Friday, August 31, 2012

Quake Map Prediction Methodology Questioned - Some high profile researchers in the earth sciences are questioning several long-standing assumptions about predicting earthquakes. They contend it is time for a major reassessment on the methods used to forecast where and when killer earthquakes will strike.
Three recent major earthquakes: in Sichuan, China in 2008, in the Caribbean nation of Haiti in 2010 and in northeastern Japan last year - have led to what some scientists acknowledge is an embarrassing failure. They did not foresee such intense tremors would cause widespread destruction and casualties in those specific locations. Even in Japan, with state-of-the-art seismological and tsunami research and sophisticated hazard mapping, the size of the March 11 quake and the resulting tsunami were vastly underestimated.
"One, our ability to assess earthquake hazards isn't very good. And, second, the policies that we make to mitigate earthquake hazards sometimes aren't very well thought out in terms of whatever tens or a hundred billion dollars were spent on those tsunami defenses were largely wasted." Scientists around the world need to re-learn "to expect the unexpected" when it comes to earthquakes. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake to rush with such enthusiasm into earthquake hazards mapping without noting the limitations. "Now we've got these maps out there. Every country has a government agency that makes these maps and engineers look at them. There's some good sense in them, but there's a lot of problems with them too and the uncertainties in there are a lot bigger than we use to think they were...They're based on one assumption piled on top of another. If you treat them as being something you can literally rely on as extremely accurate then you're in trouble."
"We're playing a game against nature. It's a very high stakes game. We don't really understand all the rules very well. We need to very carefully try to formulate the best strategies we can, given the limits of our knowledge." Eyewitness accounts from historical times, combined with geological sampling will produce more accurate records of where and when huge waves triggered by the biggest quakes struck the coasts of Japan and other countries. Those methods possibly could prevent future tragedies. "These mega tsunamis, you had three of them in 3,000 years, once every thousand years or so. So, if you have a nuclear plant with a 50-year operating lifetime you're talking about a five percent chance of a mega tsunami [during the plant's operation]. So that's enough [of a chance] that you should worry about it."

**We see things not as they are,
but as we are.**
H. M. Tomlinson

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (updated every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
8/30/12 -
5.0 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.3 CERAM SEA, INDONESIA
5.3 JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION
6.6 JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION [east of Greenland]
5.6 WESTERN INDIAN-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
5.4 WESTERN INDIAN-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
5.2 BIO-BIO, CHILE

California earthquake swarms prompt emergency declaration in Brawley - Earthquake swarms continued Wednesday in Imperial County as the city of Brawley declared an emergency to deal with the damage. The swarm that began Sunday morning showed signs of slowing down Wednesday, with fewer quakes reported. The town took the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after the swarm rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close.
Yorba Linda earthquake comes amid 'cluster' of temblors. The magnitude 4.1 Yorba Linda earthquake that jolted residents around Southern California on Wednesday afternoon came amid the earthquake swarm in Imperial County. But it remains unclear whether the two events are connected.
The Yorba Linda earthquake is a likely aftershock from earlier cluster. The quake appears to be an aftershock of the cluster of quakes that hit the region earlier this month, seismologists said.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Earthquake clusters detected at remote Alaska volcano in western Aleutian Islands, but no eruption noted. The quakes began Wednesday evening at Little Sitkin Volcano and were continuing as of Thursday morning. No eruption has been detected.
There is no direct link to the swarm of earthquakes at Little Sitkin and a cluster of quakes that shook California's Imperial County earlier this week. Little Sitkin is located on an uninhabited island and is far from any populated areas. The seismic activity is UNUSUAL for Little Sitkin, whose last eruption possibly in the early 1900s is questionable. The concern about an eruption would be the possible threat posed to aircraft.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical depression Isaac was located about 40 mi [60 km] SSE of El Dorado, Arkansas. Slow-moving Isaac weakened to a depression over northern Louisiana. Flooding rains continue across southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi. Even though Isaac is no longer a tropical storm, dangerous hazards from storm surge, inland flooding and tornadoes are still occurring. The center of Isaac will move over Arkansas today and over southern Missouri tonight.
- Category 2 Hurricane Kirk was located about 870 mi [1395 km] ESE of Bermuda. Some additional strengthening is forecast today and Kirk could near major hurricane strength. Weakening is forecast to begin by late Saturday. No threat to land.
- Tropical storm Leslie was located about 1010 mi [1625 km] E of the Leeward Islands. Could become a hurricane by tonight. No threat to land.

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Category 1 Hurricane Ileana was located about 300 mi. [480 km] WSW of the southern tip of Baja California. No threat to land.

Isaac - As the storm slogged its way across Louisiana and windy conditions calmed, the extent of some of the damage became clear. Hundreds of homes were underwater, thousands of people were staying at shelters and half the state was without power. About 500 people had to be rescued by boat or high-water vehicles and at least two were killed.
And the damage may not be done. Officials were releasing water from an Isaac-stressed dam at a lake near the Louisiana-Mississippi border, hoping to ease the pressure. They had also started work on a levee breach in hard-hit Plaquemines Parish. In Arkansas, power lines were downed and trees knocked over as Isaac moved into the state.
Farther south, where evacuations were ordered ahead of the storm, Isaac's unpredictable, meandering path and the amount of rain - as much as 40 centimetres in some places - caught many off guard. A hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said although Isaac's cone shifted west as it zigzagged toward the Gulf Coast, forecasters accurately predicted its path, intensity and rainfall.
Along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans, officials sent scores of buses and dozens of high-water vehicles to help evacuate about 3000 people as rising waters lapped against houses and left cars stranded. A tow truck driver was killed on Thursday morning when a tree fell on his truck in Picayune, Mississippi, just across the state line from Louisiana. In Vermilion Parish, a 36-year-old man died after falling 5.5 metres from a tree.
In Plaquemines, a sparsely populated area outside the federal levee system, dozens of people were stranded in flooded coastal areas and had to be rescued. The storm pushed water over a 29-kilometre levee and put so much pressure on it authorities were intentionally puncturing the floodwall to relieve the strain. More than 900,000 homes and businesses around the state - about 47 per cent of all customers - were without power on Thursday.
Isaac has became a tropical depression, meaning its top sustained winds have dropped below 62 kph. Forecasters expected it to move farther inland over the next several days, dumping rain on drought-stricken states across the nation's midsection before finally breaking up over the weekend.

SPACE WEATHER -

IONIZATION WAVES - Magnetic fields snaking around the sun's southeastern limb are crackling with C- and M-class solar flares. Extreme UV pulses from the flares are illuminating Earth's upper atmosphere, causing waves of ionization to ripple around the dayside of our planet. "The extra ionization altered the propagation of very low frequency radio signals around Northern Europe." More ionization waves are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of M-class solar flares during the next 24 hours.

HEALTH THREATS -

Researchers find alarming global levels of drug-resistant TB - A large, eight-nation study today reported worrisome levels of tuberculosis resistant to first- and second-line drugs, along with higher-than-expected levels of extensively drug-resistant TB.

The United States is experiencing a dramatic rise in the cases of West Nile virus infections over the past month, with record-setting numbers expected over the next several weeks and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning people to take key preventive steps.

Mangoe recall - Splendid Products recalled certain lots of Daniella mangoes because they may be contaminated with Salmonella.The mangoes that are subject to the recall carry the Daniella label. Mango consumption is the likely cause of a Salmonella Braenderup outbreak that has sickened 80 people in California, and as many as 103 people in 16 states. Spokane Produce, Inc., recalled a small lot of its pineapple-mango pico de gallo sauce because it includes Daniella mangoes. The salsa was distributed to 11 inland supermarkets in Washington, Idaho, and Montana.

