Prophecy, Drought, Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Strange Weather.

[Shammu]

More on the Mexico city earthquake............

Moderate earthquake rocks Mexico City

By KIMBERLY N. CHASE Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — A moderate earthquake rocked Mexico City on Friday, causing skyscrapers to sway and frightening residents, but emergency officials said no major damage or injuries were reported.

The U.S. Geological Service estimated the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and struck in Michoacan, 125 miles southwest of the capital. It was centered four miles northwest of the town of Huetamo and 59 miles below ground.

Electricity and telephone service did not appear to be interrupted.

Some buildings announced brief evacuations, and hundreds ran into the streets.

"I was in a small office, and the shelves were moving ... and the walls were vibrating," said Carlos Avila, 25, an administrative employee at the federal Public Safety Department.

Sanjeev Patny, a 43-year-old American Express employee, walked down 10 flights of stairs and was waiting for building officials to tell him he could return to work.

"I felt the tremors, and I didn't know what to do," he said.

The quake was too small and based too far inland to cause a tsunami, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

Moderate earthquake rocks Mexico City

[Shammu]

Antarctic snowfall remains static

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say the most precise record of Antarctic snowfall ever generated shows no real increase in precipitation during the past 50 years.

The study's results from the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University show the snowfall was nearly static, although most computer models assessing global climate change call for an increase in Antarctic precipitation as atmospheric temperatures rise.

"The year-to-year and decadal variability of the snowfall is so large that it makes it nearly impossible to distinguish trends that might be related to climate change from even a 50-year record," said Andrew Monaghan, a center research associate and lead author of the study.

"There were no statistically significant trends in snowfall accumulation over the past five decades, including recent years for which global mean temperatures have been warmest," Monaghan said.

The findings also suggest thickening of Antarctica's massive ice sheets haven't reduced the slow, but steady, rise in global sea levels, as some climate-change critics have argued.

The research is published in Science magazine.

Antarctic snowfall remains static

[Shammu]

No casualties reported in quake off Indonesia

Fri Aug 11, 7:49 PM ET

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia on Saturday, but officials said there were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.
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The
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Indonesia's national earthquake center said the quake occurred in the area of Simeulue island, 1,485 km (922 miles) northwest of the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

The USGS put the quake's magnitude at 6.0.

Dailin Wang, an oceanographer at the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, said the quake was not large enough to pose a danger of a tsunami.

"We have received no reports of victims or building damage," police official Ikhwandi told Reuters by telephone from the Simeulue town of Sinabang.

Sutiyono, an official at the national earthquake center, also said there had been no reports of casualties or damage.

Definitive details on casualties and damage from quakes are not always immediately available in Indonesia due to communications problems.

Simeulue is in Indonesia's Aceh province, badly damaged by a tsunami in December 2004 in which about 170,000 people were killed or reported missing.

Earthquakes occur frequently near Indonesia, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin known as the "Pacfic Ring of Fire."

No casualties reported in quake off Indonesia

[Shammu]

    SCIENTISTS  AIR  NEW  WARNING  OF  MAJOR  MAYON  ERUPTION

LEGAZPI CITY, AUGUST 11, 2006 (STAR) Scientists yesterday issued renewed warnings of a major explosion at the erupting Mayon volcano, as steaming lava poured down its slopes and thousands huddled in evacuation camps.

Mayon’s chief monitor, Ernesto Corpuz, said the volcano, which has been rumbling and oozing molten rock for about three weeks, may erupt in spectacular fashion in the coming days.

"It is at this time that the volcanic activity could be gearing up for a bigger explosion," Corpuz told AFP.

"This is going to be a critical time," he said, adding: "This kind of unusual quiet is ominous."

Official warnings about Mayon, the country’s most active volcano which has claimed more than 1,000 lives over the years, have forced the evacuation of some 40,000 villagers from around the central mountain.

While obvious signs of activity have slackened in the past two days, lava continues to pour down gullies on the slopes of the picturesque, cone-shaped mountain which is a major tourist attraction.

About 40,000 people have been evacuated from villages within a six to eight-kilometer danger zone since Monday in case of an explosion that could cover surrounding areas with deadly volcanic ash.

