# Today's the day a planetary alignment was supposed to cause a 9.8 earthquake in California **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066 "2015-05-28T20:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/1 "2015-05-28T20:17:45Z")
[There was supposed to be a “planetary alignment” that would cause a 9.8 earthquake in California today.](http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/05/18/planetary_alignment_no_it_won_t_cause_an_earthquake.html) [Nothing even close so far.](http://scedc.caltech.edu/recent/) Where’s the kaboom? There was _supposed_ to be an earth-shattering kaboom, dammit! ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/2 "2015-05-28T20:23:40Z")
“The Ides of March have come.” “Aye, Ceasar, but not yet gone.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/3 "2015-05-28T20:28:59Z")
Well, the movie San Andreas is due open nationwide tomorrow…🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/4 "2015-05-28T20:40:23Z")
I’m pretty confident there won’t be a 9.8 earthquake in California in the next 12 hours. The largest earthquake in California’s recorded history was a 7.9. A 9.8 would be almost 100 times as big as that. As far as we know, there has never been an earthquake that big anywhere in the world (the biggest was a 9.5 in Chile in 1960). The fault in Chile that caused that quake isn’t the same kind of fault as the ones in California, plus it’s bigger. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/5 "2015-05-28T21:01:02Z")
California tumbles into the sea That’ll be the day I go Back to Annandale Steely Dan ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/6 "2015-05-28T21:12:54Z")
It’s really windy here today. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/7 "2015-05-28T22:07:43Z")
When I lived in LA we all wanted the Big One to hurry up. That way when the rest of the US slid into the Atlantic we’d have twice as much waterfront property. And no more NY or TX. Win-win all around. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/8 "2015-05-28T22:54:39Z")
Remember the [Jupiter Effect?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jupiter_Effect) We were supposed to have the big one just over 33 years ago. I suppose someone is recycling the material. Recycling is good. Especially bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/9 "2015-05-28T22:56:39Z")
[Florida might well sink into the ocean, unlike California…](http://www.teachingboxes.org/seaLevel/lessons/lesson4_reefs/florida_shore_5m.htm) If these guys had predicted an 8.0 quake in California, or a 9.5 in Chile, I might not scoff quite as much. Well, other than the whole planetary alignment thing, and citing Nostradamus. [The Master spoke on Nostradamus thirty years ago, saying that he did for bullshit what Stonehenge did for rocks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/45/was-nostradamus-really-able-to-predict-the-future) Even if planetary alignments did cause earthquakes (which they don’t), how would anyone predict from that where the earthquake was going to be, or its magnitude? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/10 "2015-05-28T23:04:31Z")
[The Master has spoken on the Jupiter Effect,too.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/147/would-alignment-of-the-planets-cause-catastrophe) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/11 "2015-05-28T23:10:33Z")
Idiots wheel out this same old bullshit every time there is some kind of “alignment”, as if that’s supposed to actually mean something. One year it was supposed to pull the Earth out of it’s orbit. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/12 "2015-05-28T23:45:19Z")
I got into a discussion on Facebook with a friend of a friend about this. I considered betting her $10,000 that there would not be an earthquake bigger than 9.0 in California today, but I decided I’d feel too bad taking money from someone that dumb. Having a conscience sucks sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/13 "2015-05-29T00:52:55Z")
And yet, somehow I still wish you would have waited until tomorrow to post this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/14 "2015-05-29T01:26:28Z")
Day’s not over yet…;). ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/15 "2015-05-29T01:33:46Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I got into a discussion on Facebook with a friend of a friend about this. I considered betting her $10,000 that there would not be an earthquake bigger than 9.0 in California today, but I decided I’d feel too bad taking money from someone that dumb. Having a conscience sucks sometimes. Next time, consider betting $1. Monetary loss would be minimal and it would make an impression. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/16 "2015-05-29T01:50:05Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > And yet, somehow I still wish you would have waited until tomorrow to post this. 🙂 If you think I’ve got that kind of power, when are you coming over to clean my house and watch Lil’ Neville for me? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/17 "2015-05-29T01:51:33Z")
[Iben Browning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iben_Browning) predicted a Major quake in SE Missouri in December 1990. At the time I lived at Ground Zero. That never happened. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/18 "2015-05-29T01:59:41Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > If you think I’ve got that kind of power, when are you coming over to clean my house and watch Lil’ Neville for me? 😉 Right after the quake, when I’m in need of somewhere to live and an income (I assume the child-sitting pays?). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/19 "2015-05-29T02:50:46Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > [Iben Browning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iben_Browning) predicted a Major quake in SE Missouri in December 1990. At the time I lived at Ground Zero. > > That never happened. A couple of weeks before the date I spoke to students at Southeast Missouri State. I opened up by saying “I wanted to come down here one last time before everything is destroyed.” Biggest laugh I’ve ever gotten. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066/20 "2015-05-29T03:30:17Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Right after the quake, when I’m in need of somewhere to live and an income (I assume the child-sitting pays?). MAYBE I will let you off this time. But next time, you’d best be more proactive in your appeasement. Nice state you’ve got there, would be a shame if a 9.8 earthquake hit it… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-the-day-a-planetary-alignment-was-supposed-to-cause-a-9-8-earthquake-in-california/721066.md?page=2)