Sheikh Mohammed, the self-professed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has been held at Guantanamo since 2006 and is to be tried in a military court at the US naval base on Cuba over the attacks. Sheikh Mohammed had told his interrogators he had set up two cells for the purpose of attacking Heathrow in 2002. The aim was to seize control of an airliner shortly after take-off from Heathrow, one of the world's busiest aiports, turn it around and crash it into one of the four terminals.
Sheikh Mohammed said one cell had been formed with the aim of taking flying lessons in Kenya, while the other had been tasked with recruiting participants. He said the plot had been discussed several times at the highest level of Al-Qaeda. One component had involved the infiltration of ground staff at the airport. Another attack given the green light in late 2001 would have targeted "the tallest buildings in California" with hijacked airliners. The attackers would have gained access to the airliner cockpits by setting off small bombs hidden in their shoes. His "confessions" should be treated with caution as they could have been extracted through torture. Sheikh Mohammed is known to have undergone the method known as "waterboarding."
Carl Sagan
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.2 TONGA
Yesterday -
4/25/11 -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 FIJI REGION
5.0 PAKISTAN
INDONESIA - Dozens of houses damaged and people injured in Sunday's earthquake. The present earthquake is THE STRONGEST IN MORE THAN 10 YEARS. At least dozens of houses were severely damaged and in ruins in Moramo district which was supposedly the hardest hit area during this earthquake. A transform 6.2 magnitude earthquake at a depth of only 9 km is a potentially very dangerous event. The main reason that there will be hopefully no killed people is that the houses are made in wood or in bamboo. If these houses collapse the outcome is far better than with brick or concrete. The extend of this earthquake is (as usually with remote areas) far underestimated. Hundreds of houses are damaged in 10 villages close to the epicenter. 2 people suffered severe injuries. Some reports are also talking about cracks in walls from houses and some government buildings in Kendari. People in Kendari reported that aftershocks struck all day long. Thousands of people fled into the hills and many people are reported injured.
One of the villages which suffered the worst damage is Lakomea Village, District Moramo. Some houses did collapse and 4 people were reported injured in this village (2 serious and 2 light). The same village has also reported at least 8 locations where liquefaction occurred. The people who fled into the hills as they feared a tsunami stayed there for many hours.
The 5.2 aftershock had a epicenter closer to Kendari. People fled to the streets and were seeking for higher grounds as the rumor spread that a tsunami was under way. This happens over and over again in Indonesia (not alone in Indonesia) as the people have not enough information and have to make up their own own mind.
ARKANSAS - Earthquakes Continue to Rattle Faulkner County. After what has been a fairly quiet month, Central Arkansas is starting to feel the rumble of earthquakes again. Four quakes rattled the Greenbrier area Sunday morning, the largest was a 3.2 magnitude. The first quake struck shortly after 5 measured 2.6 on the Richter scale. The 3.2 trembler followed about an hour later. The third and fourth quakes hit after 8:00, those were about 20 minutes apart and registered 2.7 and 2.9.
Two natural gas wells in the area now known as the Greenbrier Guy Swarm have been temporarily shut down until researchers come to a conclusion on whether there is a direct correlation between those wells and earthquakes. There are several hundred injection wells in the state and thousands across country, but only a handful have been linked to earthquakes. When they were shut down earthquakes stopped in a matter of time.
The Arkansas Geological Survey has data showing NO record of seismic activity BEFORE the two wells went online in the middle of 2010. The fault hasn't been active in about 400-million years and it is growing, approaching 10-kilometers. If the entire fault ruptured at one time it could generate anywhere from a 5.5 to a 6 magnitude earthquake.
Health issues rife in Japan quake zone - Due to deteriorating hygiene caused by power blackouts, suspension of the water supply and poor nutrition from food distributed at evacuation centers, protecting disaster victims' health has become a serious issue in areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.
VOLCANOES -
Alert Level 2 raised for Taal Volcano in Philippines - An Alert Level 2 remained hoisted over Taal Volcano in Philippines on Monday after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded an UNPRECEDENTED INCREASE in seismic activity with up to 14 volcanic earthquakes in the region. Phiivolcs maintains the alert with the interpretation that magma has been intruding towards the surface, as manifested by CO2 being released in the Main Crater Lake and sustained seismic activity. According to field observation and measurements conducted by Phivolcs at the eastern sector inside the Main Crater Lake, the water temperature increased from 30.5°C to 31.5°C, raising fear over a possible eruption.The Philippine Fleet is ready in case Taal erupts. Their troops are already on standby to provide immediate evacuation and rescue assistance.