The residents have been herded into makeshift evacuation centers, mainly school buildings where sometimes as many as 50 people are sleeping on cold cement classroom floors.

The evacuated villagers are living on rations of rice, instant noodles and canned sardines and meat. Local officials warn that money for their upkeep might soon run out if the crisis is prolonged.

There are also fears that the overcrowding in the evacuation centers could spawn an epidemic.

The 8,070-foot Mayon has shown increasing unrest since mid-July and on Monday, after a series of powerful explosions, government volcanologists warned a dangerous eruption could take place within days.

However, crimson streams of lava could still be seen trickling down Mayon’s slopes at night and a huge column of steaming lava is still moving through the Bonga gully.

Soldiers have been assigned to patrol forests on the foothills to keep residents out of the danger zone. However some farmers and herdsmen still sneak into the area to check on their crops and to safeguard their homes.

The troops said they are seeing fewer farmers braving the danger zone now that the lava has moved lower.

"They are more afraid now," one soldier said.

Not waning

The number of volcanic quakes detected in Mayon fell to only three on Wednesday from 109 on Monday and 21 on Tuesday. The amount of sulphur dioxide expelled also has been falling, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said.

Phivolcs resident volcanologist Ed Laguerta said that although seismic sensors recorded a minor explosion at 2:07 p.m. Wednesday, the volcano is "apparently quiet."

Speaking from his Lignon Hill Observatory, Laguerta said "this is not a waning phase." The volcano is still in its quiet eruption stage, characterized by lava flows and sudden explosions, he added.

"If (Mt. Mayon) is in the waning phase, all the significant parameters like volcanic quakes, sulfur gas emission, lava flows should gradually decrease."

Mayon’s sulfur gas emission rate dropped to 6,573 tons a day yesterday from 7,829 Wednesday, a Phivolcs bulletin reported.

The same bulletin said the apparent lull in Mayon’s activity reflects its status of unrest and that the slightest changes in its sulfur gas emission rate is still significant.

Seismic sensors also recorded 501 episodes of tremors generated on the slopes by collapsing fragments of advancing lava.

Alert level 4 remains hoisted over Mt. Mayon, meaning there is still a high probability of a hazardous explosive eruption.

As this developed, Corpus said they are still closely watching the effect of the full moon on Mayon’s sustained abnormal behavior, saying it is too early to tell if the increased gravitational pull of the moon has no effect at all.

"Oftentimes, the effect of the gravitation pull event on Mayon’s eruption is delayed," Corpus said.

Wider danger zone?

The Phivolcs Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division said it might again extend the danger zone in the southeast sector of Mayon Volcano from eight to 12 kilometers depending on the intensity of the expected volcanic eruption.

Supervising science research specialist Julio Sabit said if a major eruption happens within days, they might extend the danger zone from 10 to 12 kilometers.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum said that they were closely monitoring the volcano because it may erupt at any time.

In its bulletin yesterday, Phivolcs has recorded minor explosions and only three volcanic earthquakes over the past 24 hours.

"This apparent lull in the activity along with slight changes in the SO2 emission rate is still significant and reflects the unusual prevailing state of unrest of the volcano," the bulletin said.

Phivolcs earlier said that changes or large swings in activity, along with recent explosions, were indicators of the variability of the conditions of the magma system inside the volcano.

The Extended Danger Zone (EDZ) from the summit crater is seven kilometers, the statement said, as the Phivolcs advised the public about the strong possibility of evacuation in case volcanic activity intensifies.

It was not clear whether there were people living within the possible expanded danger zone.

Provincial disaster management office chief Cedric Daep said some 7,918 families or 38,168 people residing within the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone, as well as the extended danger zones on the south flank of the volcano, have been evacuated. — Celso Amo, Cet Dematera, Helen Flores, Edu Punay Mayen Jaymalin, AFP

SCIENTISTS  AIR  NEW  WARNING  OF  MAJOR  MAYON  ERUPTION

[Shammu]

Small earthquakes rattle Northwest

01:57 PM PDT on Saturday, August 12, 2006

Associated Press

The Northwest is seeing a busy summer for earthquakes.

kgw.com graphic

Numerous small earthquakes have rattled the Northwest in recent weeks. But there's no need to head for the hills - not yet, anyway.

