The moon is going to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter later at 3:00 a.m., Manila time. Therefore, the name “super moon”. Most people I’ve met today in the supermarket while checking on the sale of air purifiers have been looking forward to getting a good view of the super moon. Since it is a rare occurrence that happens every 18-20 years (the last one was in March 1993) on a full moon schedule, better go out and see the earth’s moon for all its worth.
According to some websites, the view of the super moon can be more amplified with a tree or a building on the foreground. Better get your cameras ready and find a spot on a higher ground. And hopefully, it would be less cloudy too later.
It’s just bad that this year’s super moon rose in the height of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. But astronomers and scientists were quick to answer that the super moon has nothing to do with these calamities. While the moon’s gravity has an effect on our tides, it is not enough to make the earth shake or cause a tsunami.
Or maybe it does affect the brains of some.
Over 30 earthquakes with magnitudes between 6 and 9 have already rocked Japan since the year 684. The biggest one, however, occurred just yesterday, March 11, 2011, registering at 8.9. The world watched and gasped with unbelief as the cameras panned over shaking posts and buildings, people ducking under their tables as things started to drop as electricity went out with LCD’s mounted on tv brackets serving as sources of light . Not much damaged done on infrastructures, until a series of tsunamis around 10 meters high struck the coasts of Sendai sweeping cars, houses and people.
This brings us to another question: What would happen if a similar disaster strikes the Philippines?
With that magnitude, it would claim more lives given the lousy infrastructures we have and the unpreparedness of this government for any disaster. Again, Architect Felino Palafox Jr. was on TV last night calling on the government and reminded the public of dire consequences of the country’s lack of proper urban plan. The last time I saw him was during Ondoy. His company has managed to help other countries like India, wherein sub-standard buildings had been demolished and rebuilt after heeding his recommendations. I wonder how frustrating it was to him to find that this government has been sitting over his proposals for decades. The Big One, or that expected movement of the Marikina Valley Fault Line, may come any moment soon.
If you wonder why earthquakes have been happening most of the time in the Pacific Region, check this map and find that we’ve got a ring of volcanoes (red dots) surrounding us that resulted from plate movements underneath the earth since the world began.
While we were partying at home, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake shook South America with its epicenter in Chile. Tsunami created by this quake threatens to wash over the islands in the Pacific Ocean, including Japan and the Philippines in 24-hour time frame. Warnings have been issued to the residents of low-lying areas, particularly those who live along the coastal lines of the Pacific to abandon their places and move to a higher ground. Maybe next time consider those Outer Banks beach rentals or any inland summer getaway. But who’s safe these days?
The Chilean earthquake is the fifth strongest on record since 1900. And there were more devastating quakes than that.
1) May 22, 1960
Southern Chile
Magnitude 9.5
Death toll: 1,655
2) March 28, 1964
Prince William Sound, Alaska
Magnitude 9.2
Death toll: 113
3) December 26, 2004
Northern Sumatra
Magnitude 9.1
Death toll: 227,898
4) November 4, 1952
Kamchatka Peninsula
Magnitude 9.0
Death toll: none
5) February 27, 2010
Maule, Chile
Magnitude 8.8
Death toll: to be determined
6) January 31, 1908
Ecuador
Magnitude 8.8
Death toll: unknown
7) February 4, 1965
Rat Islands, Alaska
Magnitude 8.7
Death toll: no reported deaths
8 ) March 28, 2005
Northern Sumatra
Magnitude 8.6
Death toll: 1,400
9) August 15, 1950
Assam, India and Tibet
Magnitude 8.6
Death toll: 780
10) March 9, 1957
Andreanof Islands, Alaska
Magnitude 8.6
Death toll: none
