Extreme super moon occurs tomorrow

CLARK FREEPORT, Pampanga, Philippines  – Government astronomers said a phenomenon called extreme super moon (ESM) will occur tomorrow, but debunked claims that it could trigger catastrophic floods and major earthquakes.

In an interview with The STAR recently, Mario Raymundo of the astronomical laboratory of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said ESM occurs when a full moon coincides with its being nearest to earth.

Raymundo said the phenomenon will also result in what scientists refer to as syzygy or the alignment of the sun, moon and earth.

Jose Mendoza of PAGASA’s special astronomy publication section said the moon will be noticeably brighter on May 6 and that its visibility would be ideal for astronomy enthusiasts.

Raymundo, however, said linking earthquakes to ESM has no basis at all. “That’s too exaggerated. They are not correlated,” he said.

A report in AccuWeather.com quoting “astronomy expert” Daniel Vogler warned of major earthquakes as a result of a full moon that will be closest to earth at 356,900 kilometers on May 6.

Vogler said that while a super moon occurs every year, the ESM on May 6 will “stand out.”

“The window for major earthquakes will be from May 3 to 9 in UTC (coordinated universal time), as the tide shifts millions of tons of water on the ocean floor. Watch for coastal flooding and an increase in major quakes,” Vogler warned.

He said quakes are likely to occur “somewhere near the Australia/New Zealand region.”

“What we have on May 6 is what we call a perigean spring tide. A spring tide isn’t named because of the season, it literally means spring, jump out,” he said.

Vogler said during ESM, high tide increases at an average of 25 percent. He cited the ESM in 1962 wherein “a catastrophic perigean spring tide struck from the sea in the darkness of predawn and for the following 65 hours inundated the entire Atlantic coastline of the United States from the Carolinas to Cape Cod.” – With Helen Flores