Ring's quake-call right on

Ken Ring wasn't the only one who tipped the quake on Monday. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

Score another point for moon man Ken Ring - he picked the latest earthquake for Christchurch, which struck last Monday.

He was not alone, a mystery Australian forecaster, known as the Barcaroller, also tipped it ahead of time.

Ring, who recently claimed he was going into hiding because of death threats over his quake predictions, made his latest pronouncement last Saturday, on his regular slot on RadioLive's fishing show.

"I'm still expecting a bit of earthquake risk around, or on, Monday to come from that in the Christchurch to Wellington region, plus or minus a day or so," Ring said on air.

Ring told the Herald on Sunday from his Auckland home that he had simply been picking up on the ramifications of weather patterns and he was not back in the game of forecasting what was going to happen to Christchurch.

"I just mentioned it as a global thing and whatever happened globally, if Christchurch is in the gun then it's going to show up where the pattern is operating," Ring said.

"But specifically, no I'm not predicting earthquakes in Christchurch via the media until the environment is better for me to do so."

He said the prediction did not provoke the same reaction his earlier predictions had, as far as he was aware.

"I guess people can take it or leave it, it's not written in the way that it was designed to scare anybody, it's just to point out that that's what the moon is doing at the moment."

Ring recently built a large fence around his house but denied it was to heighten security after the public backlash.

"The house was always getting an upgrade, there's all sorts of things going around here it's not just that. It's just upgrading as people do," Ring said.

Meanwhile, the Barcaroller, a 41-year-old Australian man known only as Joe, predicted a 6.5 to7.5 magnitude earthquake would hit Christchurch on June 13. He posted on YouTube a week ahead of this week's shake.

"Two significant alignments play a major role on this day with Earth-Sun-Mercury and Jupiter-Venus-Mercury," the Barcaroller said.

"It is possible that we may have a volcanic eruption on this day or a significant or a 6.5 to 7.5 magnitude earthquake ... best fit locations are Loyalty Islands or Christchurch, New Zealand."

The quake that hit that day was initially recorded as 6.0 but was later upgraded to a 6.3.

Canterbury University physics and astronomy student Matthew Bennett, 21, said it was a scaremongering tactic.

But not everyone wanted to criticise the Barcaroller: "I'm very thankful for his prediction. I made sure to stock up on supplies including bottled water and a full fuel tank. He hasn't been wrong yet," Kathleen, of Christchurch, wrote on a Trade Me forum.

The Barcaroller declined to speak to the Herald on Sunday.