that one enjoys several times
the same good things for the first time.**
Friedrich Nietzsche
that one enjoys several times
the same good things for the first time.**
Friedrich Nietzsche
that one enjoys several times
the same good things for the first time.**
Friedrich Nietzsche
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.3 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
6.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 FLORES SEA
5.0 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.2 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.2 GULF OF ADEN
Yesterday -
2/19/11 -
5.1 OFFSHORE O'HIGGINS, CHILE
2/18/11 -
5.4 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
5.3 EAST OF KURIL ISLANDS
5.1 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
5.2 OFFSHORE O'HIGGINS, CHILE
5.0 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.5 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
Tiny energy bursts may foretell massive earthquakes - It happened in Turkey, but other destructive temblors have no 'foreshocks'. Bursts of energy rocked the Earth in the hour right before an earthquake devastated Turkey in 1999 - a new finding that might one day help researchers predict major quakes. Many large earthquakes are preceded by smaller rumbles known as foreshocks. However, there is apparently no way to distinguish these tremors from other small quakes that don't portend a larger temblor. At the same time, many large earthquakes do not seem to have any foreshocks.
The magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit near Izmit in northwest Turkey in 1999, killing at least 17,000 people and leaving nearly 500,000 homeless. The calamity was one of the best-recorded large earthquakes to date, since researchers had seismic recording stations very close to the fault. Now, after analyzing the deluge of information from before, during and after the earthquake, they have detected repeated, accelerating blips of seismic activity before the Izmit quake, near the point where the rupture began. Theoretical and laboratory studies of earthquakes suggest they should be preceded by slow slipping along a fault in the Earth. Before the Izmit quake began, the research suggests the fault slipped irregularly but near-continuously for 44 minutes, generating the bursts the scientists detected, as well as increasing low-frequency seismic noise. "This will motivate seismologists to look more for these types of signals before earthquakes. Seismologists have kind of given up finding such signals in the early nucleation phase before earthquakes...What we found is encouraging, but we don't know how common these signals will be."
TROPICAL STORMS -
Cyclone ATU was 1232 nmi NNW of Auckland, New Zealand.
Cyclone DIANNE was 685 nmi NW of Perth, Australia.
Cyclone Carlos menacing Western Australia's far north - As this weekend's floodwaters continue to recede, the main concern of residents in Carnarvon is ex-tropical cyclone Carlos, which is menacing the far north of Western Australia. Carlos is expected to re-form into a category two cyclone over the ocean west of the Kimberley coast some time tomorrow. "Then it does look that longer term it will move more towards the coast but will more likely cross somewhere near Exmouth, north of Carnarvon. But longer-term they do get a bit unpredictable." As Carlos moves down the Pilbara coast towards Exmouth and Carnarvon, there is the possibility of destructive winds. Communities in WA's Kimberley region - including Kuri Bay, Cockatoo Island, Cape Leveque, Derby and Broome - are being told to prepare for wind gusts of up to 100km/h. The weekend's flood will put back by between two to four weeks the winter harvest of vegetables such as tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers and pumpkins. Many areas on the outskirts of Carnarvon that were inundated had already been severely damaged by the floods which devastated the region before Christmas.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
U.S. - Strong winds caused fires, power outages, flight delays and other problems throughout much of the eastern United States on Saturday. The National Weather Service said the winds were caused by the same Canadian storm that had brought unseasonably warm temperatures to the region earlier in the week. Multiple fires occurrred around New Jersey, caused by winds as high as 60mph (97kph) and low humidity. Fires also ran rampant in North Carolina's Piedmont region, with at least one brush fire in each one of the 44 counties in the region. "There are definitely more fires than we can handle at this point." In the Washington, D.C., area, brush fires closed several roads, including parts of Interstate 95. The strong winds also blew over the National Christmas Tree, located just south of the White House.
About 15,000 Massachusetts households were without electricity Saturday morning. The outages were scattered throughout the state, which was under a statewide wind advisory, along with Connecticut, Rhode Island and southwest New Hampshire. About 20,000 residents of the Philadelphia suburbs were also without electricity Saturday. Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, thousands were without power in the Hudson Valley and Catskill regions. Flight delays were reported at Newark International Airport, JFK International Airport and Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Cabbage and potatoes are Russia's new luxuries - After last summer's devastating fires, staples such as cabbage and potatoes are suddenly pricier than the fancy new imported foods.
Booming developing world demand was already pushing up the price of basic food items when Russia was hit by a catastrophic drought that eventually forced the Kremlin to call a halt to all wheat exports last year. But the emergency measure provided only temporary relief, with both shoppers and analysts noting an alarming new trend developing on the shelves of stores stretching from Vladivostok in Russia's Far East to Kaliningrad near Poland. "Since the summer, potatoes have become unaffordable." Since the middle of December, the price for a kilo of potatoes has almost doubled from 25 rubles (8cents) to more than 40, leaving many shoppers shaking their heads in dismay. "Everything has gone up (in price): sausage, meat, milk ... not to mention vegetables. It is impossible! " The price of such basic staples as buckwheat - the simple grain that Russians eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner - has actually tripled since the summer. Paradoxically to many Russians, a kilo of bananas is now cheaper in most stores that a sack of potatoes - a fact that has not been lost on the higher ups in the Kremlin. "A pack of buckwheat cost about 40 rubles last summer. Now, we sell it for 120 rubles."
Although there are many factors behind the food inflation, analysts point the primary blame on a RECORD DROUGHT that saw harvests fail in 28 Russian regions, slicing half a percent off the country's gross domestic product. "There have been several waves of price hikes" in the wake of the weather anomal. "It started with bread and buckwheat, and was followed by milk and now meat." In January alone, the price of an average consumer basket rose by 5.5 per cent to 2769 rubles ($94). The situation is being compounded by accelerating demand in Asia and poor harvests in big crop-producing states - one of the many sparks that set off the recent social unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. And although Russia is not as sensitive to the price shocks as some of poorer Arab nations, its prices still move lockstep with those on the global market. All the more so because - facing shortages - Russia has been forced to import certain foods. In December alone, imports of potatoes multiplied tenfold and while those of cabbage rose by 150 per cent. With annual inflation expected to come in at almost seven percent this year, the authorities are keen to make sure that food prices do not become an issue at December's parliamentary elections and next years presidential poll.
