Action without vision is nightmare.**
Japanese Proverb
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.5 KEPULAUAN SANGIHE, INDONESIA
5.0 NEAR S COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
Yesterday -
10/10/12 -
5.4 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.1 SOUTHERN IRAN
5.3 COSTA RICA
10/9/12 -
5.6 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.1 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
6.4 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.0 TONGA
Montreal Quake Highlights Eastern Canada Seismic Area - A significant earthquake has shaken an area of eastern Canada, serving as a reminder of the region's potential for seismic instability. Wednesday's magnitude 3.9 temblor struck shortly after midnight, local time, with an epicenter near Beloeil, about 20 miles northeast of Montreal, Quebec. The shallow quake had a focal depth of 6 miles. Natural Resources Canada, meanwhile, pegged the quake magnitude at 4.5. There were no immediate reports of injury or damage.
Even so, the shaking caused a bit of a stir. Calls to 911 spiked, and some people even left their homes briefly. Buildings rumbled during that quake, lasting about 10 seconds. The quake was felt in southern Quebec, easternmost Ontario and nearby border areas of the U.S. A few Ottawa residents felt the quake.
Widespread perception is that eastern North America, both in the U.S. and Canada, is relatively stable and free of earthquakes. After all, eastern North America has no known active plate boundaries, unlike the notorious "Ring of Fire" seismic belts bordering the Pacific Ocean. However, seismic records show that earthquakes are not at all uncharacteristic of the area. A quake hits the area, mostly unfelt, about once every five days. This latest temblor happened near the eastern edge of what the USGS calls the "Western Quebec Seismic Zone." Historic earthquakes have been felt here for three centuries, and at least two were damaging.
The first of two historic damaging quakes within this seismic zone happened in 1732 and was of magnitude 6.2. Then, in 1935, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake rocked the Montreal area, where significant damage resulted. A number of faults have been traced and mapped in this seismic zone. It is likely that many more remain undetected. There are a number of known seismic areas in eastern North America, one of which is found north and east of the city of Quebec. Others known to have yielded damaging earthquakes are found in the Boston area and in South Carolina. The Central Virginia Seismic Zone sparked a damaging magnitude 5.8 earthquake that was felt in much of the mid-Atlantic states on Aug. 23, 2011. (map)
New Zealand - Landlords cash in after Christchurch quake. Christchurch landlords are cashing in on the earthquakes by putting up rents by as much as $250 a week - even for rundown bungalows. Latest figures from an online site show that on average rents have increased by 25 per cent in the past year.
The post-earthquake exodus from Christchurch has bottomed out, according to latest figures which show just 2800 people leaving the wider city area in the last year.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Tuesday volcano activity - Wind around an Aleutian low pressure system has subsided enough to reveal that very small earthquakes continue at Little Sitkin volcano. Small earthquakes also continue at or near Mammoth Mountain. Emissions of gases (mixed with some ash) have dropped dramatically to an average of once per six hours at Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico). Another outburst occurred yesterday afternoon (after the previous report was issued) at Fuego volcano (Guatemala) .Tremor and small volcanic earthquakes continue at nearby Pacaya volcano.
What appears to be strong tremor was likely telemetry interference on the seismogram from San Miguel volcano (El Salvador). The other disturbances on the record are in fact volcanic earthquakes and weak tremor. Earthquakes (aftershocks?) large and small continued within the southwest “nest” near Machin volcano (Colombia) . Small earthquakes and tremor also affect Nevado Del Ruiz and Galeras volcanoes. In New Zealand, small earthquakes were visible on the seismogram recorded at Tongariro volcano, while White Island volcano continued to tremble with volcanic tremor. Recent satellite imagery shows relatively weak SO2 emission from Turrialba volcano (Costa Rica), Sakurajima (Japan), and stronger (co-eruptive?) SO2 emission from Bagana and Manam volcanoes (New Guinea) and at Popocatepetl volcano (Mexico). [seismograph images]
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Western Pacific -
Typhoon 22w (Prapiroon) was located approximately 240 nm south of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan.
NASA eyes Typhoon Prapiroon intensifying - Typhoon Prapiroon is the twenty-second tropical cyclone of the western North Pacific Ocean, making for a very active season.