Scientists are cautious but say to be prepared. The ground is very much alive, and far bigger quakes have hit here before.

Subterranean rumblings are everyday events in the Northwest, with some quake periods busier than others. But the current spate of activity has earned the full attention of scientists, who wonder whether there's more to know or a pattern yet undeciphered.

"We have noticed a lot of earthquakes over the past couple of weeks that were more than we had in the previous two months," says Steve Malone, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network in Seattle, which keeps track of the quakes. "Why we have these periods of relative quiet, then more active periods leaves us scratching our heads."

In the past six weeks, the network instruments have detected at least four dozen quakes - nearly all unfelt - on shallow faults in the North American Plate beneath Oregon and Washington. The list does not include the numerous earthquakes at Mount St. Helens triggered by its ongoing eruption.

Recent quakes include a flurry of about a dozen small quakes beneath Mount Hood on July 11, the largest a magnitude 2.1. Such swarms are typical for Oregon's highest mountain but do not indicate the volcano is reawakening from a 200-year sleep.

On Aug. 3, a magnitude 3.8 quake just north of Vancouver that shook the entire metro area.

There were three quakes west of Klamath Falls, including a magnitude 2.1. In the past week, instruments located a magnitude 2.1 quake a few miles west of Salem and a magnitude 4.0 about 275 miles west of Bandon on the Pacific Ocean floor.

Those are typical of the more than 1,000 earthquakes detected each year in Washington and Oregon by the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network, based at the University of Washington. Usually, only about two dozen are large enough to be felt.

But scientists say the smaller quakes are a reminder that the Northwest is earthquake country and to prepare for them.

They warn that the region may be primed for a huge offshore quake that could be a powerful tsunami-generating magnitude 9.

Lethal earthquakes from deep beneath Oregon and Washington also have struck before and probably will again, they say. A magnitude 7.1 quake near Olympia killed eight people in April 1949 and magnitude 6.5 quake in April 1965 that struck south of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport killed seven people.

Malone said scientists are unable to predict earthquakes, so "it's vital that people be prepared."

Small earthquakes rattle Northwest

[Soldier4Christ]

Philippine volcano shows signs of imminent eruption 
Vulcanologist: 'This could be the beginning of a big bang events'


Mount Mayon, a volcano in the central Philippines, showed signs a major eruption was imminent as it belched smoke and spewed burning rocks and mud, scientists said on Sunday.

Four explosions have been recorded since Saturday. One mild eruption shot gray ash columns into the air and sent heated volcanic debris cascading down Mayon's slopes, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

"This could be the beginning of a big bang events," Ed Laguerta, a vulcanologist, told reporters.

"This could be an indication that a hazardous explosion may very imminent due to the flow of pyroclastic materials on Saturday," he said as rain and dark clouds covered the mountain, hiding the summit.

Last week, Phivolcs scientists warned that the 2,462-meter (8,077 foot) Mayon, the country's most active volcano, could explode any time, raising the alert level to 4 and forcing more than 40,000 people to move from an 8-km danger zone on Mayon's southeast flank.

A major hazardous eruption had been expected Wednesday night due to the possible gravitational pull of a full moon, but the volcano calmed for the next three days.

A full moon coincided with at least three of Mayon's nearly 50 explosions over the last 400 years, including the two most recent in 2000 and 2001.

On Saturday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo toured some school buildings and public parks serving as temporary shelter areas for people who have fled their homes and farms since the volcano started acting up last month.

Arroyo, who initially gave disaster officials about 250 million pesos ($4.8 million), promised more relief goods to feed displaced people and ordered the provision of permanent structures and sanitation facilities to prevent an outbreak of diseases.

[Soldier4Christ]

Pacific's 'dead zone' larger than 1st feared
Weather blamed for oxygen-starved area causing widespread crab, fish deaths



The oxygen-starved "dead zone" along America's Pacific Coast that is causing widespread crab and fish deaths is worse than first thought, scientists said.

