Tag Archive: Guatemala


democracynow democracynow

Published on Apr 19, 2013

http://www.democracynow.org – In 1982, investigative journalist Allan Nairn interviewed a Guatemalan general named “Tito” on camera during the height of the indigenous massacres. It turns out the man was actually Otto Pérez Molina, the current Guatemalan president. We air the original interview footage and speak to Nairn about the U.S. role backing the Guatemalan dictatorship. Last week, Nairn flew to Guatemala where he had been scheduled to testify in the trial of former U.S.-backed dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, the first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide. Ríos Montt was charged in connection with the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. His 17-month rule is seen as one of the bloodiest chapters in Guatemala’s decades-long campaign against Maya indigenous people, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. The trial took a surprising turn last week when Guatemala President Gen. Otto Pérez Molina was directly accused of ordering executions. A former military mechanic named Hugo Reyes told the court that Pérez Molina, then serving as an army major and using the name Tito Arias, ordered soldiers to burn and pillage a Maya Ixil area in the 1980s.

Exclusive: Allan Nairn Exposes Role of U.S., New Guatemalan President in Indigenous Massacres 2 of 2

democracynow democracynow

Published on Apr 19, 2013

http://www.democracynow.org – In 1982, investigative journalist Allan Nairn interviewed a Guatemalan general named “Tito” on camera during the height of the indigenous massacres. It turns out the man was actually Otto Pérez Molina, the current Guatemalan president. We air the original interview footage and speak to Nairn about the U.S. role backing the Guatemalan dictatorship. Last week, Nairn flew to Guatemala where he had been scheduled to testify in the trial of former U.S.-backed dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, the first head of state in the Americas to stand trial for genocide. Ríos Montt was charged in connection with the slaughter of more than 1,700 people in Guatemala’s Ixil region after he seized power in 1982. His 17-month rule is seen as one of the bloodiest chapters in Guatemala’s decades-long campaign against Maya indigenous people, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands. The trial took a surprising turn last week when Guatemala President Gen. Otto Pérez Molina was directly accused of ordering executions. A former military mechanic named Hugo Reyes told the court that Pérez Molina, then serving as an army major and using the name Tito Arias, ordered soldiers to burn and pillage a Maya Ixil area in the 1980s.

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Earth Watch Report  -  Earthquakes

 photo Guatemala-52magMay122013_zpsaa827131.jpg

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M5.2 – 73km SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala 2013-05-12 07:30:03 UTC

Earthquake location 13.504°N, 91.379°W

Event Time

  1. 2013-05-12 07:30:03 UTC
  2. 2013-05-12 01:30:03 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
  3. 2013-05-12 02:30:03 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

13.504°N 91.379°W depth=36.6km (22.8mi)

Nearby Cities

  1. 73km (45mi) SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala
  2. 76km (47mi) SW of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala
  3. 77km (48mi) S of Nueva Concepcion, Guatemala
  4. 86km (53mi) S of Pueblo Nuevo Tiquisate, Guatemala
  5. 156km (97mi) SW of Guatemala City, Guatemala

 

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Tectonic Summary

Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

 

 

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Guatemala – 2 EQs 4.3 and 5.1 mag May 10th and 11th 2013

 

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Earth Watch Report -  Earthquakes

 photo Guatemala-2EQs43and51magMay10thand11th2013_zps8f472989.jpg
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M5.1 – 13km SSW of Nueva Concepcion, Guatemala 2013-05-10 20:49:29 UTC

Earthquake location 14.099°N, 91.362°W

Event Time

  1. 2013-05-10 20:49:29 UTC
  2. 2013-05-10 14:49:29 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
  3. 2013-05-10 15:49:29 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

14.099°N 91.362°W depth=89.3km (55.5mi)

Nearby Cities

  1. 13km (8mi) SSW of Nueva Concepcion, Guatemala
  2. 20km (12mi) S of Pueblo Nuevo Tiquisate, Guatemala
  3. 33km (21mi) W of La Gomera, Guatemala
  4. 39km (24mi) SSW of Santa Barbara, Guatemala
  5. 109km (68mi) WSW of Guatemala City, Guatemala

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M4.3 – 52km SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala 2013-05-12 02:07:03 UTC

Earthquake location 13.676°N, 91.303°W

Event Time

  1. 2013-05-12 02:07:03 UTC
  2. 2013-05-11 20:07:03 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
  3. 2013-05-11 21:07:03 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