Secondary Atlantic Hurricane Season - Even though the peak of hurricane season has passed, there is sometimes a second pulse of tropical storms and hurricanes during October.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Vietnam - Flash floods and landslides are causing severe damage to many localities in central and Central Highlands provinces, and are expected to continue hitting the region following Tropical Storm Gaemi. In the Central Highlands, heavy rain has left two dead, two missing and two injured. About 600 houses were destroyed or flooded, and nearly 300ha of rice and 2370ha of farm products were submerged by flood water. More than 110 irrigation works collapsed, and nearly 20,000 cubic metres of road were damaged.
The total estimated damage in the region reached up to VND35 billion (US$1.7 million). Binh Dinh Province has suffered the most, accounting for nearly one-third of the sum. Local authorities evacuated 5,300 local people from areas directly affected by the storm. Local authorities are taking urgent measures to prevent landslides. In the near future, local authorities and people will focus on reinforcing dykes and embankments.
In Phu Yen Province, local people are still worried about landslides as water levels in Ba Ha River continue to rise due to the water discharged from the Ba Ha River Hydroelectric Plant. The Central Highlands province of Dak Nong's steering committee for flood and storm prevention and natural disaster mitigation has also warned that water levels in most rivers in the province were rising rapidly. They are estimated to be 3-5 metres higher than normal. (photo)
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
Winter storms could now have names similar to tropical storms - The Weather Channel announced a plan to name winter storms much like the National Hurricane Center does for tropical storms. In a practice borrowed from Europe, the company said it will begin naming winter storms just as meteorologists do with hurricanes and tropical storms. The Weather Channel's 2012-13 winter season lineup includes storm-related names like Orko (a character from He-man). Tropical storms and hurricanes are named by the World Meteorological Society.
SPACE WEATHER -
Newly-discovered asteroid 2012 TC4 will fly past Earth on Oct. 12th only 96,000 km (0.25 Lunar Distance) away. There is no danger of a collision, but the 16 meter-wide space rock will be close enough to photograph through backyard telescopes as it brightens to approximately 14th magnitude. NASA hopes to ping this this object with radar, refining its orbit and possibly measuring its shape.
GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY CONTINUES: For the third day in a row, geomagnetic storms are circling the poles. In North America, auroras have spilled across the Canadian border descending as far south as Utah, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska.
HEALTH THREATS -
Meningitis outbreak poses questions for experts, clinicians - The number of patients sickened in a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to steroid injections for back pain rose to 137, including one more death, which raises the number of outbreak-related deaths to 12, and clinicians are facing tough decisions about how to manage patients in light of UNUSUAL FEATURES of the outbreak.
The number of states reporting cases remained the same at 10. A large number of patients exposed to the recalled drug who are experiencing symptoms need lumbar punctures to check for evidence of fungal meningitis. 75 facilities in 23 states received the lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate that have been implicated in the outbreak and about 13,000 patients had at least one injection from one of the three recalled lots.
Testing so far has confirmed that 10 of the infections involve Exserohilum, a type of black mold. "A RARE and unique mold — not something we have seen causing meningitis previously." Tests have also identified Aspergillus fumigatus in one patient's samples. Officials still don't know if other types of mold are involved in the outbreak, a factor that — combined with unusual Exserohilum meningitis infections — makes it a challenge to craft treatment recommendations. For now, the CDC is recommending powerful doses of two antifungal drugs for infected patients that can penetrate the central nervous system and provide broad coverage against a range of fungi.
The CDC officials said experts are also wrestling with what to tell clinicians about the incubation period. Some patients have gotten sick after just 4 or 5 days, while others clearly started having symptom beyond 4 weeks, which was initially thought to be the outer limit of the incubation period. "We know that fungi can be indolent and progression can be slow."
Health officials are still collecting and analyzing information about the illnesses, but so far, the most common presenting symptoms seems to be headache, neck pain, nausea, and new neurologic deficits. For the fatal cases, so far the most frequent cause of death is stroke or a complication of stroke. The analysis of cases is still in the early stages, so it's difficult to make definitive statements about the illness features and treatment protocols.
RECALLS & ALERTS:
