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

[Shammu]

Ariz. wildfire threatens homes, businesses

By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 38 minutes ago

SEDONA, Ariz. - A wildfire threatening hundreds of homes and businesses early Monday spread to 3,000 acres near northern Arizona's scenic Oak Creek Canyon as firefighters prepared for another hot, dry and windy day.

Brin's Fire, top, burn near Sedona, Ariz.,
on Sunday, June 18, 2006. Authorities evacuated
five sub-divisions in Sedona and also about 400
homes and businesses in nearby Oak Creek
Canyon. Brin's Fire has burned over 3,000 acres
so far.

The fire started Sunday and spread quickly through the parched region, forcing the evacuation of about 400 homes and businesses in the canyon and about 100 homes in five subdivisions on the north side of Sedona.

"We need some rain in the worst way here and our monsoons aren't due to start 'til after July 4, it's been my experience. So, pray for rain," said Serge Wright, an optometrist whose home wasn't one of those that was evacuated.

A temperature of near 100 degrees was forecast Monday, along with low humidity and 10 to 20 mph wind.

Crews focused on trying to keep the fire from moving off the area's high plateaus and into the canyon itself, where it could spread quickly toward homes, said Joe Reinarz, commander of the team fighting the fire.

"This is a very crucial day," Reinarz said.

By late morning, flames were creeping down the side of a mountain toward the canyon. Helicopters dropped water to try to keep the fire from advancing while crews cleared brush and dead trees from around canyon homes.

Oak Creek Canyon, more than 90 miles north of Phoenix, holds scattered homes, hotels, resorts and stores. By Monday morning, the fire had burned to within a mile of some buildings, but none had been damaged.

The fire ignited in a wooded area and quickly led to the evacuations in the Sedona subdivisions of Cibola Hills, Rim Shadows, Painted Cliff, Shadow Rock Circle and Casa Contenta. Evacuations followed in Oak Creek Canyon, between Sedona and Flagstaff.

The threat to the Sedona subdivision homes had eased but they remained evacuated, fire spokeswoman Karen Malis-Clark said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

In neighboring New Mexico, three fires started by lightning had burned almost 24,000 acres in the tinder-dry Gila National Forest in the southwestern part of the state.

The biggest of the three had charred nearly 11,000 acres and threatened 150 homes in the Lake Roberts area. It was 35 percent contained and residents who had been evacuated last Thursday will be allowed to return Tuesday, said fire information officer Shayna Carney.

In southern Colorado, another wildfire grew to more than 500 acres Monday, prompting officials to urge voluntary evacuations of the 246 homes in two rural subdivisions and close a highway in Costilla County, about 150 miles south of Denver. The fire was reported on Sunday. No homes had been destroyed, and the cause was unknown.

Wildfires have burned more than 3.1 million acres nationwide so far this year, well ahead of the average of about 900,000 acres by this time, the National Interagency Fire Center reported Monday. Huge grass fires that swept Texas and Oklahoma this spring account for a large part of this year's high acreage.

Ariz. wildfire threatens homes, businesses

[Shammu]

Oak Creek Canyon could fuel inferno
Firefighters desperate to hold flames to western wall

Judi Villa and Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 20, 2006 12:00 AM

SEDONA - The fast-moving Brins Fire breached scenic Oak Creek Canyon on Monday as firefighters worked feverishly to prevent it from gaining a foothold in the untamed wilderness where it could burn uncontrollably, destroy homes and spread north toward Flagstaff.

About 430 homes and 40 businesses in Oak Creek Canyon are potentially in the fire's path. On Monday evening, the blaze was only about a half-mile from the edge of Slide Rock State Park and about two miles from Arizona 89A.

Fire officials declared the fire 5 percent contained late Monday and predicted it would continue rolling down into the canyon.
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A state of emergency has been declared, and the Brins Fire was ranked as a national priority.

