Tag Archive: Puerto Rico Region

Earth Watch Report – Tuesday April 24th, 2012

Filed under: Allergen Alerts, Climate Change, Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, meteors, Solar Activity, Space, Storms, Tornado, Volcanic Events, Weather Phenomena, Wildlife — 1 Comment

April 24, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 23:57 PM
3.6    14.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 23:47 PM
3.7    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 23:42 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 23:37 PM
2.5    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Albania
Apr 23 23:22 PM
2.4    7.0    MAP

GEONET    Canterbury
Apr 23 23:18 PM
3.0    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 23:00 PM
4.8    2.0    MAP

GEOFON    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 23:00 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

USGS    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 23:00 PM
4.8    9.9    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 23 22:47 PM
3.0    56.0    MAP

USGS    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 22:40 PM
5.6    29.4    MAP

EMSC    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 22:40 PM
5.6    46.0    MAP

GEOFON    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 22:40 PM
5.6    31.0    MAP

USGS    Crete, Greece
Apr 23 22:15 PM
4.7    47.2    MAP

GEOFON    Crete, Greece
Apr 23 22:15 PM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Crete, Greece
Apr 23 22:15 PM
4.8    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 23 21:59 PM
2.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 21:34 PM
2.7    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 23 21:25 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 21:24 PM
2.8    5.0    MAP

USGS    Molucca Sea
Apr 23 21:21 PM
5.7    42.6    MAP

EMSC    Molucca Sea
Apr 23 21:21 PM
5.7    60.0    MAP

GEOFON    Northern Molucca Sea
Apr 23 21:21 PM
5.6    68.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 23 21:19 PM
2.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 23 21:11 PM
2.9    10.0    MAP

USGS    Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 23 21:03 PM
2.7    38.8    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 23 21:02 PM
3.2    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Poland
Apr 23 21:02 PM
3.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    Utah
Apr 23 20:55 PM
2.6    6.3    MAP

EMSC    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 20:53 PM
4.9    89.0    MAP

GEOFON    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 20:53 PM
5.0    93.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 20:14 PM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 19:50 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 19:39 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 19:27 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Mediterranean Sea
Apr 23 19:15 PM
3.2    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 23 19:15 PM
2.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 18:52 PM
3.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 18:38 PM
2.5    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 23 18:20 PM
2.9    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 18:09 PM
2.6    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 23 17:58 PM
4.5    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 17:55 PM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 17:51 PM
2.7    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 17:47 PM
3.8    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Ionian Sea
Apr 23 17:42 PM
2.6    5.0    MAP

USGS    Greater Los Angeles Area, California
Apr 23 17:37 PM
3.9    13.1    MAP

USGS    Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 23 17:36 PM
5.8    116.7    MAP

EMSC    Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 23 17:36 PM
5.8    100.0    MAP

GEOFON    Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 23 17:36 PM
5.9    107.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 23 17:34 PM
3.7    26.0    MAP

USGS    Island Of Hawaii, Hawaii
Apr 23 16:53 PM
2.5    38.5    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:53 PM
2.6    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:50 PM
2.6    3.0    MAP

GEOFON    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 16:43 PM
4.2    98.0    MAP

EMSC    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 16:43 PM
4.4    15.0    MAP

USGS    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 23 16:43 PM
4.5    15.3    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:41 PM
2.7    5.0    MAP

USGS    Central California
Apr 23 16:36 PM
2.7    9.2    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 16:36 PM
3.2    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:33 PM
2.7    3.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:27 PM
3.2    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:22 PM
2.4    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Jujuy, Argentina
Apr 23 16:22 PM
4.4    211.0    MAP

USGS    Jujuy, Argentina
Apr 23 16:22 PM
4.4    211.2    MAP

GEOFON    Turkey
Apr 23 16:14 PM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:14 PM
4.3    2.0    MAP

USGS    Western Turkey
Apr 23 16:14 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Georgia (sak’art’velo)
Apr 23 15:50 PM
4.1    5.0    MAP

USGS    Georgia (sak’art’velo)
Apr 23 15:50 PM
4.1    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Central Mediterranean Sea
Apr 23 15:23 PM
4.1    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Mediterranean Sea
Apr 23 15:23 PM
4.1    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia
Apr 23 14:54 PM
5.2    117.0    MAP

GEOFON    Banda Sea
Apr 23 14:54 PM
5.1    140.0    MAP

USGS    Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia
Apr 23 14:54 PM
5.2    129.7    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 14:40 PM
2.7    8.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 23 14:39 PM
2.6    18.5    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 23 14:32 PM
2.4    17.0    MAP

USGS    Central California
Apr 23 14:19 PM
2.7    9.1    MAP

GEONET    Canterbury
Apr 23 14:15 PM
3.5    5.0    MAP

USGS    Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan
Apr 23 14:00 PM
4.0    39.4    MAP

EMSC    Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan
Apr 23 14:00 PM
4.0    39.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 13:57 PM
2.5    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 23 13:42 PM
2.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Dominican Republic Region
Apr 23 13:39 PM
3.2    89.6    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 12:59 PM
2.5    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 12:47 PM
2.6    9.0    MAP

USGS    Alaska Peninsula
Apr 23 12:38 PM
3.1    0.1    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 11:07 AM
2.8    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Corsica, France
Apr 23 11:00 AM
2.8    17.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 10:58 AM
2.4    5.0    MAP

USGS    Tonga Region
Apr 23 10:57 AM
5.0    15.3    MAP

EMSC    Tonga Region
Apr 23 10:57 AM
5.1    16.0    MAP

GEOFON    South Of Tonga Islands
Apr 23 10:57 AM
5.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 10:43 AM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Romania
Apr 23 10:41 AM
2.9    119.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 23 09:53 AM
2.4    5.0    MAP

GEONET    Manawatu
Apr 23 09:52 AM
3.4    50.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 23 09:00 AM
2.6    11.7    MAP

GEONET    Hawke’s Bay
Apr 23 08:15 AM
3.3    25.0    MAP

GEOFON    Jujuy Province, Argentina
Apr 23 07:45 AM
4.6    172.0    MAP

EMSC    Jujuy, Argentina
Apr 23 07:45 AM
4.4    182.0    MAP

USGS    Jujuy, Argentina
Apr 23 07:45 AM
4.3    176.9    MAP

USGS    Tonga Region
Apr 23 07:21 AM
4.8    42.9    MAP

EMSC    Tonga Region
Apr 23 07:21 AM
4.8    43.0    MAP

GEOFON    South Of Tonga Islands
Apr 23 07:21 AM
5.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 07:18 AM
4.6    50.3    MAP

EMSC    Kuril Islands
Apr 23 07:18 AM
4.6    44.0    MAP

EMSC    Romania
Apr 23 06:57 AM
3.0    138.0    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 23 06:33 AM
2.4    14.0    MAP

GEOFON    Carlsberg Ridge
Apr 23 06:32 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 06:29 AM
3.1    7.0    MAP

GEOFON    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 23 06:28 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 23 06:28 AM
4.1    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Tajikistan
Apr 23 06:27 AM
4.6    125.0    MAP

GEOFON    Tajikistan-xinjiang Border Region
Apr 23 06:27 AM
4.8    117.0    MAP

USGS    Tajikistan
Apr 23 06:27 AM
4.5    129.8    MAP

EMSC    Pyrenees
Apr 23 06:17 AM
2.9    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 23 06:06 AM
2.8    7.0    MAP

GEOFON    Sumbawa Region, Indonesia
Apr 23 05:37 AM
4.6    71.0    MAP

EMSC    Sumbawa Region, Indonesia
Apr 23 05:37 AM
4.6    71.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 05:31 AM
2.9    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 05:19 AM
2.7    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 23 05:13 AM
2.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Ionian Sea
Apr 23 03:56 AM
2.9    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Ionian Sea
Apr 23 03:51 AM
3.8    2.0    MAP

GEOFON    Tonga Islands
Apr 23 03:08 AM
4.8    238.0    MAP

USGS    Tonga
Apr 23 03:08 AM
5.0    192.4    MAP

EMSC    Tonga
Apr 23 03:08 AM
5.0    200.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 23 03:04 AM
2.9    9.8    MAP

GEOFON    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 23 02:57 AM
4.9    10.0    MAP

USGS    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 23 02:57 AM
4.9    18.6    MAP

EMSC    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 23 02:57 AM
4.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 02:46 AM
2.4    9.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 23 02:38 AM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    South Of Tonga
Apr 23 02:14 AM
5.1    42.0    MAP

USGS    Tonga Region
Apr 23 02:14 AM
5.1    42.8    MAP

GEOFON    South Of Tonga Islands
Apr 23 02:14 AM
5.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 23 02:01 AM
2.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Albania
Apr 23 02:00 AM
2.8    80.0    MAP

EMSC    Cyprus Region
Apr 23 01:40 AM
3.2    2.0    MAP

USGS    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 23 01:31 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 23 01:31 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Apr 23 01:27 AM
3.3    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 23 01:13 AM
4.4    13.0    MAP

EMSC    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 23 01:13 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 23 01:13 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 23 01:00 AM
2.4    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 00:40 AM
2.5    11.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 23 00:35 AM
2.5    6.0    MAP

Sources: USGS – EMSC – GFZ – GEONET

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Volcanic Activity

Current Emergencies

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
1	19.04.2012	Biological Hazard	China	Ningxia Autonomous region, [Touying township]
3	24.04.2012	Epidemic Hazard	Vietnam	Province of Quang Ngai, [Son Ky Commune]
12	23.04.2012	Volcano Activity	Mexico	State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano]

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Biological Hazard	Australia	State of Queensland, [Gordonbrook Dam]
	Today	Landslide	Colombia	Departmento de Caquetá, [Malvinas section, Florencia region]
	Today	Enviroment Pollution	USA	State of Washington, [Coastal area]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	USA	Capital city, Washington D.C.
	Today	Volcano Activity	Indonesia	North Sulawesi, [Mt Lokon Volcano]
	23.04.2012	Volcano Eruption	Ecuador	Cordillera Oriental , [Tungurahua Volcano]
	23.04.2012	Explosion	Norway	Ostfold, Fredrikstad
	23.04.2012	Heat Wave	USA	State of Nevada, Las Vegas
	23.04.2012	Enviroment Pollution	Russia [Asia]	Nenets Autonomous Okrug, [Trebs oil field, Timan-Pechora Basin]
	23.04.2012	Flash Flood	Kenya	State of Rift Valley, [Hells Gate National Park]
1	24.04.2012	Epidemic Hazard	Taiwan	Changhua County, [Fangyuan Township]
3	24.04.2012	Event into space	USA	States of Nevada and California, [Reno-Sparks area, Carson City, Minden, South Lake Tahoe, Placerville and Truckee]

Tungurahua Erupts Launching Gravel to Nearby Town

Photo: Tungurahua’s recent eruption makes gravel fall on local town.

Click Here to Enlarge Photo

Over the weekend, the Tungurahua’s volcanic eruption had a strong explosion that caused gravel to fall down in the nearby town of Pillate, Ecuador.

The explosion, characterized by its loud “cannon ball shot”, was immediately detected by locals and scientists observing the volcano’s progress. The explosion was later followed by a slight tremor and a constant pulsation of “high energy” said reports.

The constant cloud coverage surrounding the volcano has caused scientists, from the Geophysical Institute branch of the National Polytechnic School to have trouble determining its current state. Most of the direct observations are conducted in the Guadalupe Observatory, the closest in the vicinity.

Tungurahua, located in the Andes Mountains in Ecuador, is 5,016 meters high and its eruptions began in 1999. Since then, the volcano has transitioned from times of high activity and those of calm.

However, Tungurahua is not the only volcano causing extreme damage and concern in the Hispanic world. Popocatépetl, located in Mexico City, has also been under close watch due to its recent activity which included ash blasts.

Residents evacuated over eruption fears

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/24/2012 7:31 AM

Local residents around Mount Lokon in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, have been asked to evacuate the area, following the mountain’s steady increase of activity since 4 p.m. Monday.

“We are on alert status [Level 3],” National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday.

“We ask that local disaster mitigation agencies follow the technical recommendations we have given them. There should be no community activity within a 2.5 kilometer radius of the volcano’s crater.”

Mt Lokon is located on the outskirts of Tomohon. It is 1,580 meters high and is located 20 kilometers west from Manado, North Sulawesi.

According to the Volcanic and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG), Mt Lokon last erupted on June 14, 2011, sending ash and debris 1,500 meters into the sky.

The following day, another eruption threw volcanic material 600 meters into the air. Two residents died as a result of the eruptions.

Other eruptions occurred in 1991 and 2001, with the earlier one causing Rp 1 billion (US$108,000) in damage, as well as the death of Swiss tourist Vivian Clavel.

The 2001 eruption covered Manado in ash and debris. The dust coming from the mountain formed a 400 meter plume. (png)

***********************************************************************************************************

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Late snow storm sucker-punches US northeast

by Staff Writers
New York (AFP) April 23, 2012

Just as the US northeast was easing from a mild winter into a historically warm spring, a storm left thousands without power and prematurely leafy trees sagging under snow.

The spring storm that started Sunday and moved slowly through on Monday left tens of thousands of people without electricity, including nearly 25,000 in New York state, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.

“Outage numbers are likely to continue to climb,” his office said.

The hard-hit areas ranged from upstate New York and Pennsylvania to West Virginia and Maryland.

Flood watches were in place in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, the national weather service said, while on higher ground, the rain turned to heavy snow.

An inch (2.5 centimeter) an hour of snow was expected, with 14 inches (35 centimeter) already recorded in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, weather.com reported.

“Winds will combine with heavy snow to reduce visibilities, leading to hazardous driving conditions through Monday night from western New York to northern West Virginia,” the weather site said.

Trees could collapse under the weight of early leaves and wet snow.

This will “likely lead to downed trees and powerlines, leading to power outages, possibly for several days,” weather.com said. “These downed trees may make roads impassable in some areas.”

The region saw record warm spring temperatures after an unusually mild winter.

Related Links
It’s A White Out at TerraDaily.com

Freeze Warning

BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
BLACKSBURG VA
CHARLESTON WV
 MORRISTOWN TN
MOUNT HOLLY NJ
GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC

Red Flag Warning

JACKSONVILLE FL
GRAND JUNCTION CO
CHEYENNE WY
 TALLAHASSEE FL

***********************************************************************************************************

Storms, Flooding

Tornado in the Netherlands?

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Apr 23, 2012; 3:14 PM ET

A small tornado has been caught on video on the ground in the Netherlands.

The twister was stirring up dust over tilled land in southeastern Netherlands, near the Germany border, late last Friday, local time.

Although the video did not clearly show a funnel, it did reveal dark cloud bases, confirming that it was more than a mere “dust devil.”

Weather observations from nearby Maastricht, seen by meteorologists at AccuWeather.com, indicated that a thunderstorm was in the area at the reported time of the tornado.

Even so, temperature and dew point, key markers used in forecasting tornadoes, were relatively low, suggesting that the phenomenon was an example of a “cold air funnel.”

Dutch-language text accompanying the video seemed to indicate that it showed a “confirmed” EF0-rated tornado.

Tornadoes are not unheard-of in western Europe. For instance, “weak” tornadoes are occasionally sighted in the United Kingdom.

Winter Storm Warning

BUFFALO NY

Flood Warning

SPOKANE, WA
PENDLETON OR
LAKE CHARLES LA

************************************************************************************************************

Climate Change

CU research shows warming climate threatens ecology at mountain research site west of Boulder

by Staff Writers
Boulder CO (SPX) Apr 24, 2012

Climate warming is affecting high mountain ecological systems at NSF-funded site west of Boulder. Credit: University of Colorado.

A series of papers published this month on ecological changes at 26 global research sites – including one administered by the University of Colorado Boulder in the high mountains west of the city – indicates that ecosystems dependent on seasonal snow and ice are the most sensitive to changes in climate.

The six papers appeared in the April issue of the journal BioScience. The papers were tied to data gathered at sites in North America, Puerto Rico, the island of Moorea near Tahiti, and Antarctica, which are known as Long-Term Ecological Research, or LTER, sites and are funded by the National Science Foundation.

CU-Boulder’s Niwot Ridge site, one of the five original LTER sites designated by NSF in 1980, encompasses several thousand acres of subalpine forest, tundra, talus slopes, glacial lakes and wetlands stretching up to more than 13,000 feet on top of the Continental Divide.

As part of the new reports, LTER scientists in association with NSF have come up with a new evaluation system of the research sites that brings in the “human dimension,” said CU-Boulder Professor Mark Williams, the principal investigator on CU’s Niwot Ridge LTER site.

“In the past we tried to look at pristine ecosystems, but those are essentially gone,” said Williams. “So we’ve come up with an approach that integrates human activities with our ecological research.”

One of the six papers, “Long-Term Studies Detect Effects of Disappearing Ice and Snow,” was led by Portland State University Professor Andrew Fountain and co-authored by several others, including Williams, a geography professor and a fellow at CU-Boulder’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. According to the authors, there are big changes occurring in temperate areas beyond the poles, where warming temperatures have triggered declines in polar bear and penguin populations.

Key measurements at the Niwot Ridge site – which has climate records going back more than 60 years thanks to pioneering work by CU biology Professor John Marr in the 1950s – are temperature and precipitation logs from two stations, one at 12,700 feet in elevation and a second at 10,000 feet.

Although the climate at the higher meteorological station – by far the highest long-term climate station in the United States – has been getting slightly wetter and cooler in recent decades, the station at 10,000 feet in a subalpine forest is getting significantly warmer and drier.

Williams said warming at 10,000 feet and lower may be causing enhanced surface water evaporation and transport that moves westward and higher in the mountains, with the water vapor being converted to snow that falls atop the Continental Divide.

Snow cover increases reflectivity of incoming sunlight, further cooling the alpine area and overriding the overall warming signal in the West, which is believed to be a 2 or 3 degree Fahrenheit rise over the past decade due to rising greenhouse gases.

“These two Niwot Ridge stations are less than five miles away from each other – you can see one from the other – but there are totally different trends occurring,” he said. In many places in the mountainous West, only a small increase in temperature can cause the climate to cross a “threshold” that triggers earlier and more intense snow melting, said Williams, principal investigator on a 2011 grant of $5.9 million from NSF to CU to continue long-term ecological studies at Niwot Ridge.

With snowpack roughly half of normal in 2012 and snow melting in the high country that began more than three months earlier than last year, the outlook is not good for montane and subalpine forests in Colorado and other parts of the West, he said.

Low snowpack and early melt invariably have a huge impact on the Colorado economy, said Williams. Despite near record snowfall in 2010-11, warming temperatures have caused less snow and shorter winters in recent years and affected the ski industry – one of Colorado’s largest economic drivers, said Williams.

As for the future of flora and fauna in subalpine and alpine regions like Niwot Ridge, there will be “winners and losers” as the climate warms, said Williams. Animals like American pikas, potato-sized denizens of alpine talus slopes in the West, need heavy snowpack to insulate them from cold winters as they huddle in hay piles beneath the rocks. In lower, more isolated mountain ranges in Nevada, researchers are already seeing a marked decline in American pika populations.

The predictions of the study authors are that microbes, plants and animals that depend on snow and ice will decrease if they are unable to move higher into areas of snow and ice. But shallower snow could cause big game like deer and elk to move higher in altitude to browse, according to the authors.

A big concern in temperate mountains like Colorado is the heath and welfare of coniferous trees as the climate changes, said Williams. “Trees in Colorado’s mountains are under a tremendous amount of stress due to drought and pine beetle outbreaks. And the fire danger, at least now, is through the roof,” he said.

“If some of these forested areas disappear, I think the chances of them coming back are pretty low,” Williams said. “The climate they grew up in doesn’t exist anymore. As we lose trees to drought, beetles and wildfires, we are likely to see an invasion of grasses and shrubs in areas where we have never seen them, causing a complete restructuring of our forest community.”

As snowline moves up due to warming temperatures, so will parts of alpine tundra in the West, Williams said. “The tundra may be able to function reasonably well for several decades – it will be awhile before warming climate change pushes the tundra off the tops of mountains. But that is the direction we are heading.”

Williams co-authored three of the six BioScience studies, including the main LTER overview paper and a paper on ecosystem and human influences on stream flow in response to climate change at LTER sites. CU-Boulder Professor Tim Seastedt was a co-author on another of the papers, a study on the past, present and future roles of long-term experiments in the LTER network.

Warming set to make corn prices pop

by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) April 22, 2012

Climate change will more than quadruple US corn prices in years of peak volatility, environmental scientists said on Sunday.

In a study of the factors that drive up prices in the world’s key market for corn, more frequent heatwaves, predicted as a result of global warming, proved far more important than government policies to promote biofuels or than higher oil prices.

“Severe heat is the big hammer,” said Noah Diffenbaugh of Stanford University in California.

“Even one or two degrees of global warming is likely to substantially increase heatwaves that lead to low-yield years and more price volatility.”

The study found that climate change would increase year-on-year corn price volatility by a factor of 4.1.

The fluctuations were based on a projection for 2020-40 compared to volatility in recent history.

The study, published in Nature Climate Change, used a computer scenario based on warming that ultimately reaches 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial times.

Many climate scientists say 2 C (3.6 F), enshrined as a goal by the UN, is an under-estimate.

Current trends of carbon emissions are placing Earth on a track for warming of 3 C (5.4 F) or more, according to some estimates. This figure is the overall global average, so it disguises big regional variations, including seasonal bouts of extreme weather.

Before the results of the study became clear, it was not obvious to Diffenaugh that climate change would be a more important factor than higher oil prices or government policies to promote biofuels.

“Frankly, I was surprised that climate had the largest effect of these three influences. These are substantial changes in price volatility that come from relatively moderate global warming,” Diffenaugh noted.

The researchers found that climate’s yo-yo effect was accentuated by government support for biofuels.

By growing corn for fuel, this removed a buffer of surplus grain, making the market more inelastic.

“Our results suggest that energy policy decisions are likely to interact with climate change to affect corn price volatility, and that the market effect of a binding biofuel mandate is likely to intensify as the climate warms,” said Diffenbaugh.

Unless corn farmers increase their crops’ heat tolerance by as much as 3.3 C (6 F), areas of high production will have to move north from the current US corn belt, the researchers said in a press release.

“By the time today’s elementary schoolers graduate from colleage, the US corn belt could be forced to move to the Canadian border to escape devastating heat waves brought on by rising global temperatures,” it said.

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Solar Activity

2MIN News Apr23: CME Impact, Full Updates, Quake Watch Extended

Reports of SeaGulls Moving Inland/US & China and Solar Update

Published on Apr 23, 2012 by MrCometwatch

Also a Solar Update.
Links @ http://www.mrcometwatch.com

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Space

Space Weather News for April 23, 2012
http://spaceweather.com

SIERRA FIREBALL DECODED:

An explosion over California that rattled homes across at least two states on Sunday, April 22nd, has been analyzed by NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office: It was a natural meteoroid the size of a mini-van. Analysts say the space rock exploded in the atmosphere with an energy equal to nearly 4 kilotons of TNT and might have sprayed the Sierra Nevada mountains with meteorites. Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.

AURORA WATCH:

At the time this alert is being written on April 23rd, a minor geomagnetic storm is underway. The storm is likely due to Earth’s passage through the wake of a CME that swept past our planet earlier in the day. Sign up for aurora alerts at http://spaceweathertext.com (text) or http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).

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Articles of Interest

Japan chemical plant blast kills one

TOKYO: A blast at a chemical plant in western Japan killed one worker and injured at least fifteen others on Sunday, police said.

The accident occurred at a factory operated by comprehensive chemical manufacturer Mitsui Chemicals in Yamaguchi prefecture, some 700 kilometres (434 miles) southwest of Tokyo, an official at Yamaguchi prefectural police said. The deceased was a 22-year-old male employee, police said, with Jiji Press identifying him as Shota Sunakawa.

Nine other company employees and workers for subcontract companies were severely or slightly injured, while at least four residents in the neighbourhood were slightly injured, police said. “The fire is not extinguished yet as the fire department is cooling the plant while waiting for combustible materials to burn out,” he told.

“It may take more than a few days for us to find out the cause of the accident, but we are investigating it as a case of professional negligence resulting in death and injury,” he said. The plant had been manufacturing materials to make adhesives, he said. afp

Mayan Culture Holds Secrets for Today (Part I)

Russian researcher looks for answers to earth’s future

By Uliana Kim
Epoch Times Staff

Thousands of people gathered at the Kukulkan Pyramid, in Chichen Itza, Yucatan, southeastern Mexico, during the spring equinox celebration 2006. The steps of the pyramid throw the shadow of a snake onto the side wall of the staircases. (Elizabeth Ruiz/AFP/Getty Images)

Kiril Novoselsky, professor of economics and a consultant for several museums, recently conducted a field trip to the Yucatan Peninsula and Cozumel Island, Mexico. On his way through Mayan football fields, pyramids, and prophecies, he came across Russian influence from the past century.

Near the famous Chichen Itza Pyramid, he discovered Pre-Columbian fields that were created for ball games.

“I was very surprised by the fact that the Mayans were obsessed with football,” said Novoselsky, who is also a member of the Russian Geographical Society. “Football was a sacred game. The captain of the winning team was sacrificed to gods, and it was a big honor.”

If I hadn’t read anything about the topic before, I would think that these things aren’t from the current human civilization.

—Kiril Novoselsky

The golden age of classic Mayan civilization ended in the late 9th century. Cities became empty and silent. Lianas and roots of trees penetrated stone walls of temples and pyramids, destroying them.