Mount Bulusan volcano in Irosin town of Sorsogon province, south of Manila in central Philippines, spewed ash in February this year, covering several villages and making hundreds of people flee homes and farms. However, the volcano's status remained at Alert Level 1, meaning the source of activity was hydrothermal and shallow.
RUSSIA - The Shiveluch volcano has spewed a new plume of ash 7.5 km above the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East. The ash cloud sprawled 143 km to the northwest. On Monday, the authorities had announced the orange alert level warning aircraft about volcanic dust and gases in the air. At present, there is no risk to human health. Shiveluch is one of Kamchatka's largest volcanoes.
Concerns about aircraft safety during the eruption of the Icelandic volcano in 2010 were well founded, according to a new scientific study. Ash particles from the early phase of the eruption were small and abundant, posing a potential threat to aircraft flying through the cloud. Such particles could have melted inside jet engines, potentially causing them to fail mid-flight. The particles were so small they travelled a longer distance from the volcano and remained in the area where the airplanes fly for a much longer time.” The analysis also reveals that ash particles from early in the eruption were particularly sharp and abrasive.
The outpour of ash from Eyjafjallajokull caused the largest closure of European airspace since World War II, with losses estimated at between 1.5bn and 2.5bn euros. Some 10 million travellers were affected by the shutdown. "I think the really important parts of it are: Number one, the aviation authorities were absolutely right in closing airspace. Number two, we have presented a protocol so that, if answers are needed quickly in future, they can be had. Then the data that are produced can be put into models to determine how far, how high and how wide the ash will spread that will be based more on fact than on guesswork."
Ash samples from the early phase of the eruption contained large quantities of fine dust compared with ash from later in the eruption. "The smaller the particles, the slower they come back down again. Normal ash is usually settled as it moves away from the volcano. But because the particles were so small, they travelled a longer distance from the volcano and remained in the area where the airplanes fly for a much longer time." "There's no way they could have allowed those aircraft to keep flying when it first happened.That was absolutely the right, safe decision, because no one knew any better. The amount of time it took to get going again is debatable."
In 1982, a British Airways 747 flew through an ash cloud during the eruption of Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. The ash sandblasted all the surfaces of the aircraft and caused all four jet engines to cut out when the melted ash coated their interior. Luckily for the 263 passengers and crew, the pilot was able to re-start three of the engines after they cooled during descent. He was able to land by peeking through a 2-inch strip on the side window that had avoided sandblasting.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
U.S. - Flood evacuations in Midwest, tornadoes in Arkansas. Thunderstorms from Texas to Ohio. A tornado destroyed 50 to 80 houses and killed at least one person in an Arkansas town on Monday, while a warning of imminent failure for a levee on the Black River in southeast Missouri prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 1,000 people. In Vilonia, Arkansas, a town of some 3,000 people north of Little Rock, one death was confirmed and between 50 to 80 houses were destroyed by a tornado. Police reported a path of destruction half a mile wide.
There was another fatality in Washington County in northwest Arkansas from a drowning when a woman was swept away by rapidly moving water. Arkansas's Governor declared a state of emergency in response to tornadoes and flooding, which have caused problems on a number of roads and highways. On Interstate 40 near Morrilton, vehicles were blown off the road. A church was destroyed at Morgan, Arkansas, just northwest of Little Rock. One tornado struck Little Rock Air Force Base, with initial reports indicating at least four homes in base housing were damaged. More than 100,000 people were without power in the state.
In Missouri, water was topping the Black River levee at several points, which may lead to a failure of the levee system between the city of Poplar Bluff and the town of Qulin, the National Weather Service said on Monday. County officials evacuated about 500 structures in the southeastern part of Poplar Bluff, which has about 17,000 residents.
Flood warnings on Monday prompted evacuations of hundreds of people in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri following days of rain that led to rivers cresting over the flood stage. "The ground is very saturated - there are areas with 9-10 inches of rain." The Missouri governor criticized U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to intentionally breach Birds Point levee along the Mississippi River in southeastern Missouri. He said that would affect hundreds of families and "pour a tremendous amount of water into 130,000 acres of prime farmland." The Black River is expected to rise higher than it did in 2008 when heavy rains caused widespread flooding.
Parts of Utica in southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, also had flooding. "This is the worst flooding we've had since 1997." More flooding was reported in western Kentucky and southern Illinois. People who live along the Ohio River near Louisville started leaving their homes ahead of the flood late last week, and some roads around the city were closed. They expect problems to be especially bad along the Taneycomo River in southwest Missouri. "It's only (going) to get worse over the next couple of days. There's going to be more water on top of water."
