**A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.**
Alexander Pope.
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
5.5 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
7.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
Yesterday, 5/6/15 -
5.1 VANUATU
5.0 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.4 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.7 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.4 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5/5/15 -
5.5 MID-INDIAN RIDGE
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.6 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.3 VANUATU
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 VANUATU
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.5 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.5 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
7.4 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5/4/15 -
5.4 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.7 BALLENY ISLANDS REGION
5.1 IRAN-PAKISTAN BORDER REGION
5.1 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
5.6 SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
5/3/15 -
5.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.5 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5/2/15 -
5.7 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5/1/15 -
5.2 ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
6.8 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 SOUTH OF JAVA, INDONESIA
5.2 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
4/30/15 -
6.7 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.8 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.0 ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
4/29/15 -
5.4 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 OFF COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
4/28/15 -
5.5 OAXACA, MEXICO
6.2 FIJI REGION
5.1 STATE OF CHUUK, MICRONESIA
5.3 NEAR COAST OF ECUADOR
4/27/15 -
5.2 INDIA-BANGLADESH BORDER REGION
4/26/15 -
5.6 NEAR COAST OF NORTHERN PERU
5.2 NEPAL
5.0 NEPAL
6.7 NEPAL
5.2 FIJI REGION
4/25/15 -
5.5 NEPAL-INDIA BORDER REGION
5.1 TAIWAN REGION
5.3 XIZANG-NEPAL BORDER REGION
5.2 NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
5.3 NORTH OF HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.0 NEPAL
5.2 NEPAL
5.1 XIZANG-NEPAL BORDER REGION
5.6 WESTERN XIZANG
5.0 NEPAL
5.4 NEPAL
5.1 NEPAL
5.0 NEPAL
5.3 NEPAL
5.0 XIZANG-NEPAL BORDER REGION
5.0 NEPAL
5.1 NEPAL
5.7 XIZANG-NEPAL BORDER REGION
6.7 NEPAL
5.3 NEPAL
5.3 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
7.8 NEPAL
5.1 GUAM REGION
4/24/15 -
6.1 QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS REGION
5.1 MOLUCCA SEA
6.0 SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
5.1 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.4 OFF COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
5.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
4/23/15 -
5.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
4/22/15 -
6.3 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 SOUTHERN PERU
5.2 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
Strong 7.2 Quake Rocks Papua New Guinea, Local Tsunami Possible. A powerful earthquake rattled Papua New Guinea on Thursday — the fourth strong quake to hit the South Pacific island nation in a week — prompting a tsunami warning for nearby coasts.
The 7.2-magnitude quake struck about 150 kilometers (94 miles) southwest of the town of Panguna on Bougainville Island at a depth of 22 kilometers (14 miles). The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said tsunami waves of up to 1 meter (3 feet) were possible within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the epicenter on the coast of Papua New Guinea. There was no threat of a tsunami beyond that.
There were no immediate reports of damage. Because the epicenter was so far offshore, the chance of serious damage on land was less likely. "It's not a particularly strong earthquake in global terms, but it could still have generated a tsunami, so it's a bit too uncertain at this stage to be sure."
Thursday's quake was located in a different area of Papua New Guinea than the previous three temblors that rattled the region over the past week, and was therefore an unrelated event. Papua New Guinea sits on the Ring of Fire, the arc of seismic faults around the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes are common.
Lots of earthquakes across California - is there a connection? The series of earthquakes across California aren't all connected, experts say.
It was an active seismic day in California, with small earthquakes rattling residents across Northern California and the Inland Empire on Wednesday morning. Earthquake experts said there’s no reason to think they’re connected. Even the three quakes in Riverside County were too far apart to all be linked. The first two, a magnitude-3.7 and -2.7 that struck shortly after midnight, both were traced back to the San Jacinto fault zone. But the third temblor, a magnitude-3.1 near Corona at 9:11 a.m., occurred in a different fault zone.
Scientists are still studying the details of the third earthquake, which occurred near the Elsinore and Whittier faults. As for the first two, it seemed like business as usual for the San Jacinto fault zone, a major network of faults in Southern California. "We see relatively small earthquakes [on the San Jacinto fault], but it's relatively active."
Hundreds of miles north, in California’s East Bay area, three small earthquakes shook the Concord area Wednesday morning. The first temblor, a magnitude-3.0, occurred at 7:01 a.m. Half an hour later, a magnitude-3.5 quake and a magnitude-2.6 quake hit within three minutes of each other. The three quakes were centered about two miles from Pleasant Hill, four miles from Walnut Creek and 51 miles from Sacramento.
Farther up the state, a 3.3-magnitude earthquake struck the Redding area at 11:30 a.m. The epicenter was about five miles from Shasta Lake and 149 miles from Sacramento.
Nepal quake - Officials were struggling to find 1,000 EU citizens who are unaccounted for in Nepal, six days after the 7.8 earthquake that killed more than 6,000 people. Most are thought to have been trekking in the Everest or remote Langtang regions. Many are hoped to be alive but isolated by the quake. The fate of thousands of Nepalese in remote communities is also unknown.
