Thursday, April 8, 2010

Short, late update today.


LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
5.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
5.2 VANUATU
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION

Yesterday -
4/7/10 -
5.0 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
6.0 NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

SPACE WEATHER -

A recently discovered small asteroid will pass by the Earth today but poses no risk of striking. The orb will come just 395,000km from Earth - a hair's breadth away in astronomical terms. At its closest, it will be closer to Earth than our Moon is. The asteroid, approximately 22 metres wide, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey. It came nearest to Earth at about 9am AEST today. Space officials said the "fly-by" is closer than most, although not especially rare. "Fly-bys of near-Earth objects within the moon's orbit occur every few weeks."