A tsunami? The apocalypse? No, it's just the moon

By DANICA COTO

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — It's only the moon, emergency officials in Puerto Rico are telling nervous islanders who have feared that recent extreme tides portend a tsunami or biblical catastrophe.

Waters receded up to 50 feet (15 meters) this week during low tide on Puerto Rico's southern coast, sparking a flurry of calls to seismology and geological agencies from people worried about natural disasters or supernatural events. Tsunamis are sometimes preceded by a dramatic drop in sea level.

"There are people who have said it's a biblical sign," said Pedro Calixto, who lives in the southern coastal town of Guayama. "There are others who don't dare go into the ocean because they believe it's a supernatural thing."

The extreme-tide phenomenon has been noted across the Caribbean and in Central America.