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LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
Yesterday, 3/29/14 -
5.0 HUBEI, CHINA
5.8 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.1 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIF.
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.3 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.0 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
3/28/14 -
5.2 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.4 FIJI REGION
5.6 NEAR COAST OF NICARAGUA
3/27/14 -
5.6 LA RIOJA, ARGENTINA
5.4 NORTH INDIAN OCEAN
6.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
California - Residents of southern California were rattled by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon, the largest of more than 100 aftershocks following Friday's 5.1 rumbler that caused light scattered damage around the Los Angeles area.
Saturday's quake rippled through an area near Rowland Heights, California, about 2:32 p.m. The temblor was considered relatively shallow with a depth of 5.6 miles. Seismologists said there was about a 5 percent chance that Friday's quake, which struck at 9:09 p.m., was a foreshock to a bigger temblor. No injuries were immediately reported from either Saturday's quake or the more significant earthquake that struck Friday evening outside La Habra, which is about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
Friday's temblor displaced at least 50 people in Fullerton, about 5 miles from the epicenter, because of minor damage to homes and apartment dwellings. Water bubbled up through the pavement along Gilbert Street just south of Rosecrans in Fullerton. As well, a water main break in the city forced the closure of some streets due to flooding. The quake also shook items off tables, rattled chandeliers and resulted in scattered damage to cars and property, including setting off a rockslide in the Orange County city of Brea that flipped a car on its roof.
Friday's quake was felt as far away as Palm Springs in the east, San Diego in the south and Ventura County to the north. While not large, the event "seems unusual, of course, because a lot of people felt it. These quakes occur in populated areas and people try to put two and two together and predict that something more is coming, but that's simply not the case."
The quake shut down Metrolink trains to allow for inspection of tracks and cars. In Anaheim, Disneyland briefly turned off park rides as a precaution and asked guests to remain seated. There have been various reports of water main and gas main leaks possibly caused by the quake, in La Habra, Fullerton and La Mirada.
The quake on Friday night was the biggest in the Los Angeles area for six years, since a 5.5-magnitude earthquake struck nearby. Preliminary data suggest Friday night's quake ocurred on the Puente Hills thrust fault which caused deadly 1987 Whittier quake.
Chileans Worry Over String of 300 Quakes - More than 300 earthquakes have shaken Chile's far-northern coast the past week, keeping people on edge as scientists say there is no way to tell if the UNUSUAL STRING OF TREMORS is a harbinger of an impending disaster.
The unnerving activity began with a strong magnitude-6.7 quake on March 16 that caused more than 100,000 people to briefly evacuate low-lying areas, although no tsunami materialized and there was little physical damage from the shaking. But the land has not settled down. More than a dozen perceptible quakes were felt in the city of Iquique just on Monday.
"The situation is out of the ordinary. There's a mix of a string of tremors and their aftershocks that make things more complex to evaluate. We can't rule out a larger quake." Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. A magnitude 8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts.
The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth also happened in Chile - a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people. The last recorded big quake to hit the northern area around Iquique was a devastating magnitude 8.3 in 1877. It unleashed a 24-meter-high (nearly 80-foot-high) tsunami, causing major damage along the Chile-Peru coast and fatalities as far away as Hawaii and Japan.
"The latest string of quakes is noteworthy because the last one happened in this seismic zone more than 130 years ago. It's a zone where quakes should happen more often, and they haven't in a very long time." A major quake in the country's north would be a potential threat to the economy of Chile, which is the world's top copper producing nation. Most of the Chilean mining industry is in the northern regions.
Chile's worrisome seismic activity can be traced to just off the country's 4,000-kilometer (2,500-mile) Pacific coast, where the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes. The 2010 quake released so much energy it shortened the Earth's day slightly by changing the planet's rotation.
VOLCANOES -
Alaska - Shishaldin Volcano On Higher Alert. After a week of unrest, Shishaldin Volcano in the Aleutians is being put on a higher alert level. The Alaska Volcano Observatory reported Friday that there have been explosions inside the volcano and elevated surface temperatures since March 18. That appears to mean there’s been a small eruption.
“There is probably fresh magma or lava down inside the crater." There hasn’t been any lava seen on the rim of the crater or the sides of the volcano. Shishaldin also isn’t emitting any ash. But this could be a precursor to a bigger event.
“Little things happen like this happen at Shishaldin probably even more often than we’re able to detect. They’re always, though – whenever you see some activity like this, there is a concern that it could, you know, escalate into something larger.” Shishaldin is now on a “watch” alert level, which carries an orange color code. It had previously been on a yellow – or “advisory” level – since January.
Only one of the six seismic monitoring stations on Shishaldin is active right now. The others are offline, and there’s not enough funding available to repair them. Shishaldin is on Unimak Island, northeast of Unalaska. Of all the conical glacial volcanoes in the world, it’s the the most symmetrical. It’s also the Aleutian Islands’ highest peak, and one of the most active in the chain. Its last big eruption was in 1999, when it sent an ash plume 45,000 feet above sea level. There hasn’t been any unusual activity there since 2009.
Reventador volcano (Ecuador) - elevated activity, lava flows and ash emissions. The volcano's activity has remained high since the beginning of the current eruptive phase since March 25.
TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.
* In the South Indian Ocean -
- Tropical cyclone Hellen is located approximately 345 nm north-northwest of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Hellen - A low pressure area centered over the Mozambique Channel organized into Tropical Cyclone 21S (Hellen) on Friday afternoon.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
In US, Mudslides Common, But Usually Few Deaths - Common causes of mudslides are unstable soil and heavy rain, especially following droughts, earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Mudslides occur when the soil becomes saturated.
The Oso, Washingon, landslide has been compared to the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens - both in terms of the devastation and the loss of life.
8 Tornadoes Reportedly Hit Missouri, Southern Iowa late on Thursday.
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