Monday, June 18, 2012
Blogspot has some technical problems - so the update is a little wacky.
No update on Tuesday.
**A movement is only composed of people moving.
To feel its warmth and motion around us is the end
as well as the means.**
Gloria Steinem
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.3 MENDOZA, ARGENTINA
5.0 AZORES ISLANDS REGION
Yesterday -
6/17/12 -
5.0 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
6.4 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 TONGA
5.0 TAIWAN
5.6 SOLOMON ISLANDS
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano is showing more signs of activity, which can be seen from a permanent camera.
Colombian volcano Nevado del Ruiz spews ash and gas - People living on its slopes said they had heard "strong, strange noises" coming from the summit of the mountain on Friday and Saturday. Officials say an orange alert first declared three weeks ago is still in place for areas near the summit. More than 25,000 people died in a mudslide caused by Nevado del Ruiz in its last eruption in 1985.
Officials have distributed 30,000 face masks to residents living in areas affected by ash from the volcano. The airport in the nearby town of Manizales, in central Colombia, has been closed since the end of May, and will remain so until the volcano ceases to emit ash. The Volcanic Observatory in Manizales said the plume of ash and gas had risen to a height of 2,000m (6,500ft) on Sunday.
Scientists at the observatory warned there was a risk of an eruption "within days or weeks". Some 150 families have been evacuated from the banks of the rivers which flow down the volcano, as they were deemed to be most at risk. In the 1985 eruption, the small town of Armero on the banks of the Lagunilla river was almost completely erased as summit glaciers and snow were melted by hot lava. The water raced down the slopes carrying rocks, mud and vegetation in a destructive mudslide travelling at a speed of 60km/h (37mph). Only a quarter of Armero's population survived.
TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
Japan's government on Saturday approved bringing the country's first nuclear reactors back online since last year's earthquake and tsunami.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Pacific -
- Typhoon 05w (Guchol) was located approximately 265 nm south of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan.
- Tropical depression 06w (Talim) was located approximately 240 nm south-southwest of Hong Kong.
Super Typhoon Guchol in the West Pacific is expected to hit Japan.
3rd storm to enter Philippines Wednesday - Typhoon 'Butchoy' (Guchol) expected to exit Tuesday morning. The third tropical storm may enter the Philippines by Wednesday afternoon, a government weather forecaster says. The tropical storm with the international name Talim was estimated at 820 km west of extreme northern Luzon. It has maximum sustained winds of 75 kph.
Talim, the fifth tropical storm of this year, is expected to hit at least two provinces on China's southern and eastern coasts Tuesday.
SPACE WEATHER -
ELECTRIC-BLUE NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS - Data from NASA's AIM spacecraft show that noctilucent clouds are like a great "geophysical light bulb." They turn on every year in late spring, reaching almost full intensity over a period of no more than 5 to 10 days. News flash: The bulb is glowing. These electric-blue clouds are hanging 85 km above Earth's surface, at the edge of space itself. Their origin is still largely a mystery; various theories associate them with space dust, rocket exhaust, global warming - or some mixture of the three. One thing is sure. They're baaack ... for the summer of 2012.
NLCs favor high latitudes, although they have been sighted as far south as Colorado and Virginia. Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the Sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.
A geomagnetic storm is in progress in the wake of a double CME impact on June 16th. The hit, which strongly compressed Earth's magnetic field, lit up both poles with bright auroras. In the Americas, Northern Lights descended as far south as Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Washington, and the Dakotas. Solar wind conditions in the wake of the CME favor continued disturbances. NOAA forecasters estimate a 55% chance of more high-latitude geomagnetic storms during the next 24 hours.
