We’re a bunch of shaky isles, that’s for sure. The great gods that support us just shrugged again and things were broken.
May you all with damaged property get the help you need to repair and keep yourselves safe. If you want to talk about it, we’ll listen—it’s the least we can do.
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Jo Nova writes about the possibility of the current unusually close proximity of the moon having an influence on the earthquake(s).
http://joannenova.com.au/2016/11/supermoon-tomorrow-moon-at-closest-point-for-70-years-news-7-9-quake-hits-new-zealand/#more-51750
Fascinating, Magoo, thanks.
Christchurch came through pretty unscathed, and I didn’t even feel the shake in Tekapo
My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Kaikoura whose livelihoods are almost completely dependent on tourism. People are being choppered out right now, and Navy ships are coming with supplies on Wednesday
When Ken Ring suggested the probability that the moon could cause earthquakes after the first Christchurch quake he was pilloried by the NZ media with John Campbell going into meltdown.
And deservedly so. The moon does not cause earthquakes. It is possible that tidal forces could advance or exacerbate the rupture of a brittle active fault, but there is insufficient correlation for useful prediction.
The Jo Nova article doesn’t claim that the moon causes earthquakes, only that it could make them worse.
It seems vaguely plausible that an increased gravitational field due to a closer moon might have some effect on seismic activity, but I guess we need to defer to the experts.
What do the 97% think?