More than 200 firefighters were battling the blaze Monday. As five air tankers and eight helicopters worked overhead, firefighters worked to cut fire breaks into the land on the southern and western edges of the blaze. But on other ends of the fire, they were hampered by steep, hilly terrain that made access difficult and unsafe.

"In a wilderness area, we typically have not reduced the fuels. When they burn, they burn hot," said Connie Birkland, who has worked on the Red Rock Ranger District for eight years. "This has been closest to what we've tried to avoid."

The fire was started Sunday afternoon by a transient's campfire at the Brins Mesa trailhead and grew to 1,500 acres on Monday.

About 620 homes and businesses, including about 150 homes in the northern parts of Sedona, were evacuated, and the entire Oak Creek Canyon area is closed.

Flames crested Wilson Mountain, spilling down both sides and putting the popular Slide Rock directly in its path. As the flames danced along the hilltops, firefighters said, the biggest area of concern remains Oak Creek Canyon.

"If it gets in there and gets established, then it has potential for some pretty large growth," Fire Information Officer Dick Fleishman said. "That's all wilderness."

By late Monday, the fire hadn't burned any structures, and Incident Commander Joe Reinarz said it was "a very good day."

"Any day we can keep it from running up and down that canyon is a very good day," he said.

But the fire showed no signs of slowing down. It was active early in the morning when fires typically die down. By noon, flames were "coming down the hill," Fire Information Officer Eric Neitzel said as he drove through Oak Creek Canyon. Thick black smoke continued to billow throughout the day.

Air tankers were dropping as much as 2,400 gallons of retardant every five minutes.

Firefighters also worked to clear debris around structures in Oak Creek Canyon, cut down dead trees and put lawn sprinklers on the tops of several homes.

"All it takes is one ember and the whole place goes up in flames," said Art Morrison, a fire information officer.

Sedona Fire District Capt. Paul Lindfors said that much of the threatened area is private property and that officials have been asking residents for years to clear it. Although forest-thinning efforts were in the planning stages, none had been completed, Fleishman said.

"Now we're in here, and it's creating a lot of work for us. . . . We're just crossing our fingers and working hard," Lindfors said.

At normally bustling campgrounds, only a few abandoned tents dotted the landscape. Slide Rock and Grasshopper Point, popular swimming areas where cars usually line up to enter, were deserted. Some of the picnic tables still had lunches on them, indicating people left in a hurry.

At the Briar Patch Inn in Oak Creek, guests had cleared out from all 18 cottages.

"There's just a lot of concern and heartache for what's happening," said Rob Olson, whose family has owned the inn for 23 years. He was among at least 18 people who opted to stay, probably, he said, until he could "see the flames coming down the mountain."

Nancy Friedman watched the thick smoke and flames with a sense of dread. The dream home she built with her own hands six years ago is about a mile south of Slide Rock.

"When I see that big black smoke puffing up there, you know those trees are burning," Friedman said. "If that wind carries it down to the canyon, there's no stopping it."

Friedman and her husband, Barry, evacuated Sunday evening and stayed with her mother in Sedona. The couple grabbed the dog, some pictures and some paperwork but left behind the irreplaceable carved masks they had collected on trips around the world.

Friedman said she didn't fear losing her house as much as losing "my beautiful habitat."

"I can always rebuild my house. But it's so beautiful there, I'd hate to see it destroyed. It's one of the most beautiful places you can find in Arizona," she said.

Rena Jackson of Albuquerque was planning to spend two nights at the Cave Spring campground when she left to take pictures of the fire and couldn't get back to her site.

"The Brins Fire is the second major wildfire to threaten the Sedona area this month. At the beginning of June, the La Barranca Fire destroyed one home and damaged a second home and some outbuildings when it burned in the Village of Oak Creek, about 15 miles south of the Brins Fire.

Businesses in downtown Sedona remained open Monday and several hotels cut their rates because of the fire.