At Kathmandu's historic Durbar Square, soldiers and volunteers form human chains to remove the debris, brick by brick. The bricks come from historic buildings levelled by the earthquake. Many are very old and are being stored so that they can be used to rebuild these ancient sites. The soldiers are joined by aid workers - but also tourists.
Nearly 14,000 people were injured in the disaster. Relief and rescue teams have reached most areas but many people remain in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Twelve EU citizens are known to have died so far. Some of them were killed by avalanches, triggered by the quake, that struck base camp below Mount Everest.
Landslides and poor weather have hampered efforts to deliver aid to isolated districts. Fights have broken out with victims demanding evacuation being left unable to board helicopters. China is expected to send more aircraft, but still more will be needed - along with road vehicles to carry relief supplies. There has been growing anger at the government's response to the disaster, with a number of protests breaking out.
The tent cities which sprang up around Kathmandu in the days following the quake have almost gone as the fear of aftershocks subsides. The quake destroyed seed stocks for the mid-May rice- sowing season, as well as stone huts that were storing grain. If farmers miss this month's planting season, they will be unable to harvest rice - Nepal's staple food - until late 2016.
Europe's Sentinel-1a satellite has got its first good look at the aftermath of Saturday's big quake in Nepal. The radar spacecraft is able to sense ground movement by comparing before and after imagery acquired from orbit. Researchers can see how the fault ruptured east from the epicentre, and did not break the surface. This may indicate that not all the strain built up in the rocks prior to the earthquake was released in the magnitude-7.8 event and its subsequent aftershocks.
Nepal Earthquake videos -
Climbers engulfed in avalanche.
Whole mountain came to life.
Looking for survivors.
Moving debris stone by stone
VOLCANOES -
Wired' Underwater Volcano May Be Erupting Off Oregon - Axial Seamount, an undersea volcano located 300 miles (480 kilometers) off the coast of Oregon, appears to be erupting and may be spewing out lava about a mile beneath the sea. Researchers were alerted to the possible submarine eruption by large changes in the seafloor elevation and an increase in the number of tiny earthquakes on April 24.
"It's kind of like a balloon — as magma is going into the balloon, it's inflating, and it pushes the seafloor up. As more and more magma gets in, the pressure builds. Eventually, it reaches some critical pressure where [the seamount] can't hold it in anymore, and then it squirts out."
After the volcano erupts, the seafloor drops very rapidly, "like letting air out of a balloon." Last week, the center of the volcanic crater dropped by nearly 8 feet (2.4 m) over a period of 12 hours, and the number of tiny earthquakes increased from hundreds per day to thousands per day. On April 24, there were 8,000 earthquakes in one day. (The earthquakes are too small to cause any harm to coastal residents or to trigger a tsunami, the researchers noted.)
The seamount last erupted in April 2011.
TROPICAL STORMS -
* In the Western Pacific -
Typhoon Noul was located approximately 809 nm east-southeast of Manila, Philippines.
Tropical depression 07w is located approximately 201 nm south-southeast of Pohnpei, Micronesia.
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National Hurricane Center says 70 percent chance of cyclone near southeast U.S. coast - A non-tropical low pressure system located about 220 miles south-southeast of the South Carolina-North Carolina border has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48 hours. "A subtropical or tropical cyclone could form later today or on Friday, and interests along the southeast coast of the United States should monitor the progress of this system."
Strengthening Typhoon Noul heads for Philippines, with possible stronger storm to follow - Typhoon Noul continues to slowly intensify as it moves on a course to make landfall in the northern Philippines on May 10. Meanwhile, a tropical depression has formed upstream from Typhoon Noul, as expected by some computer models.
The U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts this system to become Typhoon Dolphin, and predicts it will intensify significantly in the coming days as it heads northwest. This storm may be a threat to Japan or the Philippines early next week. Typhoon Noul is intensifying in the Western Pacific Ocean, and appears to be headed for a collision with the northern Philippine island of Luzon this weekend as a compact but intense storm.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, operated by the U.S. Navy and Air Force, has shifted the storm's projected forecast track to potentially make landfall in Luzon, before recurving to the northeast toward Japan early next week. Previous forecasts had shown that Noul would miss the Philippines entirely. As the world's most disaster-prone nation, however, it has endured everything from typhoons to volcanoes; this year, the Philippines lies in the path of what could be some particularly vicious storms that will be supercharged by unusually mild ocean waters. The overabundance of ocean heat content is in large part related to an El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which has boosted ocean surface temperatures in parts of the tropical Pacific, and altered wind and weather patterns.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Afghanistan landslide buries remote village, killing 52. 97 houses collapsed in north-eastern Afghanistan after a huge landslide swept through a village in Khawahan district, Badakhshan province, near Afghanistan's border with Tajikistan. The affected area was not accessible by road due to heavy snow, seriously hampering rescue efforts. The region regularly suffers landslides when snow begins to melt in the spring.
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