Earthquakes

[Soldier4Christ]

Strong earthquake off Samoa generates tsunami



SYDNEY - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 has struck in the Pacific’s Samoa islands region, generating a tsunami, the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on its website.

“Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near the earthquake epicenter,” the Hawaii-based warning center said.

The bulletin was issued after the quake, which the US Geological Survey separately measured at 6.7, struck at 0622 GMT about 195 kilometers (120 miles) east southeast of the Tongan town of Hihifo and 290 kilometers (180 miles) south southwest of Pago Pago in American Samoa.

The quake hit at a depth of 290 kilometers, sparking a tidal wave, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

“When no major waves are observed for two hours after the estimated time of arrival or damaging waves have not occurred for at least two hours, then local authorities can assume the threat is passed,” the center said.

“Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents,” it warned however.

[Soldier4Christ]

Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Hawaii 
Wakes up residents, knocks out power across island of Oahu

A strong earthquake shook Hawaii early Sunday, causing a landslide that blocked a major highway on Hawaii Island and knocking out power across the state, authorities said.

The state Civil Defense had unconfirmed reports of injuries, but communication problems prevented more definite reports. People were also trapped in elevators in Oahu, authorities said.

Gov. Linda Lingle said in a radio interview with KSSK from Hawaii Island that she had no report of any fatalities. She said boulders fell on highways, rock walls fell down and television had been knocked off of stands.

The quake occurred at 7:07 a.m. local time, 10 miles north-northwest of Kailua Kona, a town on the west coast of the Big Island, said Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center, part of the U.S. Geological Survey.
   
   

The Pacific Tsunami Center reported a preliminary magnitude of 6.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey gave a preliminary magnitude of 6.3. It was followed by several strong aftershocks, including one measuring a magnitude of 5.8, the Geological Survey said.

Blakeman said there was no risk of a Pacific-wide tsunami, but a possibility of significant wave activity in Hawaii.

On Hawaii Island, also known as the Big Island, there was some damage in Kailua-Kona and landslide along a major highway, said Gerard Fryer, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Center.

Officials were concerned there may be "structural integrity" problems at the big hospital in Kona in the Big Island, Lingle said. Rod Haraga, director of the state Transportation Department, told KSSK the hospital was being evacuated.

Betsy Garties, who lives in North Kohala, on the northern tip of Hawaii Island said she was lying in bed with one of her two young children when the quake struck.

"First I heard a rumbling. Then the house started to shake. Then broken glass," Garties said. She first stood under a door frame as safety experts advise, then found that too wobbly for comfort and ran into the yard.

"It was strong enough that it was wobbling, so you almost lost your balance running out into the yard," Garties said. "The house was visibly rocking."

Peggy Cardoza, an assistant manager at a fast food restaurant in Hilo, said she was at work when the earthquake struck.

"We just felt the ground shaking," Cardoza said. "We just stood here and watched everything shake."

Power at least partially knocked out on every island, said Civil Defense spokesman Lani Goldman. On Oahu, 95 percent of customers were without power, he said.

Authorities said some of the power outages may have been due to heavy rainfall.

[Shammu]

Strong quake hits Japan, no concern over tsunamis

2 hours, 4 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) - A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck close to islands in southern Japan, but there were no concerns over tsunamis and no immediate reports of damage or casualties, officials said.

The tremor struck at 6:18 am (2118 GMT) with its epicenter 800 kilometers (496 miles) south of Tokyo, close to the Izu islands, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

"You don't have to worry about disastrous tsunamis that could lead to damages, as certain time has passed since the quake," an official at the agency told AFP about two hours after the tremor.

He added that the agency will keep monitoring the sea level and that "some sea-level changes may be observed due to this quake."

Japan lies at the junction of four tectonic plates and endures about 20 percent of the world's most powerful earthquakes, which frequently jolt Tokyo and other major cities.

On Friday two strong undersea earthquakes struck Japan but with no reports of damages of casualties.