Monday evening, one of the biggest concerns was nighttime winds, which could force the fire downhill and scatter embers and spread the flames. "It's a wait-and-see right now," said Sedona Mayor Pud Colquitt, who was among those evacuated.

"Mother Nature is going to have her way, and we just have to respect that and let the professionals do their job. I have a lot of faith. We're going to be OK."

Oak Creek Canyon could fuel inferno

[Shammu]

Torrential flooding hits Houston, La.

By CHRIS DUNCAN, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago

HOUSTON - Luis Robles awakened to a leaky ceiling and floodwaters creeping into his front yard, one of many residents beset by heavy rains that closed highways and flooded parts of Houston and southwest Louisiana.

Robles, who has lived in the southeast Houston home for 13 years, said the flooding was the worst since Tropical Storm Allison came ashore five years ago.

"It's never gotten this high since," he said Monday.

Josh Lichter, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Houston, said the rains were expected to move out of the Houston area by Wednesday.

The National Weather Service blamed a slow-moving low pressure system for dumping up to 10.5 inches of rain in Harris County, especially in Robles' neighborhood, near the city's Hobby Airport.

Robles and his three children donned plastic ponchos and took a morning tour of the flooding. The brown water was waist-deep less than a mile from their home.

Robles took pictures of his children playing in the rain as cars and trucks passed in the background, with water covering their tires.

"It was like a river over there," Robles said.

Gov. Rick Perry planned to be in Houston on Tuesday to get a flooding update.

Flood warnings remained in effect for areas near bayous that run through the east and south portions of Harris County and a flood watch was in effect until Tuesday morning for about a dozen counties in Southeast Texas.

Mayor Bill White said drainage improvements undertaken since Allison's catastrophic damage five years ago are working, and pointed to other areas of the city that were spared in Monday's deluge.

"We live in Houston, Texas, and you can't be surprised at flooding in Houston," White said. "When you have this much rain in a short period of time at a place that's near sea level, then you still have some real risk."

White said the vast majority of an estimated 500 emergency calls to 911 operators were for motorists stranded on flooded roads.

Houston Airport System spokeswoman Marlene McClinton said Hobby Airport did not flood, but the roads around it did, preventing crews from getting to work on time. She said the airport was shut for about 2 1/2 hours, with about 50 arrivals and departures canceled.

In Sulphur, La., emergency crews evacuated 120 patients from Holly Hill Nursing Home, which got anywhere from a few inches to 1 1/2 feet of water after debris from a higher neighborhood clogged a city storm drain near the nursing home's back door.

Nursing home owner Elizabeth Fellows said residents wouldn't be able to return for at least a week and maybe two.

"There's pretty widespread flooding around the parish. A lot of roads are closed," said Dick Gremillion, the Calcasieu Parish emergency preparedness director.

Torrential flooding hits Houston, La.

[Shammu]

Strong waves slam Central American coast
Hundreds are evacuated from coastal towns

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) -- Big waves generated by a storm 2,000 miles away battered a long stretch of the Pacific coast, wrecking homes, hotels and restaurants from Peru to Central America, civil defense officials said Tuesday.

There were no reports of deaths from the several days of heavy surf, but hundreds of people were evacuated from coastal communities. Lesser damage also was reported in southern Mexico.

Experts said the event was not a tsunami, the massive waves triggered by undersea earthquakes.

Hugh Cobb, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the waves were caused by a powerful South Pacific storm that was sending swells up to 12 feet high across the ocean, hitting beaches from Ecuador's Galapagos Islands to the Mexican resort of Acapulco.

Cobb said the worst was over.

"We expect them to gradually subside over the next 24 to 48 hours," Cobb said.

Waves along Guatemala's western shore Tuesday destroyed a small hotel frequented by surfers, a few restaurants and about 50 houses in Sipacate, 60 miles from Guatemala City, emergency officials said.