RECALLS & ALERTS

Thursday, August 30 , 2012

Alaska to stockpile food, just in case (Corrected link from yesterday) - Alaska is known for self-reliant residents who are accustomed to remote locations and harsh weather. Despite that, the Governor worries that a major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state's 720,000 residents stranded and cut off from food and supply lines. His answer: Build giant warehouses full of emergency food and supplies, just in case.
For some in the lower 48, it may seem like an extreme step. But unlike the rest of the lower 48, help isn't a few miles away. When a fall storm cut off Nome from its final fuel supply last winter, a Russian tanker spent weeks breaking through thick ice to reach the remote town. Weather isn't the only thing that can wreak havoc in Alaska, where small planes are a preferred mode of transportation and the drive from Seattle to Juneau requires a ferry ride and 38 hours in a car.
The state's worst natural disaster was in 1964, when a magnitude-9.2 earthquake and resulting tsunami killed 131 people and disrupted electrical systems, water mains and communication lines in Anchorage and other cities. The state plans two food stockpiles in or near Fairbanks and Anchorage, two cities that also have military bases. Construction on the two storage facilities will begin this fall, and the first food deliveries are targeted for December. The goal is to have enough food to feed 40,000 people for up to a week, including three days of ready-to-eat meals and four days of bulk food that can be prepared and cooked for large groups. Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, has about 295,000 people, and Juneau, its third largest, about 31,000.
An estimated 90 percent of commodities entering Alaska are delivered through the Port of Anchorage. Air service is also a critical link to the outside world and generally the only way to reach many rural communities. A volcanic blast emitting a large amount of smoke and ash could disrupt supply lines by air and water for an extended period, and an earthquake could knock out airport runways or ports. Those are just some of the disasters that might require emergency supplies.
State officials have been working to encourage individual responsibility, with talks at schools and public gatherings. A statewide disaster drill is planned for October. Over the past year, the state has acquired or purchased water purification units and generators designed to work in cold climates, including units that could power facilities like hospitals.
Delivery of the food stockpiles would be staggered over three years. It would be replaced after it's used or expired, and it's entirely possible that much of the food will never be needed. It is not clear what the state will do with the expired, unused food. The project has a budget of around $4 million and hasn't generated any real controversy.

**I think and think for months and years.
Ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false.
The hundredth time I am right.**
Albert Einstein

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.0 CENTRAL PERU

Yesterday -
8/29/12 -
5.0 VIRGIN ISLANDS REGION
5.6 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 VANUATU
5.0 CELEBES SEA

Japan estimates monster quake could kill 320,000 - Japan's government on Wednesday unveiled a worst case disaster scenario that warned a monster earthquake in the Pacific Ocean could kill over 320,000 people if it happened off central and western Japan, though the probability of such an occurrence is extremely low. That death toll would dwarf last year's quake-tsunami disaster toll.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Peru's El Misti Volcano is active - Peruvian geologists have revealed that recent activity at El Misti signals that the volcano is active. Last Thursday researchers found that El Misti – located 17km outside the city of Arequipa – had recently recorded the highest amount of seismic activity than in the past five years. 224 earthquakes were registered at El Misti - an event known as an earthquake swarm - and which signaled that the volcano was no longer dormant.
El Misti experienced 143 volcano tectonic earthquakes, which were caused by the fracture of rock inside the volcano, due to sudden changes in pressure and temperature. Despite the recent increase in activity, there were still no conditions for an eruption to occur at El Misti, which last erupted sometime between 1450 and 1470. For an eruption to happen, El Misti would have to experience continued earthquakes, which “would have to occur after long-term movements of magma, and causing these earthquakes known as tremors, with lava.”

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Category 1 Hurricane Isaac was located about 70 mi [110 km] WNW of New Orleans, Louisiana. Heavy rain threat from Isaac to spread inland during the next few days, water levels remain high along the northern Gulf Coast.
- Tropical storm Kirk was located about 1085 mi [1745 km] ENE of the northern Leeward Islands. No threat to land.

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Hurricane Ileana was located about 335 mi [535 km] SW of the southern tip of Baja California. No threat to land.

In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical storm Tembin was located approximately 85 nm south of Kunsan AB, South Korea. The final warning has been issued on this system by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The system will be closely monitored for signs of regeneration.

South Korea braces for second typhoon - Flights have been grounded, schools have closed and scores of sea ferry routes have been shut as South Korea awaits Tembin.

Hurricane Isaac sidestepped New Orleans on Wednesday, sending the worst of its howling wind and heavy rain into a cluster of rural fishing villages that had few defenses against the slow-moving storm that could bring days of unending rain. Isaac arrived exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina and passed slightly to the west of New Orleans, where the city's fortified levee system easily handled the assault. The city's biggest problems seemed to be downed power lines, scattered tree limbs and minor flooding. Slashing rain and wind gusts up to 100 mph buffeted New Orleans skyscrapers. Just one person was reported killed, compared with 1,800 deaths from Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi. And police reported few problems with looting.
But in Plaquemines Parish, a sparsely populated area south of the city that is outside the federal levee system, dozens of people were stranded in flooded coastal areas and had to be rescued. The storm pushed water over an 18-mile levee and put so much pressure on it that authorities planned to intentionally puncture the floodwall to relieve the strain. State officials said they would cut a hole in it as soon as weather allowed and equipment could be brought to the site.
"I'm getting text messages from all over asking for help." By midafternoon Wednesday, Isaac had been downgraded to a tropical storm. The Louisiana National Guard wrapped up rescue operations in Plaquemines Parish, saying they felt confident they had gotten everyone out and there were no serious injuries but would stay in the area over the coming days to help.
Isaac's maximum sustained winds had dropped to 50 mph by early this morning. Even at its strongest, Isaac was far weaker than Hurricane Katrina, which crippled New Orleans in 2005. Because Isaac's coiled bands of rain and wind were moving at only 5 mph — about the pace of a brisk walk — the threat of storm surges and flooding was expected to last into another day as the immense comma-shaped system crawled across Louisiana.
"We didn't think it was going to be like that. The storm stayed over the top of us. For Katrina, we got 8 inches of water. Now we have 13 feet." In Plaquemines Parish, about two dozen people who defied evacuation orders needed to be rescued. The stranded included two police officers whose car became stuck. "I think a lot of people were caught with their pants down. This storm was never predicted right since it entered the Gulf. It was supposed to go to Florida, Panama City, Biloxi, New Orleans. We hope it loses its punch once it comes in all the way."
The storm knocked out power to as many as 700,000 people, stripped branches off trees and flattened fields of sugar cane so completely that they looked as if a tank had driven over them. West of New Orleans in St. John the Baptist Parish, flooding from Isaac forced 1,500 people to evacuate. And thousands in the area needed to evacuate. Rising water closed off all main thoroughfares into the parish, and in many areas, water lapped up against houses and left cars stranded.
In addition, the National Weather Service said there were reports of at least three possible tornados touching down in coastal counties. No injuries were reported. None of the reports had been confirmed because there was no way for survey teams to assess the area to determine whether damage was done by tornadoes or straight-line winds until the weather cleared.
Isaac came ashore late Tuesday as a Category 1 hurricane, with 80 mph winds near the mouth of the Mississippi River. It drove a wall of water nearly 11 feet high inland. The storm stalled for several hours before resuming a slow trek inland, and forecasters said that was in keeping with its erratic history. The slow motion over land means Isaac could be a major soaker, dumping up to 20 inches of rain in some areas. But every system is different. "It's not too bad, but the whole coast is going to be a mess."
Forecasters expected Isaac to move inland over the next several days, dumping rain on drought-stricken states across the nation's midsection before finally breaking up over the weekend. The storm was expected to weaken to a tropical depression today. (photos) Video

HEALTH THREATS -

H1N1 pandemic hit kids with neurological conditions hard - Among kids who died during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the disease was most lethal for those who had neurologic conditions such as cerebral palsy and muscular dystrophy.

More Salmonella cases likely linked to mangoes.

4 dead so far as West Nile disease becomes epidemic in Michigan. West Nile disease - a mosquito-borne illness - has reached epidemic proportions in Michigan, particularly in older suburbs that ring metro Detroit and Grand Rapids.

Wednesday, August 29 , 2012

**If you want to test your memory,
try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.**
- E. Joseph Cossman

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
8/27/12 -
5.4 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.0 CENTRAL ALASKA
5.2 OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR
5.4 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR

California earthquake swarm entered third day; hundreds of temblors. Hundreds of earthquakes have rattled Imperial County since Sunday morning as an earthquake swarm continued. But experts say the swarm does not necessarily indicates a larger temblor is on the way. The series of small to moderate earthquakes seems to be slowing down and getting smaller in magnitude.

El Salvador Quake Waves Destroyed 45,000 Rare Turtle Eggs - The director of the turtle conservation program for the El Salvador Zoological Foundation says the 7.4-magnitude undersea quake sent at least three waves at least 30 feet high up the beach and destroyed thousands of nests and just-hatched turtles.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

Alaska's governor says a major earthquake or volcanic eruption could leave the state's 720,000 residents cut off from supply lines, and he's taking steps to ensure there's adequate food.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Category 1 Hurricane Isaac was located about 75 mi [120 km] SSE of New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Tropical storm Kirk was located about 1230 mi [1980 km] ENE of the northern Leeward Islands. No threat to land.

