QUICK science lesson - the moon is not made of cheese and it doesn't turn blue.

So just because tonight you can expect to see a "blue moon" for the first time in two years, don't expect it to be really blue.

Wappa Falls Observatory's Owen Benedict explained a blue moon happened when there were "two full moons in the month".

And unless you are planning on wearing your blue-shaded tinted sunnies, it will look the same colour as it did last month.

"The only time the moon may appear to be a different colour is after big sand storms and then it normally looks red," he said.

Other scientists believe smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere after major fires gave the moon a bluish tinge.

Mr Benedict said the full moon could have something to do with the earthquake felt across the Sunshine Coast yesterday.

"Small amount of earthquake activity is associated with the full and new moon because of the gravitational tide," he said.

The main reason for more earthquakes was people "digging holes in the earth" as part of large-scale mining activities, he said.

"You can't transfer billions of tonnes of coal and iron ore without changing the balance of the planet," he said.