"The sea took away eight rooms and part of the restaurant, which was made of wood," said Brigido de Paz, the hotel manager. "The kitchen and the rooms that were made of concrete are flooded and damaged."

In Nicaragua, 15-foot waves carried water up to 100 yards inland and destroyed about 20 small homes in Puerto Corinto, civil defense official William Rodriguez said. Authorities evacuated 200 people.

A few dozen people were evacuated in El Salvador, where waves up to 20 feet were reported and sand was washed into rustic seaside businesses.

Costa Rican authorities reported minor flooding in several coastal communities. Twenty families were evacuated in Palo Seco de Parrita, 185 miles south of the capital, San Jose, the National Emergency Commission said.

In Acapulco, knee-deep water engulfed 2 miles of the resort's coastal boulevard and seawater sloshed inside beachfront restaurants and nightclubs.

"The waves came up fairly high and it is definitely dangerous," said Areli Chavarria at Hotel Emporio.

Jorge Pacheco, director of civil protection in Acapulco, said the swells began hitting Monday and officials issued warnings to stay out of the ocean.

In Mexico's Oaxaca state, high water flooded seaside businesses and hotels in Zicatela, near the resort of Huatulco. The army evacuated 200 people and closed some 85 businesses, officials said.

On Sunday, waves damaged at least 300 houses in Honduras, emergency response official Juan Carlos Elvir said. The homes were in the communities of Cedeno, Punta Raton, Marcovia and Choluteca.

Six ramshackle homes were destroyed Sunday on two beaches in Panama's Cocle Province, about 90 miles west of Panama City, said Larissa Samaniego, spokeswoman for the National Civil Protection Agency.

Heavy surf over the weekend also wrecked 11 houses and damaged 110 more in Peru, National Civil Defense spokesman Jorge Arguedas said.

Strong waves slam Central American coast

[Shammu]

Ariz. wildfire forces hundreds to evacuate

By AMANDA LEE MYERS, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

SEDONA, Ariz. - Emergency sirens sounded Tuesday as a growing 1,500-acre wildfire moved downhill and threatened homes at the bottom of northern Arizona's scenic Oak Creek Canyon.

The flames were less than a half mile from the highway at the canyon bottom, and power to the homes and businesses was being shut down, said Katherine Sanchez Meador, a fire information officer with the Coconino National Forest.

Some residents had remained in the canyon despite the mandatory evacuation, and the sirens were "letting them know it's time to get out of there," Meador said. The flames were three-quarters of a mile from the nearest house.

Crews also were battling wildfires in Colorado, New Mexico and California.

The Arizona blaze, only 5 percent contained, was near hundreds of homes clustered among dry manzanita and juniper trees. Its movement down the side of the canyon reversed officials' earlier optimism.

"Anything can happen," Meador said. "Our crews work wonders and the effort is extraordinary, but depending on the weather and the winds, it's going to be a tough battle."

The fire, which officials believe began Sunday at a transient camp, forced the evacuation of about 400 homes and businesses in narrow Oak Creek Canyon and about 100 homes in the smaller canyons on the rugged north side of Sedona, a town about 90 miles north of Phoenix surrounded by red-hued cliffs that draw builders of expensive homes and thousands of tourists.

At least 11 helicopters and air tankers were available Tuesday to help ground crews, said Joe Reinarz, commander of the team fighting the fire. More than 450 firefighters were on the ground, and crews were installing sprinklers and clearing brush around the homes in an effort to protect them. No buildings had been lost by Tuesday.

If the fire burns down to the two-lane scenic highway along the canyon bottom, which it was nearing, crews hope to make a stand there. Most homes are on the opposite side of the highway, Reinarz said.

A high temperature of about 100 was forecast Tuesday for Sedona, with very low humidity and wind of 10 to 20 mph.

