is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.**
Winston Churchill
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday -
5/28/13 -
5.3 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.1 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 NEAR EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 FIJI REGION
5.0 OFF E. COAST OF N. ISLAND, NEW ZEALAND
5.2 GEORGIA (SAK'ART'VELO)
5/27/13 -
5.0 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
5.5 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.7 PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION
5.8 OWEN FRACTURE ZONE REGION
5/26/13 -
5.0 KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA
5.0 NORTHERN ALGERIA
5.0 SOUTHEAST OF EASTER ISLAND
5.8 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN
5/25/13 -
5.5 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.2 SOUTH OF PANAMA
5.1 WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
5.0 FIJI REGION
5.3 SOUTHERN PERU
5/24/13 -
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF KAMCHATKA
5.3 EASTERN UZBEKISTAN
5.2 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
6.0 SOUTH OF TONGA
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
6.7 SEA OF OKHOTSK
8.3 SEA OF OKHOTSK
5.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (broke dishes and shook mirrors off walls)
5.3 MACQUARIE ISLAND REGION
Friday's Far East quake felt 7000km away in Moscow - A massive 8.3 earthquake deep under the sea in Russia's Far East has been felt in cities including Moscow, 7000 kilometres west of the epicentre, but a tsunami warning was called off for the Pacific Sakhalin region.
"There were repercussions of the quake in Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Europe, in particular Romania. PRACTICALLY THE WHOLE CONTINENT SHOOK." However, there were no reports of casualties following the quake. The epicentre was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. The earthquake originated 600 kilometres under the sea bed and with the tremors so far down, they have the potential to spread quite far.
Russian news agencies reported that residents of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on the Kamchatka peninsula in the Okhotsk Sea felt the tremors for about five minutes. Residents ran out of the buildings. Schoolchildren were evacuated. Tremors were felt in Moscow, prompting some people to evacuate from buildings across the city. Tremors are EXTREMELY RARE in Moscow, the last recorded instance was in the 1977. Russian news agencies also cited eyewitnesses reporting strong tremors across Siberia.
Northern California 5.7 quake was a curiosity for seismologists - Felt 'along an UNUSUAL DISTANCE.' The quake was followed by four dozen aftershocks. The temblor occurred in a rugged section of Northern California that has not been studied as thoroughly as Southern California and the Bay Area and has less monitoring equipment. Experts said they were surprised the quake was felt over such a large area, and they plan to go to the region to investigate. It was the largest earthquake to shake California since 2008.
The quake centered near Greenville downed chimneys and sent items tumbling from grocery store shelves and downed chimneys when it hit shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. It also ruptured a tank that supplies residential drinking water, leaving 300 people under a boil advisory. The quake struckabout 150 miles northeast of Sacramento.
Thursday's quake did occur in a zone with known active faults, including a series of faults that extend through the northern end of Lake Tahoe all the way to Oregon. But 5.7 is the STRONGEST MAGNITUDE RECORDED IN THE AREA. This mountainous eastern Sierra Nevada region, known for its lakes, rivers and national forests, has had about seven magnitude 4 earthquakes since the 1930s.
Scientists are still studying the intensity of Thursday's shaking and have moved seismographs there from more populated areas to monitor aftershocks. Within minutes of the first quake, more than 7,000 people reported feeling it, from across state borders into Oregon and Nevada and as far south as the San Francisco area. Officials in Susanville and Sacramento said the quake set off a number of home and car alarms and rattled windows. A resident said he felt a slow roll that lasted about 30 seconds.
The quake itself was not a huge surprise for Schwartz's USGS division, but "what was interesting was it was felt along an unusual distance. Earthquakes in different parts of the state are felt over different distances. We just haven't had that many examples of earthquakes in this part of the state, really, for comparison. There are more interesting questions now than we have answers for, at present."