Archeologists classify several periods of Mayan civilization: pre-classic (2000 to 300 B.C.), classic (300 B.C. to A.D. 900), and post-classic (900 to 1530).

During these last centuries, highly populated and economically developed cities disappeared in jungles. The Mayan city Tikal, mentioned on a stela in 869, was the last historical mention of a Mayan city.

Invasions of other tribes as well as wars are considered possible reasons for the Mayan civilization’s decline. The true reason, however, still remains a mystery to scientists.

Read Full Article Here

Mayan Culture Holds Secrets for Today (Part II)

Russian researcher looks for answers to earth’s future

By Uliana Kim
Epoch Times Staff

The coastal archaeological site Tulum, located on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, on the Caribbean Sea, is one of the best-preserved Pre-Columbian Mayan sites. (CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images)

Another interesting complex is Fort Tulum, on the eastern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula. During the time of the Mayan civilization’s decline, several tribes moved to the coast and built Fort Tulum to protect inhabitants from attacks of fellow tribes.

“All those grey stones were once colored in bright colors. Different colors symbolized different nature powers: heaven, earth, moon, sun, fire, and so on,” Novoselsky said.

In my opinion, all these prophecies are a chance to think about our behavior, the meaning of life, about how to improve yourself and other people’s life, and how to live in harmony.

—Kiril Novoselsky

Mayan Prophecies

Mayan life is described in a sacred book called “Popol Vuh.” Novoselsky said it could be compared to the Bible, “but all information is in allegoric form.” “There are some interpretations, but I think they are all far from the truth,” he said.

All commentaries were either destroyed or written with the hieroglyphic script, which is difficult to read. “Most secrets are still hidden. One of the most popular interpretations is the prophecy about the end of the days in 2012,” Novoselsky said.

As to whether he believes in this prophecy, Novoselsky said, “As a scientist, I investigated this question.”

He mentioned the well-known esoteric researcher Drunvalo Melchisedek, who had discussed this question with Guatemalan priests and found out that the predicted transformation would be a process that would happen gradually—not in two days, but during 200 years.

“In their opinion, the year 2012 is a milestone of the old epoch and the beginning of something new, maybe the beginning of a new culture. And they emphasized that this would happen slowly and gradually without cataclysms and earthquakes,” Novoselsky said. “People living in the center of the Mayan civilization haven’t any panic about this prophecy.”

He added, “In my opinion, all these prophecies are a chance to think about our behavior, the meaning of life, about how to improve yourself and other people’s life, and how to live in harmony.”

Hundreds of people gathered at the Kukulkan Pyramid, in Chichen Itza, Yucatan, southeastern Mexico, during the spring equinox celebration 2005. The steps of the pyramid throw the shadow of a snake onto the side wall of the staircases. (LUIS BARRERA/AFP/Getty Images)

Read Full Article Here

Evidence for a geologic trigger of the Cambrian explosion

by Staff Writers
Madison WI (SPX) Apr 24, 2012

The results of this Cambrian explosion are well documented in the fossil record, but its cause – why and when it happened, and perhaps why nothing similar has happened since – has been a mystery.

The oceans teemed with life 600 million years ago, but the simple, soft-bodied creatures would have been hardly recognizable as the ancestors of nearly all animals on Earth today.

Then something happened. Over several tens of millions of years – a relative blink of an eye in geologic terms – a burst of evolution led to a flurry of diversification and increasing complexity, including the expansion of multicellular organisms and the appearance of the first shells and skeletons.

The results of this Cambrian explosion are well documented in the fossil record, but its cause – why and when it happened, and perhaps why nothing similar has happened since – has been a mystery.

New research shows that the answer may lie in a second geological curiosity – a dramatic boundary, known as the Great Unconformity, between ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks and younger sediments.

“The Great Unconformity is a very prominent geomorphic surface and there’s nothing else like it in the entire rock record,” says Shanan Peters, a geoscience professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who led the new work. Occurring worldwide, the Great Unconformity juxtaposes old rocks, formed billions of years ago deep within the Earth’s crust, with relatively young Cambrian sedimentary rock formed from deposits left by shallow ancient seas that covered the continents just a half billion years ago.

Named in 1869 by explorer and geologist John Wesley Powell during the first documented trip through the Grand Canyon, the Great Unconformity has posed a longstanding puzzle and has been viewed – by Charles Darwin, among others – as a huge gap in the rock record and in our understanding of the Earth’s history.

But Peters says the gap itself – the missing time in the geologic record – may hold the key to understanding what happened.

In the April 19 issue of the journal Nature, he and colleague Robert Gaines of Pomona College report that the same geological forces that formed the Great Unconformity may have also provided the impetus for the burst of biodiversity during the early Cambrian.

“The magnitude of the unconformity is without rival in the rock record,” Gaines says. “When we pieced that together, we realized that its formation must have had profound implications for ocean chemistry at the time when complex life was just proliferating.”

“We’re proposing a triggering mechanism for the Cambrian explosion,” says Peters. “Our hypothesis is that biomineralization evolved as a biogeochemical response to an increased influx of continental weathering products during the last stages in the formation of the Great Unconformity.”

Peters and Gaines looked at data from more than 20,000 rock samples from across North America and found multiple clues, such as unusual mineral deposits with distinct geochemistry, that point to a link between the physical, chemical, and biological effects.

During the early Cambrian, shallow seas repeatedly advanced and retreated across the North American continent, gradually eroding away surface rock to uncover fresh basement rock from within the crust. Exposed to the surface environment for the first time, those crustal rocks reacted with air and water in a chemical weathering process that released ions such as calcium, iron, potassium, and silica into the oceans, changing the seawater chemistry.

The basement rocks were later covered with sedimentary deposits from those Cambrian seas, creating the boundary now recognized as the Great Unconformity.

Evidence of changes in the seawater chemistry is captured in the rock record by high rates of carbonate mineral formation early in the Cambrian, as well as the occurrence of extensive beds of glauconite, a potassium-, silica-, and iron-rich mineral that is much rarer today.

The influx of ions to the oceans also likely posed a challenge to the organisms living there. “Your body has to keep a balance of these ions in order to function properly,” Peters explains. “If you have too much of one you have to get rid of it, and one way to get rid of it is to make a mineral.”

The fossil record shows that the three major biominerals – calcium phosphate, now found in bones and teeth; calcium carbonate, in invertebrate shells; and silicon dioxide, in radiolarians – appeared more or less simultaneously around this time and in a diverse array of distantly related organisms.

The time lag between the first appearance of animals and their subsequent acquisition of biominerals in the Cambrian is notable, Peters says. “It’s likely biomineralization didn’t evolve for something, it evolved in response to something – in this case, changing seawater chemistry during the formation of the Great Unconformity. Then once that happened, evolution took it in another direction.” Today those biominerals play essential roles as varied as protection (shells and spines), stability (bones), and predation (teeth and claws).

Together, the results suggest that the formation of the Great Unconformity may have triggered the Cambrian explosion.

“This feature explains a lot of lingering questions in different arenas, including the odd occurrences of many types of sedimentary rocks and a very remarkable style of fossil preservation. And we can’t help but think this was very influential for early developing life at the time,” Gaines says.

Far from being a lack of information, as Darwin thought, the gaps in the rock record may actually record the mechanism as to why the Cambrian explosion occurred in the first place, Peters says.

“The French composer Claude Debussy said, ‘Music is the space between the notes.’ I think that is the case here,” he says. “The gaps can have more information, in some ways, about the processes driving Earth system change, than the rocks do. It’s both together that give the whole picture.”

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Monday April 23rd, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Environmental, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Government Overreach, Magnetic North Pole, Mass Animal Deaths, Mysterious Phenomena, Radiation, Solar Activity, Uncategorized, Wildlife — Leave a comment

April 23, 2012

Earthquakes

GEOFON Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 124.0 MAP

EMSC Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 113.0 MAP

USGS Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 112.8 MAP

EMSC Syria-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 23:38 PM
3.1 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 23:27 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 23:15 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.8 39.5 MAP

EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.9 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.9 32.0 MAP

EMSC Poland
Apr 22 23:05 PM
3.0 10.0 MAP

USGS Northern California
Apr 22 22:25 PM
2.6 2.1 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees
Apr 22 22:04 PM
2.9 1.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 22 21:55 PM
3.1 51.3 MAP

USGS Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 591.3 MAP

GEOFON Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 590.0 MAP

EMSC Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 595.0 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees
Apr 22 21:37 PM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 22 21:37 PM
3.0 9.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 22 21:09 PM
2.4 4.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 22 20:48 PM
3.3 85.0 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 22 19:54 PM
2.7 36.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 19:28 PM
3.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 19:08 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

GEOFON Fiji Islands Region
Apr 22 18:31 PM
4.7 368.0 MAP

USGS Jalisco, Mexico
Apr 22 18:12 PM
4.6 85.7 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Jalisco, Mexico
Apr 22 18:11 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS La Paz, Bolivia
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.4 155.6 MAP

EMSC La Paz, Bolivia
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.4 140.0 MAP

GEOFON Peru-bolivia Border Region
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.6 134.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 22 18:01 PM
3.0 10.7 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 17:30 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 22 17:16 PM
2.8 18.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 17:14 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 16:51 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 22 16:18 PM
3.5 4.8 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 22 16:06 PM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Kep. Tanimbar Region, Indonesia
Apr 22 15:37 PM
5.0 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Tanimbar Islands Reg., Indonesia
Apr 22 15:37 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 15:21 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 14:28 PM
3.1 2.0 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 22 14:27 PM
2.5 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 14:14 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 13:58 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 13:58 PM
4.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:56 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 13:50 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 13:50 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Southwestern Ryukyu Islands, Japan
Apr 22 13:37 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:15 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 22 13:13 PM
5.0 180.0 MAP

GEOFON Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 22 13:13 PM
4.7 156.0 MAP

GEOFON West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

USGS West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.0 9.8 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:09 PM
2.5 21.0 MAP

EMSC Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 22 13:04 PM
4.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 22 13:04 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 12:27 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.2 40.0 MAP

GEOFON West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.1 10.0 MAP

USGS West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.2 10.2 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 12:07 PM
3.2 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 12:02 PM
3.1 8.0 MAP

USGS Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.3 39.2 MAP

EMSC Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.3 34.0 MAP

GEOFON Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 10:33 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC South Island Of New Zealand
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.0 MAP

USGS South Island Of New Zealand
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.3 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 10:01 AM
2.6 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 09:47 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu,
Japan    Apr 22 09:45 AM
4.5    24.5    MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 09:45 AM
4.5 24.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 22 09:32 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 22 09:19 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 22 09:19 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 09:07 AM
2.8 21.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 22 08:59 AM
2.5 51.9 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 22 08:57 AM
2.6 27.2 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 08:46 AM
3.2 2.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 08:37 AM
2.4 17.0 MAP

GEOFON Vancouver Island, Canada Region
Apr 22 08:36 AM
4.3 10.0 MAP

EMSC Vancouver Island, Canada Region
Apr 22 08:36 AM
4.4 20.0 MAP

USGS Vancouver Island, Canada Region
Apr 22 08:36 AM
4.4 11.6 MAP

EMSC Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 08:14 AM
4.1 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 08:14 AM
4.5 88.0 MAP

USGS Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 08:13 AM
4.6 40.0 MAP

EMSC Guatemala
Apr 22 08:07 AM
4.1 67.0 MAP

USGS Guatemala
Apr 22 08:07 AM
4.1 67.0 MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 22 08:00 AM
3.0    40.5    MAP
USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 22 07:54 AM
3.1    6.5    MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 07:50 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 07:26 AM
2.9 20.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 07:19 AM
2.8 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 07:09 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Central Italy
Apr 22 07:09 AM
2.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 22 07:06 AM
2.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 07:05 AM
2.4 8.0 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 22 07:04 AM
2.5 3.0 MAP

EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 22 07:03 AM
3.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 07:01 AM
3.5 3.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 22 06:58 AM
2.5 9.0 MAP

USGS Northern Alaska
Apr 22 06:56 AM
3.4 6.6 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 06:50 AM
3.0 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 06:40 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Northern Iran
Apr 22 06:38 AM
4.1 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 06:35 AM
2.5 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 06:26 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 06:15 AM
2.5 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 05:59 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 05:56 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 22 05:11 AM
2.6 11.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 22 04:34 AM
4.2 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Chile-bolivia Border Region
Apr 22 04:08 AM
4.1 137.0 MAP

EMSC Potosi, Bolivia
Apr 22 04:08 AM
4.4 133.0 MAP

USGS Potosi, Bolivia
Apr 22 04:08 AM
4.4 122.8 MAP

EMSC Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 04:00 AM
3.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 03:23 AM
2.5 6.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 03:17 AM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 03:17 AM
4.9 2.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 03:17 AM
4.9 11.6 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 01:54 AM
3.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southwestern Siberia, Russia
Apr 22 01:11 AM
3.7 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Volcano Islands, Japan Region
Apr 22 00:35 AM
4.5 344.0 MAP

USGS Volcano Islands, Japan Region
Apr 22 00:35 AM
4.8 48.9 MAP

EMSC Volcano Islands, Japan Region
Apr 22 00:35 AM
4.8 60.0 MAP

EMSC Western Iran
Apr 22 00:22 AM
4.2 20.0 MAP

USGS Western Iran
Apr 22 00:22 AM
4.2 10.4 MAP

GEOFON Western Iran
Apr 22 00:21 AM
4.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 00:08 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Syria
Apr 22 00:06 AM
3.0 15.0 MAP

Sources : USGS – EMSC – GFZ – GEONET

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Volcanic Activity

Current Emergencies

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
1	19.04.2012	Biological Hazard	China	Ningxia Autonomous region, [Touying township]
2	23.04.2012	Epidemic Hazard	Vietnam	Province of Quang Ngai, [Son Ky Commune]
11	22.04.2012	Volcano Activity	Mexico	State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano]

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Flash Flood	Kenya	State of Rift Valley, [Hells Gate National Park]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	Taiwan	Central Region, [ The area was not defined.]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	USA	State of Minnesota, Duluth [Edgewater Resort and Water Park]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	USA	State of Florida, Hillsborough
	Today	Biological Hazard	Australia	State of Western Australia, Broome [Cable Beach]
	Today	Vehicle Accident	Japan	Prefecture of Kagoshima, [About 2 kilometers west of Sata Cape]
	Today	Flash Flood	Kenya	Rift Valley Province, [Hell's Gate National Park]
2	23.04.2012	Event into space	USA	States of Nevada and California, [Reno-Sparks area, Carson City, Minden, South Lake Tahoe, Placerville and Truckee]
	22.04.2012	Explosion	Japan	Prefecture of Yamaguchi, [Mitsui Chemicals]
	22.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	China	Municipality of Shanghai, Shanghai
	22.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	Zimbabwe	Mashonaland West Province, Kadoma
	22.04.2012	Vehicle Incident	Pakistan	State of Sindh, Karachi [Jinnah International Airport]

***********************************************************************************************************

Storms, Flooding

Destructive Snowstorm Targets Interior Northeast

by Jonathan Erdman, weather.com Sr. Meteorologist

Updated: April 23, 2012 6:15 am ET

The snow season “that largely wasn’t” in the Northeast will be “book-ended” by two destructive winter storms.

A heavy, wet snowstorm in 2011 downed trees and power lines, knocking out power to over 3 million customers in the Northeast just before Halloween 2011, in a storm dubbed “Snowtober”.

Snowtober 2011: Photos | A record-setter | #1 winter storm of 2011-2012

Unfortunately, another “Snowtober”-type destructive snowstorm will wreak havoc in parts of the Northeast kicking off this week. Let’s get to the critical details.
Click here to track current power outages

Read Full Article and Watch Video Here

Lakeshore Flood Warning

 BUFFALO NY

Flood Warning

SPOKANE, WA
LAKE CHARLES LA
JACKSON, MS

Gale Warning

CARIBOU ME
TAUNTON MA
CHICAGO IL
NORTHERN INDIANA
DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
BUFFALO NY
SOUTH OF NEW ENGLAND
GULF OF MAINE TO THE HAGUE LINE
GEORGES BANK...FROM THE NORTHEAST CHANNEL TO THE GREAT SOUTH
CHANNEL INCLUDING WATERS EAST OF CAPE COD...TO THE HAGUE LINE
GAYLORD MI
GRAY ME
CLEVELAND OH
ANCHORAGE AK

Freeze Warning

OMAHA/VALLEY NE
BLACKSBURG VA
GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
QUAD CITIES IA IL
MORRISTOWN TN
INDIANAPOLIS IN
NORTHERN INDIANA
GRAND RAPIDS MI
LINCOLN IL

Red Flag Warning

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

MOBILE AL
MIAMI FL
CHICAGO IL
TALLAHASSEE FL
 MELBOURNE FL

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Radiation

Is Fukushima’s Doomsday Machine About to Blow?

By Mike Whitney (about the author)

opednews.com

Mounting troubles at Japan’s hobbled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant now pose a real threat to human survival. If the area in which Unit 4 is struck by another 7.0 magnitude earthquake, there’s a 70 percent chance that “the entire fuel pool structure will collapse” and massive doses of lethal nuclear radiation will be released into the atmosphere. The disaster would release approximately “134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at Chernobyl as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP).” Experts believe that the amounts are sufficient to “destroy the world environment and our civilization,” which makes containment “an issue of human survival.” (“The Greatest Single Threat to Humanity: Fuel Pool Number 4,” Washington’s blog)

The structural integrity of Unit 4′s cooling pool was greatly compromised by the earthquake and following tsunami which struck the facility over a year ago. At present, the pools are not adequately protected or reinforced, which means that a sizable tremor could “cause a disaster worse than the three reactor meltdowns.” If such a disaster were to occur, “people should get out of Japan, and residents of the West Coast of America and Canada should shut all of their windows and stay inside,” says nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen.

Read Full Article Here

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Solar Activity

2MIN News Apr22

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Mysterious Booms / Rumblings

NorCal Sonic Boom Possible Meteor Impact

Overnight meteor shower continued Sunday morning.

By Lori Preuitt

| Sunday, Apr 22, 2012 | Updated 1:58 PM PDT

This is from a very active Leonid meteor shower, but you get the idea.

People in Northern California and Nevada reported hearing a loud boom in the sky above the Sierra Sunday morning.

The Tuolumne County sheriff’s department said they are investigating the possibility that it might have been the physical impact of an overnight meteor shower. Some people in the Tahoe area said they saw what they believed to be a meteor just prior to the sound. Others said they saw a fireball streak across the sky at the same time.

People who live in in Lake Tahoe, El Dorado County, Placer County, Tuolumne County, Amador County and Nevada County contacted our sister station in Sacramento. KCRA is reporting that they heard the sound just after 8:30 a.m.

The Associated Press reported the explosion rattled windows and shook houses from Reno to Winnemucca in Nevada, and from the Sacramento to Bakersfield.

Meteorologists in California and Nevada including our own Rob Mayeda said there were meteor showers Saturday night that could have still been going on Sunday morning.

Read Full Article Here

Inexplicable Earthquake Swarm in Canada; “Sounds like dynamite exploding.”

http://sheilaaliens.net/?p=539 “A New Brunswick town has been experiencing small earthquakes over the past month and residents are getting worried.”
source: http://www.globalnews.ca/video/natural+phenomenon+rocks+nb+town/video.html?v=…
Canada’s EQ Center:
http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/index-eng.php

And an interesting article by CanadianBusiness from today entitled
“Manmade earthquakes trigger government drill-down into possible fracking link”:

“VANCOUVER – A booming gas extraction process that has environmentalists all shaken up is being probed by two different studies to determine if it’s also causing the depths of Canada to rattle and roll.

The research into whether hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, can trigger earthquakes is being conducted just as a pair of independent papers were released internationally this week suggesting they do.

The studies out of mid-continent U.S. and Britain found that shallow, man-made tremors may be linked to the blasting of water, sand and chemicals deep underground to break open rock to obtain crude oil and natural gas.

Experts and critics alike are waiting for conclusive results from home soil before suggesting industry practices should be altered.

“These are tiny earthquakes and they’re the variety that occur thousands of times a day around the world,” said John Cassidy, a federal government seismologist in Victoria, B.C., of the international findings.
He said mounting interest and unusual vibrations in British Columbia have prompted closer study at home.

“The idea is to be able to provide well-grounded science advice that can be used by regulators across the country for their decision-making.”

A four-year study was launched by the federal Natural Resources Department on April 1. With the aid of industry regulators and universities, it will seek to unearth whether fracking has inducing quakes in British Columbia, New Brunswick and Quebec, Cassidy said.

A provincial study is also underway in a region of northeastern B.C. called the Horn River Basin, where at least 11 energy companies are developing significant shale gas extraction projects. The study, being conducted by the BC Oil and Gas Commission with commercial co-operation, should be completed later this year.”
Read more: http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/80131–manmade-earthquakes-trigger-go…

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Wildlife

Mass Dolphin Death Mystery In Peru, Authorities Blame It On Viral Infection

By Sreeja VN | Apr 22, 2012 08:14 AM EDT

Investigations are on into the deaths of hundreds of dolphins that washed up on the northern coast of Peru. Around 877 carcasses of dolphins and porpoises were found on Peruvian beaches in two and half months. Peruvian officials and environmentalists are trying to unravel the mystery behind the phenomenon.

No concrete reasons have been figured out yet but the authorities believe that it could possibly be a viral infection that may have killed the dolphins in huge numbers. While environmental groups in the country blame the seismic oil exploration work carried out by BPZ Energy Company for the dolphin deaths.

Read Full Article Here

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Articles of Interest

100% Certainty of Total Catastrophic Failure of the Entire Power Infrastructure Within 3 Years (Video)

World — 22 April 2012

Mac Slavo
SHTFplan

As smart grid metering systems expand across the developed world, many are starting to ask whether the threats posed by the new devices, which officials promise will save energy and reduce end user utility costs, outweigh their benefits. In addition to documented health concerns resulting from radiation emissions and no cost savings being apparent, opponents of the technology argue that smart meters are violative of basic privacy rights and give the government yet another digital node of unfettered access to monitor and control personal electricity consumption.

Now, an alarming new documentary suggests that security problems with the inter-connected and seemingly convenient smart grid may be so serious that they could lead to a catastrophic failure of our nation’s entire power infrastructure.

In an interview for the upcoming documentary titled Take Back Your Power, Cyber defense expert David Chalk warns that our nation is in crisis. Not only are our smart power grids susceptible to hacking, but they may very well already be infected with Trojan viruses and back doors that will ultimately lead to disastrous consequences:

Read Full Article Here

4/21/2012 — Solar poles to flip next month (1yr early) — TWO north poles = Quadri-polar(???)

Published on Apr 21, 2012 by dutchsinse

update 115am CDT 4/23/2012: Per the Japanese.. last time this sort of thing occurred was about 300 years ago:

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/science/T120420005829.htm

quote the article:

“Magnetic field polarity at the solar poles will reverse and become quadrupolar in May, meaning positive fields will emerge in the North and South poles and negative fields will emerge on the equator, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and other institutes.

When a similar phenomenon occurred about 300 years ago, the Earth’s average temperature fell slightly. “

Per the Japanese Hinode team (pronounced hee-no-day) — in about one months time — (may 2012) the suns north pole will reach a magnetic point of “zero” and then form into MULTIPLE positive poles — creating TWO solar north poles, and TWO corresponding south poles .. also.. this is happening a year ahead of the expected “nominal” time.

full website post here: http://sincedutch.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/4212012-solar-poles-to-flip-next-m…

some are asking IS there a difference between .. quadri , quadru, quadra … quick answer.. no difference.. all are variants of Quadri … which means four in Latin ..

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/quadri-
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/quadra-
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quadru-

thanks to jeorgekite:

http://www.youtube.com/jeorgekite

download the japanese pdf below his video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTdlI9bc4Mw

Here is the press release from HINODE Japan:

http://hinode.nao.ac.jp/news/120419PressRelease/index_e.shtml

Polar Field Reversal as observed with Hinode
19 April 2012
Naional Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ/NINS)
RIKEN
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Science and Technology Facilities Council(STFC)
European Space Agency(ESA)

The polarity of the extended uni-polar magnetic field in the solar polar region is known to reverse every 11 years, and the reversal occurs at around the maximum of solar activity, which is expected to take place at around 2013 May (NOAA ).

High latitude magnetic fields have been observed with solar telescopes on the ground. However, actual process of the polar field reversal is poorly understood because of the difficulty of the observations on the extreme limb combined with atmospheric seeing effect. The solar optical telescope aboard the Hinode satellite allows us for the first time to perform extremely high-quality observations of the deep polar region of the Sun (Figure A). The initial discoveries include that there are many magnetic patches with intense magnetic field in the polar regions. Their field strength is close to that of sunspots, and their size is as large as small sunspots called pore.

The international research team led by Saku Tsuneta, a professor at NAOJ, has been performing the monthly polar observations with Hinode from September 2008. We here report the discovery that the average magnetic flux of the north polar region is rapidly and steadily decreasing during the period of 2008 and 2012 (Figure B). The reversal (from minus to plus polarity) is taking place in sequence from lower latitude to higher latitude. The average magnetic flux of the polar region soon becomes zero. The estimated completion of the reversal of the north polar region will take place in 1 months or so, about one year earlier than the nominal expected reversal time.

In striking contrast to the north polar situation, the magnetic flux of the south polar region has been very stable, and maintains the plus polarity (Figure C). These latest Hinode observations suggest that the global magnetic field of the Sun will become different from the normal bipolar configuration.

