the Moon and the Earthquake

**zak** · 19-03-2011, 05:37

it is said that when the moon are closest to the earth it may cause earthquakes, there is a contemplation that this is what makes the japan earthquake so powerfull, watch the moon today after sunset, but how can we watch the moon with all those buildings. look for this supermoon here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...s-tsunami.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...-disaster.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...est-full-moon/

in the legends the moon can desclose what a man hide in his deep nature showing that he have a wolf teeth inside, like the earthquake wich uncover what was inside, like dracula. so be carefull from your neighbor. if you find your wife behave strangly ,say this is the moon effect
there is a free astro program called celestia www.shatters.net/celestia i think you can use to find where is this or that object will be in the sky

**danbaron** · 19-03-2011, 08:34

I read zak's articles, and, I don't think the gravitational effect of the Moon on objects on the Earth's surface, is much (I think the articles agree).

I think the tides occur because, the Moon is pulling on the entire ocean. When the Moon is overhead, the sea level increases slightly beneath it, and the tide, "goes out". When the Moon is on the other side of the Earth, the sea level goes back down, and the tide, "comes in".

When you do the calculation (below), for the Moon's pull on individual objects on the Earth's surface, you find how tiny it is.

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Newton's equation of the gravitational force between two objects is,

F = G * M1 * M2 / R^2

where,

G *= the universal constant of gravitation
M1 = the mass of one object
M2 = the mass of the other object
R *= the distance from the center of the first object to the center of the second object

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%...al_gravitation

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At the lunar perigee (when the moon is closest to the Earth), the Moon is 221460 miles from the Earth (center to center).
At the lunar apogee (when the moon is farthest from the Earth), the Moon is 252700 miles from the Earth (center to center).

The mass of the Moon, is approximately 1/81 times the mass of the Earth.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/sub...stronomy/moon/

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The radius of the Earth is approximately 4000 miles.

http://geography.about.com/od/learna...earthfacts.htm

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Let,

Fye = the force on you due to the Earth's gravity
Fym = the force on you due to the Moon's gravity, when the Moon is at it's perigee, and is directly overhead
Me *= the mass of the Earth
Mm *= the mass of the moon
My *= the mass of you
Re *= the distance from the center of the Earth to the Earth's surface
Rm *= the distance from the center of the Moon to the Earth's surface, when the Moon is at its perigee, and is directly overhead

Let, "~=", mean, "is approximately equal to".

Then,

Fye = G * Me * My / Re^2 .

And,

Fym = G * Mm * My / Rm^2 .

Therefore,

Fye / Fym *= (Me / Mm) * (Rm / Re)^2 ,

Fye / Fym ~= 81 * ((221460 - 4000) / 4000)^2 ,

Fye / Fym ~= 239400 .

This means that the Moon's gravitational force on you (or on anything on the Earth's surface), even when the Moon is as close to you as it can get, is tiny.

It means that if you weighed 100 pounds when the Moon was exerting its maximum gravitational pull on you, then, if the Moon suddenly disappeared, you would weigh approximately,

100 + 100 / 239400 = 100.00042 pounds.

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**zak** · 19-03-2011, 11:32

thanks for the detailed calculations about the effect on tiny objects, i forgot a lot about physics. regarding the very big objects such as the ocean, or the inner earth's very big slabs may be the moon gravity can pull it to a disaster this is like a heavy rock on the edge needs only a small push to fall.
i hope they will rescue japan from this horrible event, also the redioactive materials can propagate by the wind to all other places in the globe.
also i remember a documentary movie which show that the police records in the full moon day show more crimes than normal.
i like the idea about the effect of the moon on the individual by an unknown force other than gravity. just a contemplation

**danbaron** · 20-03-2011, 06:22

I agree about the heavy rock.

I think the design of Fukushima is bad. And, do you think it was a good idea to build it so very close to the ocean, in one of the the worst earthquake zones in the world? I wonder what Tepco (the owner) is thinking about now?

I think that almost everyone wants some type of magic to be real, including for the moon's effect on people. If there is no magic, and everything can be explained by science, then, I think we we exist for a short time for no reason, and then we cease to exist - all for nothing. Who likes that possibility? Who doesn't want to hope for something better after this unpleasant existence?