Strong quake hits Japan, no concern over tsunamis

[Shammu]

 == PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE REPORT ==



Region:                        SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA                                             
Geographic coordinates:        32.697N, 116.062W
Magnitude:                    4.5 Ml
Depth:                        8 km
Universal Time (UTC):          3 Nov 2006  15:56:43
Time near the Epicenter:       3 Nov 2006  07:56:43
Local time in your area:       3 Nov 2006  15:56:43

Location with respect to nearby cities:
   8 km (5 miles) SW (232 degrees) of Ocotillo, CA
  36 km (23 miles) WSW (253 degrees) of Seeley, CA
  46 km (28 miles) ESE (108 degrees) of Pine Valley, CA
  48 km (30 miles) WSW (258 degrees) of El Centro, CA
  92 km (57 miles) ENE (78 degrees) of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

[Soldier4Christ]

Japan braces for tsunami

A massive earthquake struck near the Russian-ruled Kuril islands in the northern Pacific Ocean on Wednesday, triggering a tsunami warning for Japan's coast, the meteorological agency said.

The earthquake registered 8.1 on the Richter scale at 8.15 pm (11.15 GMT) on the Pacific coast, the Japan Meteorological Agency said in a statement.

It said waves of up to two meters were on course to hit Japan's northern coast and the Kuril islands as early as 9:10 pm (1210 GMT).

The agency urged residents to head to higher ground, a warning passed on by local authorities.

The quake struck some 600 kilometres northeast of Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido on the Kuril island chain, too far away to be felt in Japan's major population centres.

[Soldier4Christ]

A tsunami has hit Japan but it was on 16 inches. The warning still stands as it is expected the possibility of a much bigger tsunami may follow.

[Soldier4Christ]

The second tsunami as hit now and it was only 8 inches. The tsunami warning as been relaxed and no further problems are expected from this. Thank God it was all very, very minor.

[Shammu]

Earthquake's effects felt in California
North Coast gets a surprise tsunami
By Kelly Pakula
Article Last Updated:11/15/2006 07:12:33 PM PST

CRESCENT CITY — The effects of a magnitude 8.1 earthquake off the coast of Japan were a surprise at the Crescent City Harbor Wednesday afternoon, after a surge wave caused "extensive damage," according to the California Office of Emergency Services.

An OES alert said the 6-foot surge wave at Crescent City came in at around 30 mph.

Debbie McAndrews of the Crescent City Harbor District said two docks were torn apart and numerous boats were knocked loose.

"We couldn't see waves," McAndrews said. "The water looked like you were watching a rolling river."

Harbormaster Richard Young said that there were no injuries and no boats had sunk, but that major damage had occurred to at least three docks.

"We're trying to look on the bright side," Young said. He added that the dock damage could run as high as $700,000.

Warnings and tsunami watches were issued in Japan, Russia, Hawaii Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and Northern California, but were later withdrawn. Surge waves were forecast to continue until 6 p.m. or a little later along the California coast.

A series of small waves — none measuring higher than 16 inches — hit Japan's coast, coming in well under initial predictions.

At the Eureka office of the National Weather Service, meteorologist Troy Nicolini said the wave height was underforecast,
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a product of the complexities of determining how a tsunami will act when it encounters a shoreline.

"Crescent City amplifies the wave height," he said.

The city is familiar with the power of ocean surges.

A 1964 tsunami washed away 11 people — the only tsunami to take lives in the continental United States.

Surge waves were reported Wednesday as far south as Port San Luis in San Luis Obispo County, according to a "special weather statement" from the National Weather Service.

San Mateo County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services and Homeland Security Director Lt. John Quinlan said he had been in direct contact with the weather service. Quinlan described a surge wave as being "way below a category of a tsunami.

"It was so far below the threshold, there were no warnings given," Quinlan said. "It's a 6-foot surge, which happens all the time. It's a rogue wave."

Quinlan said he was in contact with the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office, as well as the Pacifica and Half Moon Bay police departments and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

He said his biggest concern locally was the ocean's undertow, which may prove dangerous for swimmers and surfers.

"My biggest concern is the undertow," he said. "They kill people every year. It's very strong. The weather service warned us about that."

