Did Catholic Online predict the Supermoon Quake in New Zealand?

Prediction made on Nov. 4 seems close, but is it really a prediction?

Did Catholic Online predict the supermoon double quake in New Zealand? On Nov. 4, we reported that a major quake was possible on or around Nov. 14. To be fair, we were far from certain, but the eerily accurate prediction may cause some to take notice of the influence the Moon may have on earthquakes.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - I am not in the business of predicting earthquakes, but in late August, (8/21) I was warned by someone who knows to watch that band of latitude for a major quake. I can't share my source and will not. Subsequently, by putting together that very generous prediction with the supermoon, which causes larger-than-usual tides, I got an earthquake window.

I am not a geologist, so I offered no specifics that could have saved lives or made a difference. My prediction was unscientific and does not count. But I am shocked.

I did not expect anything to happen, and it remains within the realm of reasonability that my wide guess was a coincidence. Still, what happened in New Zealand was rare.

The quake in New Zealand appears to be a double quake, two faults triggered virtually at once. Seismologists know this because the aftershocks are coming from two areas, on two different faults. The primary quake was a 7.8 that struck two minutes after midnight.

Aftershocks appear to be coming from two faults that crisscross New Zealand. Geologists think both faults were triggered by the main quake. Aftershocks continue to rattle the region.

In addition to the quake, quick-thinking people filmed the night sky, capturing video evidence of blue and green flashes in the sky, (WARNING LANGUAGE) long reported to occur during earthquakes. They are called earthquake lights. Scientists don't know why these flashes of light occur. They are only associated with powerful quakes.

These circumstances make the quake in New Zealand a rare case.

But what was the influence of the supermoon? A just over a day later, the Moon reached its closest point to Earth in 70 years, and appeared closer and brighter than usual. A casual observer might not notice much. The difference in size was likely less than 1 percent larger than normal. Even astronomers are unable to perceive the difference in apparent size of the Moon without equipment.

The supermoon is experienced on Earth in the form of more extreme tides. These tides do affect the crust, but the difference is supposedly quite minuscule. At the same time, it is difficult to be skeptical when you imagine the tremendous volume of water being bushed in a bulge around the globe. doesn't that weight change affect something?

If it does, the hypothesis hasn't been proven. Neither supermoons, full moons, new moons or tides have yet shown a correlation with major quakes. Apogee and perigee appear meaningless in seismology. We can determine the location and phase of the Moon at any point in time in the distant past by running a model backwards. At no time, even in ancient history, has a correlation between the Moon and earthquakes been demonstrated.

So did I predict a supermoon quake? No, I predicted nothing, although it would sure be cool to say I did. And likewise I remain skeptical of such predictions today.

Yet despite my skepticism, I am curious about one little detail.

How did my source know what latitude to watch for the quake? Perhaps he'll tell me. But there's more to the world than what I know and what scientists know, or are telling us.

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