The casualties were five elderly villagers and a child. But the number could still increase. "There are signs that there might be increases in the number of casualties. There are still reports coming in. Most of the reports are confined to areas that are accessible by road but there are a lot more communities that have been damaged." The number of people displaced by the metre-high tsunami were placed at 3,000, while initial reports indicated at least 460 homes had been destroyed.
The islands up till now continues to feel aftershocks. "People are still scared of going back to their homes because there's nothing left, so they are residing in temporary shelters on higher ground. "In the Solomon Islands when we talk about villages there can be anything from 10 to 30 houses." Adding more insult to injury is the current state of the airstrip in Lata, the island's main town, which was littered with debris as a result of the tsunami, ultimately causing a problem for relief workers to reach the region by air. "The airport is being cleared by some workers, by the end of today the airport would be clear of all the debris so people are now working on it and any time tomorrow or the following day airplanes should be landing."
because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.**
Albert Camus
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
5.1 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 TONGA
5.7 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
6.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
Yesterday -
2/6/13 -
5.5 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
5.0 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 ADMIRALTY ISLANDS REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.5 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.9 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.8 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
6.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.8 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.9 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.8 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.7 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
6.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
5.6 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.6 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.6 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
7.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.7 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.6 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
7.1 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
8.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
6.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
Deadly Solomon Islands quake struck along subduction zone - The deadly earthquake and tsunami that hit the Solomon Islands Wednesday struck along a subduction zone, the same geologic setting responsible for the world's most powerful earthquakes.
Aftershocks continued to rock the Solomon Islands, a day after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that left at least six people dead. A metre-high wave swamped several villages on Santa Cruz island, in the far east of the Pacific nation, after the quake early on Wednesday.
Dozens of houses were damaged or swept away in at least five affected villages. An official said several people were thought to be missing. Six people - five elderly villagers and a child who were sucked under by the water - have been confirmed dead. Santa Cruz island, also known as Nendo, is the largest island in the Santa Cruz island chain which lies more than 600km (370 miles) from the Solomons capital, Honiara. Boats carrying supplies are expected to leave Honiara later in the day but are not due to arrive at the island until the weekend. Police teams based in Lata were also trying to reach areas to assess damage. (map & photo)
Quake fears rise at Japan's reactors - Commissioners say that geological faults make some reactors too dangerous to restart.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Volcano activity on February 5
Volcano activity on February 6
TSUNAMIS / HIGH WAVES -
Two 5-foot tsunami reported - The powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated tsunami up to 1.5 metres (5ft) high that damaged dozens of homes and left several people missing, presumed dead. Authorities cancelled tsunami warnings on more distant coasts in the Pacific. Officials on the chain of islands reported two 1.5-metre waves hitting the western side of Santa Cruz island on Wednesday, damaging 70 to 80 properties.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No tropical storms.
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
Snowstorm from Southern Ontario to Atlantic Canada expected - The expected track of the initial, primary storm is quite favorable for significant snow across southern and eastern Ontario before it gets absorbed by the coastal storm. Heaviest snow for the GTA will be late Thursday night into midday Fri, then lighter in the afternoon. Heaviest snow for southern New Brunswick, through PEI and Nova Scotia will be late Friday night into Saturday with blizzard conditions. This storm should be all snow for Canada, though a little mixing initially near Windsor.
Airlines waive fees as blizzard menaces U.S. Northeast - Airlines have begun instituting flexible rebooking waivers ahead of a major winter storm that threatens to dump up to two feet of snow on parts of the Northeast this weekend. The Northeast's first snowflakes aren't forecast to fall until Friday, but all of the USA's biggest airlines had enacted winter-weather waivers by Wednesday evening.
Most airlines' policies focused on Northeast cities, but two airlines – United and Southwest – also included Chicago, where wintry weather is forecast from the storm on Thursday before it moves East. The worst weather is expected in New England, where two feet of snow or more are forecast by Saturday evening in some areas. Heavy snow and severe winds also are possible into Saturday for the New York City area and its delay-prone air hubs. Delta was among the airlines to relax its rules, saying fliers scheduled to fly to nearly two dozen cities from Maine to Pennsylvania on Friday or Saturday would be permitted to make a one-time change to their travel schedules without the standard fee. That list could grow depending on the storm's path and ferocity.
EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Australia - Saturday may be worst Victoria fire danger day. Saturday could be a day of extreme and severe fire danger after a week of hot days.