13.676°N 91.303°W depth=64.6km (40.2mi)

Nearby Cities

  1. 52km (32mi) SSW of La Gomera, Guatemala
  2. 57km (35mi) S of Nueva Concepcion, Guatemala
  3. 58km (36mi) WSW of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala
  4. 67km (42mi) S of Pueblo Nuevo Tiquisate, Guatemala
  5. 136km (85mi) SW of Guatemala City, Guatemala

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Tectonic Summary

Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

Moving east and south, the plate boundary curves around Puerto Rico and the northern Lesser Antilles where the plate motion vector of the Caribbean plate relative to the North and South America plates is less oblique, resulting in active island-arc tectonics. Here, the North and South America plates subduct towards the west beneath the Caribbean plate along the Lesser Antilles Trench at rates of approximately 20 mm/yr. As a result of this subduction, there exists both intermediate focus earthquakes within the subducted plates and a chain of active volcanoes along the island arc. Although the Lesser Antilles is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the Caribbean, few of these events have been greater than M7.0 over the past century. The island of Guadeloupe was the site of one of the largest megathrust earthquakes to occur in this region on February 8, 1843, with a suggested magnitude greater than 8.0. The largest recent intermediate-depth earthquake to occur along the Lesser Antilles arc was the November 29, 2007 M7.4 Martinique earthquake northwest of Fort-De-France.

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Earth Watch Report  -  Earthquakes

6.2 6km NNW of San Jose Pinula, Guatemala 2013-03-25 23:02:14 14.599°N 90.428°W 200.5

M6.2 – 6km NNW of San Jose Pinula, Guatemala 2013-03-25 23:02:14 UTC

Earthquake location 14.599°N, 90.428°W

Event Time

  1. 2013-03-25 23:02:14 UTC
  2. 2013-03-25 17:02:14 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
  3. 2013-03-25 18:02:14 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

14.599°N 90.428°W depth=200.5km (124.6mi)

Nearby Cities

  1. 6km (4mi) NNW of San Jose Pinula, Guatemala
  2. 8km (5mi) ENE of Santa Catarina Pinula, Guatemala
  3. 10km (6mi) ESE of Guatemala City, Guatemala
  4. 10km (6mi) SW of Palencia, Guatemala
  5. 14km (9mi) SSE of Chinautla, Guatemala

 

Tectonic Summary

Seismotectonics of the Caribbean Region and Vicinity

Extensive diversity and complexity of tectonic regimes characterizes the perimeter of the Caribbean plate, involving no fewer than four major plates (North America, South America, Nazca, and Cocos). Inclined zones of deep earthquakes (Wadati-Benioff zones), ocean trenches, and arcs of volcanoes clearly indicate subduction of oceanic lithosphere along the Central American and Atlantic Ocean margins of the Caribbean plate, while crustal seismicity in Guatemala, northern Venezuela, and the Cayman Ridge and Cayman Trench indicate transform fault and pull-apart basin tectonics.

Along the northern margin of the Caribbean plate, the North America plate moves westwards with respect to the Caribbean plate at a velocity of approximately 20 mm/yr. Motion is accommodated along several major transform faults that extend eastward from Isla de Roatan to Haiti, including the Swan Island Fault and the Oriente Fault. These faults represent the southern and northern boundaries of the Cayman Trench. Further east, from the Dominican Republic to the Island of Barbuda, relative motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate becomes increasingly complex and is partially accommodated by nearly arc-parallel subduction of the North America plate beneath the Caribbean plate. This results in the formation of the deep Puerto Rico Trench and a zone of intermediate focus earthquakes (70-300 km depth) within the subducted slab. Although the Puerto Rico subduction zone is thought to be capable of generating a megathrust earthquake, there have been no such events in the past century. The last probable interplate (thrust fault) event here occurred on May 2, 1787 and was widely felt throughout the island with documented destruction across the entire northern coast, including Arecibo and San Juan. Since 1900, the two largest earthquakes to occur in this region were the August 4, 1946 M8.0 Samana earthquake in northeastern Hispaniola and the July 29, 1943 M7.6 Mona Passage earthquake, both of which were shallow thrust fault earthquakes. A significant portion of the motion between the North America plate and the Caribbean plate in this region is accommodated by a series of left-lateral strike-slip faults that bisect the island of Hispaniola, notably the Septentrional Fault in the north and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault in the south. Activity adjacent to the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault system is best documented by the devastating January 12, 2010 M7.0 Haiti strike-slip earthquake, its associated aftershocks and a comparable earthquake in 1770.

