Full moons could trigger larger earthquakes

New research by scientists in Japan has revealed that large earthquakes are more likely to take place during a full or new moon, a time when tidal stresses on Earth are at their greatest.

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The University of Tokyo researchers looked at earthquakes with a magnitude 5.5 or great that occurred in the past two decades and found that the biggest quakes happened on days near new or full moons.

According to Science Alert, scientists have long argued that these could influence earthquakes due to the extra tidal stress on the Earth's surface.

The scientists worked out that very large earthquakes, such as Sumatra in 2004, 2010 in Chile and in Japan in 2011, occurred near the time of maximum tidal strain, or during new and full moons when the sun, moon and Earth align.

Nature.com reports that Honn Kao, a seismologist at the Geological Survey of Canada and Natural Resources Canada, said: "This is a very innovative way to address this long-debated issue.

"It gives us some sense into the possible relationship between tidal stress and the occurrence of big earthquakes."

As there are too many factors that contribute to triggering earthquakes, the study will not be the final word on the matter but John Vidale, a seismologist at the University of Washington, says "the results are plausible".