Observations of the polar magnetic fields are the key for understanding the cyclic solar dynamo. Their results will shed light on the origin of the solar magnetism, and will contribute to our understating on the Sun’s effect to the solar-terrestrial environment.

HERE COME THE GREEN POLICE: DHS LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE UNITS

04-20-2012 1:44 pm – The Rat – ConstitutionClub.org
Sleep well tonight, America. The ever-vigilant Obama Regime stands at red alert in its unflinching effort to protect you, your loved ones and life as you know it. From “climate change” and “melting Arctic ice.” Uh huh. The epic battle is on – and O’s Army is all over it – just like Dennis Quaid in The Day After Tomorrow. Where would our nation be were it not for Barack Hussein Obama’s extraordinary aptitude for keeping his priorities straight? Other countries should be so fortunate.

Not a minute too soon, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that it is creating “environmental justice” units that will be empowered to oversee regulations in conjunction with local governments throughout the country. The framework for the Environmental Justice Working Group includes eleven federal government agencies, including the TSA, the Secret Service and FEMA. Go big or go home, right?

In its just-released Environmental Justice Strategy document, the DHS says the idea is to “include environmental justice practices in our larger mission efforts involving federal law enforcement and emergency response activities” and to incorporate environmental justice in “securing the homeland.” Roll that around in your head for awhile:

“Federal law enforcement” agents conducting “emergency response activities” in the name of “environmental justice” for the purpose of “securing the homeland.” The Green Police. Oh. My. God.

Lest you think these people are crazy as a loon, (which they are), here’s the official explanation from the Regime:

Our nation’s vision of homeland security is a homeland that is safe and secure, resilient against terrorism and other hazards – where American interests and aspirations, and the American way of life can thrive. In seeking to fulfill this vision, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) aspires to avoid burdening minority and low-income populations with a disproportionate share of any adverse human health or environmental risks associated with our efforts to secure the nation.

What a complete crock of crap. Since when is terrorism a mere “hazard,” – comparable to environmentalist wacko-ism? The “American way of life”? As defined by whom – Barack Obama, Al Gore and the rest of the greenies? And – why must the Divider-in-Chief single out – as he always does – “minority and low-income populations”? And their “disproportionate share”? That “efforts to secure the nation” part is hysterical as well. How low of a common denominator are these people playing to?

The DHS document also lists concerns such as “climate change” and “melting Arctic ice,” despite recent reports confirming that the amount of floating ice in the Arctic’s Bering Sea “reached all-time record high levels last month,” according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. Then again, liberals never let facts or data get in the way of “securing the nation” according to their agendas, do they?

Memo to O: If you’re so interested in securing the nation, why do you continue your incessant efforts to divide its people? Why do continue your relentless drive to mortgage the future of “the nation’s” grandchildren – all for the self-serving reason of pandering for votes?

In the event that you missed Audi’s Green Police ad during the Super Bowl, it gave a glimpse of things to come – courtesy of the courageous Barack Hussein Obama – without whom, America may very well have been denied the Chevy Volt.

Hell, the O-man reduced NASA to little more than a Muslim-outreach program – why shouldn’t he straighten out the Secret Service, too? Besides, they’ve been somewhat distracted lately anyway.

I can see the television series now – a Maxwell Smart or Barney Fife character – riding a Segway – as he battles diabolical conservatives hellbent on destroying the planet’s environment. Must-see TV.

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Friday April 20th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Solar Activity, Storms, Uncategorized, Volcanic Events — Leave a comment

April 20, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC    Georgia (sak’art’velo)
Apr 19 23:51 PM
2.6    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Madeira Islands, Portugal Region
Apr 19 23:41 PM
4.4    80.0    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 19 23:36 PM
3.2    9.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 23:34 PM
2.6    3.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 23:22 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 23:03 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Peru
Apr 19 23:02 PM
4.8    135.0    MAP

USGS    Central Peru
Apr 19 23:02 PM
4.8    122.7    MAP

GEOFON    Central Peru
Apr 19 23:02 PM
5.2    102.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 23:01 PM
2.6    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 22:54 PM
2.5    4.0    MAP

USGS    Alaska Peninsula
Apr 19 22:36 PM
2.5    15.2    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 22:18 PM
2.7    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 19 22:11 PM
2.9    9.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 21:53 PM
2.4    5.0    MAP

USGS    Virgin Islands Region
Apr 19 21:53 PM
2.8    38.5    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 21:32 PM
2.5    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Northern Algeria
Apr 19 21:13 PM
3.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:49 PM
3.2    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:25 PM
3.2    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:18 PM
3.0    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:12 PM
2.5    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:10 PM
2.7    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:09 PM
3.0    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:06 PM
3.4    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 20:00 PM
3.3    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 19:55 PM
3.1    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Turkey
Apr 19 19:52 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 19:52 PM
4.5    7.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 19:32 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

USGS    New South Wales, Australia
Apr 19 19:09 PM
3.7    0.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 18:48 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 19 18:37 PM
2.6    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 19 18:07 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    North Indian Ocean
Apr 19 18:07 PM
4.7    50.0    MAP

USGS    Washington
Apr 19 17:47 PM
2.5    16.1    MAP

EMSC    Molucca Sea
Apr 19 17:23 PM
5.3    72.0    MAP

GEOFON    Northern Molucca Sea
Apr 19 17:23 PM
5.3    10.0    MAP

USGS    Molucca Sea
Apr 19 17:23 PM
5.3    12.1    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 19 17:03 PM
2.7    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Pyrenees
Apr 19 17:02 PM
3.2    1.0    MAP

USGS    Washington
Apr 19 16:36 PM
2.6    19.8    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 19 16:26 PM
3.4    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Off East Coast Of Kamchatka
Apr 19 16:17 PM
4.0    33.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near Coast Of Guerrero, Mexico
Apr 19 15:56 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 19 15:56 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

USGS    Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 19 15:56 PM
4.5    1.0    MAP

GEOFON    Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia
Apr 19 15:46 PM
4.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Near N Coast Of Papua, Indonesia
Apr 19 15:46 PM
5.0    30.0    MAP

USGS    Near The North Coast Of Papua, Indonesia
Apr 19 15:46 PM
5.0    25.4    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 15:37 PM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Albania
Apr 19 15:11 PM
2.5    16.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 14:58 PM
2.5    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 14:43 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near Coast Of Guerrero, Mexico
Apr 19 14:35 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Offshore Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 19 14:35 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

USGS    Offshore Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 19 14:35 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off Coast Of Northern Chile
Apr 19 13:40 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 19 13:38 PM
2.4    14.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 19 13:31 PM
2.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 13:04 PM
2.7    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 12:58 PM
3.1    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 12:36 PM
2.5    6.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 19 12:31 PM
2.5    2.4    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 19 12:19 PM
3.0    77.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 12:15 PM
2.5    7.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 19 11:46 AM
3.0    1.7    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 19 11:45 AM
2.8    1.5    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 19 11:24 AM
2.5    75.6    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 11:00 AM
3.1    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Celebes Sea
Apr 19 10:59 AM
4.5    589.0    MAP

GEOFON    Celebes Sea
Apr 19 10:59 AM
4.5    545.0    MAP

USGS    Celebes Sea
Apr 19 10:59 AM
4.7    553.1    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 10:55 AM
4.7    29.9    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 10:55 AM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 10:55 AM
4.9    12.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 19 10:54 AM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 10:51 AM
2.8    9.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 10:34 AM
2.9    6.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 19 10:14 AM
2.5    15.0    MAP

EMSC    Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 19 10:13 AM
3.3    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Italy
Apr 19 09:40 AM
2.7    7.0    MAP

EMSC    Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 19 09:34 AM
3.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 09:25 AM
3.1    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 19 09:16 AM
3.0    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Northern Chile
Apr 19 09:06 AM
4.6    104.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 19 08:31 AM
2.9    4.0    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 19 07:56 AM
2.9    7.2    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 19 07:52 AM
3.3    159.0    MAP

USGS    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 19 07:42 AM
4.7    46.8    MAP

GEOFON    Iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 19 07:42 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 19 07:22 AM
3.1    19.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 06:52 AM
4.5    29.9    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 19 06:52 AM
4.5    10.0    MAP

USGS    North Indian Ocean
Apr 19 06:30 AM
4.8    14.8    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 19 06:30 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 19 06:25 AM
3.3    112.1    MAP

USGS    Dominican Republic
Apr 19 06:15 AM
3.4    100.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 19 05:00 AM
4.7    32.1    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 19 03:33 AM
5.2    18.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 19 03:33 AM
4.9    14.0    MAP

GEOFON    Volcano Islands, Japan Region
Apr 19 02:48 AM
5.1    10.0    MAP

USGS    Volcano Islands, Japan Region
Apr 19 02:48 AM
4.9    18.2    MAP

GEONET    Canterbury
Apr 19 02:32 AM
3.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 19 02:14 AM
3.4    144.1    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 19 02:00 AM
3.3    71.0    MAP

GEOFON    Taiwan
Apr 19 01:58 AM
5.1    17.0    MAP

USGS    Taiwan
Apr 19 01:58 AM
5.1    18.8    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 19 01:20 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Yukon Territory, Canada
Apr 19 01:17 AM
2.7    11.9    MAP

USGS    Coquimbo, Chile
Apr 19 01:14 AM
4.7    52.3    MAP

GEOFON    El Salvador
Apr 19 00:48 AM
4.7    97.0    MAP

USGS    El Salvador
Apr 19 00:48 AM
4.4    94.0    MAP

GEOFON    Kuril Islands
Apr 19 00:24 AM
4.5    59.0    MAP

USGS    Kuril Islands
Apr 19 00:24 AM
4.8    71.8    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico
Apr 19 00:13 AM
2.6    8.6    MAP

Earthquake swarm on Iran-Iraq border continues

Posted on April 20, 2012

April 20, 2012 – IRAN – 5.1 and 5.0 earthquakes are the latest in a swarm of about six earthquakes that have erupted along the convergent plate boundaries between the Arabian and Eurasian plate. The swarm is about 528 km (328 miles) SW of TEHRAN, Iran. The epicenter of the earthquakes is located on the convergent boundary where the two tectonic plates are colliding along the border of Iraq and Iran in what’s known as the Alpide Belt. Three moderate earthquakes have erupted along the epicenter in less than 20 hours. Most of the volcanoes in Iran lie in the north and south of the country, so this region outside the Tigris River is not considered a high-risk region for magma intrusion. Might this be the precursor to some event? We will have to wait and see.

New research puts focus on earthquake, tsunami hazard for southern California

by Staff Writers
San Francisco CA (SPX) Apr 20, 2012

A new map of active faults off the coast of southern California could clarify some of the earthquake hazard for the region, say Jaime Conrad of the U.S. Geological Survey and colleagues. Although this area is crisscrossed by faults, the seismic hazard posed by their activity isn’t well understood, partly because it’s unclear how much the faults slip and how they interact.

Scientists will convene in San Diego to present the latest seismological research at the annual conference of the Seismological Society of America (SSA), April 17-19. This year’s meeting is expected to draw a record number of registrants, with more than 630 scientists in attendance, and will feature 292 oral presentations and 239 poster presentations.

“For over 100 years the Annual Meeting of SSA has been the forum of excellence for presenting and discussing exciting new developments in seismology research and operations in the U.S. and globally,” said Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, president of SSA, which is a scientific society devoted to the advancement of earthquake science. von Hillebrandt-Andrade is manager of the NOAA National Weather Service Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program in Puerto Rico.

A special public town hall meeting is scheduled for the evening of April 17, featuring talks by experts on the seismic hazard to San Diego from future earthquakes and tsunamis.

“We are extremely excited by the range, depth, and quality of science to be presented at this meeting” said David Oglesby, associate professor of earth sciences at the University of California, Riverside. “The meeting will cover all aspects of seismology and earthquake science, from geology to numerical models, and from seismograms to tsunamis.

“Our location near the US-Mexican border also help to illuminate the exciting opportunities in international scientific collaborations,” said Oglesby, who is a co-organizer of the conference program along with Raul Castro, a seismologist at the Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Educacion Superior de Ensenada, Baja California.

The presentations by the international gathering of seismologists will focus on a broad range of topics, covering the Earth’s surface to its center. Some highlights that focus more closely on the San Diego area include:

Downtown San Diego:
The city of San Diego sits atop a fault system that poses considerable seismic hazard to the millions of the region’s residents. In an evaluation by Ivan Wong and colleagues from the URS Corporation, an international engineering consulting firm, the potential hazard from both strong ground shaking and surface faulting was quantified in the downtown area.

Several rupture scenarios of the Rose Canyon fault system were considered including rupture of the associated San Diego fault that traverses downtown San Diego.

The surface faulting hazard for locations along the San Diego fault is estimated to be low because of its low rate of activity but the ground shaking hazard is probably high throughout much of San Diego because of the distributed nature of the Rose Canyon fault system.

The behavior of the Rose Canyon fault system as it traverses San Diego is poorly understood. It is unclear what the role of individual faults in the fault system are in the vicinity of San Diego Bay and the downtown area in a large magnitude 7+ earthquake and how often such events may occur.

“It is clear however that the threat to the city from a future large earthquake is considerable and that research is needed to define what that level of hazard is,” said Ivan Wong, principal seismologist and vice president of URS Corporation.

San Jacinto Fault Zone:
Geophysicist Tom Rockwell, and colleagues from San Diego State University will describe the latest research findings on the San Jacinto Fault (SJF) Zone, which is a seismically active, major component of the overall southern San Andreas Fault system, and of particular importance to the San Diego region. They have mapped evidence of past ruptures consistent with very large earthquakes along the Clark Fault, an individual strand associated with the SJF.

Tom Rockwell and other presenters will discuss their work at a news briefing on April 19, beginning at 12:10 p.m. (local time) in the Terrace Salon 2 room of the Town and Country Resort and Convention Hotel.

Offshore faults:
A new map of active faults off the coast of southern California could clarify some of the earthquake hazard for the region, say Jaime Conrad of the U.S. Geological Survey and colleagues. Although this area is crisscrossed by faults, the seismic hazard posed by their activity isn’t well understood, partly because it’s unclear how much the faults slip and how they interact.

The new map covers a series of faults in the near-shore portion of the region known as the Inner Continental Borderland, located between the coast and the San Clemente fault, about 35-40 miles offshore.

The crumpled and uplifted seafloor from Santa Monica Bay to the Mexican border includes several high-angled and north-south trending faults. Using high-resolution seismic reflection data from a number of sources, including multiple sources of sonar beamed from research ships and unmanned underwater vehicles, the researchers were able to revise the current map in some surprising ways.

The data show linkages between faults that were not known previously, for example, and in some cases show a fault slip rate of 1-2 millimeters per year.

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Volcanic Activity

Popocatepetl Volcano Threatening to Erupt, 19 Million Prepare to Evacuate

By Sami K. Martin , Christian Post Contributor

April 18, 2012|11:57 am

The Popocatepetl volcano is making movement and threatening to erupt, causing Mexican officials to raise the alert level from yellow phase three to yellow phase two.

The volcano has already begun spewing red-hot bits of rock, and its opening has expanded. These are signs that the volcano, still quite active, could soon erupt. In a statement by Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention, the volcano could produce “moderate exhalations, some with ash, sporadic low to moderate explosions with likely burning fragments, and flaming magma within the crater.”

Residents and tourists have been advised to remain at least seven miles away from the volcano’s base, lest magma or hot rock injure anyone. Mexico has been experiencing natural disasters with increasing frequency.

Read Full Article Here

Popocatépetl Volcano Erupts Spewing Hot Rock Fragments and Ash in Mexico

Alex Sosnowski
AccuWeather
Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:40 CDT

© AP
Birds fly in the foreground as a plume of ash and steam rise from Popocatepetl volcano as seen from San Andres Cholula, Mexico, Wednesday April 18, 2012. Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano is continuing to spout gases and hot rock fragments and it is dusting towns on its flanks with volcanic ash.

A volcano within view of Mexico City continues to erupt.

Steam, smoke and hot fragments of rock began to be ejected from Popocatepetl this past weekend.

The volcano is located about 50 miles southeast of Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. The metropolitan area of Mexico City is home to approximately 21 million people.

According to Reuters, Mexico’s National Center for Disaster Prevention this week raised the alert level to three on a scale from one to seven, with seven being the greatest threat.

If eruptions intensify, evacuations of nearby villages may be necessary.

The volcano has had a long history of frequent minor to moderate eruptions.

In 2000, thousands of residents surrounding the nearly 18,000-foot mountain were forced to evacuate. Popocatepetl is North America’s second highest volcano.

Eruptions have occurred in November and June of 2011.

According to VolcanoDiscovery.com, Popocatepetl was dormant during the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

This is a very active volcanic region of the globe and is known as the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Mexico authorities were recommending limiting access to the area, including air travel due to the frequency of the volcanic activity of late.

Ash from volcanoes can be carried into the intake of engines, leading to failure.

During a major eruption, smoke and ash can be carried for hundreds and thousands of miles downwind, depending on weather conditions. Such was the case with Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland during 2010.

Accord to Smithsonian, the last major eruption of Popocatepetl, which including a pyroclastic flow, occurred around 800 AD.

A pyroclastic flow is a combination of lethal hot gas and ash, similar to what happened in Pompeii, Italy.

Popocatepetl is the Aztec word for smoking mountain.

Surface winds in the vicinity of the volcano during April 19, 2012, were generally from the west and northwest, carrying smoke and ash away from the Mexico capital.

The town of Puebla, located southeast of Popocatepetl was reporting volcanic ash in the vicinity for a few hours during April 18.

This story was first published on Monday, April 16, 2012 and has been updated.

Reventador volcano (Ecuador), activity update: steaming and ash emission

Thursday Apr 19, 2012 09:04 AM | Age: 23 hrs

BY: T

eruption plume from Reventador on 18 April (photo: L. Gomezjurado / IG)

Reventador continues to be mildly active with ongoing weak to moderate steam and ash emissions. The Instituto Geofísico reports a 2 km high column of steam and ash rising from Reventador volcano on 18 April. The ash cloud moved to the NW.
IG characterizes the actual activity level (visual and seismic activity) of Reventador “moderate”. No major changes have been observed at the volcano in recent days.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Biological Hazard	India	State of Tamil Nadu, Valparai [Vellamalai Top Division Tea Estate]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	Samoa	Capital city, Apia [Tafaigata prison]
	Today	Extreme Weather	Turkey	[Statewide]
	Today	Vehicle Accident	USA	State of Indiana, Indianapolis [Zionsville Road, Pike Township]
	Today	Vehicle Incident	USA	State of New York, New York City [John F. Kennedy International Airport ]
	Today	Forest / Wild Fire	India	State of Andhra Pradesh, [Tirumala Forest]
	Today	Flash Flood	United Kingdom	England, Pocklington [East Yorkshire]
	Today	Nuclear Event	USA	State of Pennsylvania, [Limerick Generating Station]
	19.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	Bolivia	Departamento de La Paz, El Castillo
	19.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	USA	State of Texas, Pleasanton
	19.04.2012	Forest / Wild Fire	Turkey	Province of Karabük, [Villages of Cıraklar, Kadibükü and Cercen, Safranbolu district ]
	19.04.2012	Epidemic Hazard	Dominican Republic	Moca Municipio, [Canca, Tamboril and Ceiba de Madera]
	19.04.2012	Biological Hazard	South Africa	State of Western Cape, Cape Town [Koeel Bay]
	19.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	USA	State of , [About 120 miles west of Tampa]
	19.04.2012	HAZMAT	USA	State of Pennsylvania, Wissinoming [James Sullivan Elementary School]
1	20.04.2012	Epidemic Hazard	Vietnam	Province of Quang Ngai, [Son Ky Commune]

Gale Warning

CHICAGO IL
GRAND RAPIDS MI
JUNEAU AK
ANCHORAGE ALASKA
GAYLORD MI
GREEN BAY WI
MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
 DETROIT/PONTIAC MI

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Storms, Flooding

Flood Warning

LAKE CHARLES LA
LITTLE ROCK AR
JACKSON, MS
SHREVEPORT LA

Winter Weather Advisory

GREEN BAY WI
GAYLORD MI
MARQUETTE MI

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Climate Change

Southeast Asia’s billion dollar cassava industry at high risk due to climate change

by Staff Writers
Bangkok, Thailand (SPX) Apr 20, 2012

Southeast Asia’s billion dollar cassava industry at high risk due to climate change
by Staff Writers
Bangkok, Thailand (SPX) Apr 20, 2012

The green mite was first sighted feeding on cassava in Vietnam in 2009, with further reports from Southern China and additional unconfirmed sightings in Cambodia in 2011. Originally from South America, the tiny mites feed on the leaves of cassava plants, causing them to wither and die. It is closely related to the green mite species Mononychellus tanajoa, which has caused extensive damage to cassava in Africa and South America.

Severe outbreaks of new, invasive pests triggered by rising temperatures could threaten Southeast Asia’s multi-billion dollar cassava industry, as well as the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of small farmers that rely on the crop for income, according to research from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).

“Warmer conditions and longer dry seasons linked to climate change could prove to be the perfect catalyst for outbreaks of pests and diseases. They are already formidable enemies affecting food crops,” said Pramod K. Aggarwal, regional program leader for Asia at the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

Around five million small producers across Southeast Asia supply cassava to domestic and foreign processing industries, which convert the roots to animal feed and biofuels and also extract starch for use in a wide variety of food and other products. Thailand’s cassava industry accounts for more than 60 percent of global exports. It is one of the world’s biggest producers of tapioca starch, made from the cassava root. In 2011, Thai farmers exported 2.8 billion metric tons of tapioca starch worth almost 48 billion Thai Baht, according to the Thai Tapioca Starch Association.

For cassava in Southeast Asia, mealybugs and whiteflies are already endemic in the region. But new threats, such as the tiny green mite (Mononychellus mcgregori), are already emerging, says the research, published recently in the scientific journal Tropical Plant Biology.

“The cassava pest situation in Asia is pretty serious as it is,” said Tony Bellotti, a cassava entomologist at CIAT. “But according to our studies, rising temperatures could make things a whole lot worse.”

The research was discussed at “Climate Smart Agriculture in Asia: Research and Development Priorities,” a conference convened in Bangkok this week by the Asia-Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI), the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“One outbreak of an invasive species is bad enough, but our results show that climate change could trigger multiple, combined outbreaks across Southeast Asia, Southern China and the cassava-growing areas of Southern India,” added Belloti. “It’s a serious threat to the hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers for whom cassava is a lifeline, and their main source of income.”

An invasive species-one whose movement is aided by the boom in global travel and trade, and which has no natural enemies in Asia-green mite populations could explode if left unchecked.

The report calls for a range of responses to minimize the risk of outbreaks, and to limit damage where outbreaks occur, under the broad banner of Integrated Pest Management. This includes renewed scientific focus on breeding cassava plants with increased resistance to the pests, minimal use of pesticides to avoid killing any possible natural enemies, as well as the identification, rearing and introduction of so-called “biological control agents”-predator and parasite species that hunt down and kill the pests.

In 2009, Thailand showed how a sudden, severe cassava mealybug outbreak could be swiftly brought under control through the use of the parasitic wasp Anagyrus lopezi, which was released into Thai cassava fields in 2010.

“These pest outbreaks need to be continually monitored,” Bellotti said. “Our research shows that there are specific niches that these exotic species can exploit, not just in Asia, but in Africa and the Americas too.”

Scientists emphasize the importance of taming these threats to cassava because the crop is one of the few that can prosper as the climate changes. Previous CIAT research identified cassava as a “Rambo root,” exceptionally tolerant of higher temperatures and droughts. But while the plant can survive the changing temperatures, in order to fully realize its potential to thrive in the face of climate change, it needs assistance in overcoming the crop pests that also come with modified climates.

The Climate Smart Agriculture conference in Bangkok featured leading agriculture, climate and development experts, as well as government representatives from 14 countries in South and Southeast Asia, who brought similar experiences of how agriculture has changed, discussed the most up-to-date research on the impacts of climate change on food security, and identified the priorities to make agriculture “climate-smart.”

These regions are home to more than 30 percent of the world’s population, but half of the world’s poor and malnourished. Agriculture is the backbone of most economies in the region, with nearly 50 percent of the population dependent on the sector for food and livelihoods. Agriculture, along with forestry and land use change, also account for almost one third of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and some of the most innovative approaches to reducing these emissions have been developed in Southeast Asia, one of the leading exporters of rice and cassava to the rest of the world.

In Vietnam, some farmers are switching from rice to shrimp farming to respond to increased salinity and other changes in water resources. Scientists are also working with farmers to disseminate varieties in Mekong Delta countries that can tolerate a larger amount of saltwater flooding, more acidic water and soil, elevated levels of pollution, and new strains of pests and diseases-all while decreasing the crop’s water usage and emissions footprint.

“Last year’s record flooding in Thailand and Southeast Asia was preceded by a record drought in 2010. These and many other extreme weather events have hammered global food prices,” said Bruce Campbell, program director at CCAFS. “With climate change in South and Southeast Asia expected to reduce agriculture productivity by as much as 50 percent in the next three decades, agriculture must become more productive, more resilient and more climate-friendly. Agriculture needs to shift from being climate dependent to being climate-smart.”

The research was published in Tropical Plant Biology, vol 4, numbers 3-4 Dec 2011.

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Solar Activity

2MIN News Apr19: Earth-Directed CME/Quake Watch Peaks 21st/22nd

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Wednesday April 18th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Freedom, Global Disaster Watch, Solar Activity, Volcanic Events — Leave a comment

April 18, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 23:56 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 23:29 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 22:37 PM
3.1 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 22:30 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 22:25 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 22:18 PM
2.5 4.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 22:16 PM
2.5 4.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 17 22:12 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:55 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Syria-iraq Border Region
Apr 17 21:49 PM
3.1 24.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:45 PM
2.6 7.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:29 PM
3.2 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:26 PM
3.5 4.0 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 17 21:24 PM
2.6 9.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:19 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:18 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:12 PM
2.5 6.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 17 21:10 PM
2.5 110.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:05 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 21:02 PM
3.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 20:52 PM
2.7 6.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 17 20:49 PM
2.6 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Turkey
Apr 17 20:45 PM
4.2 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 20:45 PM
4.5 7.0 MAP

USGS Offshore Northern California
Apr 17 20:31 PM
4.1 19.8 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 17 20:23 PM
3.0 9.0 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 17 20:15 PM
2.8 11.6 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 20:01 PM
2.9 2.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 19:59 PM
2.7 4.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 19:45 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 19:45 PM
5.3 10.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 19:45 PM
5.0 12.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 17 19:37 PM
3.7 75.0 MAP

GEOFON    East Of South Sandwich Islands
Apr 17 19:03 PM
6.2    10.0    MAP

USGS    East Of The South Sandwich Islands
Apr 17 19:03 PM
6.2    1.0    MAP

EMSC    East Of South Sandwich Islands
Apr 17 19:03 PM
6.0    2.0    MAP

USGS New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea
Apr 17 18:21 PM
4.7 256.4 MAP

EMSC New Britain Region, P.n.g.
Apr 17 18:21 PM
4.7 256.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 17 18:09 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 17 17:35 PM
3.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 17:06 PM
4.8 20.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 17:06 PM
4.8 9.4 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 17:06 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Apr 17 17:03 PM
2.6 7.8 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 16:50 PM
3.0 6.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 17 16:33 PM
3.0 8.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 15:52 PM
3.6 1.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 15:33 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 15:29 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 15:29 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 15:29 PM
4.3 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan
Apr 17 15:15 PM
4.7 201.0 MAP

USGS Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan
Apr 17 15:15 PM
4.6 210.6 MAP

EMSC Hindu Kush Region, Afghanistan
Apr 17 15:15 PM
5.0 200.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 15:04 PM
2.9 17.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 14:29 PM
4.6 60.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 14:29 PM
4.6 56.0 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 14:29 PM
4.5 50.0 MAP

EMSC Kerkira Region, Greece
Apr 17 14:27 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 14:20 PM
2.5 6.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 13:59 PM
2.8 13.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 13:53 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 17 13:27 PM
4.2 10.0 MAP

GEONET Hawke’s Bay
Apr 17 13:26 PM
3.8 30.0 MAP

GEONET Hawke’s Bay
Apr 17 13:20 PM
3.9 20.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 17 13:03 PM
3.4 8.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 12:43 PM
2.5 2.0 MAP

USGS Hawaii Region, Hawaii
Apr 17 12:36 PM
3.0 36.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 12:29 PM
4.8 26.2 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 12:29 PM
4.7 15.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 12:29 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Peru
Apr 17 12:26 PM
4.8 73.0 MAP

USGS Near The Coast Of Southern Peru
Apr 17 12:26 PM
4.5 65.3 MAP

EMSC Near Coast Of Southern Peru
Apr 17 12:26 PM
4.5 60.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 12:25 PM
2.4 11.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 17 12:12 PM
2.4 15.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 11:50 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 17 11:11 AM
3.0 99.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 11:01 AM
2.8 2.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 17 11:01 AM
2.7 126.0 MAP

GEOFON Kuril Islands
Apr 17 10:49 AM
4.9 80.0 MAP

USGS Kuril Islands
Apr 17 10:49 AM
4.6 63.6 MAP

EMSC Kuril Islands
Apr 17 10:49 AM
4.6 54.0 MAP

EMSC Romania
Apr 17 10:05 AM
2.7 120.0 MAP

GEOFON Chile-argentina Border Region
Apr 17 09:49 AM
4.2 147.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 17 09:46 AM
3.3 40.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 17 09:29 AM
3.2 6.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 17 09:22 AM
2.5 89.8 MAP

EMSC Greece-turkey Border Region
Apr 17 09:13 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 17 09:03 AM
3.9 73.0 MAP

GEOFON Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 17 08:51 AM
5.6 44.0 MAP

USGS Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 17 08:51 AM
5.6 15.1 MAP

EMSC Kermadec Islands Region
Apr 17 08:51 AM
5.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 17 08:42 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 17 08:24 AM
2.6 6.6 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 07:58 AM
4.8 28.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 07:58 AM
4.8 27.8 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 17 07:58 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 17 07:54 AM
2.8 4.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 07:49 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 17 07:32 AM
2.6 78.1 MAP

USGS Eastern New Guinea Region, Papua New Guinea

Apr 17 07:13 AM
6.8 208.2 MAP

EMSC    Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.n.g.
Apr 17 07:13 AM
6.8    211.0    MAP

USGS Eastern New Guinea Region, Papua New Guinea

Apr 17 07:13 AM
7.0 202.0 MAP

GEOFON    Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.n.g.
Apr 17 07:13 AM
6.8    207.0    MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 17 07:07 AM
3.2 19.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 17 06:20 AM
2.5 16.0 MAP

USGS Off The Coast Of Oregon
Apr 17 06:14 AM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 06:10 AM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Tonga
Apr 17 06:07 AM
4.4 100.0 MAP

GEOFON Samoa Islands Region
Apr 17 06:07 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS Tonga
Apr 17 06:07 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 17 05:58 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 05:33 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP

USGS Alaska Peninsula
Apr 17 05:19 AM
2.5 2.9 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 17 04:53 AM
2.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 04:48 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 04:25 AM
4.9 40.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 04:25 AM
4.8 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 17 04:25 AM
4.9 31.0 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Central Chile
Apr 17 04:03 AM
4.8 39.0 MAP

EMSC Offshore Valparaiso, Chile
Apr 17 04:03 AM
5.0 40.0 MAP

USGS Offshore Valparaiso, Chile
Apr 17 04:03 AM
5.1 36.6 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 17 03:57 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 17 03:55 AM
3.1 13.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 03:54 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

USGS    Valparaiso, Chile
Apr 17 03:50 AM
6.7    37.0    MAP

EMSC    Valparaiso, Chile
Apr 17 03:50 AM
6.7    30.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near Coast Of Central Chile
Apr 17 03:50 AM
6.7    29.0    MAP

USGS Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Apr 17 03:43 AM
3.7 1.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 17 03:32 AM
2.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 17 03:24 AM
4.9 57.0 MAP

EMSC Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 17 03:24 AM
4.9 43.0 MAP

USGS Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 17 03:24 AM
5.1 41.7 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 17 03:18 AM
2.8 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 03:15 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 02:54 AM
2.4 9.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 02:46 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Iran
Apr 17 02:37 AM
4.7 34.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Iran
Apr 17 02:37 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Kenya
Apr 17 02:01 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Kenya
Apr 17 02:01 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Mid indian Ridge
Apr 17 01:41 AM
4.8 33.0 MAP

GEOFON Mid Indian Ridge
Apr 17 01:41 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Mid indian Ridge
Apr 17 01:41 AM
4.9 10.2 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 17 01:33 AM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 17 01:30 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 17 01:19 AM
2.5 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 17 00:19 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

USGS Central California
Apr 17 00:12 AM
3.4 24.8 MAP

Strong earthquake strikes Chile; no serious damage reported

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) — A strong earthquake struck coastal Chile near the port city of Valparaiso late Monday, causing mudslides and some minor damage, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 6.7-magnitude quake knocked out some power and phone lines in the region, authorities said.

The temblor was felt in the capital city, Santiago, located 69 miles from the epicenter. A CNN en Español anchor held onto his desk as the quake rattled the studio during a newscast in Huechurba, a suburb of the capital.

“We could feel the ground shaking,” said journalist Richard Madan. “It felt like we were standing on a subway track but multiply that by about 200.”

Read Full Article Here
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=world/2012/04/17/bpr-chile-earthquake-manuel.cnn

Did N. Sumatra earthquakes set off a chain-reaction? Planet shaken by shocking number of tremors since April 11, 2012

Posted on April 17, 2012

April 17, 2012 – WORLD – The shocking number of earthquakes that have rattled the globe, especially along tectonic plate boundaries, since the double 8.0+ magnitude earthquakes struck off the coast of Northern Sumatra on April 11 could be early indication the planet may be shifting towards a new catastrophic model. Romania’ s top seismologist, Gheorghe Marmureanu, told the Bucharest Herald: “There is no doubt something is seriously wrong. There have been too many strong earthquakes.” I said in my book: “If you keep seismically shaking the Earth, like a bottle of soda, its structural integrity eventually will become compromised and it will start to fracture like an egg. In this case, the fracturing will be thermal dissipation by hyper-volcanism, mega-thrust earthquakes, and greater tectonic boundary plate agitation around volcanic arcs and subduction zones…if this is what’s indeed happening, the pressure will continue to build in the interior of the planet until it eventually destabilizes all tectonic plates in a spectral pattern of continous seismic oscillation. Every earthquake generates and emits enough kinetic energy through the earth to potentially trigger more seismic disturbances.” - The Extinction Protocol, page 495

7.0-magnitude quake hits off Papua New Guinea: USGS

by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) April 17, 2012

Quake sends Indonesians fleeing from Aceh parliament
Banda Aceh, Indonesia (AFP) April 17, 2012 – A moderate earthquake struck off Indonesia’s Sumatra island Tuesday, US seismologists said, sending people running in fear from Aceh province’s parliament.The 5.1-quake hit at 10:24 am (0324 GMT) at a depth of around 42 kilometres (26 miles), 80 kilometres southwest of the provincial capital Banda Aceh, the US Geological Survey said.”The epicentre was located in the sea and was felt by people in Banda Aceh,” said Arif Achir of Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency, adding there was no tsunami threat or immediate reports of damage.

An AFP correspondent said the quake lasted around 45 seconds, sending people running from parliament and children from classrooms.

Aceh province was shaken last Wednesday by two huge earthquakes that triggered an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami alert.

At a magnitude of 8.6, the first of the two quakes was the strongest to hit since the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that killed 170,000 in Aceh. No major damage was reported.

A 7.0-magnitude quake struck off the northeast of Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning issued.

The quake hit at 5:13 pm (0713 GMT) 141 kilometres (88 miles) north of the country’s second largest city of Lae and 443 kilometres from the capital Port Moresby at a depth of 201 kilometres, it said.

“A destructive tsunami was not generated based on earthquake and historical tsunami data,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement.

Geoscience Australia measured the quake at 6.8 magnitude and at a depth of 215 kilometres but agreed it was unlikely to generate dangerous waves in the developing Pacific island nation.

“It’s pretty deep so it’s not a tsunami threat we believe, even though it’s slightly offshore,” Geoscience Australia seismologist Clive Collins told AFP.

Collins said there had been reports of the quake being felt as far away as Goroko, a highland region about 250 kilometres from the epicentre.

“There would be quite some shaking to the areas close by… because it’s about 20 kilometres offshore,” Collins said.

“So it’s obviously been felt in a wide area around Papua New Guinea, which you would expect from something that big.”

Quakes of such magnitude are common in impoverished PNG, which sits on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

“That northern part of Papua New Guinea is subject to quite strong earthquakes reasonably frequently,” Collins said, adding that the biggest risk in the mountainous country was generally from landslips caused by tremors.

“There are very steep valleys and if it’s been wet you get landslides which generally cause trouble. But I think this being a little bit offshore it may not be such a problem,” he said.

“Of course it will be a while before we know that.”

A giant tsunami in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people near Aitape, on the country’s northwest coast.

*********************************************************************************************

Volcanic Activity

Santorini’s underwater volcano activity resumes

20:54 17 APR 2012

(AGI) Washington – Santorini’s volcanic basin is showing signs of resumed volcanic activity. According to researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, satellite research tools suggest that a build-up of some 14m cubic metres of lava at a depth of 5km took place between September and January last.
Widely touted by academics as the cause of the Minoan civilisation’s obliteration, what is left of the volcano – a small archipelago – last witnessed significant geological activity in January of 2011. Having published his findings in the latest issue of Geophysical Research Letters, the Institute’s Andrew Newman says “our research shows that the lava build-up is accelerating,” suggesting that even though the build-up may not indicate an imminent eruption, it may cause minor volcanic events, including ash fall-out, landslides and even tsunami type phenomena.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Unusual geological event	Canada	Province of New Brunswick, McAdam
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	Vietnam	Province of Quang Ngai, [Son Ky Commune]
	Today	Forest / Wild Fire	Canada	Province of Ontario, [Uxbridge area]
	Today	Flood	Nigeria	Edo State, Benin City
	Today	Forest / Wild Fire	China	Province of Liaoning, [Qipan Mountain]
	Today	Enviroment Pollution	Australia	State of New South Wales, [Pacific Highway, Near to Port Macquarie]
	Today	Vehicle Incident	USA	State of Michigan, Traverse City [Cherry Capital Airport]
	Today	Biological Hazard	USA	State of California, San Diego
	Today	Biological Hazard	India	State of Haryana, Gurgaon [Government High School Sector 40]
	Today	Enviroment Pollution	USA	State of Washington, Seattle [Bell Harbor Marina, Elliott Bay]
	Today	Volcano Activity	Greece	Island of Thera, [Santorini volcano]
	Today	Hailstorm	USA	State of California, [San Joaquin Valley]
1	18.04.2012	CBRNE	Afghanistan	Province of Takhar, [The area is not defined.]

Gale Warning

LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
CAPE FLATTERY TO CAPE LOOKOUT

Freeze Warning

STATE COLLEGE PA
BINGHAMTON NY
BUFFALO NY
GRAND RAPIDS MI
DETROIT/PONTIAC MI
ALBANY NY

FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

ALBUQUERQUE NM

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Flooding

Flood Warning

KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS ND
LAKE CHARLES LA
JACKSON, MS
 NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE LA
SHREVEPORT LA
 LITTLE ROCK AR

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Radiation/ Nuclear

Ukraine nuclear plant halts reactor after electrical failure

by Staff Writers
Kiev (AFP) April 17, 2012

A reactor at a nuclear power station in the south of Ukraine has been shut down following an electrical failure but radiation levels were not elevated, authorities said on Tuesday.

The second reactor of the Yuzhno-Ukrainskaya Nuclear Power Station in the south of Ukraine was shut down following the failure of its main transformer and the subsequent breakage of the high voltage power line late Monday, the emergencies ministry said.

“The reactor no 2 has been switched to the minimum capacity and unplugged from Ukraine’s energy grid,” the emergencies ministry said in a statement on its website.

“Radiation and fire safety levels are normal,” it said, adding the nuclear power station’s employees were taking steps to bring the situation under control.

Ukraine is home to the now defunct Chernobyl nuclear plant whose fourth reactor exploded in April 1986 with fallout hitting the three Soviet republics along with a large part of Europe.

The Chernobyl nuclear plant is located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Kiev and close to the borders with Russia and Belarus. The explosion remains the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

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Solar Activity

SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION:

Magnetic fields on the sun’s northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on April 16th, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the blast at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths:

The explosion, which registered M1.7 on the Richter Scale of solar flares, was not Earth-directed, but it did hurl a CME into space. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather Lab have analyzed the trajectory of the cloud and found that it will hit NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft, the Spitzer space telescope, and the rover Curiosity en route to Mars. Planets Venus and Mars could also receive a glancing blow.

Using data from SDO, Steele Hill of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center assembled a must-see movie of the event. It shows the explosion unfolding at 304Å, a wavelength which traces plasma with a temperature around 80,000 K.

Coverage of the blast was not limited to space telescopes. Amateur astronomers saw it, too. Jim Lafferty sends this picture from his backyard observatory in Redlands, California:

“Yesterday’s prominence on the sun’s eastern limb was was one of the largest in years—short lived, it was mostly gone in a few hours,” says Lafferty. “It was a wonderful sight in the eyepiece and in the camera!”

2MIN News Apr17: Massive CME & Earthquakes

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Articles of Interest

Toxic gases hamper search at Pakistan avalanche site

by Staff Writers
Islamabad (AFP) April 17, 2012

Toxic gases Tuesday hampered the search for 138 people buried by an avalanche at a high-altitude Pakistan army camp, as teams from the United States and Norway arrived at the site to help operations.

A huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in disputed Kashmir more than a week ago, smothering an area of one square kilometre (a third of a square mile).

Rescuers have dug tunnels in the hard mass of snow and ice to try to reach the buried soldiers and civilians at the Gayari base, but toxic gases have built up inside one of them, the military said in a statement.

A rise in the temperature has increased the risk of further snow slides, the statement said, forcing workers on the site to take extra precautions.

Specialist teams from Norway and the United States arrived at Gayari, while Swiss and German teams have returned home after helping the efforts.

Search teams are looking for the trapped soldiers and civilians at six different points on the site, around 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) up in the mountains.

More than 450 rescuers are working at the site near the de facto border with India in the militarised region of Kashmir, though experts have said there is virtually no chance of finding any survivors.

Kashmir has been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan and the nuclear-armed rivals fought over Siachen in 1987, though guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent since a peace process began in 2004.

S.Lanka fishermen accused of damaging tsunami buoy

by Staff Writers
Colombo (AFP) April 17, 2012

Five Sri Lankan fishermen have been charged with vandalising a tsunami warning buoy just weeks before an earthquake triggered a major alert across the Indian Ocean, police said Tuesday.

Parts of the electronic floating device were removed from the buoy’s deep-sea mooring off the coast last month and later recovered in the southern coastal district of Matara.

The fishermen appeared before the chief magistrate in Matara on Monday and were remanded in custody until April 30, police spokesman Ajith Rohana told AFP.

“They said they thought the device could be a nice ornament they can fit onto their boat,” a court official said by telephone.

Tsunami warnings are vital to Sri Lanka, which had its south and east coasts devastated in the December 2004 tsunami when 31,000 people died in the island.

On April 11, a 8.6-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s Sumatra island set off high-level tsunami alerts around the Indian Ocean but no large waves were created and it caused little damage.

The Deep ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoy, which belongs to India, is part of a wider warning system to detect unusual rises in sea levels and predict tsunamis.

“The Indian authorities complained to us that one of their buoys had been cut from the moorings,” Sarath Lal Kumara, spokesman for Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre, told AFP.

He said police investigations led to the arrest of the five men and the recovery of some of the parts of the buoy, which cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Huge tire fire causes Kuwait ‘catastrophe’

by Staff Writers
Kuwait City (AFP) April 17, 2012

Hundreds of Kuwaiti firemen on Tuesday fought to contain a massive fire in a dump for used tires, with some members of parliament calling the blaze an environmental catastrophe.

Firemen from the national guard, the army and the oil sector joined efforts to extinguish the fire that was still raging 10 hours after it broke out in the dump of more than five million tires, the fire department said.

Environment authorities advised residents in the area to stay away and to use masks, but the education ministry rejected calls by MPs to suspend classes at local schools.

A number of MPs described the fire as an “environmental catastrophe” and vowed to demand a debate on the issue in a special parliamentary session next week. Some said they will demand an official probe.

Medics said that one man was treated for minor burns.

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Tuesday April 17th, 2012

Filed under: Earth Watch Report, Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, meteors, Mysterious Phenomena, Solar Activity, Space, Volcanic Events — Leave a comment

April 17, 2012

Earthquakes

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 16 23:57 PM
3.2 80.6 MAP

GEOFON Mid Indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

USGS Mid-indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 9.6 MAP

EMSC Mid-indian Ridge
Apr 16 23:53 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 23:53 PM
3.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Northern Algeria
Apr 16 23:51 PM
2.8 30.0 MAP

USGS Island Of Hawaii, Hawaii
Apr 16 23:42 PM
2.8 28.6 MAP

USGS Northern California
Apr 16 23:25 PM
2.5 28.4 MAP

USGS Nevada
Apr 16 23:15 PM
2.8 10.9 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:52 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:10 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 22:00 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 21:40 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 21:35 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 21:31 PM
2.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 21:18 PM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:49 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 20:46 PM
2.6 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:45 PM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:41 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 20:30 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 16 20:26 PM
3.3 51.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 20:24 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Vanuatu
Apr 16 20:16 PM
4.8 87.0 MAP

GEOFON Vanuatu Islands
Apr 16 20:16 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Turkey-iran Border Region
Apr 16 19:58 PM
3.0 2.0 MAP

USGS Fox Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Apr 16 19:46 PM
2.8 169.5 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 16 19:39 PM
2.7 55.5 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 16 19:28 PM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 19:09 PM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 19:05 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:59 PM
2.6 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:46 PM
3.1 8.0 MAP

GEONET Taupo
Apr 16 18:36 PM
5.0 150.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 18:03 PM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 16 18:01 PM
5.2 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 16 18:01 PM
5.3 31.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 17:53 PM
2.6 14.0 MAP

EMSC Southwestern Siberia, Russia
Apr 16 17:04 PM
4.2 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Komandorskiye Ostrova Region
Apr 16 17:03 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Komandorskiye Ostrova Region
Apr 16 17:02 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:55 PM
4.4 38.6 MAP

EMSC Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:55 PM
4.4 39.0 MAP

EMSC Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:39 PM
4.5 70.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Molucca Sea
Apr 16 16:39 PM
4.5 70.0 MAP

EMSC Romania
Apr 16 16:39 PM
3.7 149.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 16:13 PM
3.3 5.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.1 10.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 16:05 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:41 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 16 15:11 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.7 30.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.5 50.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 15:06 PM
4.8 40.7 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 16 14:39 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 14:24 PM
2.6 12.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 14:23 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 16 14:14 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC East Of Severnaya Zemlya
Apr 16 13:56 PM
4.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:44 PM
2.8 3.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:43 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 13:23 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 13:21 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 13:00 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.5 20.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.2 14.4 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 12:57 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:56 PM
2.6 9.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 12:47 PM
3.3 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:39 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 12:33 PM
2.9 107.1 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:28 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:24 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 12:23 PM
2.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:21 PM
3.3 7.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:19 PM
4.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:12 PM
3.3 19.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 12:03 PM
3.1 7.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.6 60.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.5 51.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 12:02 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 12:01 PM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:56 AM
2.5 15.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 16 11:51 AM
2.6 132.0 MAP

EMSC Canary Islands, Spain Region
Apr 16 11:45 AM
3.1 14.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:44 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:42 AM
3.1 6.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:36 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:34 AM
2.8 11.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 11:32 AM
2.5 122.5 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.5 40.0 MAP

USGS Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.5 36.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Greece
Apr 16 11:23 AM
5.6 31.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 11:19 AM
2.6 7.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 11:15 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:50 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC France
Apr 16 10:46 AM
2.4 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:43 AM
2.9 3.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 16 10:41 AM
2.9 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:40 AM
3.1 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:39 AM
3.4 7.0 MAP

GEONET Hawke’s Bay
Apr 16 10:39 AM
3.2 30.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 10:38 AM
3.1 14.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:36 AM
3.1 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:25 AM
3.3 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Gulf Of California
Apr 16 10:23 AM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 10:22 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:22 AM
3.5 11.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 10:19 AM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:15 AM
3.0 6.0 MAP

GEOFON Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.5 9.4 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Tajikistan
Apr 16 10:10 AM
4.2 1.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.3 14.7 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 16 09:46 AM
5.3 10.0 MAP

USGS Malay Peninsula, Thailand
Apr 16 09:44 AM
3.9 10.1 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 09:41 AM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 09:31 AM
3.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 09:21 AM
3.2 21.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 08:54 AM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 08:40 AM
3.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 16 08:33 AM
3.5 56.0 MAP

GEONET Whanganui
Apr 16 08:23 AM
2.4 12.0 MAP

USGS Oklahoma
Apr 16 08:12 AM
3.9 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Java, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.6 60.0 MAP

EMSC Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.6 60.0 MAP

USGS Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 16 07:37 AM
4.8 36.7 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 07:27 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 16 06:56 AM
3.2 42.2 MAP

EMSC Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Apr 16 06:52 AM
3.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 16 06:27 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 06:25 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 16 06:12 AM
2.7 14.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 06:08 AM
3.4 15.1 MAP

GEOFON South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.5 10.1 MAP

EMSC South Of Alaska
Apr 16 05:23 AM
4.4 2.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 16 04:37 AM
2.5 47.1 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 04:24 AM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Northeastern Iran
Apr 16 04:22 AM
4.0 8.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 16 04:16 AM
2.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 16 03:37 AM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 40.0 MAP

USGS Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 10.3 MAP

GEOFON Gulf Of California
Apr 16 03:27 AM
5.0 10.0 MAP

“There is no doubt that something is seriously wrong. There have been too many strong earthquakes,” said Marmureanu.

croatiantimes.com

A leading earthquake scientist has warned that the planet could be cracking up after a series of massive quakes in just 48 hours.

Expert Gheorghe Marmureanu – from Romania’s National Institute of Earth Physics – says 39 quakes had hit the globe within two days.

The series started with two massive quakes in Indonesia measuring 8.6 and 8.2 on the Richter scale rapidly followed by three more only slightly smaller in Mexico within hours.

Read Full Article Here

Mexico quake causes ‘tsunami’ at Devil’s Hole

By Henry Brean
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Posted: Apr. 10, 2012 | 6:00 p.m.

A powerful earthquake in southern Mexico last month churned the waters of a normally tranquil spring pool west of Pahrump, and a team of researchers was there to capture the bizarre phenomenon on video.

