which distract our attention from serious things.
They are but improved means to an unimproved end."
Henry David Thoreau
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
6.3 NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL PERU
Yesterday -
1/29/12 -
5.2 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.1 KYUSHU, JAPAN
5.3 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
1/28/12 -
5.2 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.3 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
5.2 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.4 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.8 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.8 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.6 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 POTOSI, BOLIVIA
5.1 BABUYAN ISL REGION, PHILIPPINES
5.3 CATANDUANES, PHILIPPINES
5.0 SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
1/27/12 -
5.2 SOUTH OF BALI, INDONESIA
5.1 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.2 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.0 NORTHERN ITALY
5.4 DODECANESE ISLANDS, GREECE
1/26/12 -
5.4 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.3 SCOTIA SEA
5.3 ROTA REGION, N. MARIANA ISLANDS
5.3 DODECANESE ISLANDS, GREECE (many aftershocks continuing)
VOLCANOES -
A new vent has opened on one of Costa Rica's active volcanoes, the latest activity following a series of small eruptions beginning in 2010.
Increased activity of Sangay volcano, Ecuador - There has been an intensification of Sangay volcano's activity, as indicated by reports from pilots who reported the presence of ash from the volcano drifting S-SE.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
Tropical cyclone 09s (Iggy) was located approximately 240 nm northwest of Learmonth, Australia.
Indonesia - Tropical Cyclone Iggy Leaves 16 Dead and Trail of Destruction. More than 2300 houses in 35 districts and cities across Java and Bali have been damaged in the last four days due to heavy winds and rain whipped up by Tropical Cyclone Iggy, churning just south of Bali and the Nusa Tenggara island chain. Many victims were crushed by falling trees. 60 people were injured.
The tropical cyclone which closed some offshore Western Australia oil fields and threatened the region's rich iron ore mining region has weakened and is expected to head away from the coast.
Fiji on alert for cyclone - Fiji is on alert as a tropical depression that forecasters say could become a cyclone heads for the Pacific island state. Reports from the capital Suva today said flood warnings were in force as more heavy rain was predicted over the next 24 hours.
Mozambique - At least 26 people died and other 125,000 were affected when tropical storm “Dando” and cyclone “Funso” hit the southern, central and northern regions of Mozambique in the last few days.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / WILDFIRES / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Florida - Bush fire. Ten people have been killed in a multi-vehicle crash on a highway in the American state of Florida. The pile-up occurred before dawn on Interstate 75 near Gainesville. Reports say it involved at least 12 cars and six trucks. The road was shrouded in a cloud of thick smoke caused by a bush fire. At least 18 people were taken to hospital and wreckage was strewn for nearly a mile (1.6km) along the road. One driver said that he was travelling home early in the morning when he ran into a bank of thick fog and smoke. "You could hear cars hitting each other. People were crying. People were screaming. It was crazy. If I could give you an idea of what it looked like, I would say it looked like the end of the world."
SPACE WEATHER -
A string of massive solar storms have unleashed their fury on the Earth in the last 48 hours, just the first set of strong solar storms expected to hit our planet in the coming months. NASA scientists report that the most recent solar flare — the strongest one to date this year — erupted Friday from the same active region of the sun that triggered a raging solar tempest earlier this week.
The latest coronal mass ejection (CME) was moving at almost 1,553 miles per second, and it could cause a number of disruptions. The solar storm, which is just the latest to bombard Earth, has put on a show for stargazers and astronomers alike. The solar storms have also caused a bit of havoc for NASA, which had to take into consideration astronauts working on the International Space Station. The mass of energy poses problems to astronauts and spacecraft, which do not have the added protection of the Earth’s magnetic field. The solar storms have also caused problems for airlines, which as a safety precaution have rerouted flights flying over the North Pole. The resulting streams of radiation that bounce across the Earth’s magnetic field are able to cause long lasting radiation storms that could also impact satellite and ground communications systems.
Although the Sun’s corona has been observed during total eclipses of the Sun for thousands of years, the existence of coronal mass ejections was unrealized until the space age. NASA scientists announced in late 2011 that they expect 2012 and 2013 to be one of the most active times in recent memory for increased solar activity. “I would expect that we will see more storms like this one or even bigger as we get closer to solar maximum."
