Japanese earthquake

Speaking of quacks, I hear that people are blaming a so-called 'supermoon' for the dreadful earthquake.

I had the pleasure of visiting Sendai a few of years ago and found the people there very hospitable.  If any country in the world can deal with this catastrophe calmly and efficiently then I am sure it is Japan.

This supermoon idea is just nonsense.  The moon and sun together exert a greater force on the Earth at full moon and new moon. The evidence for this is that you get 'spring tides' at those times.

Just at the moment we are a few days from new moon and I just checked the tide tables and see that the tides are not unusually high due to this impending 'supermoon'. Even if they were, they would have been higher a few days ago, at new moon.

Incidentally, the next full moon will bring tides among the highest in the year as the equinoctial spring tides are always the highest - and a great time to see the Severn Bore if you live near enough.

Tidal forces on the oceans can't be different from tidal forces on the Earth's crust. That means that according to the hypothesis of the Daily Mail the earthquake was several days too late.

In other words - the hypothesis is demonstrably hopeless.