About 10 minutes after the magnitude-7.4 quake struck in the mountains east of Acapulco, some 1,700 miles from Southern Nevada, the water in Devil’s Hole began to slosh back and forth. The inch-high waves gradually grew, eventually surging to more than 2 feet and splashing across the metal catwalks researchers use to study the warm spring pool and its tiny population of endangered Devil’s Hole pup-fish.

The National Park Service is calling the event a “tsunami in the desert.”

“To see it change that dramatically in such a short period of time was amazing,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, a Park Service bio-technician who filmed the waves.

The video has since been posted on YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 32,000 times.

Read Full Article Here

Magnitude-5.5 Quake Jolts Southern Greece, No Injuries Reported

2012-04-16 20:44:21 Xinhua Web Editor: Li

A moderate earthquake measuring 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale jolted southern Peloponnese in Greece on Monday noon, local media cited the Euro-mediterranean Seismic Institute as saying.

No injuries or major material damages have been reported by local authorities.

The epicenter of the quake was traced at a distance of some 19 kilometers off the coast of the city of Methoni at a depth of about 40 kilometers, according to seismologists. The tremor was felt in a major part of Peloponnese.

Earthquake-prone Greece is regularly hit by moderate tremors and catastrophic ones many times in recent years. The earthquake in 1999 measuring 6 degrees on the Richter scale in Athens caused many deaths and extensive damages.

M 3.9 2012/04/16 08:12 Depth 5.0 km OKLAHOMA, USA
03:12:00 AM at epicenter – Epicenter location see below in list
One of the many aftershocks in the greater Shawnee area still irritating the local people, especially when they happen in the middle of the night. Only a few seconds but long enough shaking to wake up.
Approx. 85,000 people will have felt a light shaking and nearly 2.5 million a weak shaking !
Light shaking would have been (theoretically) experienced in the vicinity of Prague, Chandler, Stroud, Boley, Shawnee and McLoud

Strong earthquake strikes Chile; no serious damage reported

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 1:24 AM EDT, Tue April 17, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

An earthquake in 2010 killed hundreds in Chile
Chile is on the so-called “Ring of Fire”
No tsunami warning has been issued
The quake has a depth of 16.1 miles

(CNN) — A strong earthquake struck coastal Chile about 26 miles (42 kilometers) from the port city of Valparaiso late Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 6.7-magnitude quake knocked out some power and phone lines in the region, but there were no immediate reports of major damage, authorities said.

No tsunami warning has been issued, according to Chile’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service, although the government did issue a “mandated preventive evacuation off the coast of Tangoy and Constitution.”

The same region of the country was hit with an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in February 2010, killing hundreds of people.

Chile is on the so-called “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basic that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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Volcanic Activity

Russian Volcano Spews Ash to 9,500 Meters

The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009

07:16 17/04/2012

PETROPAVLOVSK KAMCHATSKY, April 17 (RIA Novosti)

Russia’s northernmost active volcano is churning out ash to a height of 9,500 meters (over 31,000 feet) in the country’s Far East, local scientists reported on Tuesday.

The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009 and has been periodically spewing ash from three to ten kilometers.

“A powerful eruption of ashes took place 05.59 a.m. local time [17:59 GMT on Monday], a source at the Far Eastern Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The official said the column of ashes could be clearly seen from a distance of 40 kilometers spreading to the east.

“It is the most powerful eruption this year,” the expert said.

According to scientists, the volcanic activity over the past two-three years has significantly altered the contour of the volcano with the crater increasing in size by 50% and the slopes becoming far steeper than before.

Although the current eruption poses no immediate threat to nearby settlements, the ensuing ash fallouts could be hazardous to health and the environment.

The clouds of volcanic ash could also pose threat to air traffic because the tiny particles cause problems with aircraft engine turbines.

So far, local authorities issued no warnings to air traffic in the area.

There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka, 29 of them active.

Sangay volcano (Ecuador), activity update: growing lava dome, lava flows and ash explosions

Tuesday Apr 17, 2012 02:30 AM

BY: T

View of the upper SE flank of Sangay volcano and thermal image showing the various vents at the dome emitting lava flows that form several branches and reach the base of the summit cone (Photo: P. Ramón OVT/IG)

During an overflight on 13 April, an explosion from Sangay volcano was observed at 08:25 local time. It generated an ash and steam column of 2 km above the summit crater.
A new vent was detected, both on visible and thermal images, located next to the active dome on the SE flank (Ñuñurqu). The activity in this area has intensified since October, when the last aerial survey had taken place.
Extensive lava flows are descending on the SE flank of the dome and reaching the base of the cone.
Strong fumarolic activity was seen on the SE flank of the dome and on the S flank of the central crater.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Volcano Activity	Ecuador	Northern Volcanic Zone , [Sangay Volcano]
	Today	Epidemic Hazard	USA	State of Connecticut, Rocky Hill [Connecticut State Veterans Home]
	16.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	Zimbabwe	Masvingo Province, [Masvingo-Beitbridge road]
2	17.04.2012	Vehicle Incident	United Kingdom	England (The English Channel), [About 20 miles south of the Isle of Wight]
	16.04.2012	Enviroment Pollution	Nigeria	State of River, [Obite Gas production facilities - Total]
	16.04.2012	Vehicle Accident	India	State of Assam, [Golaghat District]
1	17.04.2012	Volcano Activity	Mexico	State of Puebla, [Popocatepetl Volcano]

Gale Warning

CAPE FLATTERY TO CAPE LOOKOUT, WA
MARQUETTE MI
CHICAGO IL
GAYLORD MI
DETROIT/PONTIAC MI

Freeze Warning

 GREEN BAY WI
LA CROSSE WI
 GRAND RAPIDS MI

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Flooding

Flash Flood Watch

 NEW ORLEANS LA
 LAKE CHARLES LA

Flood Warning

EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS ND
ST LOUIS MO
LAKE CHARLES LA
KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE LA
 LITTLE ROCK AR
SHREVEPORT LA
DES MOINES IA

**********************************************************************************************

Solar Activity

LYRID METEOR SHOWER:

Earth is approaching the debris field of ancient Comet Thatcher, source of the annual Lyrid meteor shower. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on April 21-22; a nearly-new moon on those dates will provide perfect dark-sky conditions for meteor watching. Usually the shower is mild (10-20 meteors per hour) but unmapped filaments of dust in the comet’s tail sometimes trigger outbursts 10 times stronger. [video] [Lyrid chat]

SPECTACULAR EXPLOSION (UPDATED): Magnetic fields on the sun’s northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on April 16th, producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the blast at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths:

The explosion, which registered M1.7 on the Richter Scale of solar flares, was not Earth-directed, but it did hurl a CME into space. Analysts at the Goddard Space Weather have analyzed the trajectory of the cloud and found that it will hit NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft, the Spitzer space telescope, and the rover Curiosity en route to Mars. Planets Venus and Mars could also receive a glancing blow.

This event confirms suspicions that an active region of significance is rotating onto the Earth-facing side of the sun. Stay tuned for updates

Solar wind
speed: 310.3 km/sec
density: 0.4 protons/cm³
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at 0206 UT

X-ray Solar Flares
6-hr max: C8 1800 UT Apr16
24-hr: M1 1745 UT Apr16
explanation | more data
Updated: Today at: 2359 UT

**********************************************************************************************

Space

Flat Pancake-Shaped Galaxy Harbors Three Black Holes

MessageToEagle.com – Universe is still a big mystery. The bright galaxy NGC 3621 is the so-called “flat galaxy” which appears to be just a classical spiral. But it is rather unusual astronomical object

Bulgeless and therefore described as a pure-disc galaxy, NGC 3621 lies far beyond the local group of galaxies, some 22 million light-years away in the constellation of Hydra (The Sea Snake). The winding spiral arms of this gorgeous island universe are loaded with luminous young star clusters and dark dust lanes.

It is comparatively bright and can be seen well in moderate-sized telescopes.

NGC 3621 is flat and pancake-shaped.Apparently, it hasn’t yet experienced a galactic collision with another galaxy.Merging with other galaxy would have disturbed the thin disc of stars.Over time, this should create a bulge in the galaxy’s center.

This galaxy is of further interest to astronomers because its relative proximity allows them to study a wide range of astronomical objects within it, and use some of its brighter stars as standard candles to establish important estimates of extragalactic distances and the scale of the Universe.

Previously, astronomers thought, that bulgeless galaxies should not be able to host an Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). And yet, several observations of AGN in bulgeless galaxies currently indicate that a classical bulge is not a requirement for a nuclear black hole.

Today, they know much more about NGC 3621 and other flat galaxies.

NGC 3621 – is a galaxy full of surprises. It is bulgeless but has three central black holes. Credits: ESO

Read Full Article Here

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Articles of Interest

Underground water in eastern Shasta County mysteriously disappears

Some believe quakes causing lowered levels

By Damon Arthur

Photo by Andreas Fuhrmann

Pete Amos said his pump had been submerged 40 feet the entire 24 years he has lived in Cassel. But a couple months ago he ran out of water. When the pump company measured his water level, it had fallen to 54 feet, he said.

Stephen Wolf of Cassel is a former United States Geological Survey worker who has a theory about why wells are running dry in eastern Shasta County.<br /><br />

Photo by Andreas FuhrmannStephen Wolf of Cassel is a former United States Geological Survey worker who has a theory about why wells are running dry in eastern Shasta County.

Stephen Wolf thinks something strange is happening underground in eastern Shasta County and it is draining water wells and maybe even causing sinkholes and subsiding pavement.

A retired marine geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Wolf said he has seen what is happening in eastern Shasta County before. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, water well levels in the area of the quake fell significantly, he said.

Following the 6.9 magnitude quake in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Wolf wrote a paper for the USGS about the effects the quake had on surface and groundwater.

“The correlation is there. The behavior is identical,” said Wolf, who has lived in the tiny eastern Shasta County community of Cassel since 2001.

Back in October, 131 earthquakes hit the Lassen Peak area. Most were less than 2.0 in magnitude. But since then the water table has fallen significantly, Wolf said.

“We’ve never had a water problem before. We never thought about the water table going down,” Amos said.

Terry Briggs, who owns Gallagher Pump in Fall River Mills, said what is going on in Cassel is unusual. He said the drop in the water table in eastern Shasta County is the most dramatic he has seen in the past 10 to 15 years.

“It always moves up and down a little bit, but this was way more,” Briggs said.

Since January, he has had to help homeowners whose water tables have dropped below their pumps.

Briggs said he isn’t sure why the water level is dropping. Seismic activity may be affecting wells. Rainfall levels also affect the water level, he said. And Cassel, like the rest of the north state, went through a dry winter.

Wolf said the seismic activity further fractures the rocky, volcanic soil, allowing the water to flow deeper into the Earth.

Every time a small quake rattles the area around Lassen Peak, his toilet fills with dirty, silted water, he said. That is the silt that is broken loose from the volcanic soil underground, he said.

Officials at the USGS said they are hesitant to draw a correlation between the quakes and the drop in the water level in Cassel.

Read Full Article Here

Incredible Images Show Giant Sinkhole In Sweden Keeps Expanding!

MessageToEagle.com – It looks like something taken straight from a horror movie. An enormous hole leading to hell, some would say. But this is not a movie.

This is a real and dangerous phenomenon. New shocking images clearly show the enormous pit in Sweden is expanding.

The 200 foot wide open pit is called the “Fabiangropen” (Fabian pit) and is in the Malmberget area is located at Gällivare, 75km from Kiruna, Sweden.

As you can see on the map, it is in the northern regions of Sweden.

Due to presence of many orebodies, mining at Malmberget is conducted at different levels at 600m, 815m and 1,000m.

According to the locals sometimes the tremor around here can last up to 45 minutes!

The enormous sinkhole at Malmberget is expanding. This is an image showing the giant pit from above.

Read Full Article Here

Total shuts down Nigerian gas plant after leak

ABUJA (Reuters) – French oil major Total has shut down a gas plant in Nigeria’s onshore Niger Delta, following a leak caused by a technical incident, the company said in a statement.

The leak occurred on a block that also contains crude oil in Rivers state, one of the three states that make up the Niger Delta, a vast wetlands region veined with hundreds of kilometres of labyrinthine creeks and waterways.

“On April 3rd, Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) was alerted about some water and gas resurgence points, observed in an uninhabited area close to its onshore Obite gas production facilities, on the OML 58 license,” a statement on the company’s website said.

Read Full Article Here

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Comment

Earth Watch Report – Sunday April 15th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Freak Natural Phenomena, Global Disaster Watch, Radiation, Solar Activity, Storms, Tornado, Uncategorized, Weather Phenomena, Wildlife — Leave a comment

April 15, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC    West Chile Rise
Apr 14 23:49 PM
4.9    33.0    MAP

GEOFON    West Chile Rise
Apr 14 23:49 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    West Chile Rise
Apr 14 23:49 PM
5.0    10.1    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 23:44 PM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 23:37 PM
2.6    11.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 23:36 PM
2.8    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Vanuatu
Apr 14 22:24 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Vanuatu
Apr 14 22:24 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 22:06 PM
4.9    30.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 22:06 PM
4.5    29.7    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 22:06 PM
5.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Vanuatu
Apr 14 22:05 PM
6.6    33.0    MAP

GEOFON    Vanuatu Islands
Apr 14 22:05 PM
6.4    10.0    MAP

USGS    Vanuatu
Apr 14 22:05 PM
6.5    8.7    MAP

EMSC    Vanuatu
Apr 14 22:05 PM
6.3    3.0    MAP

USGS    Washington
Apr 14 21:50 PM
2.7    5.8    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:34 PM
5.1    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:34 PM
4.4    14.6    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:34 PM
4.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:10 PM
4.9    30.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:10 PM
4.9    28.7    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 21:10 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 14 20:53 PM
5.5    30.0    MAP

GEOFON    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 14 20:53 PM
5.4    10.0    MAP

USGS    South Sandwich Islands Region
Apr 14 20:53 PM
5.5    18.3    MAP

EMSC    Kashmir-xizang Border Region
Apr 14 20:50 PM
4.1    38.0    MAP

USGS    Kashmir-xizang Border Region
Apr 14 20:50 PM
4.1    37.9    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 20:35 PM
4.5    26.9    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 20:35 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 20:35 PM
4.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Sichuan, China
Apr 14 20:31 PM
4.9    40.0    MAP

USGS    Western Sichuan, China
Apr 14 20:31 PM
4.9    20.7    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 14 20:19 PM
3.1    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Southwest Of Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 14 19:26 PM
5.8    60.0    MAP

USGS    Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 14 19:26 PM
5.9    49.0    MAP

GEOFON    Java, Indonesia
Apr 14 19:26 PM
5.8    63.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 18:11 PM
4.4    27.2    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 18:11 PM
4.4    27.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 14 17:52 PM
2.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 17:45 PM
3.2    25.0    MAP

USGS    Northern California
Apr 14 17:21 PM
2.8    25.9    MAP

USGS    Vanuatu
Apr 14 17:10 PM
4.8    50.3    MAP

EMSC    Vanuatu
Apr 14 17:10 PM
4.8    50.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 14 16:54 PM
2.9    2.0    MAP

GEONET    Taranaki
Apr 14 16:29 PM
3.5    12.0    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Kamchatka
Apr 14 16:09 PM
4.1    100.0    MAP

USGS    Luzon, Philippines
Apr 14 15:53 PM
4.3    209.0    MAP

EMSC    Luzon, Philippines
Apr 14 15:53 PM
4.3    209.0    MAP

EMSC    Northern Xinjiang, China
Apr 14 15:45 PM
3.8    1.0    MAP

GEOFON    Poland
Apr 14 15:30 PM
4.1    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 14 15:30 PM
3.3    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 15:21 PM
5.5    30.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 15:21 PM
5.4    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 15:21 PM
5.3    14.7    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 14 15:16 PM
2.7    105.4    MAP

GEOFON    Kuril Islands
Apr 14 15:13 PM
5.5    74.0    MAP

USGS    Kuril Islands
Apr 14 15:13 PM
5.6    63.8    MAP

EMSC    Kuril Islands
Apr 14 15:13 PM
5.5    60.0    MAP

EMSC    France
Apr 14 15:05 PM
2.9    2.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 15:04 PM
4.5    51.2    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 15:04 PM
4.5    51.0    MAP

USGS    Virgin Islands Region
Apr 14 14:21 PM
2.9    29.8    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 13:06 PM
3.0    26.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 12:43 PM
2.5    9.0    MAP

EMSC    Kyushu, Japan
Apr 14 12:39 PM
4.8    55.0    MAP

GEOFON    Ryukyu Islands, Japan
Apr 14 12:39 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 14 12:30 PM
2.8    8.2    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 12:18 PM
5.1    14.4    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 12:18 PM
5.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 12:18 PM
5.1    3.0    MAP

USGS    Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Apr 14 12:13 PM
2.6    6.3    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 14 11:34 AM
2.7    7.2    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 14 11:24 AM
2.6    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Drake Passage
Apr 14 10:56 AM
6.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Drake Passage
Apr 14 10:56 AM
6.2    10.0    MAP

USGS    Drake Passage
Apr 14 10:56 AM
6.2    9.9    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 10:51 AM
4.8    20.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 10:51 AM
4.9    14.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 10:48 AM
4.7    24.3    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 10:48 AM
4.7    16.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 10:48 AM
4.7    12.0    MAP

USGS    North Indian Ocean
Apr 14 10:08 AM
4.6    9.8    MAP

EMSC    North Indian Ocean
Apr 14 10:08 AM
4.4    2.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 10:08 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 09:34 AM
4.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 09:34 AM
4.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 09:25 AM
4.8    29.5    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 09:25 AM
4.9    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 09:25 AM
4.7    11.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 14 09:00 AM
3.3    38.2    MAP

EMSC    Caucasus Region, Russia
Apr 14 08:58 AM
3.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Italy
Apr 14 08:47 AM
2.4    6.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 08:46 AM
4.4    52.4    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 14 08:46 AM
4.4    52.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 08:28 AM
4.4    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 08:22 AM
2.9    9.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 08:15 AM
4.3    10.9    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 08:15 AM
4.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 08:15 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 14 07:51 AM
2.5    7.0    MAP

USGS    Oklahoma
Apr 14 07:35 AM
3.0    5.0    MAP

USGS    Central California
Apr 14 07:34 AM
2.6    6.7    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 14 07:33 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

USGS    North Indian Ocean
Apr 14 07:33 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    North Indian Ocean
Apr 14 07:33 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 07:23 AM
2.6    12.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 14 07:06 AM
2.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 14 06:41 AM
3.4    39.6    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 14 06:25 AM
2.5    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Fiji Region
Apr 14 06:23 AM
4.3    560.0    MAP

USGS    Fiji Region
Apr 14 06:23 AM
4.4    553.6    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 06:05 AM
2.4    31.0    MAP

USGS    Maharashtra, India
Apr 14 05:27 AM
4.3    11.1    MAP

EMSC    Maharashtra, India
Apr 14 05:27 AM
4.3    11.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico
Apr 14 05:25 AM
2.7    27.8    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 05:23 AM
4.3    29.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 05:23 AM
4.3    28.9    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 05:23 AM
4.4    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Caucasus Region, Russia
Apr 14 05:20 AM
3.5    10.0    MAP

USGS    Virgin Islands Region
Apr 14 05:15 AM
3.4    23.7    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 05:13 AM
2.5    39.0    MAP

EMSC    Kepulauan Barat Daya, Indonesia
Apr 14 04:13 AM
4.3    160.0    MAP

USGS    Kepulauan Barat Daya, Indonesia
Apr 14 04:13 AM
4.3    160.4    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 14 04:06 AM
2.5    33.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 04:03 AM
4.2    14.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 04:03 AM
4.2    14.3    MAP

USGS    Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 14 04:03 AM
2.9    72.5    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 14 03:56 AM
2.5    13.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 03:19 AM
2.4    18.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 14 03:13 AM
3.5    2.0    MAP

USGS    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 14 03:10 AM
2.8    12.7    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 14 02:49 AM
2.9    15.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:49 AM
4.2    15.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:49 AM
4.2    15.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:49 AM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Albania
Apr 14 02:05 AM
2.7    24.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:04 AM
4.6    40.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:03 AM
4.5    13.1    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 14 02:03 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 14 01:43 AM
2.5    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 14 01:29 AM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 14 01:00 AM
2.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Aegean Sea
Apr 14 01:00 AM
3.1    8.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 14 00:52 AM
2.8    83.4    MAP

EMSC    Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 14 00:46 AM
4.6    40.0    MAP

USGS    Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 14 00:46 AM
4.5    24.9    MAP

GEOFON    Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 14 00:46 AM
4.2    10.0    MAP

USGS    Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 14 00:40 AM
4.4    35.0    MAP

EMSC    Sulawesi, Indonesia
Apr 14 00:40 AM
4.6    15.0    MAP

GEOFON    Minahassa Peninsula, Sulawesi
Apr 14 00:40 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

2 earthquakes shake Gujarat, Maharashtra

The Indian Express

Agencies : Pune/Ahmedabad

Rann of Kutch

Two earthquakes of mild intensity shook parts of Maharashtra and Gujarat today, but there were no reports of any casualty.

A quake measuring 5 on the Richter scale was experienced in parts of western Maharashtra at 10.50 am. Its epicentre was Goshatwadi village, about 10km from Koyana dam in Satara district, the Met office here said.

An aftershock of 4.4 magnitude was registered an hour later, it said. The Koyna dam, situated in a quake-prone region, is safe, officials said.

The tremors were also felt in several parts of Mumbai, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Pune, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.

There were no reports of any damage to life or property, they added.

A quake, measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale, was felt at 8.55 AM in parts of Gujarat. The earthquake had its epicentre at Vamka taluka in Kutch, which is an active fault line, scientists at Institute of Seismological Research said.

An aftershock measuring 2.9 was also felt, they said.

Besides Kutch district, tremors were experienced in parts of Saurashtra region.

No loss of life or damage to property has been reported so far in Gujarat, officials said.

Among those who felt the tremors in Mumbai were megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who resides in suburban Juhu.

“Earthquake in Mumbai ! Did you feel it… I did.. .Shutters and building shook twice for few seconds,” Bachchan tweeted.

Earthquake Alert 6.2 Earthquake Drake Passage

Published on Apr 14, 2012 by MrHurricaneTracker

This 6.2 Earthquake was reviewd and has been posted by the USGS. This is a Earthquake Alert by MrHurricaneTracker. This earthquake was on the Ring of Fire and we are watching it real close due to the passed few days and earthquake activity. Stay tuned right here on MHTAlerts. The Earthquake location 57.588°S, 65.414°W

USGS reports 5.9 magnitude quake off western Java

(Reuters) – A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 struck offshore western Java in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait at a depth of 30.5 miles (49 km), the U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday.

The USGS initially reported the quake as measuring 5.8 and a depth of 27.3 miles (44 km). It revised the location to 97 miles (157 km) south of T.Telukbetung in Sumatra, after first reporting it at 111 miles (178 km) west of Sukabumi in Java.

There were no immediate reports of damage or a tsunami warning from the quake, which was 109 miles (177 km) west-southwest of the capital Jakarta on Java.

(Writing by Eric Walsh)

Asia Pacific News

Strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake rattles Vanuatu

Posted: 15 April 2012 0651 hrs

SYDNEY: A strong 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage either.

The quake struck at a relatively shallow depth of eight kilometres, around 150 kilometres south east of the capital Port Vila.

Vanuatu lies on the so-called “Pacific Ring of Fire”, a zone of frequent seismic activity caused by friction between shifting tectonic plates.

The earthquake hit shortly after 9:00am (around 2200 GMT Saturday), USGS said.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued an information bulletin but no alert, saying “a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii”.

- AFP/de

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	14.04.2012	Extreme Weather	Saudi Arabia	Capital city, Riyadh
	14.04.2012	Biological Hazard	USA	State of Alaska, [Juneau area]
	14.04.2012	Extreme Weather	India	MultiStates, [States of Bengal and Kolkata]
	14.04.2012	Technological Disaster	Pakistan	State of Punjab, Gujranwala
	14.04.2012	Tornado	USA	State of Oklahoma, Norman

Red Flag Warning -FIRE WEATHER

LUBBOCK TX
AMARILLO TX
EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM
MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
 ALBUQUERQUE NM
GOODLAND KS

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Storms, Flooding

More photos of the phenomenal hailstorm in the Texas Panhandle on Wednesday April 11th, 2012

Texas Hailstorm Leaves Panhandle Chest-High In Ice And Mud (PHOTO)

For over two hours Wednesday afternoon, cities in the Texas panhandle were hammered by a hailstorm that left quarter-sized balls of ice stacked chest-high in some areas, Time NewsFeed reports.

The deluge began around 3:30 a.m. Over the next few hours, fast-moving hailstones pummeled the area north of Amarillo, Tex., which had lately been sitting in mud and dust due to a lack of precipitation, according to the news organization. The hail mixed with the mud and dust to create four-foot high mounds that shut down a major highway for the next 18 hours.

