Supermoon causes two king tides in Malaysia
Lower tides expected next week with third quarter moon set to occur
Penang, Malaysia experienced two extreme high tides around midnight and again at noon yesterday, said Penang Astronomical Society president Dr Chong Hon Yew.
The exceptionally high tides were due to the perigee-syzygy phenomenon, also known as a supermoon.
“The king tide is caused by the combined gravitational attraction of the moon and the sun on the water in Earth’s ocean,” Dr Chong said.
He said at around midnight, the total gravitational force from the moon, which was vertically overhead, and the sun below created the king tide.
The same thing happened at midday when the sun was vertically overhead and the moon was below, with the total gravitational force causing the second king tide.
“Six hours before and after each king tides occurred, we experienced exceptionally low tides,” he said.