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Tropical storm Ileana was located about 415 mi [670 km] S of the southern tip of Baja California. No threat to land.

In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical storm Tembin was located approximately 600 nm south-southwest of Seoul, South Korea.
- Tropical storm Bolaven was located approximately 350 nm north of Seoul, South Korea. The final warning has been issued on this system by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The system will be closely monitored for signs of regeneration.

North Korea - Powerful typhoon Bolaven which killed at least 10 people in South Korea has hit the North, knocking down hundreds of trees, destroying power cables and causing blackouts in a country already struggling to rebuild from earlier flooding. Big rainstorms often mean catastrophe in North Korea because of poor drainage, deforestation and decrepit infrastructure, but the extent of wind and rain damage in the country wasn't immediately clear after the typhoon struck on Wednesday.
Pyongyang, the capital, saw strong winds but little apparent damage. Cars splashed through slightly flooded streets, spraying people on crowded sidewalks. Typhoon Bolaven began pummeling the North late on Tuesday. Weather officials had warned it would be the strongest typhoon to hit the region in several years, but its gusts in other parts of Asia were not as powerful as predicted.
In South Korea, the typhoon left hundreds of thousands without power, disrupted flights and temporarily halted joint war games by U.S. and South Korean military forces. The storm also churned up rough seas that smashed two fishing ships into rocks off southern Jeju island, killing five people and leaving 10 missing. The storm killed at least five other people across South Korea. About 1.9 million South Korean homes and businesses lost power, though all but about 34,000 had electricity restored by Wednesday morning. Nearly 100 families were left homeless on Wednesday because of floods or storm damage. Nearly 200 flights were canceled on Tuesday, but airports were running as normal on Wednesday. There were 860 hectares of farmland flooded and 32 ships damaged.
The storm came as North Korea tries to help people with food, shelter, health care and clean water after heavy flooding in July. Many flood victims still live in tents with limited access to water and other basic facilities. Video

Hurricane Isaac has made landfall in southeast Louisiana with top winds of more than 120km/h. Isaac turned into a full-blown Category 1 hurricane as it rolled over the US Gulf Coast, where residents in four states left boarded-up homes and New Orleans waited nervously behind flood-defense levees strengthened after the devastating Katrina struck exactly seven years ago.
The US National Hurricane Center said the storm, with 28km/h winds, had gained strength as it moved over the warm, open waters of the gulf. It was approaching the swampy coast of southeast Louisiana, where it's expected to soon hit land near the Mississippi River. The focus has been on New Orleans as the slow-moving storm takes aim at the city, but the impact will be felt well beyond it, especially in expected storm surges of up to 3.6m in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. The storm's winds could be felt more than 300km from the storm's center.
Isaac offers one of the first tests of a New Orleans levee system bolstered after the catastrophic failures during Hurricane Katrina. But calm prevailed in the city as residents sized up the threat. Although Isaac's approach on the eve of the Katrina anniversary invited obvious comparisons, the storm is nowhere near as powerful as Katrina was when it struck on August 29, 2005. Katrina at one point reached Category 5 status, with winds of more than 252km/h, and made landfall as a Category 3 storm.
Many residents along the Gulf Coast opted to ride it out in shelters or at home. Officials, while sounding alarm about the dangers of the powerful storm, decided not to call for the mass evacuations like those that preceded Katrina. But anxiety was high, especially in the city's Lower 9th Ward, wiped out by Katrina after floodwalls burst and let the waters rush in.
78 per cent of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been halted in preparation for the storm as companies have evacuated 346 offshore oil and gas production platforms. That's 17 per cent of daily US oil production. One question haunting locals was how much oil left over from the massive Gulf oil spill in 2010 might wind up on the beaches because of the storm. Experts believe large tar mats lie submerged just off the coast, but no one knows where they are or how many there might be. Isaac left 24 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic but left little damage in the Florida Keys as it blew past. (photos) Video

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Video - Balkans wildfires continue to rage.

Critical ice in the Arctic Ocean melted to record low levels this sweltering summer, and that can make weather more extreme far away from the poles, scientists say.

HEALTH THREATS -

Mangoes from Mexico suspected in 101 US Salmonella infections. Tainted mangoes from Mexico implicated in a Salmonella Braenderup outbreak that has sickened several people in Canada are likely linked to about 101 illnesses so far in the United States, according to federal investigators.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

**Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.**
- Henry Ford
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.7 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR

Yesterday -
8/27/12 -
5.3 KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
5.0 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
5.2 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.1 OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR
5.3 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.2 OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR
7.4 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.1 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
5.2 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
5.1 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
Cluster of moderate Callifornia quakes continues

California earthquake swarm 'pretty bad,' buildings damaged. Parts of Southern California were rattled by the earthquake swarm that officials said could last for several days. Hardest hit was Imperial County, where most quakes were centered. A number of families were displaced and hospital patients evacuated. The series of small to moderate earthquakes shattered windows and knocked trailer homes off their foundations in a small farming town east of San Diego.
More quakes in Southern California 'quake storm' - on Sunday, the region experienced about 300 temblors throughout the day. USGS seismographs and analysis computers were overwhelmed by the rash of rattling that began at sunrise, and reached a crescendo with a magnitude 5.3 quake just after 12:30 p.m. It was followed by a 4.9 shaker within two minutes.
The earthquake swarm that has been rocking Southern California since Sunday has been the area's STRONGEST SUCH SWARM IN 30 YEARS.
The seismic activity is not unusual for the area around Brawley. Previous swarms - some of which were recorded as early as the 1930s - weren't precursors to a bigger quake, but "that's not to say it won't happen. At the very least, use this is a reminder: We live in earthquake country."

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

New Zealand - Volcano debris danger for drivers. Drivers are being warned not to stop on State Highway 46, near Mt Tongariro, due to a build up of debris in streams flowing from the mountain's recent eruption.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about about 190 mi [305 km] SE of the mouth of the Mississippi River. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for east of Morgan City, Louisiana to Destin, Florida, including metropolitan New Orleans. On the forecast track, the center of Isaac will approach the coast of southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi this afternoon or tonight. Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph...110 km/h...with higher gusts. Strengthening is forecast .and Isaac is expected to continue to strengthen until landfall occurs along the northern Gulf Coast. Isaac is expected to produce total rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches with possible isolated maximum amounts of 18 inches in southeastern Louisiana, southern Mississippi, southern Alabama and the extreme western Florida Panhandle. Isaac is a large tropical cyclone. A dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, and strong winds extend well away from the center and are expected to affect a large portion of the northern Gulf Coast. The threat of heavy rainfall and flooding is also expected to spread inland over the lower Mississippi Valley region during the next few days.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 125 nm south of Taipei, Taiwan.
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 200 nm southwest of Seoul, South Korea.

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Tropical storm Ileana was located about 530 mi [855 km] SSE of the southern tip of Baja California. Ileana could become a hurricane late today or on Wednesday. There is no threat to land.

Florida - Tropical Storm Isaac leaves a surprise: Floods, cancellations in Palm Beach. The western communities endured rainfall totals of more than a foot as tropical storm Isaac moved through the Palm Beach County.
Video
Photos

At least four Chinese fishermen have been killed and a dozen are missing after their boats capsized as Typhoon Bolaven hit South Korea. The two boats were just off Jeju island when they capsized. The South Korean coast guard rescued at least 11 crew members.
The typhoon has cut power to tens of thousands of homes and trees have been felled. It is expected to move north, passing Incheon port later in the day. Many flights have also been cancelled. Typhoon Bolaven is also bringing strong waves and rain to China's north and east coasts. It has already lashed the Japanese island of Okinawa, causing power cuts and paralysing transport. High winds, torrential rain and property damage were reported on Jeju island as the typhoon hit. All schools in Seoul and most others across the country have closed for the day.
Meanwhile, China has issued a yellow alert - the second-highest level - as forecasters expect Bolaven to make landfall in Dandong in the north-eastern Liaoning province and north-western North Korea today. On Sunday the typhoon hit the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Kagoshima, leaving some 75,000 households without power. At least four people were injured.
The latest typhoon is the 15th destructive storm of the season in East Asia. Bolaven comes just after Typhoon Tembin, which has caused widespread damage in Taiwan. On Monday night, Taiwan was bracing for Tembin to hit the same southern region where it unleashed more than 50cm (20 inches) of rain within 24 hours several days ago. But early on Tuesday the typhoon appeared to have passed off the southern coast, without making landfall.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Arctic sea ice reaches RECORD LOW. The Arctic has lost more sea ice this year than at any time since satellite records began in 1979, Nasa space agency says. The extent of ice observed on Sunday broke a record set in 2007 and will likely melt further with several weeks of summer still to come.

Monday, August 27, 2012

A major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit in the Pacific Ocean about 78 miles (125 km) off the coast of El Salvador late Sunday night. No destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is expected, but a warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico. The earthquake struck 74 miles (120 km) south of Usulutan, El Salvador, at a depth of 33 miles. There were no immediate reports of damage to coastal areas or to shipping.
The quake triggered a small tsunami - "Sea level readings confirm that a tsunami was generated," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said in a bulletin. A swell of 20cm was registered off Acajutla, El Salvador. The warning that the potentially destructive tsunami could hit Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico was cancelled soon after. El Salvador's Civil Protection agency said: "We are doing a general monitoring of the entire coast through our technicians and representatives."

**Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air.
They are where they should be.
Now put the foundations under them.**
- Henry David Thoreau

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.3 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.2 OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR
7.4 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.2 GULF OF CALIFORNIA
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
5.0 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
Cluster of moderate Callifornia quakes continues

Yesterday -
8/26/12 -
5.0 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.0 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.5 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA [cluster of almost 100 moderate quakes]
5.1 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
6.6 MOLUCCA SEA
5.6 PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE

Series of earthquakes rattle Southern California - A swarm of earthquakes that struck southeastern California has knocked 20 mobile homes from their foundations and cut power to 2,500 people. The largest quake Sunday registered at a magnitude 5.5, and was centered near the town of Brawley. More than 30 other quakes with magnitudes of at least 3.5 shook the same area. Sporadic power outages also prompted authorities to evacuate some patients from one of the county's two hospitals. No injuries have been reported. Photo

Arizona - report from 100 YEARS AGO - Earthquake leaves 30-mile smoking crack. The reports about the earthquake coming in from around the countryside included black smoke arising and ash falling in the cinder country near O'Leary Peak that were thought to be from a volcano. A hand from the Lockett Tank country came in saying that at the time of the earthquake, a huge volume of black smoke and fire came out of a new rent in the earth which is from a few inches to a foot wide and extends over 30 miles from Lockett Tanks to Coconino Mountain.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about 75 mi [120 km] WSW of Key West, Florida. The center was expected to move away from the Florida Keys Sunday night, move over the eastern Gulf of Mexico today and approach the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday. Isaac is expected to become a hurricane in a day or so. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for east of Morgan City, Louisiana to Destin, Florida, including metropolitan New Orleans.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 130 nm north- northwest of Kadena AB, Japan.
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 320 nm southwest of Taipei, Taiwan.

Hurricane warnings issued for New Orleans, Gulf Coast as Isaac churns off Florida. The storm that killed as many as six people in Haiti and forced the delay of the start of the Republican National Convention in Tampa is on track to hit the Gulf Coast and possibly New Orleans, forecasters said late Sunday. Tropical Storm Isaac, with sustained winds of 60 mph, lashed the Florida Keys and is expected to intensify, gaining strength as it moves into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and make landfall on Tuesday as possibly a Category 2 hurricane. The projected track and timing is EERILY SIMILAR TO HURRICANE KATRINA, which devastated New Orleans and Gulf Coast in late August 2005.
Louisiana's Govenor declared a state of emergency and ordered voluntary evacuations of more than a dozen parishes. Governors in Alabama and Mississippi did, too. "I know the anxiety level is high. The storm is somewhat uncertain. Out of an abundance of caution we will begin to take these precautions as quickly as we can. We are much, much better prepared structurally than before."
Hurricane warnings have been issued along the northern Gulf Coast from Morgan City, La., to Destin, Fla., including New Orleans and coastal Mississippi. Tornado warnings were issued for southern Florida late Sunday as a result of the rotating storm. A storm surge between six and 12 feet could threaten the northern Gulf Coast if the storm makes landfall during high tide. The storm surge in Tampa Bay could be as high as four feet, forecasters said. Heavy rain is also expected; in southern Florida and the Keys, up to 10 inches was expected Sunday.
A blogger who predicted Katrina would be "an unprecedented cataclysm" in New Orleans, "breaching the Lake Pontchartrain levees" and causing thousands of deaths, says he had "a profound sense of déjà vu" on Saturday when computer models showed a "sudden westward" shift -- and Isaac taking dead aim at New Orleans. "It feels like August 26, 2005 — a defining day of my decade — all over again." (map & slideshow)

Japan - More than 75,000 households have lost power after powerful typhoon Bolaven lashed the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, injuring four people but doing less damage than feared before moving out to sea. Weather officials had warned that Typhoon Bolaven would be the strongest to hit the region in several years but its gusts weren't as powerful as predicted. Disaster authorities reported no major damage by early Monday aside from the blackouts. About 75,000 households were without power on Okinawa and the nearby Amami islands as heavy rain and winds continued on Monday. Many schools and government offices were closed because of the blackouts.
Much of the public transport system - including buses, shipping and airlines - had also not yet been restored, officials said. The centre of the slow-moving storm, the 15th of the season, passed over the island late on Sunday and on Monday was moving northwest into the East China Sea. It could affect South Korean coastal areas on Tuesday. As the typhoon approached Okinawa on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near its centre were about 180km/h, with gusts reaching 252km/h, possibly equalling or surpassing records for the area. But the gusts measured on the island of Amami, north of Okinawa, reached just 140km/h. Bolaven comes on the heels of Typhoon Tembin, which soaked southern Taiwan on Friday, largely sparing populated areas before blowing out to sea again.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Nigeria - 10 people have been killed in floods that swept through the region. Others remained trapped by the flooding on Sunday. Officals blamed the release of water from a dam in the neighbouring nation of Cameroon for the flood. Heavy rainfall in the rural region of farms and cattle ranches also contributed to the deadly deluge. Thousands of people have been displaced. The flooding in Adamawa state comes as flooding recently killed at least 68 people in Plateau state in central Nigeria. Nigeria is experiencing its annual rainy season, which sees torrential rains fall throughout the West African nation.

Virginia - Severe weather spawns tornado sightings. Residents of the Eastern Shore of Virginia on Saturday again were riddled by numerous reports of tornadoes and funnel clouds, the third time this summer that severe weather has spawned such reports.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Extreme conditions threaten U.S. power grid - Infrastructure not built to handle harsh weather. Extreme weather is putting America's power grid to the test, with a yearlong run of violent storms and record heat battering a system built for fairer skies. As the eastern United States struggles to recover from yet another weather shock, energy officials are acknowledging climate change as a force that finally has to be reckoned with -- even as concern grows about other threats that can set off catastrophic blackouts.
Winter storms, chains of heat waves and late June's "super derecho" -- a thunderstorm with straight-line winds that snapped electrical transmission towers and shredded power poles -- have forced the climate change issue and electric supply vulnerability to the top of an already-daunting list of blackout triggers. Those threats range from computer-hacking cyber terrorists to solar flares, utility mistakes and plain bad luck.
Regulators in the U.S. hope to avoid the kind of cascading grid failure that hit India in late July, leaving some 600 million -- 10 percent of the world's population -- without power. Miners were trapped underground. Trains shut down. Unimaginable traffic snarls popped up across the country. And India's image as a rising economic power was cast in darkness. A major blackout in hyper-wired America would also have crippling consequences, with some experts predicting economic losses of up to $180 billion.
"This is really the fundamental linchpin for everything in our society, our economy, our quality of life. By deferring infrastructure upgrades, we are basically increasing the risk for the whole system." Doubts are growing about forecasts based on long-term weather trends, typically 30-year averages. ( long article continues at link)

Sunday, August 26, 2012

**Few are those who see with their own eyes
and feel with their own hearts.**
- Albert Einstein

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
8/25/12 -
5.1 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.9 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

8/24/12 -
5.7 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.5 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.7 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -

Tsunami made worse by 'pop-up' of sediments - Tsunami created by undersea earthquakes can be made much larger by the "pop-up" movement of large amounts of sediment, research suggests. These quakes release huge amounts of energy as tectonic plates which stick as they pass each other suddenly slip.
But a study in Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that wedges of sediment scraped from the plates can pop up, boosting the resulting tsunami. It suggests that spotting these wedges could improve large tsunami prediction. Megathrust earthquakes are the sudden release of "elastic" energy stored as tectonic plates grind against each other, deforming but not slipping. Typically, as in the Japan earthquake of March 2011 that caused a massive tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, this occurs at a subduction zone, where one plate is sliding beneath the next. The quake arises when the deformation becomes too great and the stored energy suddenly releases. The sudden plate movement is transmitted into the ocean, inducing a tsunami.
"A Japanese submersible went down after the Tohoku earthquake and found not at all what everybody expected - which is that actually the tsunami was generated by the Japanese plate overriding the Pacific plate and moving upwards. But what this submersible found was... there was a fault which had moved the other way: instead of Japan moving upwards over the Pacific (plate), actually Japan had moved downward." Two researchers propose that the resulting tsunami was made far worse by the wedge-shaped "accretionary prism" at the boundary between the two plates. The prism is a collection of loose rock and mud that builds up gradually as one plate slips below another and fragments are broken off each.
When the plates finally violently slip, the point of the wedge is squeezed. This fires the material upward and outward, turning the energy of the plate into the energy of the ejected rock. "Let's say you have something wedge-shaped on the floor and you jump on it, the wedge will shoot sideways, and that's we think happens. The weight of the stuff on top shoots a wedge of stuff out. Put some water on the floor and do the same thing, and that will produce a wave."
The team went on to study the sites of other unexpectedly large tsunami from the past, including one off Nicaragua in 1992, Sumatra in 2004, and Java in 2006 - finding similar characteristics of the faults. That is promising, because it potentially provides a means to anticipate where the greatest tsunami risks lie - it is as simple as using submersibles to find faults that also have accretionary prisms. And because the resulting tsunami is more a product of the size of the prism rather than the size of the earthquake, the mechanism could explain why sometimes comparatively small earthquakes result in huge tsunami.
"There's a huge enterprise around the Pacific of predicting them, and the false alarm rate is very high - people evacuate a few times and then nothing happens. That's one of the reasons they're so dangerous - every now and again you have some little earthquake like one that didn't even wake people up in Indonesia but they heard the roar of the wave coming in, but the shaking was so small that they hadn't done anything."

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about 65 mi [105 km] NE of Camaguey, Cuba. A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the Florida Keys, the West Coast of Florida from Bonita Beach southward to Ocean Reef and Florida Bay. A Hurricane Watch may be required for a portion of the northern Gulf Coast this morning. Isaac is expected to be at or near hurricane strength when the center reaches the Florida Keys. Additional strengthening is likely while the cyclone moves over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It is too early to determine exactly where and when Isaac will make landfall along the Gulf Coast.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 350 nm southwest of Taipei, Taiwan.
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 110 nm southeast of Kadena AB, Japan.

'Igme' weakens and exits, but could turn back - Tropical cyclone Igme (Tembin) weakened into a tropical storm and exited the Philippine area of responsibility Saturday, but state weather forecasters said it may still make a U-turn and reenter Philippine territory.

Powerful typhoon approaches Okinawa - The Japanese island of Okinawa is hunkering down in preparation for wind gusts of up to 250km/h as Typhoon Bolaven approaches its shores.

Tropical Storm Isaac has swept into eastern Cuba after bringing flood misery to the south coast of Haiti, where four people were killed. The Cuban government declared a state of alert in at least six provinces and evacuated thousands of people from high-risk areas ahead of landfall. There were no reports of major damage in Haiti but heavy rain continued after the storm had passed.
In the US, a storm warning has been issued for the coast of Florida. Officials organised shelters and urged holiday-makers to leave the Florida Keys as the Governor declared a state of emergency to make sure emergency services would be ready when the storm made landfall today. The US Republican Party has delayed discussions at its National Convention in Tampa for a day because of the approach of Isaac. The Florida storm warning has now been extended north of Tampa. The storm is now located 550km (340 miles) east-southeast of Key West in Florida, moving north-west at 30km/h (17mph).
In Cuba's easternmost city, Baracoa, water crashed over the seawall and ran ankle-deep through the nearby streets. "We fear the sea and the flooding a lot more than the rain and wind. It rains frequently here all year long, but when the sea comes in, everything floods." In Haiti, a girl of 10 died when a wall fell on her in the capital, Port-au-Prince. There were three other known deaths.
The poorest country in the Americas is still recovering from the devastating 2010 earthquake and many of the 400,000 people still living in tent cities had no option but to weather the storm under canvas. "From last night, we're in misery. All our children are sleeping in the mud, in the rain." At one site, more than 50 tents collapsed, forcing people to search the mud for their belongings. (photo & map)

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Burma floods leave 85,000 homeless. The Irrawaddy Delta - where 130,000 people died in a cyclone in 2008 - has been worst affected. UNUSUALLY heavy monsoon rains have inundated around 250,000 hectares of rice fields. Damaged transport and communications networks mean the full picture is still emerging.
The government says it has set up more than 200 emergency relief centres to help those who have had to leave their homes. Next year's rice harvest is also expected to be significantly affected. Rice is a key export for Burma and the staple diet for most of the population. The floods will test how reformed the new government in Burma is. When Cyclone Nargis devastated communities across the Irrawaddy Delta four years ago, the then-military government arrested those who reported the scale of the disaster and refused foreign help. This time, a civilian government which took power in 2011 and now includes opposition politicians is in charge.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

West Africa forest biomass 'on rise despite drought' - The carbon storage capacity of protected forests in West Africa has increased despite the region suffering a 40-year drought, a study suggests. The tree composition in these areas favoured species that were able to cope with drier conditions. Previous studies suggested that drought conditions resulted in less carbon being stored as vegetation died.
Biomass is a vital component in the global carbon cycle. When plants grow, they absorb carbon dioxide and water in the photosynthesis process. While oxygen is released into the atmosphere as a waste product of this process, the absorbed carbon primarily remains locked in the plant until it dies. The study showed an increase in biomass. "Because you have got this long-term environmental shift, it is possible for the species composition of the forests to reshuffle slightly, so the species that can survive under those conditions are favoured. This means you are getting less negative impacts of the drought."
The West Africa region has experienced drought conditions since 1970. Rainfall has fallen by up to 23% compared with pre-1970 levels. "It is generally thought that if you have droughts then you are going to see a decrease in biomass. Certainly, studies that have looked at short-term, quite extreme droughts do seem to show biomass loss. It could be that the increase in biomass (recorded in this study) could be the result of something else, but we think that the maintenance of the forest structure, despite the drought conditions, is a result of a change in species composition. This basically means that you cannot take those short-term studies of extreme droughts and extrapolate the findings to a long-term event with different kinds of precipitation changes."
Findings earlier this year found that tropical forests in Africa may be more resilient to future climate change than the Amazon and other major forest regions. It suggested that the region's surviving tree species had endured a number of climatic catastrophes over the past 4,000 years. As a result, they were better suited to cope with future shifts in the climate. The continent's tropical forests form the second-largest continuous forested area in the world. "It is very important for the global carbon cycle that these forests are maintained."

Friday, August 24, 2012

**Remember that happiness is a way of travel,
not a destination.**
Roy Goodman

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.7 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
5.5 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.7 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION

Yesterday -
8/23/12 -
5.0 NEPAL

A year after earthquake, the shocks linger in Virginia town - A year after the 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook the ground from North Carolina to New Jersey, the town of Mineral at its epicenter continues to tremble. Now the unofficial earthquake capital of the East Coast, in most other ways is a typical small town of 471.
The quake caused millions of dollars in damage. This was the largest earthquake to hit the east coast since 1944. There hasn't been a quake this size in Virginia in roughly a century. It's believed to have been felt by more people than any other in U.S. history, changing the way responders view emergency preparedness.
The quake was probably a tremor that occurs about once every 2,000 years, a new seismic study of damage to the Washington Monument suggests. ( Video taken inside the Washington Monument during the earthquake goes on for more than two minutes)

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about 135 mi [215 km] SSE of Port au Prince Haiti. A Hurricane Watch has been issued for Haiti. Interests the remainder of Cuba...the Bahamas... South Florida...and the Florida Keys should monitor the progress of Isaac. Watches will likely be required for portions of the Florida Keys later today and are also possible for portions of the southern Florida Peninsula.
- Post-Tropical Cyclone Joyce was located about 1030 mi [1655 km] E of the Leeward Islands. This is the last public advisory issued by the National Hurricane Center on this system unless regeneration occurs.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 380 nm southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 180 nm southwest of Taipei, Taiwan.

Tropical Storm Isaac unleashed heavy rain and winds off Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as it moved across the Caribbean on Thursday and could strengthen into a hurricane before tearing across the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

**If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.**
Milton Berle

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.

Yesterday -
8/22/12 -
5.4 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.
5.2 TONGA
5.0 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

New Zealand - 500,000 people in lava's line of fire. New modelling has for the first time revealed which areas of volcano-rich Auckland would be obliterated by lava flows in an eruption - and a wide spread of major suburbs are in the firing line.

Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador spews lava and ash - Ecuador's Tungurahua volcano has been spewing lava, ash and pyroclastic material into the air in Tungurahua. The authorities are encouraging residents living near the volcano to evacuate due to increased activity of the volcano. (photos) Video

What Is the Fate of the Volcanic Pumice Rafts? - The NASA Earth Observatory has been doing an excellent job tracking the spread of the pumice from the Havre eruption in the Kermadec Islands. Currently the pumice is spread over an area of 270,000 km2 / 100,000 sq. miles of the Pacific Ocean and is continuing to spread. This pumice will likely stay afloat for months if not longer and eventually make landfall wherever the currents dictate – potentially as far off as South America.
Pumice rafts are not particularly uncommon, especially in areas of abundant submarine volcanism like the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The pumice rafts are like islands that move around the oceans so you might expect that oceanic organisms will take advantage of their newly created pieces of real estate. We don’t know what the fate of the Havre pumice right now, but a recent study details what happened to pumice from the 2006 Home Reef eruption in Tonga. This eruption produced a small island that might have been as high as 75 meters tall, but wave action quickly destroyed the “island” of fragmental volcanic material into a pumice raft.
Pumice is unique amongst rocks as it can float in water due to the presence of abundant and isolated bubbles in the volcanic material. Within 8 months of the eruption, some of these pumice clasts travelled over 5,000 km / 3,100 miles and many stayed afloat for almost two years after the initial Home Reef eruption. The number of pumice clasts from the Home Reef raft is greater than 2.5 trillion pieces of pumice. The pumice quickly became home to upwards of 80 different species of marine life over the course of its journey — in some cases, single pumice clasts were home to over 200 individuals of a single species of barnacle (this means that over 10 billion barnacles colonized the pumice raft). Some of these critters were permanent inhabitants (that is, they were attached) while others were mobile, so if the pumice landed on a beach, off onto the island a crab might scuttle.
By a year and a half after the pumice raft was erupted, some clasts had 3/4 of their surface covered. It could reach such an extreme that the biological hitchhikers would cause the pumice to sink or preferential float with one side facing up, creating microenvironments on a single pumice clast. Upwards of 1/3 of Home Reef pumice made the journey from Tonga to the Great Barrier Reef region off of Australia in only 7 months after the eruption. This means that the sealife attached to the pumice was brought to the reef, some ready to spawn and create new colonies of barnacles, corals, bryozoans and more. Other creatures were stranded on islands inbetween or sank before reaching the Great Barrier Reef and Australia. So, these volcanic events that have happened frequently in the recent geologic record all over the world may play an important role in how life colonized different parts of the world’s oceans. (map & satellite photo)

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about 270 mi [440 km] SE of San Juan, Puerto Rico. A Hurricane Warning has been issued for Haiti. Interests in Cuba, Jamaica and elsewhere in the Bahamas should monitor the progress of Isaac. The center of Isaac should continue to move away from the Leeward Islands, pass to the south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico today and approach the Dominican Republic tonight and Friday.
- Tropical depression 10 was located about 1045 mi [1685 km] W of the Cape Verde Islands. The depression is expected to become a tropical storm [Joyce] today. The forecast models have never shown much strengthening with this cyclone, and the forecast path keeps it out to sea.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 580 nm southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan.
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 185 nm southeast of Taipei, Taiwan.

Tropical Storm Isaac churns into eastern Caribbean - The churning center of Tropical Storm Isaac spun over tiny islands at the eastern entrance to the Caribbean, where many seafront bars and restaurants stubbornly remained open Wednesday night as lightning and thunder crackled. The mayor of Tampa, Florida, says public safety will trump politics if Isaac threatens the city during the Republican National Convention next week. Tampa won't hesitate to pull the plug on the convention if Tropical Storm Isaac threatens the Tampa Bay area as a major storm. Isaac is forecast to become a hurricane as it moves on a track that would put it off the coast of Florida on Monday.

Typhoon 16W (Bolaven) - Okinawa remains in Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 4. Bolaven could become the worst typhoon to hit the island in 13 years. Whether this typhoon continues to plow toward them or veers in one direction or another, this is not one to take lightly.

Typhoon Tembin wreaks havoc in the Philippines, sets sights on Taiwan. Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau has issued a sea warning for the ocean to the east of the storm. Warnings for areas on land are likely to come soon.

Friday 24 August is the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew - Hurricane Andrew was a destructive tropical cyclone that was, at the time, the costliest hurricane in United States history. It was the fourth tropical cyclone, first named storm, and first hurricane of the 1992 Atlantic hurricane season.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

India - At least 20 people have been killed by heavy monsoon rains in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan. The rains have disrupted normal life in the state capital, Jaipur, since Tuesday and flooded many areas. About 20,000 people living in the city have been forced to flee their homes due to flooding.
Earlier this month, at least 34 people died in northern Uttarakhand state after torrential rains triggered landslides and flash floods. Rajasthan's meteorological department said Jaipur was experiencing THE HEAVIEST RAINS SINCE 1981, causing flooding in low lying neighbourhoods and slum areas. At least 10 of the people killed in the state died in the city, some of them in house collapses. Many people have taken shelter on the rooftops of homes, and rescue workers from a local paramilitary force have been deployed to evacuate them. In June, at least 27 people died and one million people were forced to leave their homes by floods as rains lashed the north-eastern state of Assam.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

Extreme U.S. weather expected to remain - As farmers from southern Michigan to California's Pacific coast struggled through the worst drought in half a century, scientists, lawmakers and officials argued over what's pushing the weather to such extremes.

HEALTH THREATS -

A mysterious new disease has left scores of people in Asia and some in the United States with AIDS-like symptoms even though they are not infected with HIV. The patients' immune systems become damaged, leaving them unable to fend off germs as healthy people do. What triggers this isn't known, but the disease does not seem to be contagious. Most of the cases have been found in Thailand and Taiwan since 2004.
This is another kind of acquired immune deficiency that is not inherited and occurs in adults, but doesn't spread the way AIDS does through a virus. It's still possible that an infection of some sort could trigger the disease, even though the disease itself doesn't seem to spread person-to-person. The disease develops around age 50 on average, but does not run in families, which makes it unlikely a single gene was responsible. Some patients have died of overwhelming infections, including some Asians now living in the US.
The virus that causes AIDS - HIV - destroys T-cells, key soldiers of the immune system that fight germs. The new disease doesn't affect those cells, but causes a different kind of damage. Most of those with the disease make substances called autoantibodies that block interferon-gamma, a chemical signal that helps the body clear infections. Blocking that signal leaves people like those with AIDS - vulnerable to viruses, fungal infections and parasites, but especially micobacteria, a group of germs similar to tuberculosis that can cause severe lung damage. Researchers are calling this new disease an "adult-onset" immunodeficiency syndrome because it develops later in life and they don't know why or how.
The fact nearly all the patients so far have been Asian or Asian-born people living elsewhere suggests genetic factors and something in the environment such as an infection may trigger the disease, researchers conclude. "We know there are many others out there," including many cases mistaken as tuberculosis in some countries.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

**I dislike the thought that some animal has been made
miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat,
I want it to be from an animal that has lived
a pleasant, uncrowded life outdoors, on bountiful pasture,
with good water nearby and trees for shade.**
Wendell Berry

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.1 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION

Yesterday -
8/21/12 -
5.3 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.5 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA

8/20/12 -
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

6 dead in earthquake on northern Indonesian island - The death toll rose to six on Monday from a powerful weekend earthquake in Indonesia as rescuers reached mountainous villages that had been cut off by more than 60 landslides. At least 43 others were injured. The 6.3 quake struck Saturday evening near the mountainous districts of Parigi Moutong and Sigi in Central Sulawesi province, where panicked residents ran from their homes into the streets as the ground shook violently for around 15 seconds.

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

110 families evacuated in Ecuador eruption - The Tungurahua volcano spewed a large cloud of ash towards the nearby town of Bilbao, Ecuador, in the early hours on Tuesday, August 21. A column of vapor and ash up to 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) high has characterized the moderate-to-strong eruption. A half-dozen villages are being showered in ash. Tungurahua volcano has been spewing out ash and smoke since it became active in 1999.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Isaac was located about 390 mi [625 km] E of Guadeloupe. Isaac continues westward toward the Leeward Islands - tropical storm warnings have been issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The center of Isaac should move through the Leeward Islands this evening and move over the northeastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday. Isaac could become a hurricane by Thursday.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 225 nm southeast of Taipei, Taiwan.
- Typhoon 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 730 nm southeast of Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan.

Tropical Storm Isaac is a potential threat to the GOP convention in Tampa, Florida. Forecasters are keeping a wary eye on Tropical Storm Isaac, which developed in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday and poses a threat to Florida during next week's Republican National Convention. Tropical Storm Isaac, the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, is heading toward the Lesser Antilles and is forecast to emerge over the eastern Caribbean Sea within two days.

New cyclone may enter Philippine territory today or Thursday - The new cyclone, internationally codenamed Bolaven, may enter Philippine territory just as Typhoon Igme (Tembin) is expected to exit Philippine territory. But they are not discounting the possibility of both cyclones interacting and be involved in a Fujiwhara Effect. The Fujiwhara Effect is the tendency of two nearby tropical cyclones to rotate cyclonically about each other. In this phenomenon, two tropical cyclones may start to affect each other, with the stronger cyclone likely to dominate the weaker one.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Myanmar - Climate change behind 'extreme' monsoon weather? A department of Meteorology and Hydrology official last week attributed the UNUSUALLY heavy mid-monsoon in Myanmar's delta and coastal areas to the effects of climate change. The official described the 2012 monsoon as “extreme” – lower Myanmar has received above-average rain, while falls in the central areas have been sparse – and said rainfall patterns had been significantly different than the 30-year average from 1961 to 1990.
“Myanmar averaged rainfall from one inch to three inches a day in the mid-monsoon season of July and August over that 30-year period. That regular monsoon distribution was advantageous for sectors such as agriculture and transportation. But we observed that in the last 10 years, daily rainfall in the mid-monsoon has increased to five or even six inches. Since the end of July, we have measured five to seven inches of daily rainfall in some areas of lower Myanmar. Over the past 10 years, there have also been days where we measured no rain in the mid-monsoon season. Either extreme ­– excessive rain or not enough rain – is a problem for the agriculture sector. Excess rain results in flooding in the paddy fields and on roads. This impacts on the economy and society more broadly.”
While some parts of the country, particularly Ayeyarwady and Bago regions and Kayin State, have experienced flooding this year, the central areas are in drought. He attributed the flooding to effects of an UNUSUALLY intense low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal in early of August. “Low pressure areas in the northern area of the Bay of Bengal normally cause strong wind and heavy rain within 300 miles, to about Thandwe in Rakhine state. But the impact of this low pressure area reached about 600 miles and caused the Ayeyarwady delta area to also experience extreme weather. Flooding in these areas was at its worst in early August, during the high tide period."
An official from the Myanmar Red Cross Society said on August 13 that more than 10,000 people had been forced to leave their homes because of flooding in the Bago Region townships of Shwe Kyin, Waw, Madauk, Daik Oo and Kawa. Meanwhile, an official of the Fire Service Department for Pathein township in Ayeyarwady Region said that about five quarters in Pathein were flooded last week and some of the town’s schools forced to close as a result. “There are seven relief camps in Pathein. We are still counting the exact number of people in the camps. Water has been increasing since full moon day of Waso [on August 2]. The water is more than three feet high in some low-lying quarters,” he said on August 16. “The high water level of the Ngawun River combined with continuous heavy rain caused the flooding, which normally happens in Pathein every four years or so.”
On August 15 that the Ngawun River exceeded its danger level of 350 centimetres at Pathein by 15cm on August 16. All parts of Ayeyarwady Region, with the exception of Pyapon, Maubin and Myaungmya township, had reported flooding. The department has forecast another low pressure system could intensify into a depression in the Bay of Bengal in late August.

EXTREME HEAT & DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -

50 buildings destroyed in Northern California fire - Dozens of buildings, many of them likely homes, have been destroyed in a fire burning outside the Northern California community of Manton, fire officials said Tuesday night.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Major computer melt-down over the weekend, so haven't been able to get the webpage updated. Went out today and finally bought a laptop - cross your fingers, I hope to be up and running on time tomorrow!

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Yesterday -
8/19/12 -
5.2 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
6.2 NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG.
5.0 ASSAM, INDIA
5.5 OFF COAST OF WASHINGTON

8/18/12 -
5.7 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
6.3 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
5.7 TONGA
5.4 VANUATU REGION

8/17/12 -
5.5 NORTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
5.0 TAIWAN
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Gordon was located about 255 mi. [410 km] E of the Azores. Swells in the eastern Azores generated by Gordon will continue to subside today.

In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical storm 16w (Bolaven) was located approximately 400 nm south of Iwo to, Japan.
- Typhoon 15w (Tembin) was located approximately 420 nm south- southeast of Taipei, Taiwan.

Friday, August 17, 2012

Russian Volcano Erupts, Spewing Gas Over Kuril Islands. Ivan the Terrible volcano erupted on one of Russia's far eastern Kuril Islands, releasing a cloud of noxious fumes and raising temperatures in the surrounding area. Emergency officials said in a statement on their website that the volcano, located on the sparsely populated island of Iturup to the south of the Kuril archipelago, erupted Wednesday due to increased water flows rushing into the volcano after heavy downpours. Officials stressed that the volcano had released no lava and that it erupts regularly. The last major eruption was in 1989. Iturup residents were exposed to a slight smell of hydrogen peroxide and noticed ash falling as a result of the eruption. By Thursday, the hydrogen peroxide fumes and ash were no longer noticeable. Emergency officials advised citizens to steer clear of Ivan the Terrible and said they were monitoring the volcano's activity.

**Hope is believing in spite of the evidence,
and watching the evidence change.**
Alaskan elder

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.3 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE

Yesterday -
8/16/12 -
5.0 KYUSHU, JAPAN
5.2 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.0 FIJI REGION

VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams

New Zealand - Tongariro Volcano alert reduced to level 1. Ten days have elapsed since the eruption of Tongariro on the evening of August 6. Although very minor amounts of ash were emitted in the first few days after the eruption, there has been no significant activity since August 6.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical storm Gordon was located about 1315 mi [2115 km] W of the Azores. Maximum sustained winds are near 70 mph. [110 km/h], with higher gusts. Gordon could become a hurricane today. Gordon only has a day or so to become a hurricane before it moves over cooler waters and encounters strong shear. A gradual weakening should then begin, but Gordon is forecast to remain a tropical storm by the time it moves through the Azores in 3 days. Potential paths

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Tropical depression Hector was located about 435 mi. [700 km] WSW of the southern tip of Baja California. Gradual weakening is forecast and Hector is expected to become a remnant low today.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 14w (Kai-Tak) was located approximately 300 nm east of Hanoi, Vietnam.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Britain - Severe weather warning as tropical cyclone sweeps over Somerset. The West is battening down the hatches for the closest thing it will probably ever get to a tropical cyclone, due to sweep over the region over the next few days. The first arm of the deep low pressure, which weather forecasters say will be sucking up very warm and very wet and windy weather from the tropics, were expected to hit the west of Somerset and Dorset from Wednesday, with the Met Office issuing a severe weather warning. It says there is a danger of flooding, both from rivers and flash flooding from heavy rainfall, with the added danger of autumnal strength winds hitting trees in full leaf.
The yellow warning urges the public to be aware of severe conditions. “Heavy rain, accompanied by strong winds, is expected to spread north during Wednesday morning and afternoon. The heaviest rain is likely to clear from the south by evening, but the strong winds will peak a little later. The public should be aware of the possibility of surface water flooding and the likelihood of difficult conditions for travel." And there will be a second wind today, with the tail-end of the cyclone battering the West again, with more heavy rain expected.
Residents in Street have been hit by flash floods this morning following more heavy rain.

SPACE WEATHER -

The sun is a perfect sphere - Too perfect. The sun is more spherical and more invariable than theories predict. The 11-year solar cycle swoops between peaks of intense magnetic activity — apparent as sunspots, coronal loops and flares — and relative quiescence, when the sun's face is free of blemishes. New research shows that despite this tumult, the sun remains remarkably constant in its globular shape — findings that have left researchers scratching their heads. Earth's closest star is ONE OF THE ROUNDEST OBJECTS HUMANS HAVE MEASURED. If you shrank the sun down to beach ball size, the difference between its north-south and the east-west diameters would be thinner than the width of a human hair. "Not only is it very round, but it's too round."
Scientists have long tried to assess the sun's shape, in part because understanding its structure would help them predict when a flare might shoot toward Earth and disrupt communication satellites and power grids. Measuring the orb has been tricky, however, and no two observations have matched exactly. Researchers accounted for the discrepancies by assuming the sun's figure varied with the solar cycle. In the last two years, the sun's activity has exploded after a long period of relative quiescence, giving researchers an opportunity to watch the evolution of the solar cycle. Previous instruments for observing the star were mostly ground-based, and thus had to peer through the blur of Earth's atmosphere. Researchers may have thus measured atmospheric changes correlated with the solar cycle and not changes in the star itself.

HEALTH THREATS -

Michigan woman dies of West Nile - Experts fear THE SEASON COULD BE THE WORST IN YEARS. Public health officials in Michigan are sounding the alarm about another potentially deadly mosquito season after a Washtenaw County woman described as healthy and active died of West Nile Virus - the first such death this year.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Louisiana - Gas bubbles, 1000s of recent quakes and giant sinkhole 'quite possibly' have same source: oil and gas industry environmental modifications. On Monday, as officials warned an explosion is possible from gas in Louisiana's sinkhole area where radioactive waste has been pumped into a cavern and the Department of Natural Resources authorized drilling a new well in the danger sinkhole zone, a seismologist said that seismic activity exists in that zone and that fossil fuel industries’ environmental modifications (ENMODs) as the cause of the State of Emergency, is a “real possibility.” Reported diagnostic tests from federal, state and local officials and industry pinpoint no source of the sinkhole or gas bubbling bayous.
Have fossil fuel industries in Louisiana, through their ENMODs caused today’s geological instabilities that have resulted in this disaster? “Possibly – I think that’s a real possibility. DNR – they’re the big players here. They don’t think the sinkhole caused the bubbles. The bubbles were there before the sinkhole.” So were thousands of earthquakes before the giant sinkhole developed.
“On July 24th, the number of quakes went up hundreds or thousands or so a day until August 2nd when they stopped. The next day, August 3rd, the sinkhole occurred – that morning.” Seismometers picked up thousands of quakes in the Assumption Parish disaster area since June.
Monday, DNR issued a permit to the company possibly partially responsible for causing the disaster, Texas Brine Company to investigate the problem by drilling into the sinkhole area. "We have to arrange for the driller. We have to pick a location. We have to be very careful to not be in a point that's too close to the sinkhole because of the weight of the rig. We don't want to aggravate the situation."
Assumption Parish Sheriff said last week that his greatest worry is a nearby butane well exploding. "That's why the mandatory evacuation is going to stay on, because there is a risk for explosion." Locals say their greatest worry is the explosion and cover ups, not being well enough informed about matters such as the Texas Brine cavern near the sinkhole having radioactive waste pumped into it, and the massive butane-filled well only 1500 feet from that salt cavern. Locals reported feeling quakes which caused small damages. People reported quakes on June 8 and July 3.
“We were surprised there were quakes large enough to be felt and had done damage but not recorded. They were picked up by a program at the national seismologist that didn’t initially see or report them. The signal was there but may not have gone above the noise level. USGS then looked and said, 'Yes, there have been tremors there.' The quakes ended when the bubbling sinkhole developed but seismic signals continue from the sinkhole area.
The 372 feet diameter sinkhole is centered in the “worst-case scenario area” in the Napoleanville Salt Dome. "The worst-case area displayed is a smaller area than the 2,000-foot worst-case scenario that parish and state officials feared Friday was a possibility when a mandatory evacuation was ordered for the Bayou Corne community."
Sharp tremors stopped the day the sinkhole occurred and there has been no resumption of them. Seismic signals, however, continue in the sinkhole area. There are seismic signals that appear to emanate from the vicinity of the in the Napoleonville salt dome, in the low amplitude range. “I don’t know what they are or what they mean seismically, but they are happening.”
One of the reasons it’s hard to pinpoint this is "a lot of plants have more than one pipe coming into their operations. They get their natural gas from more than one supplier, and the suppliers can also reroute their gas depending on the capacity of various pipelines.” DNR ordered Texas Brine to evaluate the structural integrity of the salt cavern and begin remediating any problems in the seismic activity area. An explosion from a natural gas pocket or from a nearby salt cavern failing and releasing flammable gas is possible.
Eighty miles west of Bayou Corne is Lake Peigneur that balances above a salt dome that collapsed in 1980 when a drilling rig punctured a protective layer in the salt mine wall, causing the entire lake, including a drilling rig, several larges barges and large chunks of surrounding land to be pulled down into the cavern. Pressure was so great, the bayou ran backwards, created a large waterfall, and was sucked back into the puncture hole.

**Do not resent growing old.
Many are denied the privilege.**
Irish proverb

LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)

This morning -
5.1 FIJI REGION

Yesterday -
8/15/12 -
5.1 OFFSHORE EL SALVADOR
5.0 NORTHWESTERN IRAN
5.3 REYKJANES RIDGE

Nearly 1000 earthquakes shook Arizona in recent years - Arizona isn't known for its earthquakes, but researchers said Tuesday that nearly 1000 earthquakes were recorded in the state over the past three years.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Atlantic -
- Tropical depression 8 was located about 550 mi. [885 km] E of Bermuda. The depression could become a tropical storm today. Interests in the Azores should monitor the progress of this system.

In the Eastern Pacific -
- Tropical depression Hector was located about 455 mi [730 km] SW of the southern tip of Baja California. Hector is forecast to degenerate into a remnant low today.

In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon 14w (Kai-Tak) was located approximately 245 nm southeast of Hong Kong. Heading toward eventual landfall in China.

Tropical storm Kai-tak (Helen) may strike Hong Kong as a typhoon. The strong tropical storm that slammed the northern Philippines has its sights set on the region around Hong Kong.

SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -

Landslides kill up to 10 times more people across the world than previously thought, according to a study. It has calculated that 32,300 people died in landslides between 2004 and 2010. Earlier estimated suggested the toll was between 3,000 and 7,000 people. Weather patterns, deforestation and increasingly dense population settlements were factors in the toll caused by landslides.
The report's main author said landslides should be seen as a major global hazard. "Areas with a combination of high relief, intense rainfall, and a high population density are most likely to experience high numbers of fatal landslides." There were several reasons that earlier estimates put the number of those killed during landslides at a lower figure. "Other data sets tends to collect data on the basis of trigger - hurricane or typhoon. Most of the other data sets also have a higher threshold - they only record events that kill 10 people or more, for example, but there are lots of landslides that kill relatively small numbers of people." Controlling land use, managing forests and discouraging development in vulnerable areas could help manage and mitigate landslide risks. The main global trigger for landslides is monsoon rain which causes a spike in the number of fatal landslides each year between May and October. Tropical cyclones also generate extreme rainfall, leading to landslides in Asia, and hurricanes have the same effect on regions in the Caribbean and Central America.
The figures, which are likely to still be underestimates, do not include landslides triggered by earthquakes. The study, which has spanned almost a decade, said that areas where landslides are more likely to occur are countries which sit along the Himalayan Arc - India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh - as well as China, and Central and South America.
Global landslide hotspots -
Southern edge of the Himalayan Arc
South-west coast of India
Sri Lanka
Southern and eastern coasts of China
Central China, notably the mountains around the Sichuan Basin
Western edge of the Philippine Sea plate (Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines)
Central Caribbean islands, including Haiti
Indonesia, especially Java
Along the mountainous chain from Mexico, Central America, to Chile, South America, especially Colombia