One day, someone showed me a glass of water that was half full.
And he said, "Is it half full or half empty?"
So I drank the water. No more problem.
Alexander Jodorowsky
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.3 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.3 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Yesterday -
4/19/10 -
5.0 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
AFGHANISTAN - At least seven people are dead and 30 injured after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in mountains north of Kabul. The quake hit just before 6.30am (AEST) Monday.
Roads and communications are sparse in the area and casualty reports take time to reach authorities. The quake was felt in Kabul as well as the neighbouring countries of Uzbekistan and Tajikstan. The region is capable of producing large earthquakes along fault lines where India slammed against the Asian continent millions of years ago.
CALIFORNIA - The number of earthquakes greater than magnitude 4.0 in Southern California and Baja California has increased significantly in 2010. There have been 70 such quakes so far this year, THE MOST OF ANY YEAR IN THE LAST DECADE. AND IT'S ONLY APRIL. There were 30 of this size in 2009 and 29 in 2008. Seismologists said they are studying the uptick but cannot fully explain it. Major earthquakes tend to occur in cycles, and experts have said the region in recent years has been in a quiet cycle when it comes to sizable temblors. The string of quakes this year raises the possibility that Southern California might again be entering a more active seismic period. Scientists said the increase does not mean the Big One is any more imminent, but it could mean more significant quakes are on the way.
Many of the earthquakes this year have been aftershocks to the 7.2 temblor that rattled the Mexicali area earlier this month. The border region had experienced a swarm of smaller quakes before the big one. And there have been more than 1,000 aftershocks, including more than a dozen that registered higher than 5.0. The Mexicali quake was the region's largest in nearly two decades — since the 7.3 Landers quake in the Mojave Desert in 1992. Despite their size, neither temblor did catastrophic damage because they occurred in relatively remote areas far from major population centers.
Beginning in the late 1990s, the number of memorably large quakes subsided. Experts are not sure the reason for the cycles; they say said one possibility is that the ups and downs are random. Another possibility: a "cascade effect" in which a quake on one fault changes the stresses on another.
Experts said there is no evidence the world is experiencing more large earthquakes. A quake the size of the one that hit Baja erupts somewhere on the planet roughly every three weeks. The Chile and Haiti temblors occurred in heavily populated areas, so the damage was far greater - and the attention they received much more intense - than that caused by big quakes in more remote areas.
In California, scientists say one of their biggest concerns remains the San Andreas fault, which has produced some of the state's largest earthquakes. Experts have said the San Andreas is overdue for an eruption. State officials have also often noted that only about one in six Californians has earthquake insurance, with the high cost and large deductibles deterring many homeowners from buying policies. Though it comes after several more quiet years, it's not uncommon for one large quake to produce months — if not years — of increased seismic activity. So in that sense, 2010's quake pattern is fairly typical.
VOLCANOES -
ICELAND - The eruption of a volcano in Iceland strengthened Monday, sending a new ash cloud towards Britain. "Latest information from the Met Office (weather forecasting service) shows that the situation is worsening in some areas."
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.
