Front Page of the Day

Astronomy vs. the earthquake

JDM080602bdms.jpg
Beijing Daily Messenger
June 2, 2008

Like many newspapers today, Beijing Daily Messenger leads with a headline concerning the search to find a rescue helicopter that crashed Saturday afternoon.

More than 4,000 people have spread out in the mountainous area near Yingxiu in an effort to locate the crash site and rescue the five crew members and nineteen evacuees aboard. The subhead notes that rough terrain and thick forests complicate the search.

The main photo shows one of two miners who were rescued yesterday, twenty days after they earthquake.

Most of the other major headlines are quake-related as well. Engineers working to dig a channel to solve the problem of the "quake lake" at Tangjiashan have left the area. The lake is expected to start draining on its own sometime tomorrow.

And the paper clears up yet another rumor about botched earthquake prediction by asking Wang Sichao, an expert from the Purple Mountain Astronomical Observatory in Nanjing, to explain why the moon has nothing to do with earthquakes:

The post circulating online claimed: "The Wenchuan earthquake occurred precisely at the first quarter of the moon (the eighth day of the fourth lunar month). On that day, the time of the first quarter was 11:47. On the day of a first quarter moon, gravity acts on the Earth from two different directions, and this gravity can create an unusual or resonant effect in certain plates in the Earth's crust." The post also said that other earthquakes throughout history had occurred at times when the moon was in its first or last quarter.
...
Wang Sichao explained that out of the sixteen most significant earthquakes in the world over the past two decades, five had occurred within two days of the moon's first and last quarters, while eight had occurred within two days of the new and full moon. Three had taken place at other times during the month, including the major earthquake that hit Taiwan on 21 September, 1999 (the 12th day of the lunar month). So this does not support the idea that there's a relationship between the quarters of the moon and earthquakes.

For other rumors, see The Dream And Reality Of Earthquake Prediction at ESWN.

 
There are currently 4 Comments for Astronomy vs. the earthquake.

Comments on Astronomy vs. the earthquake

Science Earthquake Prediction here: http://earthquake.hit.bg

The moon makes the earthquakes...

Sirs,

The relation Moon-Earth is direct and affects indeed the timing of major catastrophes on our Planet, and this approach suppose another understanding of our Environment which as the true Geology teaches is ruled by something which I call the UPL or Universal Pressure Law. In this light there is NO attraction or repulsion but differentiasl of Pressure, and you may see that all systems on the Earth, including biological, are related to Hydraulic, Pneumatic approach.

This is of course a new kind of approach to understanding the Earth and opportunity to warn of coming Quakes. In this light I have developed and experimented a new system to protect buildings of "S" waves destruction and implemented the system on my house. I would be pleased to give the system to China, if some people are interested, and eventually since I have Chinese friends in France, photos can be added to the documentation with comments in Chinese ... as well, concerning that new understanding of Earth movements, where faults are not causes but consequences indeed, I know there is a easy way to release tensions in the Crust, but by anticipation only, since the implementations requires in all cases at least A Full Month of planning.
Last but not least, please accept my sympathy for the Chinese victims and definitive consideration at the way China led by Mr Wen Jiabao managed to save probably a million lives by acting with the most admirable & efficient way it did. Congratulations to China & its concern for all its people.

Yours sincerely

Jean-Paul Turcaud
Australia Mining Pioneer
Discoverer of Telfer, Nifty & Kintyre Mines in the Great Sandy Desert
Exploration Geologist & Offshore Consultant
Bus ph + 33 6 50 17 14 64
Founder of the True Geology

~ Ignorance is the Cosmic Sin, the One never Forgiven ~

for background info.
http://www.tnet.com.au/~warrigal/grule.html
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/index.html
http://users.indigo.net.au/don/tel/nac.html
http://members.iimetro.com.au/~hubbca/turcaud.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/bbing/stories/s28534.htm

wow, the loonies are really coming out of the woodwork. . .

Considering the magnitude and diversity of phenomena involved in generating an earthquake, looking into the heavens can't seriously be expected to be of any use by itself. It is like looking for the moon to explain why the Himmalayan mountains are still growing. Do they grow more during a full moon than a quarter? No doubt some correlation could be established if we could study it closely enough, but it would be so miniscule it would constitute a fetish to care about it.

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Books on China
Leslie_Chang_Factory_Girls_s.jpg
To die poor is a sin: An excerpt of Factory Girls by Leslie T. Chang.
In Wang Shuo's No Man's Land: Geremie Barme addresses Wang Shuo's 千万别把我当人.
Swimming with Mao, a memoir essay: This memoir piece is by Xujun Eberlein, author of the new short story book Apologies Forthcoming'.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Men behind the Nanny (2005.04): The Publicity Department (formerly known as the Propaganda Department) has held a "forum" in Beijing to promote what it calls "news editorial staff management regulations (in testing phase)". These regulations appear to be same the set of rules earlier reported on Danwei of which the stated intent is to clear up corrupt journalistic practices.
+ China's 50 Most Beautiful People (2005.03): The Beijing News borrows a picture of Maggie Cheung from Cosmo for the cover of today's Entertainment insert, "50 Most Beautiful People in China". Ms. Cheung takes the top spot, with Takeshi Kaneshiro, Little S, Zhang Ziyi, and Liu Ye rounding out the top five in this exercise that is a conscious imitation of People magazine's yearly rundown.
+ Ben Marcom Weekly: Sex appeal in Chinese advertising (2004.07): Most Chinese people will remember a TV commercial for a gum called Qing Zui with the opening line of: "Do you want to feel the taste of kissing?" Advertising using explicit sexual messages did not go further on Chinese TV:...
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main posts: All main page posts
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30