Instrumental Intensity

ShakeMap Intensity Image

Guatemala Earthquake 6.2 Magnitude Strikes it’s Pacific Coastline

Added by gricelda7 on March 25, 2013.
Guardianlv.com

6.2 Earthquake strikes Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY — A 6.2-magnitude earthquake shook Guatemala’s Pacific coastline on Monday at 4.02 .p.m. PT

The USGS said Monday that the 6.2 earthquake, which struck Guatemala was located 3 miles (6 kilometers) northwest of San Jose Pinula and had a depth of 200 kilometers (124 miles).

Guatemalan authorities had no immediate reports of damage.

In November 2012, another large earthquake occurred. Seismologists commented at the time that there were strong aftershocks from the 7.5-magnitude earthquake. It killed 52 people in western Guatemala and was felt as far as 6.2 Earthquake strikes GuatemalaMexico City.

Earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and over have the potential of causing severe damage.

The epicenter of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake, initially reported as a magnitude 5.8, was only 6 miles southeast of Guatemala City but it was at a depth of 124.6 miles, lessening its effect.

David de Leon, a spokesman for Guatemala’s emergency agency, CONRED, said he had no reports of damage or victims.

Last November, more than 50 people were killed in a 7.5 magnitude quake in Guatemala in San Marcos state, a mountainous region near the Mexican border.

Earth Watch Report  -  Earthquakes

5.5 124km S of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala 2013-03-10 10:18:17 12.809°N 90.694°W 19.8

M5.5 – 124km S of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala 2013-03-10 10:18:17 UTC

Earthquake location 12.809°N, 90.694°W

Event Time

  1. 2013-03-10 10:18:17 UTC
  2. 2013-03-10 04:18:17 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
  3. 2013-03-10 05:18:17 UTC-05:00 system time

Location

12.809°N 90.694°W depth=19.8km (12.3mi)

Nearby Cities

  1. 124km (77mi) S of Puerto San Jose, Guatemala
  2. 127km (79mi) SW of Acajutla, El Salvador
  3. 145km (90mi) SW of Sonsonate, El Salvador
  4. 145km (90mi) SSW of Chiquimulilla, Guatemala
  5. 190km (118mi) WSW of San Salvador, El Salvador

Instrumental Intensity

ShakeMap Intensity Image

Earth Watch Report  -  Extreme  Weather

 

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Today Cold Wave Guatemala Departmento de Olintepeque, Olintepeque Damage level
Details

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Cold Wave in Guatemala on Tuesday, 11 December, 2012 at 06:13 (06:13 AM) UTC.

Description
A sharp drop in temperatures has caused two deaths in the western Guatemalan province of Quetzaltenango, first responders said Monday. Oscar de Jesus Elias was found dead of hypothermia on a street outside the town of Olintepeque, fire rescue said. The other fatality, identified only as a homeless woman, was discovered in Quetzaltenango city. Parts of western Guatemala experienced temperatures as low as minus 7 C (19 F), the National Institute of Meteorology said, while many residents woke up Monday to find frost on their homes and vehicles. Guatemalan weather forecasters predict the country will be affected by at least a dozen cold fronts between now and the end of next March. The Conred emergency response agency announced that it has established shelters to provide homeless people with a refuge from the cold. More than 500 people have flocked to the shelters over the last few days, Conred said Monday.

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Earth Watch Report  -Earthquakes

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4572758026880564&pid=1.9

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04.12.2012 00:20:31 5.5 Middle America Guatemala San Marcos Ocos VulkĂĄn 0 There are airport(s) nearby the epicenter. VulkĂĄn 0 USGS-RSOE Details

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Preliminary Earthquake Report

Notice! This is a computer-generated report – this event has not reviewed by a seismologist!

