Supermoon: Does It Put Us At Risk For Big Tides, Quakes?
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — If you didn't see the moon Friday night, it was huge.
It's called a supermoon.
KCAL9 Orange County reporter Stacey Butler debunks some big supermoon myths.
No, the supermoon does not increase earthquake risk, experts say.
But it does increase tides, and in Newport Beach, sand berms were built to protect lifeguard headquarters from rising waters along the beach, and it's not even high tide yet.
The supermoon is called that because its orbit is slightly closer to Earth than usual.
But astronomers say the only thing super about a supermoon is its size. Scientists agree: They have found no connection between supermoons and earthquake activity.
"Correlation does not equal causation," astronomer Steve Condrey said. "Just because one event follows another does not mean the two are connected."
Friday's was the second supermoon of the year. Its peak is at 4 a.m. Saturday.