In neighboring New Mexico, four fires started by lightning had burned about 40,000 acres in the tinder-dry Gila National Forest in the southwestern part of the state. One blaze charred nearly 12,000 acres and had threatened 150 homes in the Lake Roberts area. Residents were allowed to return Tuesday, said fire information officer Brian Morris.

A 14,000-acre fire northeast of Glenwood, N.M., in Catron County, prompted evacuations of about 30 cabins, Morris said.

In southern Colorado, crews braced for more dry, windy weather Tuesday as they confronted a wildfire that exploded across 8,900 acres about 10 miles northeast of Fort Garland, triggering the evacuation of 270 homes in two counties. No houses had been destroyed.

"We can't get out in front of this thing; it's moving like a freight train," fire information officer Steve Segin said.

A California brush fire spread over 6,000 acres of hilly terrain in Los Padres National Forest. No houses were threatened, but two sheds and three trailers were destroyed, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Joe Pasinato said.

Wildfires have charred more than 3.1 million acres nationwide so far this year, well ahead of the average of about 900,000 acres by this time, the National Interagency Fire Center reported. Huge grass fires that swept Texas and Oklahoma this spring account for much of the increase.

Ariz. wildfire forces hundreds to evacuate

[Shammu]

Crews try to keep fire from reaching homes

Judi Villa and Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 20, 2006 08:38 PM

SEDONA - A wildfire tearing through vast swaths of northern Arizona's most stunning country edged Tuesday within 200 yards of where firefighters have pinned their hopes on stopping its spread.

The flames blazed down the western wall of scenic Oak Creek Canyon, reaching Highway 89A as evacuation sirens sounded and firefighters pulled out all crews except those still trying to save homes. Fire officials said they expected the fire to reach the highway and had planned to use the road as the eastern containment line that would stop the fire's run.

"Now's the time for it to happen," said Fire Information Officer Eric Neitzel. "We were standing by waiting for the fire to come to us."

It was too soon to tell Tuesday night if the strategy worked.

If the line doesn't hold, the fire could be drawn up the other side of the canyon and potentially race through thick wilderness towards Munds Park or Flagstaff. At risk are hundreds of homes, lodges, picnic areas, campgrounds and Slide Rock State Park, a popular recreation spot that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

"The concern level is amped up," Neitzel said. "It's happening a little faster than we expected."

The Brins Fire encroached on Highway 89A near the Encinoso campground just a couple miles south of Slide Rock. Firefighters had been working in the area for the past couple days, cutting down dead trees, t**** lower branches and clearing any "ladder fuels" that would allow a fire to climb into the canopies of trees.

The work was supposed to cause the fire to burn slower and with less intensity, essentially making it less likely to jump the highway.

"We're ready to meet it head-on," Neitzel said. "We're hoping when the fire comes down to the line, it won't be able to throw embers across the highway."

Fire typically moves quicker uphill because the air in the valley warms faster during the day and draws it upward. It likely would be too dangerous to place firefighters in the path of the flames.

More than 450 firefighters were battling the fire on Tuesday and seven helicopters dropped water and retardant from the air. An elite Type 1 team took over management of the fire Tuesday afternoon. The team has extra staffing and logistical support to better handle the most complex fires.

About 430 homes and 40 businesses are in the canyon. So far, no structures have burned.

Tuesday afternoon, electricity was cut to Oak Creek Canyon and residents who had ignored previous evacuation requests were advised again to leave.

But Lowell Johnson, who owns the Oak Creek Terrace Resort in the canyon, planned to stay put at least through Tuesday night, even as the fire burned on a ridge about 400 feet above his home and business.

"I'm looking at red flames right now outside of my window, but it's at the top of the ridge," Johnson said, "And that's where we're hoping it stays."

Johnson said as many as 30 firefighters were posted in the area just outside his home, and he was going to "let them do their job."

Johnson and his wife, Joan, have been taking care of business during the fire, canceling reservations and trying to help a bride relocate her 200-person wedding planned for Friday.