Read Full Article Here

Hailstones the size of golf balls in East China

Published on Apr 12, 2012 by PROVOKEDRAGE

Towns in East China’s Fujian Province have been devastated by hailstones the size of golf balls. . Report by Katie Lamborn

http://provokedrage.webnode.com

Tornado Warning &Tornado Watch

TOPEKA KS
WICHITA KS
DES MOINES IA

HASTINGS NE
NORMAN OK

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

DES MOINES IA
NORTH PLATTE NE
HASTINGS NE
DODGE CITY KS

Flash Flood Warning

DES MOINES IA
NORTH PLATTE NE
OMAHA/VALLEY NEBRASKA

Flood Warning

LITTLE ROCK AR
LAKE CHARLES LA
NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE LASHREVEPORT LA
KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
SPRINGFIELD MO
ST LOUIS MO

High Wind Warning

MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
ALBUQUERQUE NM
EL PASO TX/SANTA TERESA NM

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Solar Activity

2MIN News Apr14: ’100 Tornados Possible’ & Quake Watch

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Mysterious Booms / Rumblings

San Diego Earthquake Mystery Today April 13 Denied as Sonic Boom

Posted: April 13th, 2012 in Earthquake, San Diego by LALATE

San Diego Earthquake Mystery Today April 13 Prompts Sonic Boom Sound

LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – A San Diego “earthquake” mystery today Friday April 13, 2012 has been denied as a sonic boom. San Diego residents reported an earthquake like event at 8:38 am to 9 am PST today. While a light San Diego neighboring earthquake did happen this morning, there was no sonic boom from MCAS Miramar, officials tell news.

Earlier today, local news erroneously reported that there wasn’t an earthquake at the time. But USGS does confirm to news that a neighboring earthquake did strike around that time. But the quake wasn’t substantial. And it wasn’t precisely in San Diego either.

Read Full Article Here

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Wildlife / Radiation

Study: Wildlife survive nuclear accidents
by Staff Writers
Portsmouth, England (UPI) Apr 11, 2012

disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

Radiation from nuclear accidents such as Chernobyl and Fukushima may not present as much of a threat to wildlife as previously thought, British researchers say.

Earlier studies on the impact on birds of the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl in Russia in April 1986 have been put in doubt by new research, the University of Portsmouth reported Wednesday.

The findings by Portsmouth researcher Jim Smith and colleagues from the University of the West of England are likely to also apply to wildlife at Fukushima in Japan following its nuclear disaster in 2011, the university said.

“I wasn’t really surprised by these findings — there have been many high profile findings on the radiation damage to wildlife at Chernobyl but it’s very difficult to see significant damage and we are not convinced by some of the claims,” Smith said.

“We can’t rule out some effect on wildlife of the radiation, but wildlife populations in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl have recovered and are actually doing well and even better than before because the human population has been removed.”

Previous studies had suggested radiation affected bird populations following the Chernobyl disaster because it damaged to birds’ antioxidant defense mechanisms, but the new research found the birds’ antioxidant mechanisms could easily cope with radiation at density levels similar to those seen at Chernobyl and Fukushima.

The researchers said their finding would likely apply to other forms of wildlife as well.

“We would expect other wildlife to be similarly resistant to oxidative stress from radiation at these levels,” Smith said.

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Articles of Interest

Summer temperature variability may increase mortality risk for elderly with chronic disease

by Staff Writers
Boston, MA (SPX)

Although heat waves can kill in the short term, the authors say, even minor temperature variations caused by climate change may also increase death rates over time among elderly people with diabetes, heart failure, chronic lung disease, or those who have survived a previous heart attack.

New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) suggests that seemingly small changes in summer temperature swings-as little as 1 degrees C more than usual-may shorten life expectancy for elderly people with chronic medical conditions, and could result in thousands of additional deaths each year. While previous studies have focused on the short-term effects of heat waves, this is the first study to examine the longer-term effects of climate change on life expectancy.

The study will be published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“The effect of temperature patterns on long-term mortality has not been clear to this point. We found that, independent of heat waves, high day to day variability in summer temperatures shortens life expectancy,” said Antonella Zanobetti, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at HSPH and lead author of the study. “This variability can be harmful for susceptible people.”

In recent years, scientists have predicted that climate change will not only increase overall world temperatures but will also increase summer temperature variability, particularly in mid-latitude regions such as the mid-Atlantic states of the U.S. and sections of countries such as France, Spain, and Italy. These more volatile temperature swings could pose a major public health problem, the authors note.

Previous studies have confirmed the association between heat waves and higher death rates. But this new research goes a step further. Although heat waves can kill in the short term, the authors say, even minor temperature variations caused by climate change may also increase death rates over time among elderly people with diabetes, heart failure, chronic lung disease, or those who have survived a previous heart attack.

The researchers used Medicare data from 1985 to 2006 to follow the long-term health of 3.7 million chronically ill people over age 65 living in 135 U.S. cities. They evaluated whether mortality among these people was related to variability in summer temperature, allowing for other things that might influence the comparison, such as individual risk factors, winter temperature variance, and ozone levels. They compiled results for individual cities, then pooled the results.

They found that, within each city, years when the summer temperature swings were larger had higher death rates than years with smaller swings. Each 1 degrees C increase in summer temperature variability increased the death rate for elderly with chronic conditions between 2.8% and 4.0%, depending on the condition.

Mortality risk increased 4.0% for those with diabetes; 3.8% for those who’d had a previous heart attack; 3.7% for those with chronic lung disease; and 2.8% for those with heart failure. Based on these increases in mortality risk, the researchers estimate that greater summer temperature variability in the U.S. could result in more than 10,000 additional deaths per year.

In addition, the researchers found the mortality risk was 1% to 2% greater for those living in poverty and for African Americans. The risk was 1% to 2% lower for people living in cities with more green space.

Mortality risk was higher in hotter regions, the researchers found. Noting that physiological studies suggest that the elderly and those with chronic conditions have a harder time than others adjusting to extreme heat, they say it’s likely these groups may also be less resilient than others to bigger-than-usual temperature swings.

“People adapt to the usual temperature in their city. That is why we don’t expect higher mortality rates in Miami than in Minneapolis, despite the higher temperatures,” said Joel Schwartz, professor of environmental epidemiology at HSPH and senior author of the paper.

“But people do not adapt as well to increased fluctuations around the usual temperature. That finding, combined with the increasing age of the population, the increasing prevalence of chronic conditions such as diabetes, and possible increases in temperature fluctuations due to climate change, means that this public health problem is likely to grow in importance in the future.”

How to Prepare For an Earthquake

By Eddie Sage on 14 April 2012

One of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature is a severe earthquake and its terrible aftereffects. An earthquake is the sudden, rapid shaking of the earth, caused by the breaking and shifting of subterranean rock as it releases strain that has accumulated over a long time.

For hundreds of millions of years, the forces of plate tectonics have shaped the earth, as the huge plates that form the earth’s surface slowly move over, under and past each other. Sometimes, the movement is gradual. At other times, the plates are locked together, unable to release accumulated energy. When the accumulated energy grows strong enough, the plates break free. If the earthquake occurs in a populated area, it may cause many deaths and injuries and extensive property damage.

While earthquakes are sometimes believed to be a West Coast occurrence, there are actually 45 states and territories throughout the United States that are at moderate to high risk for earthquakes including the New Madrid fault line in Central U.S.

The 2011 East Coast earthquake illustrated the fact that it is impossible to predict when or where an earthquake will occur, so it is important that you and your family are prepared ahead of time.

Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research

and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]

Comment

Earth Watch Report – Saturday April 14th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Environmental, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Pollution, Solar Activity, Storms, Tornado, Volcanic Events, Weather Phenomena — Leave a comment

April 14, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 23:20 PM
3.4 2.0 MAP

USGS Central California
Apr 13 22:18 PM
3.5 6.6 MAP

EMSC Northern Italy
Apr 13 22:13 PM
3.4 7.0 MAP

GEOFON Northern Italy
Apr 13 22:13 PM
3.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 13 21:39 PM
3.0 2.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Syria
Apr 13 21:33 PM
2.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Central Mediterranean Sea
Apr 13 21:31 PM
3.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC France
Apr 13 21:20 PM
3.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 20:48 PM
2.9 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Guerrero, Mexico
Apr 13 20:46 PM
4.3 10.0 MAP

EMSC Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 20:46 PM
4.5 30.0 MAP

USGS Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 20:46 PM
4.5 9.8 MAP

GEONET Hawke’s Bay
Apr 13 20:39 PM
4.1 80.0 MAP

USGS Potosi, Bolivia
Apr 13 20:28 PM
4.5 213.0 MAP

EMSC Potosi, Bolivia
Apr 13 20:28 PM
4.5 213.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 20:04 PM
2.4 25.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 20:00 PM
4.6 27.9 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 20:00 PM
4.4 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 20:00 PM
4.7 8.0 MAP I Felt It

EMSC Romania
Apr 13 19:56 PM
2.9 141.0 MAP

USGS Izu Islands, Japan Region
Apr 13 19:54 PM
4.1 429.2 MAP

EMSC Izu Islands, Japan Region
Apr 13 19:54 PM
4.1 429.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 19:52 PM
4.7 16.8 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 19:52 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 19:52 PM
4.8 12.0 MAP

EMSC Romania
Apr 13 19:50 PM
3.1 151.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 13 19:35 PM
4.8 66.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 13 19:35 PM
4.5 64.0 MAP

USGS Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 13 19:35 PM
4.7 64.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 19:34 PM
2.5 14.0 MAP

USGS Alaska Peninsula
Apr 13 19:16 PM
3.4 139.8 MAP

GEONET Bay Of Plenty
Apr 13 19:05 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

USGS Alaska Peninsula
Apr 13 18:47 PM
3.0 6.6 MAP

EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 13 18:42 PM
2.6 21.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 18:12 PM
4.0 10.3 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 18:12 PM
4.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Ionian Sea
Apr 13 17:50 PM
2.7 11.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 13 17:45 PM
2.7 1.5 MAP

EMSC Kuril Islands
Apr 13 17:04 PM
4.5 80.0 MAP

USGS Kuril Islands
Apr 13 17:04 PM
4.4 67.0 MAP

GEOFON Fiji Islands Region
Apr 13 16:42 PM
4.8 502.0 MAP

USGS Fiji Region
Apr 13 16:42 PM
4.8 488.6 MAP

EMSC Fiji Region
Apr 13 16:42 PM
4.9 420.0 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 15:54 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 15:54 PM
4.5 35.8 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 15:54 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS Vanuatu
Apr 13 15:52 PM
4.5 245.2 MAP

EMSC Vanuatu
Apr 13 15:52 PM
4.5 245.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 15:33 PM
4.4 14.8 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 15:33 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 15:33 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 15:09 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Mexico-guatemala Border Region
Apr 13 13:50 PM
4.6 129.0 MAP

EMSC Guatemala
Apr 13 13:49 PM
4.6 111.0 MAP

USGS Guatemala
Apr 13 13:49 PM
4.6 102.5 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Guerrero, Mexico
Apr 13 13:06 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 13:06 PM
5.1 10.0 MAP

USGS Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 13:06 PM
5.3 14.3 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 12:48 PM
4.8 15.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 12:48 PM
4.8 15.4 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 12:48 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 12:12 PM
5.0 30.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 12:12 PM
5.0 35.2 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 12:12 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 12:03 PM
4.6 30.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 12:03 PM
4.3 30.8 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 12:03 PM
4.9 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 11:43 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 11:43 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 11:43 AM
4.7 11.2 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 11:35 AM
3.0 5.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Gibraltar
Apr 13 11:01 AM
3.1 24.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 10:30 AM
3.2 15.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 13 10:16 AM
3.3 12.8 MAP

GEOFON Myanmar-india Border Region
Apr 13 10:11 AM
4.4 70.0 MAP

USGS Myanmar
Apr 13 10:11 AM
4.3 73.4 MAP

EMSC Myanmar
Apr 13 10:11 AM
4.3 60.0 MAP

EMSC Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.7 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Guerrero, Mexico
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.4 10.0 MAP

USGS Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.4 10.1 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.7 14.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 13 10:10 AM
5.7 8.7 MAP

EMSC Tyrrhenian Sea
Apr 13 09:59 AM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 13 09:54 AM
2.5 5.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 09:45 AM
3.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 13 08:10 AM
2.7 4.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 13 07:54 AM
2.7 31.1 MAP

USGS Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Apr 13 07:47 AM
2.9 37.4 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 13 07:46 AM
3.0 10.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 07:41 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 07:41 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 07:15 AM
2.9 6.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 13 07:07 AM
3.2 137.6 MAP

USGS Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 13 06:48 AM
4.5 63.4 MAP

EMSC Southern Xinjiang, China
Apr 13 06:48 AM
4.5 60.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 06:44 AM
2.4 10.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 13 06:39 AM
3.2 7.0 MAP

EMSC Western Mediterranean Sea
Apr 13 06:22 AM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 13 06:22 AM
2.7 6.0 MAP

USGS Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 06:21 AM
4.7 26.8 MAP

GEOFON Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 06:21 AM
4.3 33.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 13 06:21 AM
4.7 20.0 MAP

EMSC Maule, Chile
Apr 13 06:13 AM
4.7 40.0 MAP

USGS Maule, Chile
Apr 13 06:13 AM
4.7 40.3 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 05:50 AM
3.3 12.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:31 AM
5.0 30.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:31 AM
4.9 17.4 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:31 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 13 05:31 AM
2.9 5.3 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:08 AM
4.6 30.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:08 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 05:08 AM
4.6 15.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 04:49 AM
4.8 15.1 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 04:49 AM
4.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 04:49 AM
4.8 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Turkey
Apr 13 04:22 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 04:22 AM
4.2 10.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 04:22 AM
4.5 21.0 MAP

USGS San Pedro Channel, California
Apr 13 04:18 AM
2.6 0.1 MAP

GEOFON Vanuatu Islands
Apr 13 04:15 AM
4.8 56.0 MAP

EMSC Vanuatu
Apr 13 04:15 AM
4.9 60.0 MAP

USGS Vanuatu
Apr 13 04:15 AM
5.0 46.5 MAP

GEOFON Banda Sea
Apr 13 04:02 AM
4.6 162.0 MAP

EMSC Banda Sea
Apr 13 04:02 AM
4.6 154.0 MAP

USGS Banda Sea
Apr 13 04:02 AM
4.5 154.8 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 13 03:52 AM
2.6 40.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 13 03:51 AM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 03:38 AM
4.7 30.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 03:38 AM
4.5 15.5 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 03:38 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 13 03:23 AM
3.7 5.0 MAP

USGS North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 03:17 AM
4.4 14.1 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 13 03:17 AM
4.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 13 03:17 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 13 02:20 AM
3.2 68.2 MAP

EMSC Russia-mongolia Border Region
Apr 13 01:35 AM
3.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 13 01:09 AM
2.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Crete, Greece
Apr 13 00:54 AM
3.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Armenia-azerbaijan-iran Border Reg.
Apr 13 00:04 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Turkey-iran Border Region
Apr 13 00:04 AM
4.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC Turkey-iran Border Region
Apr 13 00:04 AM
4.3 2.0 MAP

USGS – EMSC – GFZ – GEONET

Expert warns of another quake in the Andaman region

Ruins left over from the 2004 temblor that nearly destroyed Banda Aceh.

The Nation/Asia News Network
Friday, Apr 13, 2012

A fierce earthquake from the Nicobar Islands could strike over Songkran, sending a tsunami crashing into the Andaman Coast, an expert warned yesterday after finding that the 8.6magnitude Sumatran tremor three days ago was exceptionally deep.

“Whenever there is a quake rooted in the [Earth's] mantle, a following quake will be likely in the next few days,” said Professor Thanawat Jaruphongsakul, a senior seismologist at Chulalongkorn University.

Fear of another devastating tsunami panicked Thailand and Southeast Asia on Wednesday.

An underwater quake, with its epicentre at the Nicobar Islands, about 150 kilometres north of Aceh on Sumatra, would affect six coastal provinces of Thailand on the Andaman Sea, especially Ranong, which lies closest to a fault line connecting with the Nicobar Islands, he said.

The quakes on Wednesday originated from mantlelevel crust, 20 kilometres below the Earth’s surface, which is regarded as a layer that would cause very high magnitude tremblers.

The quake that hit Japan in March came from a shallower layer, so it would take up to 100150 years for the next quake. However Wednesday’s quakes, with their epicentre at Aceh, followed just eight years after the massive one that triggered a continentwide tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in many countries, he said.

“Why did Wednesday’s quakes emerge just eight years afterwards? This is new to most seismologists and geologists, who are unfamiliar with quakes with depth rooting to the mantle layer,” he said.

Seismologists were closely watching and cautiously studying the 9.0 quake that devastated Sendai in Japan on March 11 last year. The first tremor on March 9 was recorded at 7.3 on the Richter scale. That one was understood by seismologists as the main shock, but there were two aftershocks on an even greater scale at 9.0 on March 11 that followed, he said.

The tsunamis created on Wednesday were not powerful or harmfully high because the quake was the horizontal dipslide type. But a mantlebased quake at an island with active underwater volcanoes located north of the Nicobar Islands would probably be a vertical strikeslip type, which would directly impact the six Thai coastal provinces, and possibly deluge them with tsunamis, he added.

Professor Michio Hashzume, a wellknown Japanese seismologist, said Wednesday’s quakes were a new type known to have started in the mantle. It was difficult to tell whether a new quake would follow within a few days, like the Sendai quakes, which were similar to Wednesday’s quakes. Then there was a 7.3, followed by a 9.0 two days later.

If there are quakes near the Nicobar Islands, they may cause huge collapses in the seabed and outer crust. The seabed may rise and form new islands, he said.

Minor earthquake in sea off Italy’s Sicily

From: AAP
April 13, 2012 5:50PM

A 4.3 MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck in the sea off Italy’s Sicily, sending residents into the streets but with no immediate reports of victims or injuries, officials said.

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Volcanic Activity

Turrialba Volcano Increases Activity

Thursday morning the Turrialbla volcano unleashed a new series of eruptions, with experts converging on the colossus to take a close look at the smoke emanations coming from its centre.

For a live view of the volcano (photos update every 10 seconds) click here.

According to the Red Sismológica Nacional (RSN) and the Observatorio Vulcanologio y Sismologico de Costa Rica (OVISCORI) the activity does not present any danger, but will continue to monitor the volcano much closer.

The alert followed reports by area residents of hearing a large rumble and then the sighting of dark coloured smoke, produced by gas fumes from the volcano.

Last January the volcano became a concern for residents and experts following the emanation of white gas fumes.

Several RSN experts are on their way to the top of the volcano and the OVISCORI is keeping the national park closed and under a green alert.

Fiery lava and ash spew from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano

Published on Apr 13, 2012 by itnnews

Mount Etna has begun spewing blood-red lava and grey and white ash into the air, the volcano’s 24th eruption in a series that started this year. Report by Sophie Foster.

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Short Time Event(s)

Upd.	Date (UTC)	Event	Country	Location	Level	Details
	Today	Extreme Weather	Saudi Arabia	Capital city, Riyadh
	Today	Biological Hazard	USA	State of Alaska, [Juneau area]
	Today	Extreme Weather	India	MultiStates, [States of Bengal and Kolkata]
	Today	Technological Disaster	Pakistan	State of Punjab, Gujranwala
	Today	Tornado	USA	State of Oklahoma, Norman
	13.04.2012	Volcano Activity	Costa Rica	Cartago, [Turrialba Volcano, Turrialba County]
1	13.04.2012	Hailstorm	China	MultiProvinces, [Provinces of Jiangxi and Guizhou]

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php

Fire Weather Watch

Lubbock,Texas
Tiyan, Guam

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Storms, Flooding

Tornado Watch

TORNADO WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE FOR WT 164
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
340 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2012
  OKLAHOMA COUNTIES INCLUDED ARE

CRAIG                CREEK               DELAWARE
KAY                  LINCOLN             LOGAN
MAYES                NOBLE               NOWATA
OSAGE                OTTAWA              PAWNEE
PAYNE                ROGERS              TULSA
WAGONER              WASHINGTON

Flash Flood Watch

St. Louis , Missouri
Springfield, Missouri

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

Norman, Oklahoma

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Radiation

Fukushima leak may have flowed into Pacific: TEPCO

by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP)

About 12 tonnes of radioactive water has leaked at Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with the facility’s operator saying Thursday that some may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the leak was found early Thursday from a pipe attached to a temporary decontamination system, and the water had already gone through some of the cleansing process.

The water, once it has been used to cool the reactors, contains massive amounts of radioactive substances and is put into the water-processing facility so it can be recycled for use as a coolant.

“Our officials confirmed that cooling water leaked at a joint in the pipes,” a TEPCO spokesman told AFP, adding that “it is possible that part of the water may have flowed outside the facility and poured into the ocean”.

The leak has since been plugged, the spokesman added, saying the utility was probing the cause of the accident and how much, if any, water flowed into the Pacific.

The accident was the latest of several leaks of radioactive water at the troubled plant, undermining the government’s claim made in December that the shuttered Fukushima reactors were now under control.

In one incident last month, about 120 tonnes of radioactive water leaked at the plant’s water decontamination system and about 80 litres (21 gallons) seeped into the ocean, according to TEPCO.

The plant about 220 kilometres (135 miles) northeast of Tokyo was crippled by meltdowns and explosions caused by Japan’s massive earthquake and tsunami in March last year.

Radiation was scattered over a large area and made its way into the sea, air and food chain in the weeks and months after the disaster.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes around the plant and swathes of this zone remain badly polluted. The clean-up is proceeding slowly, amid warnings that some towns could be uninhabitable for three decades.

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Climate Change

Key ice shelf in Antarctica has shrunk by 85 percent

by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP)

A vast ice shelf in the Antarctic peninsula, a hotspot for global warming, has shrunk by 85 percent in 17 years, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Thursday.

Images taken by its Envisat satellite show that the so-called Larsen B ice shelf decreased from 11,512 square kilometres (4,373 square miles) in 1995, an area about the size of the Gulf state of Qatar, to only 1,670 sq km (634 miles) today.

Larsen B is one of three ice shelves that run from north to south along the eastern side of the peninsula, the tongue of land that projects towards South America.

From 1995 to 2002, Larsen B experienced several calving events in which parts of the shelf broke away. It had a major breakup in 2002 when half of the remainder disintegrated.

Larsen A broke up in January 1995.

“Larsen C so far has been stable in area, but satellite observations have shown thinning and an increasing duration of melt events in summer,” the agency said in a press release.

Ice shelves are thick floating mats of ice, attached to the shore, that are created by the runoff into the sea from glaciers.

Scientists say they are extremely sensitive to changes in atmospheric temperature and can be hollowed out from below by warmer ocean currents.

The northern Antarctic peninsula has been subject to atmospheric warming about 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the last 50 years, a figure that is several times greater than the global average.

Ice shelves are not the same as ice sheets, the vast blanket of frozen water that covers Antarctica.

If these melted, even partially, they would drive up sea levels, threatening small island states and coastal cities. But the scientific evidence is that the icesheets so far are stable.

“These observations are very relevant for measuring the future behaviour of the much larger ice masses of West Antarctica if warming spreads further south,” ESA quoted Helmut Rott, a professor at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, as saying.

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Solar Activity

Massive Solar Flare rocked Earth with Earthquakes & Volcano eruptions this week! (April 13, 2012)

Published on Apr 13, 2012 by adrinilinjunky

A massive Earth directed Solar Flare that launched off the Sun on (April 9th 2012). The expected arrival date was 2 days later which was (April 11th 2012). This was also the day; the Earth just got rocked by all the magor Earthquakes such as a 8.6 off the coast of Sumatra, 7.0 Michoacan Mexico, 6.2 the off the coast of Oregon, 4.3 Utah, 5.0 North Indian Ocean, 6.9 in the Gulf of California & many other less magnitude quakes. So it clearly shows that Solar Flares/CME affect & have a magor impact on our Seismic activity dealing in reguards to Earthquakes & volcano eruptions.

http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater
http://quakes.globalincidentmap.com/
http://spaceweather.com/

2MIN News Apr13: MAGNETIC STORM

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Articles of Interest

Long-term studies detect effects of disappearing snow and ice

by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX)

File image: sea ice.

Ecosystems are changing worldwide as a result of shrinking sea ice, snow, and glaciers, especially in high-latitude regions where water is frozen for at least a month each year-the cryosphere.

Scientists have already recorded how some larger animals, such as penguins and polar bears, are responding to loss of their habitat, but research is only now starting to uncover less-obvious effects of the shrinking cryosphere on organisms.

An article in the April issue of BioScience describes some impacts that are being identified through studies that track the ecology of affected sites over decades.

The article, by Andrew G. Fountain of Portland State University and five coauthors, is one of six in a special section in the issue on the Long Term Ecological Research Network. The article describes how decreasing snowfall in many areas threatens burrowing animals and makes plant roots more susceptible to injury, because snow acts as an insulator.

And because microbes such as diatoms that live under sea ice are a principal source of food for krill, disappearing sea ice has led to declines in their abundance-resulting in impacts on seabirds and mammals that feed on krill. Disappearing sea ice also seems, unexpectedly, to be decreasing the sea’s uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

On land, snowpack changes can alter an area’s suitability for particular plant species, and melting permafrost affects the amount of carbon dioxide that plants and microbes take out of the atmosphere-though in ways that change over time. Shrinking glaciers add pollutants and increased quantities of nutrients to freshwater bodies, and melting river ice pushes more detritus downstream.

Disappearing ice on land and the resulting sea-level rise will have far-reaching social, economic, and geopolitical impacts, Fountain and his coauthors note. Many of these changes are now becoming evident in the ski industry, in infrastructure and coastal planning, and in tourism. Significant effects on water supplies, and consequently on agriculture, can be predicted.

Fountain and his colleagues argue that place-based, long-term, interdisciplinary research efforts such as those supported by the Long Term Ecological Research Network will be essential if researchers are to gain an adequate understanding of the complex, cascading ecosystem responses to the changing cryosphere.

