong tidal forces, sparking devastating tidal waves and triggering mega earthquakes. To support the claims, they mention an ‘unrelated’ study published in the Journal Nature Geoscience that seems to show such evidence that caused notorious earthquakes in the past, like the ones in Indonesia in 2004, Chile in 2010 and Japan in 2011.

Actual Facts

The aforementioned study published in Nature Geoscience journal in September 2016 actually says that the possibility that Tidal Stress can trigger Earthquakes is long debated. The scientists who reviewed the past data found that the very large earthquakes in Sumatran, Chile and Japan tend to occur near the time of maximum tidal stress amplitude, and the tendency is not obvious for small earthquakes. The study concluded that large earthquakes are more probable during periods of high tidal stress, but did not relate it or talk about moon (lunar) activity.

Picture Showing Lunar Cycles — Lunar Cycles

It is a fact that the moon has an influence on planet Earth. “The gravitational pull of the moon creates Earth tides and sea tides and causes portions of the Earth’s surface to bulge,” according to Rich Briggs, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS). But the connection between lunar cycles (full moon and phases of moon) and earthquakes is not known well, as described in an article on National Geographic News website news.nationalgeographic.com.

NASA website science.nasa.gov mentions that the full moon of November 14 is not only the closest one of 2016 but also the closest to date in the 21st century, and the full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until 25 November 2034. However, they did not mention any such warnings of huge tidal waves or massive earthquakes.

So the stories saying the November 14 Biggest Supermoon in 2016 is going to spark huge tidal waves and massive earthquakes are certainly hoaxes. According to Earth Sky website earthsky.org, the biggest, closest and brightest supermoon in 2016 will occur only for about one and a half hours after the Moon reaches perigee. You can also find more details and possibility of viewing experience in their website.