Originally posted by divegeester
I'm speculating that given the effect that gravity can have on solid bodies, (Jupiter's moons for example, albeit in extreme conditions) it may be worth considering the possibility that increases in the Moons gravitational pull due to proximity could have an impact on Earth, in some degree.
There may be many things that influence earth quakes, but until there is a discernible pattern it is best not to draw conclusions.
The Japanese quake was unusually large, so I can understand trying to find a special reason for it, but the New Zealand one was only special in that it struck a city and so as earthquakes go was not statistically significant. As I mentioned in the other recent earthquake thread, there seem to be as many as three >6.0 earth quakes per week on average - at least there were in the month of the New Zealand quake.
But at the end of the day, earthquakes happen for a known reason (tectonic plates move) and will happen regardless of other influences, so the only possible effect of influences would be magnitude or the exact time of occurrence and I see no real reason to start looking for a cause when all we really have is one massive earthquake. Now if you had 20 large earthquakes that matched up with another phenomena that could conceivably affect earthquakes, then I might be interested, but a statistic of one really isn't good enough.