From his home, Johnson said the fire looked like a campfire on the ridge and seemed to be burning up. Winds were calm.

"We're not stupid," Johnson said. "If our lives were in danger we'd leave."

Firefighters say their strategy to reign in the fire included letting it reach Highway 89A and stopping it there. The plan also would create a northern containment line along Sterling Canyon that would save Slide Rock State Park and leave hundreds of homes nestled in Oak Creek Canyon untouched by flames.

Construction of those potential containment lines continued Tuesday, and the northeastern flank of the fire, the part closest to Slide Rock, stayed about ½ mile from the park.

But even if the fire lines hold, at least five hiking trails through the scenic area would be damaged and as many as 3,000 acres of wilderness would be charred.

By Tuesday afternoon, the Brins Fire had consumed more than 1,500 acres. It was 5 percent contained.

"It's beautiful country. It's a shame that it's burning up," Mario Perez, a firefighter with the Union Hotshots from La Grande, Ore., said as he worked along Highway 89A. "We're doing our best trying to contain this, trying to put it out. We're trying to keep the fire from burning up homes."

The Brins Fire, which started Sunday by a transient's campfire, reached the walls of Oak Creek Canyon on Monday. Evacuated residents have not been allowed home.

At a Red Cross shelter in Sedona, Art Kach took his third day as an evacuee in stride. Kach, who lives in a trailer in Oak Creek Canyon, was the only area resident still sleeping at the shelter.

"If you're going to be an evacuee, you have to live the lifestyle," Kach said. "It's very quiet. There's plenty of free food. You get a shower."

Kach said he was sitting on his deck Sunday evening when a neighbor pulled in and told him to evacuate quickly. "I didn't get my grand piano out," he joked. Kach packed only a small bag with some clothes and shaving gear.

"I guess I was overly optimistic," he said.

The fire has been slowly climbing down Wilson Mountain since Monday. Holly Kleindienst, a division supervisor working Tuesday along Highway 89A, noted the fire was burning slowly and staying mostly on the ground, instead of climbing into the trees and jumping from treetop to treetop.

"This place is a real jewel," Kleindienst said. "We're going to do everything we can do keep it as pretty as it is."

How much worse the fire gets, if it does at all, depends largely on the weather. Higher humidity, lower temperatures and winds all play key roles and have helped keep the fire from growing as rapidly as it did when it first started.

"This fire still has a lot of potential," Kleindienst said, "but if it keeps burning like this and we don't have some phenomenal wind event, it's looking very nice."

Down the road a short ways, firefighters initially had hoped to get a handle on the southeastern flank of the fire when it reached First Bench, a mile-long ridge where they had already cut lines. But as the fire reached the ridge Tuesday afternoon, a dense cropping of trees burst into flames and the fire slopped over the top. First Bench is just south of where the fire eventually threatened to reach the highway.

"Everything is still in motion at this point," said Fire Information Officer Charlie Jankiewicz. "If they get some bad winds, all bets are off."

Crews try to keep fire from reaching homes

[Soldier4Christ]

Southern San Andreas fault waiting to explode: report

The southern end of the San Andreas fault near Los Angeles, which has been still for more than two centuries, is under immense stress and could produce a massive earthquake at any moment, a scientist said on Wednesday.

Yuri Fialko, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, California, said that given average annual movement rates in other areas of the fault, there could be enough pent-up energy in the southern end to trigger a cataclysmic jolt of up to 10 meters (32 ft).

"The observed strain rates confirm that the southern section of the San Andreas fault may be approaching the end of the interseismic phase of the earthquake cycle," he wrote in the science journal Nature.

A sudden lateral movement of 7 to 10 meters would be among the largest ever recorded.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake that destroyed San Francisco in 1906 was produced by a sudden movement of the northern end of the fault of up to 21 ft.

Fialko said there had been no recorded movement at the southern end of the fault -- the 800-mile long geological meeting point of the Pacific and the North American tectonic plates -- since the dawn of European settlement in the area.

He said this lack of movement for 250 years correlated with the predicted gaps between major earthquakes at the southern end of the fault of between 200 and 300 years.

Elsewhere on the fault, there were average slippage rates up to a couple of centimeters a year that prevented the build-up of explosive pressure deep underground.

When these became blocked and then suddenly broke free they produced tremors or earthquakes of varying intensity depending on the movement that had taken place before and the duration of the blockage.

USGS says the most recent major earthquakes in the northern and central zones of the San Andreas fault were in 1857 and 1906.

Fialko said there were three possible explanations for the lack of observed movement in the southern section -- creepage under the surface that had no external manifestation, that it simply might not move as much as the rest or a major blockage.

"Except for the first possibility above, the continued quiescence increases the likelihood of a future event," he wrote.

Making calculations based on a wide range of land and satellite observations, he discounted the idea of creepage and warned of impending disaster.

"Regardless of fault geometry and mechanical properties of the ambient crust, results presented in this study lend support to intermediate-term forecasts of a high probability of major earthquakes on the southern SAF system," Fialko said.

[Shammu]

Massive Southern California Earthquake Could Come Any Moment

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

LOS ANGELES  — New earthquake research confirms the southern end of the San Andreas fault near Los Angeles is overdue for a Big One.

The lower section of the fault has not produced a major earthquake in more than three centuries. The new study, which analyzed 20 years of data and is considered one of the most detailed analyses yet, found that stress has been building up since then, and that the fault could rupture at any moment.

"The southern section of the fault is fully loaded for the next big event," said geophysicist Yuri Fialko of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

Predicting exactly when that might happen, however, is beyond scientists' ability.

The analysis was published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Experts have estimated that a quake on the southern San Andreas of magnitude-7.6 or greater could kill thousands of people in the densely populated greater Los Angeles area and cause tens of billions of dollars in damage.

It was the 800-mile San Andreas fault, which runs down California like a scar, that caused the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that led to about 3,000 deaths.

But scientists know very little about the 100-mile dormant southern segment, which slices through Southern California from San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles, to near the Mexican border.

The section last popped in 1690, producing an estimated 7.7-magnitude quake, but caused little injury or damage because hardly anyone lived there at the time.

Using satellite radar and global positioning data, Fialko measured the movement of the southern San Andreas between 1985 and 2005. Small movements along a fault can relieve strain. Calculating those subtle motions allows scientists to figure out how much strain is building up.

Fialko found that the southern end of the fault has shown little movement and that significant strain is building up. The fault's slip rate, or average annual movement, was measured to be about an inch a year — similar to previous estimates.

Surprisingly, Fialko found the two sides of the southern San Andreas behaved differently, with one side showing more flexibility than the other. This could help scientists understand potential earthquake risks, he said.

Ken Hudnut, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist in Pasadena, who had no role in the study, said the latest research reaffirms the need to study the mysterious southern San Andreas more closely.

In the fall, Hudnut will head a $240,000 project that would conduct tests on the southern segment to get a better idea of the threat it poses.

Massive Southern California Earthquake Could Come Any Moment

[Shammu]

Northeast Ohio Hit With 12th Earthquake Since 2005

Tue Jun 20, 7:19 PM ET

Northeast Ohio experienced another minor earthquake Tuesday afternoon, the 12th and largest earthquake to hit the area since 2005.

According the United States Geological Survey center, it has been confirmed that the earthquake hit northeast Ohio at 4: 11 p.m.

The quake had a magnitude of 3.3 with the epicenter being off the shore of Lake Erie, northwest of Ashtabula near Painesville.

Several other earthquakes have hit northeast Ohio so far this year. The last one hit near Mentor in May, with a magnitude of 3.0.