Other articles in the special section on the Long Term Ecological Research Network detail further notable scientific and societal contributions of this network, which had its origins in 1980 and now includes 26 sites.

The achievements include contributions to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, to ecological manipulation experiments, to bringing decision makers and researchers together, and to mechanistic understanding of long-term ecological changes.

Deadly March Tornadoes Were First Billion-Dollar Disaster of 2012

The swarms of March caused more than $1.5 billion in damage and killed 40. However, the drama is difficulty to qualify because tornadoes are ‘atypical events’ by nature

By Andrea Mustain and OurAmazingPlanet

Tornado damage in Henryville, Ind., after a tornado swept through the small community on March 2, 2012. Image: Michael Raphael/FEMA

A swarm of tornadoes that tore through the Midwest and Southeast in early March has earned the grim title of the nation’s first billion-dollar weather disaster of 2012.

From March 2 through the early hours of March 3, 132 tornadoes were reported across nine states. Although those numbers are preliminary, and will undoubtedly decrease once overlapping reports are eliminated, their aftermath was devastating, causing more than $1.5 billion in damage and killing 40 people.

The storms killed four people in Ohio, but they took the greatest toll in Indiana, killing 13, and Kentucky, where 23 people died.

The costly disaster follows on the heels of a record-breaking year for devastation wrought by the vagaries of the weather and longer-term climate conditions. Last year, the United States experienced 14 separate events that caused $1 billion or more in damage. Five of those events were tornado outbreaks.

Read Full Article Here

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Tags: Alaska, Alaska Peninsula, Andaman region, Antarctica, Armenia-azerbaijan-iran Border Reg., Banda Sea, Bay of Plenty, Bolivia, California, Canterbury, Central Mediterranean Sea, Chile, China, climate change, Costa Rica, earthquakes, Extreme Temperatures/ Weather, Fiji Islands Region, Fire Weather Watch, Flash Flood Watch, Flooding, FRANCE, Fukushima, Greece, Guam, Guatemala, Hawke's Bay, India, Indonesia, Ionian Sea, Italy, Izu Islands, Japan, Japan Region, Key ice shelf has shrunk by 85 percent, Kuril Islands, Massive Solar Flare, Mediterranean Sea, Mexico, Mexico-guatemala Border Region, Missouri, Mount Etna volcano, Myanmar, Myanmar-india Border Region, Near Coast Of Guerrero, Near The Coast Of Syria, North Indian Ocean, Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra, Oklahoma, Pakistan, Puerto Rico Region, Radiation, Romania, Russia-mongolia Border Region, Saudi Arabia, Severe Thunderstorm Warning, solar activity, storms, Tiyan, Tornado Watch, Turkey, Turkey-iran Border Region, Turrialba Volcano, Tyrrhenian Sea, USA, Vanuatu, Virgin Islands Region, volcanic activity, West Of Gibraltar

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Earth Watch Report – Friday April 13th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Radiation, Solar Activity, Storms, Tornado, Volcanic Events, Weather Phenomena — Leave a comment

April 13, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC    Greece
Apr 12 23:46 PM
2.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 23:25 PM
2.7    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 23:19 PM
2.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Southeast Indian Ridge
Apr 12 23:15 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    Southeast Indian Ridge
Apr 12 23:15 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 23:04 PM
3.0    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 23:01 PM
2.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 22:55 PM
2.9    10.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 12 22:46 PM
2.8    9.4    MAP

USGS    Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Apr 12 22:42 PM
2.7    76.2    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 22:37 PM
4.6    96.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 22:37 PM
4.4    27.1    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 22:37 PM
4.6    15.0    MAP

EMSC    Sea Of Okhotsk
Apr 12 22:28 PM
4.0    480.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 12 22:13 PM
3.5    19.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Turkey
Apr 12 22:10 PM
3.0    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Italy
Apr 12 21:55 PM
2.4    27.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 21:42 PM
4.8    28.7    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 21:42 PM
4.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 21:42 PM
4.9    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 21:12 PM
3.0    7.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 12 20:49 PM
2.7    26.4    MAP

GEOFON    Greenland Sea
Apr 12 20:45 PM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Greenland Sea
Apr 12 20:45 PM
4.2    2.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 20:43 PM
2.4    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Greenland Sea
Apr 12 20:31 PM
4.4    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Greenland Sea
Apr 12 20:31 PM
4.5    2.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 20:21 PM
5.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 20:21 PM
4.9    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 20:07 PM
3.5    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 12 19:41 PM
4.1    82.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Mediterranean Sea
Apr 12 19:30 PM
2.4    7.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 19:25 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 19:25 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 12 19:11 PM
2.5    7.0    MAP

USGS    Southern California
Apr 12 18:53 PM
3.5    7.7    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 12 18:31 PM
3.6    87.0    MAP

EMSC    Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 12 17:52 PM
2.4    21.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Greece
Apr 12 17:36 PM
2.8    5.0    MAP

USGS    Offshore Oregon
Apr 12 16:59 PM
2.7    5.0    MAP

USGS    Offshore Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 12 16:58 PM
4.2    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Offshore Oaxaca, Mexico
Apr 12 16:58 PM
4.2    1.0    MAP

EMSC    Southern Iran
Apr 12 16:47 PM
3.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Virgin Islands Region
Apr 12 16:44 PM
3.6    39.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 16:44 PM
2.4    14.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Alaska
Apr 12 16:41 PM
4.2    57.0    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 12 16:41 PM
4.0    67.6    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 12 16:27 PM
2.6    16.0    MAP

USGS    Offshore Oregon
Apr 12 16:25 PM
2.7    5.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 15:51 PM
4.4    32.0    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 15:51 PM
4.4    32.0    MAP

EMSC    Izu Islands, Japan Region
Apr 12 15:26 PM
4.7    40.0    MAP

USGS    Izu Islands, Japan Region
Apr 12 15:26 PM
4.7    33.1    MAP

GEOFON    Southeast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 15:26 PM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 15:07 PM
4.8    11.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 15:07 PM
4.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 15:07 PM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Northern Iran
Apr 12 15:01 PM
4.0    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Java, Indonesia
Apr 12 15:01 PM
4.8    69.0    MAP

GEOFON    Java, Indonesia
Apr 12 15:01 PM
4.9    65.0    MAP

USGS    Java, Indonesia
Apr 12 15:01 PM
4.8    42.8    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 14:55 PM
2.8    8.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 14:50 PM
5.6    23.2    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 14:50 PM
5.4    24.0    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 14:50 PM
5.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 14:46 PM
5.0    27.8    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 14:46 PM
5.0    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 14:46 PM
5.0    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 14:31 PM
4.7    30.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 14:31 PM
4.7    29.7    MAP

EMSC    Sicily, Italy
Apr 12 13:20 PM
3.1    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 13:09 PM
5.3    30.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 13:09 PM
5.3    30.4    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 13:09 PM
5.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Sicily, Italy
Apr 12 12:57 PM
2.9    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 12:19 PM
4.8    26.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 12:19 PM
4.8    29.5    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 12:19 PM
4.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Oklahoma
Apr 12 12:10 PM
3.1    4.9    MAP

USGS    Central California
Apr 12 11:53 AM
2.6    6.1    MAP

EMSC    Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 12 11:38 AM
4.9    33.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 12 11:38 AM
4.9    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Southern Mid Atlantic Ridge
Apr 12 11:38 AM
4.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 12 11:34 AM
3.1    8.6    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 11:29 AM
2.6    15.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 12 11:28 AM
2.9    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 11:20 AM
5.2    18.0    MAP

USGS    Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 11:19 AM
5.3    14.3    MAP

GEOFON    Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 12 11:19 AM
5.2    14.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 11:02 AM
3.3    15.0    MAP

GEOFON    Southwest Of Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 12 11:02 AM
5.1    35.0    MAP

USGS    Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 12 11:02 AM
4.9    28.1    MAP

EMSC    Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 12 11:02 AM
4.9    29.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:59 AM
4.9    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:59 AM
4.7    10.1    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:59 AM
4.9    5.0    MAP

GEOFON    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 10:27 AM
4.8    10.0    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 10:26 AM
4.9    9.9    MAP

EMSC    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 10:26 AM
5.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:18 AM
4.7    30.2    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:18 AM
4.9    27.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 10:18 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 10:07 AM
2.6    15.0    MAP

GEONET    West Coast
Apr 12 09:49 AM
3.8    4.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 09:32 AM
4.0    2.0    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 12 09:30 AM
2.5    103.8    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 09:24 AM
2.4    12.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 09:15 AM
4.7    27.5    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 09:15 AM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 09:15 AM
4.8    2.0    MAP

GEOFON    Afghanistan-tajikistan Border Region
Apr 12 08:56 AM
4.0    162.0    MAP

EMSC    Tajikistan
Apr 12 08:56 AM
4.1    156.0    MAP

USGS    Tajikistan
Apr 12 08:56 AM
4.1    163.4    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 08:54 AM
4.4    10.1    MAP

EMSC    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 08:54 AM
4.4    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 12 08:54 AM
4.3    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 08:21 AM
2.6    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Central Italy
Apr 12 08:10 AM
2.6    20.0    MAP

EMSC    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 07:57 AM
4.2    10.0    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 07:57 AM
4.2    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Eastern Turkey
Apr 12 07:54 AM
3.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:43 AM
5.1    30.4    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:43 AM
5.1    30.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:43 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    Central Alaska
Apr 12 07:43 AM
2.5    7.2    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 07:41 AM
2.4    8.0    MAP

EMSC    Greece
Apr 12 07:38 AM
2.5    8.0    MAP

USGS    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 07:34 AM
5.0    15.8    MAP

EMSC    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 07:34 AM
5.1    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Poland
Apr 12 07:33 AM
3.9    80.0    MAP

GEONET    West Coast
Apr 12 07:18 AM
4.0    5.0    MAP

EMSC    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 12 07:15 AM
6.3    60.0    MAP

GEOFON    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 12 07:15 AM
7.0    10.0    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 07:15 AM
6.9    10.3    MAP

USGS    Southern Alaska
Apr 12 07:14 AM
4.0    64.3    MAP

GEOFON    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 12 07:06 AM
6.1    10.0    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 07:06 AM
6.2    10.1    MAP

EMSC    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 07:06 AM
6.0    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Western Turkey
Apr 12 07:01 AM
2.4    5.0    MAP

USGS    Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:01 AM
5.0    26.9    MAP

EMSC    Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:01 AM
5.0    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 12 07:01 AM
5.1    10.0    MAP

GEOFON    Baja California, Mexico
Apr 12 06:48 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

EMSC    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 06:48 AM
4.6    10.0    MAP

USGS    Gulf Of California
Apr 12 06:48 AM
4.7    9.8    MAP

USGS    Puerto Rico Region
Apr 12 06:47 AM
2.7    11.7    MAP

GEOFON    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 06:47 AM
4.8    10.0    MAP

EMSC    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 06:47 AM
4.7    10.0    MAP

USGS    North Indian Ocean
Apr 12 06:47 AM
4.5    14.7    MAP

EMSC    Northern Algeria
Apr 12 06:17 AM
3.1    10.0    MAP

Earthquakes shake Gulf of California

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) — A pair of strong earthquakes rocked Mexico’s Gulf of California only minutes apart early Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quakes — magnitude 6.9 and 6.2 — were centered about 85 miles northeast of Guerrero Negro in the Mexican state of Baja California, or 325 miles south-southwest of Phoenix in the United States. Both epicenters were shallow, a little more than six miles underground.

No tsunami warnings were issued and there were no immediate reports of damage, but people as far north as Tucson, Arizona, reported feeling them.

The temblors were recorded at 12:16 a.m. and 12:06 a.m. local time (3:16 a.m. and 3;06 a.m. ET).

7.0 Mexico/ 5.9 Oregon Coast/8.6 Sumatra/6.1 Tokyo

Magnitude 4.5 – NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

Magnitude	4.5
Date-Time	Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 02:29:41 UTC Wednesday, April 11, 2012 at 10:29:41 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	41.998°N, 65.994°W
Depth	15.8 km (9.8 miles)
Region	NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
Distances	203 km (126 miles) S of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada 290 km (180 miles) SSW of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Canada 352 km (218 miles) SW of HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Canada 421 km (261 miles) E of BOSTON, Massachusetts
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 22 km (13.7 miles); depth +/- 6.3 km (3.9 miles)
Parameters	NST=125, Nph=138, Dmin=323.9 km, Rmss=0.89 sec, Gp=155°, M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=8
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0009131

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Volcanic Activity

Mount Etna eruption no danger to local airport

15:44 12 APR 2012

(AGI) Catania – Mount Etna is erupting for the sixth time this year with lava and plumes of smoke and ash from a new crater on the volcano’s southeast side. The new activity was preceded by new phase that began last night and that, according to experts from the INGV in Catania, has the same characteristics as the one before this one. Ash, carried by wind towards the east, has not yet created problems at the Fontanarossa airport, which is fully operational. . .

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

URGENT – FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

New Mexico

Colorado

Florida

Arizona

Texas

Freeze Warning

Virginia

New York

Maryland

Washington, D.C.

Pennsylvania

Michigan

Ohio

South Carolina

New Jersey

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Storms, Flooding

Photos: Spring hailstorm pelts Texas Panhandle

by WFAA

Posted on April 12, 2012 at 8:10 AM

See all 6 photos »

An unusual spring storm in the Texas Panhandle Wednesday afternoon dumped two to four feet of hail near Dumas.

Trucks were reported sliding off the road on Highway 287 as a result of the unexpected weather phenomenon. Snow plows were being used to clear the roads.

Some vehicles were trapped in the drifts of hailstones.

Chief Meteorologist Pete Delkus said a tornado watch was in effect for the Panhandle region through 10 p.m. Wednesday, and the storms were moving very slowly between Pampa and Dumas north of Amarillo and to the east of Dalhart.

Melting hail and heavy rain triggered flash flooding in the Panhandle

http://swfs.bimvid.com/bimvid_player-3_2_7.swf?x-bim-callletters=KVUE

Tornado leaves path of destruction near Stockton

French Camp funnel cloud damage

Damage from tornado in French Camp gallery

gallery Damage from tornado in French Camp

DISCOVERY BAY: Rare tornado touches down in San Joaquin County video

video DISCOVERY BAY: Rare tornado touches down in San Joaquin County

KTVU.com

STOCKTON, Calif. —

An EF-1 tornado that set down near Stockton Wednesday afternoon destroyed a building near a home and left debris strewn across the surrounding area, according to local meteorologists.

In Stockton, a highway traffic camera captured a funnel cloud southwest of the city, near Lathrop and a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento said it later touched down in French Camp, south of Stockton.

Discovery Bay resident Carlos Espinoza noticed the unusual atmospheric conditions just before the funnel cloud formed.

“I hear what I thought was thunder, said Espinoza. “Curious, I went out to look”

Espinoza grabbed his compact camera and snapped a series of 11 pictures that showed the funnel cloud forming and extending towards the ground.

A retired police officer, Espinoza knew what he’d witnessed.

“We’ve been shown how to look for certain weather conditions, explained Espinoza. To see this come up right in front of you was surprising, and fun!”

By early Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado swept through French Camp.

People who live in French Camp said they knew it was a tornado before the weather service did, as they watched it tear apart a building and send pieces of corrugated metal flying into telephone poles.

“[I was] scared to death,” said tornado victim Valentin Guitierrez. “We really thought we were going to die. I thought I was going to die.”

Guitierrez owned the shed that was destroyed when the tornado touched down. He said the sight of the twister and resulting damage was stunning.

“I heard a loud loud noise. I ran out to look out the back window and I see this big ol’ cloud,” said Guitierrez. “I see it flip over the trailers, so I figured it was a tornado. So I ran to the front of the house, told my family to get on the ground.”

One man said he’d never seen anything like it in his 65 years in San Joaquin County.

It is not unheard of to have twisters spawn from the clouds in the San Joaquin Valley, but it’s not common.

Besides the funnel cloud, a mass of unstable air between Spring storms triggered thundershowers and hail in the Central Valley, according tometeorologists.

The thundershowers erupted in a break between two storm fronts that have gotten April off to a wet start.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning Wednesday afternoon for Tulare County near Hanford where quarter-inch sized hail fell accompanied by strong winds, lightning and thunder.

National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said some BB-size hail was reported in the San Jose area around noon.

Meanwhile, a strong line of thundershowers roared into the Sierra foothills, dumping half inch in diameter hail and heavy downpours.

Two more low pressure system were lined up off shore ready to bring showers for the morning commutes both on Thursday and Friday.

Forecasters predicted the North Bay and the Santa Cruz Mountains could get 2 inches or more of rain by Saturday while the central Bay Area could expect 0.5 to 2 inches.

After one of the driest winters in a century, Mother Nature has done her best to eliminate potential drought conditions with one of the wettest Marchs in the past 80 years and now the April showers.

The same has held true for the Sierra where for much of the winter the ski resorts were forced to rely on snowmaking machines.

“Back in January, when we didn’t have any snow, we were looking for a tough season,” said Jennie Bartlett, a spokeswoman for Sugar Bowl. “But March was an awesome month for us. We got over 200 inches of snow.”

Flood Warning

Texas

Louisiana

Arkansas

Winter Storm Warning

California

Nevada

Oregon

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Radiation

Published on Apr 6, 2012 by TheBigPictureRT

Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear, joins Thom Hartmann. California beware! A radioactive wave is headed toward the West Coast of the United States courtesy of the Fukushima nuclear disaster? So with nuclear power still wreaking havoc on the environment – why are the Japanese about to flip on more of their nuclear reactors?

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Solar Activity

THE SUN TODAY: 12 April 2012 – Activity Building?

Solar X-rays:

Geomagnetic Field:

From n3kl.org
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Tags: Afghanistan-tajikistan Border Region, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, D.C., earthquakes, Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Extreme Temperatures/ Weather, FIRE WEATHER, Flood Warning, Flooding, Florida, Freeze Warning, Fukushima, Greece, Greenland Sea, Gulf Of California, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Japan Region, Louisiana, Maryland., Mexico, Michigan, Mount Etna, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York., North Indian Ocean, Northern Algeria, Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra, Offshore Oaxaca, Offshore Oregon, OHIO, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Poland, Puerto Rico Region, Radiation, Sea Of Okhotsk, solar activity, South Carolina, Southeast Indian Ridge, Southern Mid Atlantic Ridge, Spring hailstorm, storms, Strait Of Gibraltar, Tajikistan, Texas, Texas Panhandle, Tornado, Turkey, Virgin Islands Region, Virginia, volcanic activity, Washington, West Coast, Winter Storm Warning

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Earth Watch Report – Wednesday April 11th, 2012

Filed under: Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Flooding, Global Disaster Watch, Solar Activity, Storms, Tornado, Uncategorized — Leave a comment

April 11, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC Syria
Apr 10 23:23 PM
3.4 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 23:16 PM
4.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 23:16 PM
4.7 40.0 MAP

USGS Off The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 23:16 PM
4.6 31.7 MAP

EMSC Central Italy
Apr 10 22:46 PM
2.7 29.0 MAP

USGS Off The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 22:45 PM
4.3 35.7 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 22:45 PM
4.3 36.0 MAP

EMSC Central Italy
Apr 10 22:37 PM
3.4 32.0 MAP

USGS Wyoming
Apr 10 20:29 PM
3.0 1.9 MAP

GEONET Taupo
Apr 10 19:42 PM
4.7 100.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 19:28 PM
2.6 9.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 10 19:22 PM
3.0 88.0 MAP

USGS Offshore Northern California
Apr 10 19:07 PM
2.6 26.4 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 17:56 PM
2.5 7.0 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees
Apr 10 17:40 PM
2.8 2.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 10 17:39 PM
2.6 4.0 MAP

EMSC Moro Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines
Apr 10 16:44 PM
4.4 51.0 MAP

USGS Moro Gulf, Mindanao, Philippines
Apr 10 16:44 PM
4.4 51.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 16:39 PM
3.1 6.0 MAP

EMSC Sea Of Japan
Apr 10 16:36 PM
4.0 374.0 MAP

USGS Sea Of Japan
Apr 10 16:36 PM
4.0 374.3 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 15:20 PM
2.5 18.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 10 14:01 PM
3.0 9.0 MAP

GEOFON Southeast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 13:54 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Greece
Apr 10 13:45 PM
2.4 1.0 MAP

GEOFON Near S. Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 13:42 PM
4.7 360.0 MAP

EMSC Near S. Coast Of Western Honshu
Apr 10 13:42 PM
4.6 353.0 MAP

USGS Near The South Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 13:42 PM
4.4 357.2 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 13:37 PM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 13:31 PM
2.5 9.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 13:24 PM
2.4 30.0 MAP

USGS Molucca Sea
Apr 10 13:00 PM
4.5 51.3 MAP

EMSC Molucca Sea
Apr 10 13:00 PM
4.6 47.0 MAP

GEOFON Southern Molucca Sea
Apr 10 13:00 PM
4.6 43.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 10 12:52 PM
2.8 23.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 10 12:47 PM
2.5 0.6 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 10 11:58 AM
2.4 30.0 MAP

EMSC Germany
Apr 10 11:50 AM
2.4 10.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 10 11:42 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 11:36 AM
3.4 7.0 MAP

USGS Northern Alaska
Apr 10 11:07 AM
2.9 7.5 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 10 10:42 AM
3.6 6.9 MAP

EMSC France
Apr 10 10:33 AM
2.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 10:25 AM
2.5 14.0 MAP

EMSC Aegean Sea
Apr 10 10:12 AM
3.2 2.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 10 09:57 AM
2.4 20.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 09:52 AM
2.9 5.0 MAP

EMSC Sicily, Italy
Apr 10 09:39 AM
2.4 157.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 09:34 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 10 09:28 AM
3.0 38.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 09:26 AM
2.8 18.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 10 09:24 AM
3.1 52.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 10 09:22 AM
3.2 66.0 MAP

USGS Java, Indonesia
Apr 10 09:18 AM
4.7 59.9 MAP

EMSC Java, Indonesia
Apr 10 09:18 AM
4.8 55.0 MAP

GEOFON Java, Indonesia
Apr 10 09:18 AM
4.8 47.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 10 08:48 AM
2.7 53.0 MAP

USGS Western Xizang
Apr 10 08:25 AM
4.3 35.0 MAP

EMSC Western Xizang
Apr 10 08:25 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Xizang
Apr 10 08:25 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS Western Xizang
Apr 10 08:08 AM
4.7 34.5 MAP

EMSC Western Xizang
Apr 10 08:08 AM
4.7 30.0 MAP

GEOFON Xizang
Apr 10 08:08 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 07:58 AM
2.5 10.0 MAP

USGS Off The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 07:13 AM
4.4 36.0 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 07:13 AM
4.4 36.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 10 06:01 AM
4.0 30.0 MAP

USGS Offshore Northern California
Apr 10 05:43 AM
2.9 10.6 MAP

EMSC North Of Ascension Island
Apr 10 05:09 AM
5.8 33.0 MAP

GEOFON North Of Ascension Island
Apr 10 05:09 AM
5.7 10.0 MAP

USGS North Of Ascension Island
Apr 10 05:09 AM
5.8 9.9 MAP

USGS Washington
Apr 10 04:43 AM
3.2 11.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 10 04:34 AM
2.6 12.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 04:19 AM
2.7 8.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 10 04:13 AM
2.9 3.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 04:11 AM
3.0 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Northern Mid Atlantic Ridge
Apr 10 03:37 AM
4.5 10.0 MAP

EMSC Northern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 10 03:37 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Northern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 10 03:37 AM
4.7 10.4 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 02:57 AM
4.8 55.0 MAP

GEOFON Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 10 02:57 AM
4.7 60.0 MAP

EMSC Spain
Apr 10 01:54 AM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Carlsberg Ridge
Apr 10 01:42 AM
4.7 30.0 MAP

USGS Carlsberg Ridge
Apr 10 01:42 AM
4.8 15.2 MAP

GEOFON Carlsberg Ridge
Apr 10 01:42 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 01:16 AM
3.0 5.0 MAP

USGS Northern California
Apr 10 01:09 AM
2.5 1.4 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 10 00:02 AM
2.5 12.0 MAP

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Freeze Watch – URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE

VIRGINIA
1239 AM EDT WED APR 11 2012

INDIANA
1116 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

KENTUCKY
1105 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

SOUTH CAROLINA
1019 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

GEORGIA
1009 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

TENNESSEE
801 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

WEST VIRGINIA
801 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC
758 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

OHIO
749 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

NORTH CAROLINA
345 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

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Fire Conditions

URGENT – FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE

EL PASO, TEXAS ,SANTA TERESA, NEW MEXICO
909 PM MDT TUE APR 10 2012

JACKSONVILLE , FLORIDA
947 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

TAMPA BAY AREA – RUSKIN, FLORIDA
758 PM EDT TUE APR 10 2012

ALBUQUERQUE ,NEW MEXICO
320 PM MDT TUE APR 10 2012

PUEBLO , COLORADO
255 PM MDT TUE APR 10 2012

GLASGOW ,MONTANA
242 PM MDT TUE APR 10 2012

MOBILE ,ALABAMA
233 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

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Storms, Flooding

Cyclonic storms in Tripura, India

-Seven killed and at least 30 people injured in Tripura.
-Strong winds and hailstorms from last five days have damaged more than 1,000 houses.
-10.5 mm rainfall in capital city and hailstorms reported across the state.
-Amarpur subdivision to be worst affected.
-District administrations has distributed Rs.1,000 to each affected family as immediate assistance.
-Tripura is a state in North-East India which is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west.

Tornadoes in Woodward Region, Oklahoma

-Two tornadoes reported in northwest Oklahoma.
-One tornado reported 3 miles south-southwest of Woodward and other east of Sharon.
-Two people injured and damage of about $250,000 estimated.

Tornadoes, giant hail slam northwest Oklahoma

(CBS/AP) OKLAHOMA CITY – At least two tornadoes have touched down and hail the size of softballs pounded northwestern Oklahoma, injuring two people and damaging a county jail and numerous vehicles.

The National Weather Service says one tornado was spotted about 3 miles south-southwest of Woodward about 5:30 p.m. Monday. Another tornado was spotted east of Sharon.

CBS affiliate KWTV in Oklahoma City reports the storm has caused more than $250,000 in damage so far.

In Woodward, hail up to 4.25 inches broke vehicle windows and damaged roofs.

Woodward County Emergency Management Director Matt Lehenbauer says an infant was cut by glass when hail knocked out windows in its parents’ vehicle. Lehenbauer says he didn’t believe the baby was seriously hurt.

Sheriff Gary Stanley says hail broke every skylight in the jail and one hail stone cut an inmate on the back.

Stanley says the hail damage caused the roof to leak.

Winter Storm Watch – URGENT

RENO, NEVADA
217 PM PDT TUE APR 10 2012

…HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE SIERRA…

Flood Warning

HOUSTON/GALVESTON, TEXAS
915 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

LAKE CHARLES ,LOUISIANA
849 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

NEW ORLEANS BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
757 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

SHREVEPORT ,LOUISIANA
756 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

LITTLE ROCK ,ARKANSAS
819 PM CDT TUE APR 10 2012

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SOLAR ACTIVITY

2MIN News Apr10: NASA News, Seismicity, Solar/Planetary Update

Comment

Earth Watch Report- Monday April 9th, 2012

Filed under: Activism, Earthquakes, Extreme Weather, Freak Natural Phenomena, Global Disaster Watch, Radiation, Solar Activity, Uncategorized, Volcanic Events — Leave a comment

April 9, 2012

Earthquakes

EMSC Central Italy
Apr 08 23:39 PM
3.1 19.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 23:22 PM
3.0 7.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 23:11 PM
2.9 12.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 08 23:07 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Syria
Apr 08 22:50 PM
2.5 7.0 MAP

EMSC Syria
Apr 08 22:49 PM
3.0 18.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 22:31 PM
2.5 8.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 22:15 PM
3.0 10.0 MAP

USGS Taiwan Region
Apr 08 21:43 PM
5.4 25.5 MAP

EMSC Taiwan Region
Apr 08 21:43 PM
5.5 20.0 MAP

GEOFON Taiwan Region
Apr 08 21:43 PM
5.4 10.0 MAP

EMSC Caucasus Region, Russia
Apr 08 20:28 PM
3.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Island Of Hawaii, Hawaii
Apr 08 19:46 PM
2.6 45.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 08 18:02 PM
2.6 126.6 MAP

USGS Off The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 08 17:42 PM
4.6 25.7 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 08 17:42 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS Oregon
Apr 08 17:16 PM
2.7 6.0 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 08 16:47 PM
2.4 8.0 MAP

USGS Dominican Republic Region
Apr 08 16:38 PM
3.1 73.9 MAP

EMSC Near The Coast Of Western Turkey
Apr 08 16:30 PM
2.7 10.0 MAP

EMSC Philippine Islands Region
Apr 08 16:00 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS Philippine Islands Region
Apr 08 16:00 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 08 15:26 PM
3.5 14.4 MAP

USGS Oregon
Apr 08 15:19 PM
2.5 6.8 MAP

EMSC Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 08 15:11 PM
4.5 48.0 MAP

USGS Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
Apr 08 15:11 PM
4.5 47.6 MAP

EMSC Off W Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 08 15:03 PM
4.3 73.0 MAP

USGS Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 08 15:03 PM
4.3 73.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 08 14:47 PM
3.1 10.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico Region
Apr 08 13:32 PM
2.5 14.0 MAP

USGS Alaska Peninsula
Apr 08 13:19 PM
2.7 63.0 MAP

GEOFON Unimak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 08 13:11 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Unimak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 08 13:11 PM
4.5 34.7 MAP

EMSC Unimak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 08 13:11 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 08 13:10 PM
2.6 0.1 MAP

USGS Hawaii Region, Hawaii
Apr 08 12:19 PM
2.7 38.7 MAP

EMSC Central Mediterranean Sea
Apr 08 12:14 PM
2.8 16.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 08 12:05 PM
3.2 127.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 08 12:05 PM
2.5 12.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 11:59 AM
2.6 8.0 MAP

EMSC Spain
Apr 08 11:58 AM
3.2 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 11:38 AM
2.7 8.0 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 08 10:54 AM
2.7 7.3 MAP

USGS Kodiak Island Region, Alaska
Apr 08 10:46 AM
2.6 101.6 MAP

USGS Island Of Hawaii, Hawaii
Apr 08 09:41 AM
2.8 35.4 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 09:10 AM
2.6 7.0 MAP

EMSC Banda Sea
Apr 08 08:50 AM
4.3 565.0 MAP

GEOFON Banda Sea
Apr 08 08:50 AM
4.3 559.0 MAP

USGS Banda Sea
Apr 08 08:50 AM
4.3 559.3 MAP

GEONET Wairarapa
Apr 08 08:42 AM
3.8 40.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 08 08:26 AM
2.6 7.0 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 08 08:15 AM
3.2 4.7 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 08 07:41 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 08 07:25 AM
2.9 11.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 06:45 AM
2.4 16.0 MAP

EMSC Central Italy
Apr 08 06:36 AM
2.9 21.0 MAP

EMSC Galapagos Triple Junction Region
Apr 08 06:24 AM
4.7 100.0 MAP

USGS Galapagos Triple Junction Region
Apr 08 06:24 AM
4.8 10.1 MAP

GEOFON Galapagos Triple Junction Region
Apr 08 06:24 AM
4.6 10.0 MAP

USGS Puerto Rico
Apr 08 06:13 AM
2.6 24.3 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 08 06:01 AM
2.9 4.9 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 06:00 AM
3.2 5.0 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 08 05:59 AM
3.3 28.7 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 08 05:59 AM
3.3 2.6 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 05:52 AM
2.5 9.0 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 08 05:44 AM
4.4 39.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 08 05:44 AM
4.4 35.0 MAP

USGS Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia
Apr 08 05:44 AM
4.5 92.5 MAP

EMSC Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia
Apr 08 05:44 AM
4.5 96.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 04:54 AM
3.1 118.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 03:42 AM
2.7 6.0 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 08 03:38 AM
3.5 12.6 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 03:23 AM
2.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Bay Of Biscay
Apr 08 03:19 AM
2.7 2.0 MAP

EMSC Kuril Islands
Apr 08 03:11 AM
3.9 70.0 MAP

EMSC Azores Islands Region
Apr 08 03:02 AM
3.7 5.0 MAP

USGS Western Montana
Apr 08 03:00 AM
2.9 12.9 MAP

USGS Western Montana
Apr 08 03:00 AM
2.8 12.9 MAP

EMSC Galapagos Triple Junction Region
Apr 08 02:31 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

USGS Galapagos Triple Junction Region
Apr 08 02:31 AM
4.4 10.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Greece
Apr 08 02:10 AM
2.5 19.0 MAP

USGS Central California
Apr 08 01:43 AM
2.5 5.7 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 08 01:39 AM
2.7 8.9 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 08 00:59 AM
2.4 4.0 MAP

EMSC Turkey-iran-iraq Border Region
Apr 08 00:38 AM
3.5 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 08 00:35 AM
2.9 5.0 MAP

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Volcanic Activity

Anak Krakatau Volcano – Small Eruptions – 7th April 2012.wmv

Uploaded by yamkin1 on Apr 8, 2012

With thanks and gratitude for OysteinLund Andersen’s dedicated time and effort uploading this video.

On the morning of the 7th April 2012 Anak Krakatau started to produce small eruptions from the southern part of the crater. The eruption clouds only reached a height of 100-150meters and only contained small amounts of ash and only a little rockfall, the eruptions was not of a explosive character. The rest of the crater and its fumaroles are producing a continuous white cloud of steam/gas, rising to greater heights than the eruption clouds from the southern part of the crater. Additionally the southern/southwestern part of the outer part of the crater does now have fumaroles, indicating that magma is trapped under this part of the cone.

Photos will be published on http://www.oysteinlundandersen.com

Volcanic plumbing exposed

Leeds, UK (SPX)

Two new studies into the “plumbing systems” that lie under volcanoes could bring scientists closer to predicting large eruptions. International teams of researchers, led by the University of Leeds, studied the location and behaviour of magma chambers on the Earth’s mid-ocean ridge system – a vast chain of volcanoes along which the Earth forms new crust. They worked in Afar (Ethiopia) and I …

Read Full Article Here

El Hierro Earthquake Update : 7th April

It is now one month to the day since PEVOLCA Scientists confirmed that the ‘eruptive phase’ of the underwater volcano off the southern coast of the Canary Island of El Hierro had come to an end.

….the ongoing pattern of the majority of activities taking place in the area between Frontera and Pinar toward the North-West of the Island continues, with magnitudes ranging between 1.5 to 2.5 on the richter scale, and at depths ranging from between 11 to 29 kms, with the majority of activities taking place at around 1.5 on the ricter scale and at depths of around 15km…..

Read Full Article Here

El Hierro Volcano Update : 8th & 9th December

Scientists from Spain´s National Geological Institute (IGN) who are observing the recent seismic and volcanic activity on the Canary Island of El Hierro have recorded just 4 Earthquakes over the course of the last 48 Hours (12.00 hrs Wednesday – 12.00 hrs Friday GMT).

The activities continue to be centered in and around the El Golfo bay area, off the coast of the town of Frontera, on the northern side of the island.

The activities recorded had magnitudes of between 1.6 and 2.0 on the richter scale, and the depths were recorded as varying between 17 to 23 kms.

Meanwhile, to the South of the Island off the coast of La Restinga, the underwater Volcanic vents in the Las Calmas bay are continuing to erupt. Smouldering Pyroclastic rocks continue to be brought to the surface…..

Read Full Article Here

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Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Anchorage breaks seasonal snowfall record

By the CNN Wire Staff

(CNN) — While winter is a distant memory for most Americans, it continues unabated in Anchorage, Alaska — where a new bout of precipitation this weekend helped the city break its record for seasonal snowfall, at more than 133 inches (3.38 meters).

Some 3.4 inches of snow — and counting — had fallen as of 4 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) Saturday in Anchorage, according to the National Weather Service.

That brought the seasonal total for the city to 133.6 inches — breaking the record of 132.6 inches, set in 1954-1955.

And with snow continuing to fall into early Sunday morning, the figure promises to get even larger….

Read Full Article Here

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Radiation

The Top Short-Term Threat to Humanity: The Fuel Pools of Fukushima

Washington’s Blog

The Greatest Single Threat to Humanity: Fuel Pool Number 4

We noted days after the Japanese earthquake that the biggest threat was from the spent fuel rods in the fuel pool at Fukushima unit number 4, and not from the reactors themselves. See this and this.

We noted in February:

Scientists say that there is a 70% chance of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hitting Fukushima this year, and a 98% chance within the next 3 years.

Given that nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says that an earthquake of 7.0 or larger could cause the entire fuel pool structure collapse, it is urgent that everything humanly possible is done to stabilize the structure housing the fuel pools at reactor number 4.

Tepco is doing some construction at the building … it is a race against time under very difficult circumstances, and hopefully Tepco will win.

As AP points out:

The structural integrity of the damaged Unit 4 reactor building has long been a major concern among experts because a collapse of its spent fuel cooling pool could cause a disaster worse than the three reactor meltdowns.

***

Gundersen (who used to build spent fuel pools) explains that there is no protection surrounding the radioactive fuel in the pools. He warns that – if the fuel pools at reactor 4 collapse due to an earthquake – people should get out of Japan, and residents of the West Coast of America and Canada should shut all of their windows and stay inside for a while.

The fuel pool number 4 is apparently not in great shape, and there have already been countless earthquakes near the Fukushima region since the 9.0 earthquake last March…..

Read Full Article Here

Dartmouth scientists track radioactive iodine from Japan nuclear reactor meltdown

Hanover NH (SPX)

Radioactive iodine found by Dartmouth researchers in the local New Hampshire environment is a direct consequence of a nuclear reactor’s explosion and meltdown half a world away, says Joshua Landis, a research associate in the Department of Earth Science. The failure of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami, was the largest nuclear disa …

Read Full Article Here

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Solar Activity

SOLAR ACTIVITY UPDATE: CMEs Expected to Give Earth a Glancing Blow

Uploaded by Skyywatcher88 on Apr 8, 2012

INCOMING CME: NOAA forecasters estimate a 25% chance of strong geomagnetic storms around the poles on April 8-9 when a CME delivers a glancing blow to Earth’s magnetic field. The cloud was propelled in our direction by a solar filament, which erupted on April 5th. High- latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.

http://www.spaceweather.com

2MIN News Apr8: Infant Mortality, World/Solar Update

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Articles of Interest

Peak Civilization: MIT Research Team Predicts Global Economic Collapse and Precipitous Population Decline

Mac Slavo

Researchers at one of the world’s leading think tanks have developed a computing model that predicts serious implications for our way of life as a result of our incessant need to consume resources like oil, food, and fresh water. According to a team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the breaking point will come no later than 2030, and when it does, we can expect a paradigm shift unlike any we have seen before in human history – one that will not only collapse the economies of the world, but will cause food and energy production to decrease so significantly that it will lead to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people in the process.

The recent study, completed on behalf of The Club of Rome, an organization which issued it’s own findings on ‘peak everything’ back in the 1970′s in a controversial environmental report dubbed The Limits to Growth (video), takes into account the relations between various global developments and produces computer simulations for alternative scenarios.

Read Full Article Here

Scientists Find Slow Subsidence of Earth’s Crust Beneath the Mississippi Delta

Washington DC (SPX)

The Earth’s crust beneath the Mississippi Delta sinks at a much slower rate than what had been assumed. That’s one of the results geo-scientists report in a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The researchers arrived at their conclusions by comparing detailed sea-level reconstructions from different portions of coastal Louisiana. “The findings demonstrate the …

Read Full Article Here

First glaciers in Japan recognized

By MINORU MATSUTANI

Scientists have found three glaciers in Toyama Prefecture, the first recognized in Japan and the southernmost in East Asia.

Researchers from the Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum discovered the three slow-moving chunks of ice in the Hida Mountain Range, otherwise known as the Northern Alps.

Their research paper submitted to the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice was accepted Tuesday, the museum said.

A glacier is defined as a large mass of ice that over many years “flows” owing to its great weight, according to the Japanese Society of Snow and Ice. They are often found on high mountains, such as the Himalayas, and have even been found on Mount Kilimanjaro, which is almost on the equator. Until now, the southernmost glaciers in East Asia were on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

Read Full Article Here

Tags: Alaska, Alaska Peninsula, Anak Krakatau volcano, Anchorage, Azores Islands Region, Banda Sea, California, Canterbury, Central Mediterranean Sea, CMEs, Dominican Republic region, Earth's Magnetic Field, earthquakes, El Hierro, Extreme Temperatures/ Weather, First glaciers in Japan recognized, Fuel Pool Number 4, Fukushima, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, Galapagos Triple Junction Region, glaciers in Toyama Prefecture, Global Economic Collapse, Greece, Hawaii, Hida Mountain Range, India, Indonesia, Infant Mortality, Italy, Japan, Kuril Islands, La Restinga, Las Calmas bay, Leeds, Mexico, Montana, Near The Coast Of Western Turkey, New Hampshire, Northern Alps, Off The West Coast Of Northern Sumatra, Oregon, Peak Civilization, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION, Precipitous Population Decline, Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico Region, Pyroclastic rocks, Radiation, radioactive iodine from Japan, Russia, Slow Subsidence of Earth's Crust, snowfall record, solar activity, solar filament, Spain, Spain´s National Geological Institute (IGN), Syria, Taiwan Region, the Canary Islands, The Club of Rome, Threat to Humanity, Turkey, Turkey-iran-iraq Border Region, UK, volcanic activity

Comment

Tag Archive: Puerto Rico Region

Earthquakes

Volcanic Activity

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Storms, Flooding

By Jim Andrews, Senior Meteorologist

Apr 23, 2012; 3:14 PM ET

Climate Change

Solar Activity

2MIN News Apr23: CME Impact, Full Updates, Quake Watch Extended

Reports of SeaGulls Moving Inland/US & China and Solar Update

Space

AURORA WATCH:

Articles of Interest

Mayan Culture Holds Secrets for Today (Part I)

Russian researcher looks for answers to earth’s future

If I hadn’t read anything about the topic before, I would think that these things aren’t from the current human civilization.

Mayan Culture Holds Secrets for Today (Part II)

Russian researcher looks for answers to earth’s future

In my opinion, all these prophecies are a chance to think about our behavior, the meaning of life, about how to improve yourself and other people’s life, and how to live in harmony.

Mayan Prophecies

Earthquakes

GEOFON Central Peru Apr 22 23:45 PM 4.6 124.0 MAP

EMSC Central Peru Apr 22 23:45 PM 4.6 113.0 MAP

USGS Central Peru Apr 22 23:45 PM 4.6 112.8 MAP

EMSC Syria-iraq Border Region Apr 22 23:38 PM 3.1 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 23:27 PM 2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 23:15 PM 2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region Apr 22 23:05 PM 4.8 39.5 MAP

EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region Apr 22 23:05 PM 4.9 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region Apr 22 23:05 PM 4.9 32.0 MAP

EMSC Poland Apr 22 23:05 PM 3.0 10.0 MAP

USGS Northern California Apr 22 22:25 PM 2.6 2.1 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees Apr 22 22:04 PM 2.9 1.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska Apr 22 21:55 PM 3.1 51.3 MAP

USGS Celebes Sea Apr 22 21:41 PM 4.6 591.3 MAP

GEOFON Celebes Sea Apr 22 21:41 PM 4.6 590.0 MAP

EMSC Celebes Sea Apr 22 21:41 PM 4.6 595.0 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees Apr 22 21:37 PM 2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar Apr 22 21:37 PM 3.0 9.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece Apr 22 21:09 PM 2.4 4.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska Apr 22 20:48 PM 3.3 85.0 MAP

EMSC Albania Apr 22 19:54 PM 2.7 36.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey Apr 22 19:28 PM 3.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 19:08 PM 2.4 6.0 MAP

GEOFON Fiji Islands Region Apr 22 18:31 PM 4.7 368.0 MAP

USGS Jalisco, Mexico Apr 22 18:12 PM 4.6 85.7 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Jalisco, Mexico Apr 22 18:11 PM 4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS La Paz, Bolivia Apr 22 18:04 PM 4.4 155.6 MAP

EMSC La Paz, Bolivia Apr 22 18:04 PM 4.4 140.0 MAP

GEOFON Peru-bolivia Border Region Apr 22 18:04 PM 4.6 134.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska Apr 22 18:01 PM 3.0 10.7 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 17:30 PM 2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico Apr 22 17:16 PM 2.8 18.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey Apr 22 17:14 PM 2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 16:51 PM 2.4 6.0 MAP

USGS Southern California Apr 22 16:18 PM 3.5 4.8 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra Apr 22 16:06 PM 4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Kep. Tanimbar Region, Indonesia Apr 22 15:37 PM 5.0 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Tanimbar Islands Reg., Indonesia Apr 22 15:37 PM 5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 15:21 PM 2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey Apr 22 14:28 PM 3.1 2.0 MAP

EMSC Albania Apr 22 14:27 PM 2.5 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 14:14 PM 2.6 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan Apr 22 13:58 PM 4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan Apr 22 13:58 PM 4.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 13:56 PM 2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean Apr 22 13:50 PM 4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean Apr 22 13:50 PM 4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Southwestern Ryukyu Islands, Japan Apr 22 13:37 PM 4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 13:15 PM 2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Hokkaido, Japan Region Apr 22 13:13 PM 5.0 180.0 MAP

GEOFON Hokkaido, Japan Region Apr 22 13:13 PM 4.7 156.0 MAP

GEOFON West Of Macquarie Island Apr 22 13:11 PM 5.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Macquarie Island Apr 22 13:11 PM 5.0 10.0 MAP

USGS West Of Macquarie Island Apr 22 13:11 PM 5.0 9.8 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 13:09 PM 2.5 21.0 MAP

EMSC Sunda Strait, Indonesia Apr 22 13:04 PM 4.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Sunda Strait, Indonesia Apr 22 13:04 PM 4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey Apr 22 12:27 PM 2.6 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 124.0 MAP

EMSC Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 113.0 MAP

USGS Central Peru
Apr 22 23:45 PM
4.6 112.8 MAP

EMSC Syria-iraq Border Region
Apr 22 23:38 PM
3.1 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 23:27 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 23:15 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.8 39.5 MAP

EMSC Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.9 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Nicobar Islands, India Region
Apr 22 23:05 PM
4.9 32.0 MAP

EMSC Poland
Apr 22 23:05 PM
3.0 10.0 MAP

USGS Northern California
Apr 22 22:25 PM
2.6 2.1 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees
Apr 22 22:04 PM
2.9 1.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 22 21:55 PM
3.1 51.3 MAP

USGS Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 591.3 MAP

GEOFON Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 590.0 MAP

EMSC Celebes Sea
Apr 22 21:41 PM
4.6 595.0 MAP

EMSC Pyrenees
Apr 22 21:37 PM
2.9 10.0 MAP

EMSC Strait Of Gibraltar
Apr 22 21:37 PM
3.0 9.0 MAP

EMSC Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Apr 22 21:09 PM
2.4 4.0 MAP

USGS Central Alaska
Apr 22 20:48 PM
3.3 85.0 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 22 19:54 PM
2.7 36.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 19:28 PM
3.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 19:08 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

GEOFON Fiji Islands Region
Apr 22 18:31 PM
4.7 368.0 MAP

USGS Jalisco, Mexico
Apr 22 18:12 PM
4.6 85.7 MAP

GEOFON Near Coast Of Jalisco, Mexico
Apr 22 18:11 PM
4.7 10.0 MAP

USGS La Paz, Bolivia
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.4 155.6 MAP

EMSC La Paz, Bolivia
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.4 140.0 MAP

GEOFON Peru-bolivia Border Region
Apr 22 18:04 PM
4.6 134.0 MAP

USGS Southern Alaska
Apr 22 18:01 PM
3.0 10.7 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 17:30 PM
2.5 5.0 MAP

USGS Baja California, Mexico
Apr 22 17:16 PM
2.8 18.1 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 17:14 PM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 16:51 PM
2.4 6.0 MAP

USGS Southern California
Apr 22 16:18 PM
3.5 4.8 MAP

GEOFON Off West Coast Of Northern Sumatra
Apr 22 16:06 PM
4.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Kep. Tanimbar Region, Indonesia
Apr 22 15:37 PM
5.0 40.0 MAP

GEOFON Tanimbar Islands Reg., Indonesia
Apr 22 15:37 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 15:21 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 14:28 PM
3.1 2.0 MAP

EMSC Albania
Apr 22 14:27 PM
2.5 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 14:14 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

GEOFON Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 13:58 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Off East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 13:58 PM
4.6 2.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:56 PM
2.4 5.0 MAP

EMSC North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 13:50 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON North Indian Ocean
Apr 22 13:50 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

GEOFON Southwestern Ryukyu Islands, Japan
Apr 22 13:37 PM
4.6 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:15 PM
2.8 5.0 MAP

EMSC Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 22 13:13 PM
5.0 180.0 MAP

GEOFON Hokkaido, Japan Region
Apr 22 13:13 PM
4.7 156.0 MAP

GEOFON West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.2 10.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.0 10.0 MAP

USGS West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 13:11 PM
5.0 9.8 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 13:09 PM
2.5 21.0 MAP

EMSC Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 22 13:04 PM
4.6 2.0 MAP

GEOFON Sunda Strait, Indonesia
Apr 22 13:04 PM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 12:27 PM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.2 40.0 MAP

GEOFON West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.1 10.0 MAP

USGS West Of Macquarie Island
Apr 22 12:20 PM
5.2 10.2 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 12:07 PM
3.2 5.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 12:02 PM
3.1 8.0 MAP

USGS Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.3 39.2 MAP

EMSC Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.3 34.0 MAP

GEOFON Solomon Islands
Apr 22 11:44 AM
5.1 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 10:33 AM
2.7 5.0 MAP

EMSC South Island Of New Zealand
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.0 MAP

USGS South Island Of New Zealand
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.3 MAP

GEONET Canterbury
Apr 22 10:08 AM
4.2 11.0 MAP

EMSC Eastern Turkey
Apr 22 10:01 AM
2.6 21.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 09:47 AM
2.8 5.0 MAP

USGS Near The East Coast Of Honshu,
Japan Apr 22 09:45 AM
4.5 24.5 MAP

EMSC Near East Coast Of Honshu, Japan
Apr 22 09:45 AM
4.5 24.0 MAP

EMSC Central Turkey
Apr 22 09:32 AM
2.6 5.0 MAP

EMSC Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 22 09:19 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

USGS Southern Mid-atlantic Ridge
Apr 22 09:19 AM
4.8 10.0 MAP

EMSC Western Turkey
Apr 22 09:07 AM
2.8 21.0 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 22 08:59 AM
2.5 51.9 MAP

USGS Virgin Islands Region
Apr 22 08:57 AM
2.6 27.2 MAP