More than four dozen aftershocks, ranging up to a magnitude 4.9 in an area of about 20 square miles, have been recorded since the first quake. These aftershocks look to be "fairly standard." Within the first week, there is a 20% chance that an earthquake larger than magnitude 5 will strike the area and a 5% to 10% chance a quake of a magnitude greater than 5.7. "A 5.7 is still a moderate-size earthquake, and earthquakes of that magnitude can occur really anywhere throughout the state. But it's large enough to generate interest and provide us some real info on how things work. We plan to keep looking at the sequence."
Australia - Slow slip quake moves Hawkes Bay further away from Australia. Wellington's BIGGEST EARTHQUAKE IN 150 YEARS is happening right now. The magnitude-7 equivalent quake, 40km deep, is a "slow-slip" event, when the movement of tectonic plates occurs over hours to months rather than seconds.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Chile, Argentina on red alert over Copahue volcano - The increased activity could lead to an eruption. people in two countries were evacuated Monday following a forecast that Copahue volcano in the Andes Cordillera mountain range is anticipated to erupt. More than 2,240 people, or 460 families, within a 25-kilometer (15.5-mile) radius, were evacuated on Monday. The volcano - located 310 miles south of capital Santiago, between Chile's Bio Bio region and Argentina's Neuquen province - has seen increasing seismic activity in recent weeks but has not yet erupted.
Gamkonora volcano (Indonesia) - Seismic swarm triggers eruption alert. Increased earthquake activity has triggered an eruption alert by VSI, who raised the volcano's status to 3 out of 4. Indonesian volcanologists reported that the degassing plume from the summit crater of the volcano has increased.
Two Volcanoes Currently Erupting in Alaska - Pavlof and Cleveland are currently erupting. Although their activity levels are low, more energetic explosions could happen without warning. Both volcanoes were relatively quiet Monday, but the Alaska Volcano Observatory has issued warnings stating that either or both could erupt in the weeks or months ahead, sending ash plumes into the atmosphere and possibly disrupting air traffic.
Pavlof has been erupting since May 13, with relatively low-energy lava fountaining and minor emissions of ash, steam, and gas. So far, volcanic ash from this eruption has reached as high as 22,000 feet (6,700 meters) above sea level, causing cancellations in regional airline flights and depositing a coating of ash onto local communities. Beneath the surface, Pavlof still shows signs of erupting -- albeit less violently than before.
Underwater volcano mapped in Southeast Alaska - The yet-to-be-named volcano differs from many on the ocean floor. Its top was likely above the water when it last erupted some 10,000 years ago.
Explosions at Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano produce ash columns - Scientists recorded two moderate explosions Saturday morning at Mexico's Popocatepetl that sent columns of gas and ash up to 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) above the crater. The region is still on yellow phase three alert, the third-highest warning on the seven-step scale.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Eastern Pacific -
Tropical Storm Barbara was located 145 mi (230 km) SSW of Salina Cruz, Mexico. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Lagunas de Chacahua to Boca de Pijijiapan, Mexico. Additional strengthening is forecast before Barbara reaches the coast of Mexico today.
'Below-normal' cyclone season forecast for central Pacific - The Central Pacific Hurricane Centre says the central Pacific basin is likely to have a below-normal hurricane season with one to three cyclones. For 2013 in the northern hemisphere, there is a 70 per cent chance of a below-normal season.
Hurricane center to refine alerts - The National Hurricane Center plans to expand the Tropical Weather Outlook of potential storm-producing weather to a five-day outlook. The Tropical Weather Outlook issued by the National Hurricane Center traditionally assesses whether weather systems might turn into a tropical cyclone development "during the 48 hours." "We hope to expand that 48 hours to five days."
Active hurricane season ahead, forecasters say - Since 2000, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's tropical storm and hurricane forecasts have been more right than wrong, but not by much: the NOAA's prediction has been accurate in seven out of the past 13 years.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
3 dead, 200+ rescued after severe floods swamp San Antonio, Texas - The wet weather plaguing many parts of the U.S. over the holiday weekend turned fatal in sodden San Antonio. One person is dead, another is missing and nearly a hundred more have been rescued as heavy rain has pummeled the Texas city, causing flash flooding.
