than the stunting of life,
few injustices deeper than the denial of
an opportunity to strive or even to hope,
by a limit imposed from without,
but falsely identified as lying within.
Stephen Jay Gould
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.0 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.1 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND
5.8 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.2 SOUTH OF TONGA
5.0 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
Yesterday -
5/1/12 -
6.0 OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.7 MICHOACAN, MEXICO
5.0 OFF COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR
5.6 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.4 VOLCANO ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
4/30/12 -
5.1 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.1 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
5.3 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.7 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.2 TONGA
5.1 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.6 BANDA SEA
5.6 OFFSHORE COQUIMBO, CHILE
VOLCANOES -
Japan - Underwater eruption suspected near Iwoto. An underwater volcanic eruption may have occurred near Iwoto island, the Japan Meteorological Agency has said. The Maritime Self-Defense Force confirmed a change in the color of the water northeast of Iwoto - about 1,250 kilometers south of Tokyo -- at about 3:40 p.m. on Sunday after volcanic tremors lasting about half an hour were observed in the early morning on the island.
Italy - Etna Volcano erupts for the seventh time so far this year. It was the 25th dramatic lava display since the volcano ramped up activity in January 2011. It's likely that strong winds at the time of Mount Etna's explosive eruption, as opposed to any unusual volcanic activity itself, were the culprit behind the UNUSUALLY large area covered with volcanic material in the aftermath.
Nicaragua Monitors Microseismic Activity Increase in Volcano - Nicaraguan Experts reported Sunday more seismic activity at Masaya volcano, about 20 kilometers south of Managua, with an increase in expulsions of sulfur gases.
Indonesia - Mt Merapi enters preparation phase before eruption. The Mt. Merapi volcano restarted its inflation process immediately after the 2010 eruption and has entered its preparation stage of a forthcoming eruption, a Japanese researcher has said. The global positioning system (GPS) installed on three Indonesian volcanoes, namely Guntur, Sinabung and Merapi, to detect their ground deformations, had signaled the inflation of Mt. Merapi. Before the 2010 eruption, Merapi had erupted in 2001 and 2006. This showed that there were some periods in which the volcano had no deformation until it inflated and the next eruption occurred on Oct. 26, 2010. “But in this latest case, we detected that after its 2010 eruption, Merapi inflated again very quickly. This means that Merapi is a very active volcano." A joint team of experts from Indonesia and Japan found drastic changes in the chemistry of deposits around Merapi had occurred between October and November 2011. “More efforts are needed to develop eruption scenarios, volcano monitoring, and countermeasures to mitigate a possible volcanic disaster."
Yellowstone “Super-Eruption” less super, more frequent than thought - The Yellowstone “super-volcano” was in the record books for creating the fourth largest eruption known to science. “Was”, because new research has shown that the super-eruption was actually two separate eruptions. The biggest Yellowstone eruption created the 2 million year old Huckleberry Ridge deposit, but was actually two different eruptions at least 6,000 years apart. Their results paint a new picture of a more active volcano than previously thought and can help recalibrate the likelihood of another big eruption in the future. "The Yellowstone volcano’s previous behavior is the best guide of what it will do in the future. This research suggests explosive volcanism from Yellowstone is more frequent than previously thought.” The new ages for each Huckleberry Ridge eruption reduce the volume of the first event to 2,200 cubic kilometers, roughly 12 percent less than previously thought. A second eruption of 290 cubic kilometers took place more than 6,000 years later. That first eruption still deserves to be called "super,” as it is one of the largest known to have occurred on Earth and darkened the skies with ash from southern California to the Mississippi River. By comparison, the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens produced 1 cubic kilometer of ash. The larger blast of Oregon’s Mount Mazama 6,850 years ago produced 116 cubic kilometers of ash. The project asks the question: Might super-eruptions actually be products of multiple, closely spaced eruptions through time? With improved temporal resolution, in times to come, maybe super-eruptions will be not quite so super.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
Britain - April temperatures lowest since 1989, Met Office data shows. March was third warmest on record, averaging 7.7C. April is the wettest in 100 years. Temperatures across the UK in April were the LOWEST IN 23 YEARS. Provisional data from weather stations across the country shows the average temperature was 6.3C, with the average lowest temperature recorded being 2.5C. It was about 5C cooler than April 2011 and colder than in March. The average highest temperature was 10.1C. On Monday, monthly rainfall passed the record 120.3mm set in 2000, making it THE WETTEST APRIL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN. At the start of the April, the Met Office issued a severe weather warning, as snow fell in part of the north of England and the Midlands. England saw an average temperature throughout the month of 7.1C. Wales recorded 6.5C, Scotland 4.9C and Northern Ireland 6.5C. The average temperatures are measured across every hour of the day and night. No weather station across the UK registered a temperature of 20C or above in April, the first time this has happened since 2006, and 1989 before that. This is in contrast to March this year where the 20C barrier was broken regularly. The data shows there were 127.7 hours of sunshine in April, 90% of normal. The April statistics also confirm the amount of rain which fell was almost double the long-term average for April of 69.6mm, in records dating back to 1910. The total amount of rainfall in April was 126.5mm. Six weather stations had seen more than three times their usual monthly average this April. But despite the recent wet weather, large parts of England are in drought after another dry winter.