Tasmania fire threat upgraded to emergency - Tasmania is facing another bushfire threat just a month after the state's worst blazes in half a century.
SPACE WEATHER -
DOUBLE ERUPTION (UPDATED) - Sunspot AR1667 erupted Wednesday morning (Feb. 6th @ 00:21 UT), producing a double-peaked C9-class solar flare that lasted more than ten hours from beginning to end.
The slowly-unfolding explosion also hurled two CMEs into space. The clouds are not heading directly for Earth, but they could deliver glancing blows to our planet's magnetic field on Feb. 9-10. [Site note - The timing of the biggest Feb 6th quakes in Santa Cruz were: a 6.0 at 00:07 UT, followed by a 7.9 at 01:12, a 6.2 at 01:16, a 7.1 at 01:23, a 7.0 at 01:54 and later a 6.1 at 06:35 and a 6.0 at 11:53 UT. ]
UK 'can cope with solar superstorm' - If a solar superstorm struck the Earth, the effects on the UK would be "challenging but not cataclysmic", says a major report. The report warns disruption is likely in a number of areas. Some power cuts would probably occur, for example.
Systems reliant on the timing signals from GPS satellites might have to resort to backup oscillators for a period of days, and aviation services could have to be limited for a while because of disruption to communications and possible upsets in aircraft avionics. But the experts stress that it is the sum of a number of issues all happening at once rather than one or two big calamities that will test society's ability to cope.
"It will be perhaps comparable to the Icelandic volcano eruption [in 2010], or something similar, where there will be severe disruption to our way of life for a while, but it will be something we believe we can deal with." Explosive eruptions of energy from the Sun are a common occurrence. Our star can sometimes despatch big bursts of shortwave radiation and colossal volumes of charged gas (plasma) in our direction.
This "space weather" can have a number of effects on modern infrastructure, from glitching electronics in orbiting spacecraft to increasing the interference heard on radio broadcasts. But it is the impacts that would stem from a truly big eruption that concerned the panel. It used as its yardstick the so-called "Carrington storm" of September 1859. During this eruption, the solar particles hitting the atmosphere produced auroras across the whole world, not just at high-latitude locations as is normally the case.
The experts examined how various aspects of UK life would handle these 1-in-200-year type events. They found the National Grid to be in good shape. A big solar storm could induce currents and heating in equipment that leads ultimately to blown transformers and blackouts. But the report said many of the contingencies to mitigate such problems were already in place because of the constant threat from terrestrial weather. "Our grid is organised as a lattice, which means it has resilience built in. That's very different to the Canadian grid, for example, which is point-to-point with long lines in series. You can see how that kind of system might be vulnerable to a cascade."
Satellites would undoubtedly be affected, the report said. The assessment was that perhaps one in 10 might be knocked offline by the storm. Most of these would be brought back into operation reasonably quickly, the panel found, although the experience might shorten the lifetimes of some sub-systems and components. "Fortunately, satellites are already designed to deal with a lot of this space weather. Also, satellite engineers are extremely conservative people and they tend to put in big design margins, and, additionally, we have a big diversity of satellite designers these days. For all these reasons, we think that the effects of a superstorm, although they will lead to disruption, will be limited by these mitigating factors."
There is a particular concern about the Global Positioning System (GPS) service. A lot of utilities use the timing signals broadcast by the American sat-nav spacecraft to synchronize the operation of their networks. These broadcasts will likely be degraded, even lost, said the panel for one to three days because of disturbances in the ionosphere. Those who were reliant on GPS timing should ensure they had back-up oscillators available, the panel said. It commended the traditional fixed and mobile phone networks in the UK in this respect, but raised a flag about the introduction of the newer 4G cellular systems. The standards underpinning the next generation of mobile phones were not as robust as they could be, the experts warned.
A GPS outage would also impact the navigation of shipping and aviation sectors, as would the disturbance to satellite and high-frequency radio communications. The panel noted that ships and planes had alternatives available. However, they recommended these sectors, especially planes, consider putting sensors onboard to understand better the glitches that can occur in electronics. Aeroplane avionics, for example, are vulnerable to the perturbations caused by neutron particles cascading down through the high atmosphere during a storm. The other aspect relevant to aviation is the increase in radiation that aircrew and passengers caught in a major solar storm would experience.
The RAEng recommends that a UK Space Weather Board be set up by the government to lead the response to the space weather issue. It also calls for more research and more coordination with the UK's international partners.
