科技英语新闻:Incoming "supermoon" not connected to earthquakes: British experts

LONDON, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The moon would be in a "super position" on Saturday, which makes it a "supermoon" and the web is awash with myths about its implications such as connection to recent earthquakes, but that's not the case according to British experts.

Technically the so-called "supermoon" means that the moon would be in its perigee, the closest point to earth in its orbit on March 19, and on top of that, it would also be a full moon at the same time.

The massive earthquake in Japan just fueled the speculation that the gravitational pull of the "supermoon" will bring chaos to the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanic activities.

But "there is little that is special about perigee on March 19," said Dr. Robert Massey, deputy executive secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society. He said the moon will be around 360,000 km from the earth on that day, but this has happened at least 15 times during the last 400 years.

"There is no reason whatsoever to believe that there is a connection between the so-called 'supermoon' and the recent earthquake," Massey told Xinhua. "There are also no other 'abnormal' phenomena connected with a 'supermoon' other than the high tides that we experience twice every month."

Massey was echoed by Dr. Bruce Malamud, a geophysicist in the Department of Geography at King's College London, who that: "A supermoon will not be able to actually influence at all the internal workings of our Planet Earth, as there is so much momentum and mass already stored up, that the actual effect is negligible."

"The earthquake took place a full 8 days before the 'supermoon' meaning that the tidal forces exerted by the moon and sun together were near their minimum rather than maximum level, directly contradicting the fearmongers," said Massey.

Calling the "supermoon" claims "bogus science," he questioned the motives of those who made such claims on the day that thousands of people died in a severe earthquake and the ensuing tsunami.