but none worth killing for.**
Albert Camus
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
None 5.0 or larger.
Yesterday -
12/18/12 -
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
12/19/12 -
6.1 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.7 CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE
5.8 CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.6 KURIL ISLANDS
Major home insurance providers stop offering earthquake protection in British Columbia, Canada - In early 2013, both Economical Insurance and Family Insurance Solutions will stop offering earthquake insurance to home insurance customers living in Metro Vancouver and southern Vancouver Island.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Ecuador declares orange alert - the second-highest alert level - near Tungurahua volcano - Volcano threatens local villages. People living on the slopes of the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador are being evacuated as a plume of gas and ash rises from its crater. Tungurahua volcano began to erupt again last week, prompting the government to issue an orange alert.
Monday at 05h20 (local time) there was an explosion that generated emission column height of 2 km, followed by three blasts, at 05h48, 05h53 and 06h02 (local time), generating a column that reached 7 km above the crater of the volcano. Tungurahua was in full eruption, complete with locally heavy ashfall and pyroclastic flows which, combined with rainfall, generate a potential lahar hazard in drainages surrounding the volcano. Greater activity has been building since Wednesday, along with a slight increase in gas emissions from the volcano located about 135km south of the capital Quito.
Indonesian volcano spews ash, lava - 800 eruptions in 6 months. Mount Lokon, which has erupted 800 times since July, spewed hot lava and volcanic ash as high as 10,000 feet on Monday.
Russian volcano eruption attracts tourists, sparks 'apocalypse' fears - An erupting volcano in Russia's Far East has become a sightseeing hotspot for crowds of thrill-seeking tourists eager to see flows of lava and clouds of ash. Others, however, saw in the natural phenomenon an omen heralding the end of the world. Plosky Tolbachik on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, dormant since its most notable recent eruption in 1975, is spilling up to 1,200 metric tons of lava every second – a record amount – and spewing clouds of ash nearly 3,000 meters into the air, local seismologists estimated. The tourists – who ignore warning signs and the dangers of leaking lava, hot falling rocks and clouds of ash – pay top prices and take a 10-hour car ride to see the volcano. The trip reportedly costs 20,000 rubles (about $650) for locals and close to $1000 for Moscow tourists, nearly equal to the average monthly wage in the capital.
Some tourists approach the flows of lava close enough to risk melting their boots. Fossilized lava looks just like stone, but its internal temperature can reach up to 300 degrees Celsius. Though the volcano is 10 kilometers away from the tourist spot, the heat still reaches the area – visitors could easily wear summer clothes.
Some did not appreciate the eruption, seeing it as an ill omen for the end of the world. There have been media reports suggesting that various apocalypses will begin with the eruption of different volcanoes around the world, including those on Kamchatka. Scientists have rejected such prognoses, saying that rumors about the huge volumes of lave and possibilities that it can annihilate mankind are exaggerated. "Typical, predictable and nowadays sufficiently studied activity of the most active volcanoes in Kamchatka – Shiveluch, Kluchevsky, Bezymyanny and others – does not exceed in their activity the peak of activity recorded in the past."
Plosky Tolbachik has been erupting since November 27, sparking a forest fire and destroying buildings at two research bases located close to the mountain. Local residents have been warned not to leave their houses. In total, the volcano has erupted 10 times since records began in 1740, most dramatically in 1975 when the volume of lava and ashes became the largest in the recorded history of Kamchatka. (photos)
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the South Indian Ocean -
Tropical Cyclone Evan was located approximately 275 nm south of Nadi, Fiji.
Cyclone Evan leaves trail of damage over Fiji - Tropical Cyclone Evan has left a trail of destruction across Fiji after battering the island for more than 12 hours, destroying homes, flooding rivers and stranding thousands of tourists. There were no reported deaths. Cyclone Evan on Monday ripped roofs from homes and churches, flooded roads and forced thousands to evacuate their homes. Strong seas near the capital, Suva, pulled two container ships onto a reef. Authorities say they hope to refloat them. Evan was Fiji's strongest cyclone on record. The South Pacific storm was equivalent to a category 4 hurricane in the Northern Hemisphere.
Cyclone survivor spent two nights at sea - A Samoan fisherman believed drowned with his mates has washed ashore alive, after two nights clinging to a bit of driftwood. But he watched his own father drown and the crews of three other boats all sucked under by a whirlpool.
