William Hazlitt
LARGEST QUAKES -
Today -
5.5 BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.2 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.2 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 OAXACA, MEXICO
5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
Yesterday -
4/15/10 -
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
CHINA - The death toll from the strong quake that rocked a remote Tibetan region of China has surged past the 1000 mark as tons of food, clothes and other vital supplies start pouring in.
Despite five earthquakes of 7.0 magnitude or higher so far this year, scientists say the level of quake activity is normal.
VOLCANOES -
ICELAND - The cloud of volcanic ash hovering over northern Europe could cost airlines hundreds of millions of dollars a day and smaller airlines will have to fight for survival, officials and analysts have warned. Air travel across Europe could be hit for days by the effects of the volcanic ash cloud. More than 20,000 flights have been grounded.
Icelandic eruptions may disrupt European air traffic for months - “It could go on for months. From what we’ve seen, it could erupt, pause for a few weeks, and then possibly erupt again.” Prevailing winds may provide some respite for travelers. Air streams over Britain come from the west or southwest 70 percent of the time and would carry ash away from the major hubs such as Heathrow and Amsterdam Schiphol. “We normally look to the Atlantic for our weather, so that’s going to move anything emitting from a volcano in Iceland away from us. The predominant pattern would take the plume north-eastward from the eruption site.”
The outlook this weekend is for westerly winds to pick up over northern Britain, shifting ash away from Scotland, while a blocking pattern may continue to keep it over England. The edge of the ash cloud was forecast to reach as far south as northern Italy and Romania and as far east as the borders of Kazakhstan as of 6 a.m. today London time Because of the wind direction Iceland’s Keflavik remains open, with North American flights to operating on schedule.
VANUATU - Activity at Gaua Volcano, in the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu, continued into April.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.
SPACE WEATHER -
NASA's STEREO spacecraft has captured spectacular images of a solar eruption, THE LARGEST SOLAR PROMINENCE IN 15 YEARS. The activity was caught on camera in extreme UV light as the prominence blasted away from the sun on April 12 and April 13. Prominences are cool clouds of plasma that hover above the Sun's surface, notoriously unstable and on occasion they erupt like this one. However, this one was much more dramatic than most. (video)
HEALTH THREATS -
Structural analysis confirms 1918, 2009 pandemic links - Structural analysis of the hemagglutinin of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic flu virus, and comparison of the structure with the recovered 1918 pandemic flu virus, reveals a shared epitope in both viruses. That antigenic similarity may explain repeated observations over the past year that those old enough to have been exposed to descendants of the 1918 virus possess some degree of protection against the 2009 strain.
H1N1 virus found to damage heart - A previously healthy 11-year-old girl died of heart failure, caused by compression of the heart by fluid in its outer sac, that appears to have been caused by H1N1 flu infection. H1N1 viral sequences were found in the girl's heart tissue and pericardial fluid, suggesting direct damage by the flu virus. Researchers warn that myopericarditis may be an underappreciated result of H1N1 infection.
Severe H1N1 cases may put kidneys at risk - Patients severely ill with pandemic H1N1 infections can have kidney injury or failure, though usually the conditions are reversible. In a study of critically ill patients from seven Manitoba hospitals, two-thirds had the conditions, and those with kidney failure were 11 times more likely to die. The findings are a reminder to avoid dehydration and substances that could hurt kidneys.
