Japan’s devastating earthquake comes just days after a warning that an extreme "supermoon" would spark chaos across the globe.
On March 19, the moon will loom large in our skies and be at its closest distance from the Earth in 18 years. And weather bloggers noted there was a supermoon just before the last monster tsunami in Asia on Boxing Day 2004.
Conspiracy theorists on the internet have made catastrophic predictions of tidal waves, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Next week the moon will pass a mere 221,567 miles from our planet and some amateur scientists have been predicting extreme conditions all over the world. The event — known as a lunar perigee — happens when a full or new moon comes within 90 per cent of its closest approach possible.