EDIS Number: EQ-20121203-290027-GTM Common Alerting Protocol
Magnitude: 5.5
Mercalli scale: 6
Date-Time [UTC]: Monday, 03th December 2012 at 11:58 PM
Local Date/Time: Monday, December 03, 2012 at 18:58 in the evening at epicenter
Coordinate: 14° 13.986, 92° 21.192
Depth: 58.20 km (36.16 miles)
Hypocentrum: Shallow depth
Class: Moderate
Region: Middle America
Country: Guatemala
Location: 35.27 km (21.92 miles) SW of Ocos, San Marcos, Guatemala
Source: USGS
Generated Tsunami: Not or no data
Damage: Not or no data

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04.12.2012 00:10:40 5.2 Middle-America Guatemala San Marcos Ocos VulkĂĄn 0 There are airport(s) nearby the epicenter. VulkĂĄn 0 EMSC Details

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Preliminary Earthquake Report

Notice! This is a computer-generated report – this event has not reviewed by a seismologist!

EDIS Number: EQ-20121203-290025-GTM Common Alerting Protocol
Magnitude: 5.2
Mercalli scale: 5
Date-Time [UTC]: Monday, 03th December 2012 at 11:58 PM
Local Date/Time: Monday, December 03, 2012 at 18:58 in the evening at epicenter
Coordinate: 14° 17.400, 92° 17.400
Depth: 60 km (37.28 miles)
Hypocentrum: Shallow depth
Class: Moderate
Region: Middle-America
Country: Guatemala
Location: 26.57 km (16.51 miles) SW of Ocos, San Marcos, Guatemala
Source: EMSC
Generated Tsunami: Not or no data
Damage: Not or no data

 

Earth Watch Report  -  Volcanic  Activity

 

Published on Nov 28, 2012 by

Guatemala volcano erupts

(ROUGH CUT ONLY – NO REPORTER NARRATION) Guatemala’s Santiaguito volcano, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of the capital Guatemala City, showed increasing signs of activity on Wednesday (November 28) as it spewed ash over nearby communities, authorities reported. According to Guatemala’s Institute of Seismology, Volcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology (INSIVUMEH), the huge volcano spewed white columns of smoke up to 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) into the sky and capable of reaching distances as far as 25 km (15 miles) away. Volcanic ash fell across the city of Retalhuleu, blanketing cars with a layer of dust. The authorities also reported considerable ash fall in the nearby towns of El Rosario and San Marcos Palajunoj as winds push volcanic dust out into urban areas. No official evacuation notice has been issued, but officials warned locals to avoid drinking water into which ash may have fallen and restricted traffic to some areas around the volcano. Constant activity at Santiaguito volcano has been recorded for much of 2012 with major eruptions recorded in April and July. The volcano is about 2,500 metres (7,500 feet) high and is part of a chain of active volcanoes along the edge of Guatemala’s Maya Indian highland. In 1929, Santiaguito’s dome collapsed during a volcanic explosion, leading to lava flows which killed an estimated 5,000 people.

Earth Watch Report  – Earthquake

English: Panorámica de la Ciudad de Concepción...

English: Panorámica de la Ciudad de Concepción, Chile. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

6.0 magnitude earthquake strikes Chile

Written by

WKYC Weather

CONCEPCION, Chile — An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck on Sunday evening in southern Chile.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake was located south of Concepcion and occurred about 10 miles below the surface. There were no immediate reports of damage or major injuries from the tremblor.

Ironically, the quake struck on the first anniversary of an 8.8  magnitude quake that left 521 people dead and several thousand homeless in 2010.

WKYC-TV

Date/Time (UTC) Magnitude Area Country State/Prov./Gov. Location Risk Source Details
13.11.2012 06:37:02 4.0 South-America Chile Coquimbo Ovalle VulkĂĄn 0 There are airport(s) nearby the epicenter. VulkĂĄn 0 EMSC Details
13.11.2012 06:37:24 6.0 South-America Chile Aisén del General Carlos Ibáńez del Campo Puerto Chacabuco VulkĂĄn 0 VulkĂĄn 0 VulkĂĄn 0 EMSC Details
13.11.2012 06:06:08 5.4 South America Chile Aisén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo Puerto Chacabuco VulkĂĄn 0 VulkĂĄn 0 VulkĂĄn 0 USGS-RSOE Details

Published on Nov 12, 2012 by

Ac Tah, of the Mayan people, gave a talk in Santa Monica last month. In this exert he speaks about what is happening around December 21st 2012 and it’s significance to the world. His heritage is authentic. Check out his website for lots more information and to see the work Ac Tah and a lot of other dedicated people are doing…. http://www.actah2012.com

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