The majority of rescues were people trapped in their vehicles in low-lying areas of the city. A 29-year-old woman who was trapped in her vehicle and tried to escape the rising water by climbing onto the car’s roof was washed away, and her body was found down the road against a fence. A man who had been trapped in his vehicle is unaccounted for.
San Antonio received 12.16 inches of rain in the 24 hours ending at 11 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. That is just shy of the 24-hour record for the city of 13.35 inches in October 1998. 9.87 inches of that came Saturday morning alone, the nearly ten inches drenching them in eight hours.
Illinois - On Tuesday, one person was injured and around 70 trailers were damaged in Springfield, Illinois, when straight line winds of up to 80 mph whipped the area.
Southaven, Mississppi declared a state of emergency after floods inundated homes. Some areas received nearly five inches of rainfall Tuesday evening (5/21), which is MORE THAN A MONTH'S WORTH OF RAINFALL.
CLIMATE CHANGE -
Centuries-old frozen plants revived - Plants that were frozen during the "Little Ice Age" centuries ago have been observed sprouting new growth, scientists say. Samples of 400-year-old plants known as bryophytes have flourished under laboratory conditions. Researchers say this back-from-the-dead trick has implications for how ecosystems recover from the planet's cyclic long periods of ice coverage.
High in the Canadian Arctic, the glaciers in the region have been receding at rates that have sharply accelerated since 2004, at about 3-4m per year. That is exposing land that has not seen light of day since the so-called Little Ice Age, a widespread climatic cooling that ran roughly from AD 1550 to AD 1850. "We ended up walking along the edge of the glacier margin and we saw these huge populations coming out from underneath the glacier that seemed to have a greenish tint."
Bryophytes are different from the land plants that we know best, in that they do not have vascular tissue that helps pump fluids around different parts of the organism. They can survive being completely desiccated in long Arctic winters, returning to growth in warmer times, but scientists were surprised by an emergence of bryophytes that had been buried under ice for so long.
"When we looked at them in detail and brought them to the lab, I could see some of the stems actually had new growth of green lateral branches, and that said to me that these guys are regenerating in the field, and that blew my mind. If you think of ice sheets covering the landscape, we've always thought that plants have to come in from refugia around the margins of an ice system, never considering land plants as coming out from underneath a glacier."
But the retreating ice at Sverdrup Pass, where the Teardrop Glacier is located, is uncovering an array of life, including cyanobacteria and green terrestrial algae. Many of the species spotted there are entirely new to science. "It's a whole world of what's coming out from underneath the glaciers that really needs to be studied. The glaciers are disappearing pretty fast - they're going to expose all this terrestrial vegetation, and that's going to have a big impact."
HEALTH THREATS -
Researchers find easy development of H7N9 Tamiflu resistance - Antiviral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) are useful for treating H7N9 influenza infections, but there are worrisome signs that resistance can easily develop when patients take the drug, which can lead to a poor prognosis, researchers from China and Hong Kong reported.
Study of H7N9 cases shows extent of severe disease - Researchers from China published a detailed clinical analysis of 111 patients sickened in the country's H7N9 influenza outbreak that showed how severe patients' illnesses have been, with 77% admitted to intensive care units.
New MERS-CoV case reported as puzzles persist - Saudi Arabia reported that a foreigner died yesterday of a MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) infection, while health officials in Jordan offered new details -- some of them puzzling -- about a hospital cluster of cases that occurred there in April 2012.
Saudi Arabia reports 5 more MERS-CoV cases - Saudi Arabia reported that five more people have been infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), as if to underline the warning from the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) that the novel virus is a global threat.
RECALLS & ALERTS
Salmolux of Federal Way, WA is recalling its cold smoked salmon products because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