Earthquake's effects felt in California

[Shammu]

Shemya, AK   46cm/18in   
    Amchitka, AK   55cm/22in   
    Nawiliwili, HI   44cm/17i n   
    Kahului, HI   54cm/21in   
    Hilo, HI   43cm/17in   
    Westport, WA   5cm/2in   
    LaPush, WA   16cm/6in   
    Newport, OR   10cm/4in   
    Port Orford, OR   38cm/15in   
    Charleston, OR   12cm/5in   
    Crescent City, CA   88cm/35in   
    Arena Cove, CA   54cm/21in   
    North Spit, CA   10cm/4in   
    Point Reyes, CA   21cm/8in   
    Port San Luis, CA   55cm/22in   
    Santa Barbara, CA   20cm/8in   

11.15.2006 Kuril Islands Event

[Soldier4Christ]

California harbor suffers up to $700,000 in damages from tsunami

CRESCENT CITY, California: The National Weather Service lifted a tsunami advisory hours before powerful waves damaged docks and tore boats from their moorings in Northern California. Forecasters said they were wary of causing chaos along the U.S. Pacific coast.

"The waves were just small enough where we didn't want to panic everybody because it was very localized effects," said Dave Reynolds, a Monterey, California-based weather service meteorologist.

The five-foot (1.5-meter) surge, triggered by a powerful earthquake off the coast of Japan, entered Crescent City's Harbor Wednesday afternoon, destroying two docks and causing up to $700,000 (€547,200) in damage. No injuries were reported.

Richard Young, harbor master in the town about 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of the Oregon line, noticed a fast-moving current that he described as a "river within the ocean."

Some 400 miles (640 kilometers) to the south, waves pounded the Santa Cruz, California, yacht harbor all afternoon, causing several boats to break away from their moorings and capsizing a small sailboat.

The 8.1-magnitude undersea quake prompted tsunami warnings for Japan, Russia and Alaska, but those were lifted after waves that hit Japan turned out to be much smaller than forecast. One swimmer suffered minor cuts when surges hit Waikiki Beach in Hawaii.

[Soldier4Christ]

Quakes cut telephone, Internet to much of Asia 
Undersea cables used to route calls and online traffic damaged

Telephone lines and Internet service went dead across much of Asia on Wednesday after two powerful earthquakes damaged undersea cables used by several countries to route calls and online traffic.

Repairing the cables could take weeks because crews have to pull them up and transfer them to a ship for repair, said Lin Jen-hung, vice general manager of Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan's largest phone company.

The quakes jolted Taiwan late Tuesday, setting off a tsunami alert on the second anniversary of the Dec. 26, 2004, waves and quake that killed 230,000 in nine countries from the Indonesian islands to east Africa.

No large waves materialized this time but two people were killed when their home collapsed.

Two cables were damaged, both off Taiwan's coast, Chunghwa said.

The company reported a 50 percent loss of overall telephone capacity, with connections to China, Japan and Southeast Asia most affected.

Chunghwa also said almost all of Taiwan's communications capacity with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong was disrupted. Also hard hit was telephone service to the U.S., where 60 percent of capacity was lost, the company said.

Internet access in Beijing was cut or extremely slow, while Japanese customers were having trouble calling India and the Middle East. In South Korea, dozens of companies and institutions were affected, including the country's Foreign Ministry.

Hong Kong telephone company PCCW Ltd. (PCW), which also provides Internet service, said the quake cut its data capacity in half. Many Internet users were unable to access Web sites in parts of America, Taiwan and South Korea. Calls to Taiwan weren't connecting.

Internet access was cut or extremely slow in Beijing, said an official from China Netcom, China's No. 2 phone company. The official, who would not give his name, said the cause was thought to be the earthquake, but he had no further details.

Businesses in various parts of the city also said they were experiencing Internet access problems.

CCTV, the state-run television network, said China Telecom Corp., China's biggest phone company, was contacting counterparts in the U.S. and Europe about using satellites to make up for the shortfall.

KDDI Corp., Japan's major carrier for international calls, said its fixed-line telephone service was affected by the quake. Company spokesman Haruhiko Maeda said customers were having trouble calling India and the Middle East, which are usually use the cables near Taiwan.