The dead zone is a 70-mile stretch of water along the Continental Shelf in Oregon, between Florence and Lincoln City. In some areas the seabed is strewn with dead marine life - and the weather appears to be the culprit.

Oregon State University (OSU) scientists looking for weather changes that could reverse the situation are not finding them. Levels of dissolved oxygen critical to marine life are at their lowest since the first dead zone was identified in 2002. It has returned every year.

Strong winds pushed a low-oxygen pool of deep water toward shore, suffocating marine life, said Jane Lubchenco, a professor of marine biology at OSU.

After inspecting the area via a camera on a remote-controlled submarine, she said: "Thousands of dead crab and molts were littering the ocean floor. Many sea stars were dead, and the fish have either left or died."

The effect on commercial fishing isn't yet known, said Hal Weeks, a marine ecologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Al Pazar, chairman of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission, and a crab fisherman out of Newport, said this season is likely to be the second best ever, but most crabs are caught before the appearance of the dead zones.

Dissolved oxygen readings taken last Tuesday off Cape Perpetua, north of Florence, are between 3 per cent and 10 per cent of levels needed for survival, and near zero in some areas.

Smaller zones have been found along the Oregon and Washington coasts.

[Shammu]

I have read and heard on the news that earthquakes are not increasing, and that they come in years (like every 10 years.....) -- but I went to the USGS database, and copied the list of earthquakes 6.5 magnitude and higher. The list below begins in 1900, with the number of quakes 6.5 of higher in that year, and on down the line. Looks to me like 2000 to 2006 have SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED in number of quakes per year of 6.5 magnitude and higher. Wish the media would just tell the truth once in awhile. Link to data is http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/...al_mag_big.php



1900 1
1901 1
1904 1
1905 1
1906 3
1908 1
1910 2
1912 1
1915 1
1918 2
1922 2
1923 2
1925 3
1927 2
1929 4
1932 1
1933 3
1934 4
1935 1
1935 1
1937 1
1938 3
1940 1
1943 1
1944 3
1946 4
1947 2
1949 2
1950 1
1951 1
1952 2
1953 2
1954 3
1957 6
1958 3
1959 2
1960 1
1963 1
1964 1
1965 3
1966 2
1970 4
1971 3
1972 2
1974 1
1975 4
1976 2
1977 1
1979 3
1980 1
1983 3
1985 3
1986 2
1987 1
1988 1
1989 1
1992 2
1993 2
1994 2
1995 1
1996 1
1997 3
1998 8
1999 13
2000 6
2001 8
2002 22
2003 39
2004 35
2005 37
2006 15

I check this site everyday..and I don't remember ever seeing this many 'red' circles at one time.

http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

I also check this site everyday. As of today, there are 165 earthquakes. Normally there are 140-150 earthquakes.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

[nChrist]

Brother Bob,

The statistics appear to speak for themselves unless there are trends we don't know about before 1900. Regardless, the numbers appear to jump off the page at you. AND, I wouldn't call such a radical change a trend.

[Reba]

Are Earthquakes Really on the Increase?

We continue to be asked by many people throughout the world if earthquakes are on the increase. Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant.

A partial explanation may lie in the fact that in the last twenty years, we have definitely had an increase in the number of earthquakes we have been able to locate each year. This is because of the tremendous increase in the number of seismograph stations in the world and the many improvements in global communications. In 1931, there were about 350 stations operating in the world; today, there are more that 8,000 stations and the data now comes in rapidly from these stations by electronic mail, internet and satellite. This increase in the number of stations and the more timely receipt of data has allowed us and other seismological centers to locate earthquakes more rapidly and to locate many small earthquakes which were undetected in earlier years. The NEIC now locates about 20,000 earthquakes each year or approximately 50 per day. Also, because of the improvements in communications and the increased interest in the environment and natural disasters, the public now learns about more earthquakes.

According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 17 major earthquakes (7.0 - 7.9) and one great earthquake (8.0 or above) in any given year.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learning/topics/increase_in_earthquakes.php

[Soldier4Christ]

Hi Reba,

I wonder why the difference in what you posted and the information DreamWeaver posted since both are the exact same source. No it isn't the number of seismograph stations as the number of them has not changed significantly since 1980 yet the number of earthquakes recorded has.

The answer is quite simple if you just think about it for awhile.

[nChrist]

Hello Sister Reba,

It's great to hear from you. So, how are things going for you?

This is really a pretty fascinating topic in many ways. You live in a part of the country where probably more studies about earthquakes are being done than any other place in the world. I wouldn't know that for a fact - just guessing. I simply know that the area of the country near California has the biggest attention. I live almost on top of a very old fault near the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma. We even have a VERY OLD monitor installed in a town called Meers, Oklahoma. It's in a glass case in a restaurant, and all of the guests can stop and take a look at the old stories on the wall and what appears to be an ancient seismograph.

I've read some very old stories about the potential of earthquakes because of the fault where I live, but we read and hear almost constantly about the potential for earthquakes in California. I even read an article that suggest some really big activity was far past due for where I live. The worst we've had here in my life is so small that they call them tremors.

I was just thinking that it really doesn't matter where we live because we are Christians and belong to the LORD. Regardless of what happens, natural or man made, GOD is with us. It's natural for mankind to fear things, but Christians should really look on everything differently, including all of the depressing things happening in the world right now. Nothing will change our eternity with JESUS. SO, the real secret for Christians is very simple:  KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS!

Love In Christ,
Tom

Romans 1:17 NASB  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

[Shammu]

In Israel.............................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weather: Hot Weather Through the Sabbath
05:09 Aug 15, '06 / 21 Av 5766

(IsraelNN.com) Seasonal temperatures are expected to give way to a heat wave the rest of this week. The thermometer will begin to climb slowly Tuesday but will go much higher on Friday and the Sabbath, according to long-range forecasts.

After Thursday, night time temperatures along the coast will remain in the mid-20s Celsius (low to mid 70s Fahrenheit). The weather will remain hot on Sunday although the temperature may drop by one or two degrees.

Weather: Hot Weather Through the Sabbath

[Shammu]

Japanese tanker spills crude oil
Accident follows collision with cargo ship

Updated: 42 minutes ago

TOKYO - A Japanese tanker spilled around 4,500 tons of crude oil in the Indian Ocean following a collision, a news report said Tuesday.

The tanker spilled the oil after colliding with a cargo ship, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said, according to Kyodo News agency. The Kyodo report did not give the location where the spill took place.

Japanese tanker spills crude oil

[Shammu]

Volcano Wipes Out 3 Villages in Ecuador

By GONZALO SOLANO
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 17, 2006; 12:40 PM

QUITO, Ecuador -- A volcanic eruption in Ecuador's Andes mountains destroyed three villages, killed at least one man and left more than 60 others missing, the mayor of a village on the volcano's slope said Thursday.

One body was recovered after the overnight eruption of lava from Tungurahua, in the country's high Andes, and four others were believed to be under the rubble, Penipe Mayor Juan Salazar said.

Salazar told Channel 4 television that the villages of Chilibu, Choglontuz and Palitagua "no longer exist. Everything is wiped out."

"This is an indescribable catastrophe," Salazar said. "The houses have collapsed. The rocks that fell caused injuries and burns in the city of Riobamba and in Penipe."

Salazar said there were 60 other people on the high flanks of the volcano whom officials could not get to Thursday morning.

Choglontuz, Penipe and another village were ordered evacuated on Wednesday hours before the 16,575-foot volcano unleashed gas and ash some 5 miles into the sky, according to a report by Ecuador's Geophysics Institute.

Salazar said 3,200 people were evacuated Wednesday from the three communities. He did not say how many remained in the villages.

Dr. Hernan Ayala told Channel 4 TV that about 50 people from Penipe were treated at a medical center in Riobamba for burns caused by "lava flows and incandescent rocks that burned them as they tried to flee."

"They were also burned by vapor and the elevated heat in the zone. It was a scene of chaos, a Dantesque situation," he said. "There are six whom we consider the most grave, one of them with burns over 85 percent of the body."

The death reported Thursday was the first reported from a Tungurahua eruption since the volcano rumbled back to life in 1999 after staying dormant for eight decades.

Volcano Wipes Out 3 Villages in Ecuador