Moon Man says he forecast big quake

Ken Ring says he never predicts the exact date.

Moon Man Ken Ring claims he was on the mark again in warning of another big Kiwi earthquake.

Since last Sunday's 6.5 jolt, which was centred east of Seddon in Marlborough but caused widespread damage in Wellington, Ring has been telling people how he warned about seismic activity last month.

On Monday, he reminded readers of his website that he had sent out a newsletter to 9,000 people in June, warning of an increase in quake activity.

Speaking to the Herald on Sunday, Ring said he never predicted the day of a quake. "We try to help people where we can but we don't predict anything to the date," he said.

"Nobody can do that. It is possible, we believe, to warn of potential risk dates for seismic activity depending on what the moon is doing."

He said he also never divined the exact location of quakes. "As close as I can get is that it was going to be central New Zealand, which was anywhere from Marlborough to Wairarapa, which is a pretty big area."

Ring said he was gaining followers abroad. He said he predicted a heat wave in Ireland "pretty successfully" and a big drought in Australia.

Ring also wrote a Yahoo! post blaming the Cook Strait quakes on an "earthquake breeder" trio of full moon, perigee (the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the Earth) and king tide.

However, New Zealand Skeptics spokeswoman Vicki Hyde is telling people to ignore Ring. "He's clearly got a vested interest in getting as much ego boost and business as he can out of this kind of thing," she said.

"As I say to Ken Ring and the people who are ringing me, having had dreams about earthquakes or who have been divining by crystals when the next earthquake comes, or believe it's a CIA plot: how many times do you have to get it wrong before you either admit or consider you might not be doing what you think you're doing?"

In 2011, Ring went into hiding after he was blamed for causing thousands of Christchurch people to flee the city.

ACC has received claims from 25 people for injuries from the 6.5 quake last Sunday.