Maeda said the company was rerouting calls to go through the U.S. and Europe and the company did not know how long it will take to repair the cables.

Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said that international roaming service provided by Japan's major three telecommunications - NTT DoCoMO, KDDI, and Softbank, was affected. Ministry official Akira Yamanaka said that some customers were unable to make calls using their cell phones in countries including Taiwan.

South Korea's largest telecom company, KT, said that lines it uses were damaged, affecting dozens of companies and institutions, including South Korea's Foreign Ministry.

However, the quake didn't cause problems for ordinary people using Internet and telephone service, according to Ku Ja-hong, a KT spokesman.

The quake, which hit offshore from the southern town of Hengchun, was felt throughout Taiwan. It shook buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei, in the northern part of the island.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated its magnitude at 7.1, while Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau measured it at 6.7. It was followed eight minutes later by 7.0 magnitude aftershock, the USGS said. A 5.9-magnitude aftershock struck early Wednesday, the Central Weather Bureau said.

Two members of one family were killed in Hengchun when their four-story home collapsed. The quake injured 42 people, three homes collapsed and 12 fires broke out, the National Fire Agency said.

Quakes frequently shake Taiwan, which is part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin. Most are minor and cause little or no damage. However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

[Shammu]

Major Earthquake Hits Northeastern Indonesia

9:29 am EST January 21, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia --  A 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday about in the Molucca Sea about 100 miles east of Sulawesi Island in northeastern Indonesia, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake was large enough to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said in a statement, but no tsunami warning was immediately issued.

The epicenter of the major quake was about 80 miles from the city of Ternate, in north eastern Indonesia, it said. It had a depth of more than six miles below the ocean floor.

An official with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii told The Associated Press that a basin-wide tsunami -- one that travels a great distance or across an ocean -- isn't expected, though a tsunami near the earthquake's site is "always possible."

"Given the size of the earthquake, we think a basin-wide tsunami isn't likely, though a local tsunami could be possible," said Brian Shiro, a geophysicist at the tsunami center.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Major Earthquake Hits Northeastern Indonesia

[Soldier4Christ]

Yellowstone Supervolcano Making Strange Rumblings

Supervolcanoes can sleep for centuries before producing incredibly massive eruptions that can drop ash across an entire continent.

One of the largest supervolcanoes in the world lies beneath Yellowstone National Park, which spans parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Though the Yellowstone system is active and expected to eventually blow its top, scientists don't think it will erupt any time soon.

Yet significant activity continues beneath the surface. And the activity has been increasing lately, scientists have discovered. In addition, the nearby Teton Range of mountains, in a total surprise, is getting shorter.

The findings, reported this month in the Journal of Geophysical Research — Solid Earth, suggest that a slow and gradual movement of a volcano over time can shape a landscape more than a violent eruption.

For the past 17 years, researchers used Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites to monitor the horizontal and vertical motion of the Yellowstone caldera — a huge volcanic crater formed by a super-eruption.

The movement of the caldera indicates what's going on underground where magma, or molten rock, is stored for the next eruption.

When magma builds up, some of it starts to rise toward the surface, where it presses against the floor of the caldera. The pressure makes the caldera bulge, while a decrease in pressure makes it sink.

The 45-by-30-mile caldera bulged and deflated significantly during the study period, resulting in a series of small earthquakes that produced 10 times more energy than would occur if the ground were to move suddenly in a large eruption.

"We think it's a combination of magma being intruded under the caldera and hot water released from the magma being pressurized because it's trapped," said lead study author Robert Smith from the University of Utah. "I don't believe this is evidence for an impending volcanic eruption, but it would be prudent to keep monitoring the volcano."

More energy

The data shows that the caldera floor sank 4.4 inches from 1987 until 1995. From 1995 until 2000, the northwest rim of the caldera rose about 3 inches, followed by another 1.4-inch rise until 2003. Then between 2000 and 2003, the caldera floor sank a little more than an inch.

And then from 2004 to 2006 the central caldera floor rose faster than ever, springing up nearly 7 inches during the three-year span.

"The rate is unprecedented, at least in terms of what scientists have been able to observe in Yellowstone," Smith said.

Abnormal fault

These results could explain another surprise finding: The ground along the Teton fault — an active fault running 40 miles north-south along the eastern base of the Teton Range in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming just south of Yellowstone — moves in the opposite direction compared to what's been previously thought.

Typically, when a big earthquake takes place on a normal fault such as the Teton, the ground is pulled apart.

This kind of extension or stretching causes valleys to drop downward and mountains to rise upwards. Thousands of earthquakes built the mountains that comprise the Teton Range today.

But recent measurements showed a different trend.

Researchers found that just the opposite is happening with Jackson Hole — the valley below the Teton. The valley is rising up slowly and the mountains are dropping down.

What the researchers think is happening, on a short-term basis at least, is that the bulging Yellowstone hotspot north of the Tetons is pushing against the north edge of Jackson Hole and jamming it against the mountains.

(This is also causing the southwest part of the Yellowstone plateau, under the hotspot, to slide downhill at a rate of one-sixth of an inch each year.)

"The textbook model for a normal fault is not what's happening at the Teton fault," Smith said. "The mountains are going down relative to the valley going up. That's a total surprise."

This motion, according to researchers, is also expected to produce bigger quakes, confusing the picture of how earthquakes occur in that area.

[Shammu]

There are so many biblical references, to the various earth traumas.

Psalm 46:3 Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling and tumult. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Ezekiel 27:28 The waves and the countryside shake at the [piercing] sound of the [hopeless, wailing] cry of your pilots.

Joel 3:16 The Lord will thunder and roar from Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the children of Israel.

Luke 6:48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went down deep and laid a foundation upon the rock; and when a flood arose, the torrent broke against that house and could not shake or move it, because it had been securely built or [a]founded on a rock.

Haggai 2:7 And I will shake all nations and the [a]desire and the precious things of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/16/italy.volcano.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest

Sicilian volcano erupts again
POSTED: 10:57 a.m. EDT, March 16, 2007

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070315/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironment_070315193242

Indonesia 'mud volcano' to be fed more concrete balls
Thu Mar 15, 3:32 PM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) - A bid to plug an Indonesian "mud volcano" with concrete balls after its toxic flow displaced 15,000 people is to use thousands more of them than planned, an official said Thursday.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/06/ap/tech/main2538921.shtml

Families Flee Active Volcano In Ecuador
Authorities Evacuate 100 Families From Slopes Of Ecuador Volcano That Has Begun Spewing

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40715/story.htm

The Pacific's Earthquake-Prone "Ring Of Fire"
INDONESIA: March 7, 2007

Indonesia, located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", has the world's largest number of historically active volcanoes according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), making it prone to earthquakes and other volcanic disruptions.

Edited because I messed up, on the links.

[Soldier4Christ]

Sea of Japan jolted by 7.1 quake
One person killed, roads cracked and shifted

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 jolted the Sea of Japan coast area of central Japan on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake, at 9:42 a.m. (0042 GMT), was also felt in Tokyo.

A tsunami warning for waves of up to 50 cm (20 inches) was issued for Ishikawa prefecture and public broadcaster NHK said small tsunami had already hit in some areas.

The quake registered a higher 6 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 in the Noto peninsula in Ishikawa, about 300 km (190 miles) from Tokyo.

In Nanao, a city with a population of around 60,000 on the peninsula, ambulance services were flooded with calls to help people who had suffered burns and injuries, Kyodo news agency said. A local official told NHK he saw cracks and bumps in roads.

"Books fell off bookshelves and it was the worst shaking I have ever felt," one local official told NHK.

The focus of the tremor was at a depth of 50 km (30 miles) below the seabed off the Noto peninsula, the agency said.

Train services and flights in the area were halted, media reports said.

There were no reports of irregularities at nuclear plants in the area.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

In October 2004, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck the Niigata region in northern Japan, killing 65 people and injuring more than 3,000.

That was the deadliest quake since a magnitude 7.3 tremor hit the city of Kobe in 1995, killing more than 6,400.