The quakes before that ranged in magnitude from 2.0 to 2.6

Northeast Ohio Hit With 12th Earthquake Since 2005

[Shammu]

Hantavirus warnings follow deaths in B.C., Washington, Idaho

The Associated Press

KELOWNA, British Columbia – British Columbia residents have been warned to be cautious about spring cleaning in areas infested by deer mice, after a 14-year-old boy and a Washington state woman died from hantavirus.

The 14-year-old Naramata-area boy, previously healthy, began feeling ill two weeks ago, was initially hospitalized for respiratory distress in this southcentral British Columbia town on June 11, then was transferred to British Columbia Children's Hospital in Vancouver, where he died Friday.

He was the fifth resident of the province in about a decade to die of hantavirus, which is transmitted mostly by deer mouse droppings.

A warning also was issued by the British Columbia Center for Disease Control after Sara M. Shields-Priddy, 44, who resided north of Lynden, Wash., near the international border, died of hantavirus on March 22.

Health officials say the risk of hantavirus typically rises when dried mouse droppings are stirred into the air and are inhaled during spring cleaning, especially in rural cabins, barns and garages.

The boy who died lived in an area that was known to have had a deer mouse infestation, and Whatcom County, Wash., Health Officer Greg Stern said Shields-Priddy had "a long history of exposure to rat droppings and debris in a storage area."

In May, a 49-year-old eastern Idaho man died from hantavirus, prompting officials with Idaho's Central Health District to issue a hantavirus warning as well. Since 1978 there have been 21 cases of hantavirus diagnosed in Idaho. Seven were fatal.

Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say environmental conditions this year could increase the risk of human exposure to hantavirus.

Hantavirus warnings follow deaths in B.C., Washington, Idaho

[Soldier4Christ]

Western blazes char more than 80,000 acres
Hundreds evacuated as fires hit Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, California

Firefighters struggled Wednesday to stop a wildfire from jumping a highway in scenic Oak Creek Canyon and roaring into an area of evacuated homes and resorts.

Nearly 600 firefighters were on the lines Wednesday, backed by at least a dozen aircraft and nearly three dozen fire trucks, but the 2,585-acre blaze was only 7 percent contained in the steep, rugged terrain.

Flames had approached the two-lane highway that runs through the middle of the canyon, but crews were able to burn away fuel in its path, officials said Wednesday morning.

“We’ve kind of drawn some lines in the sand, and we’re going to be working hard to solidify them,” said Sedona Fire District Chief Matt Shobert. “It’s going to be hand-to-hand combat — blood, sweat and tears trying to fight the fire.”

The fire was approaching the area of Slide Rock State Park, a popular recreation spot that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year.

The blaze started Sunday in a camp used by transients and spread quickly, forcing the evacuation of about 460 homes and businesses in the canyon more than 90 miles north of Phoenix. The Forest Service is offering a reward up to $5,000 for information leading to a conviction of those responsible for the fire.

Mike Yeager has a home in the lushly forested canyon, whose walls are tinted crimson by iron oxide.

“It makes me so mad. I just want to spit,” he said. “These people started a fire in the most beautiful place in the world.”

The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office said it would coordinate shuttles and give evacuated residents a few minutes to retrieve personal items.

Meanwhile, an evacuation order was lifted for 180 homes on the north side of Sedona. Some residents said they had already been back for days.

Gov. Janet Napolitano declared a state of emergency Monday to activate the state’s 211 phone system, which provides people with information about natural disasters and other emergencies.

During a meeting Wednesday with about 250 evacuees, the governor praised firefighters and tried to reassure residents.

Oak Creek Canyon “is the jewel of Arizona,” said Napolitano, who toured the area by air. “We want to do everything we can do to save this area.”

Colorado blaze
In Colorado, a wildfire that forced the evacuation of more than 300 homes had grown to 11,800 acres. U.S. 160 through the area was closed Wednesday for a third day.

Winds had fallen and reversed direction, raising hope that the flames would be driven back to ground that had already burned, said fire information officer Crestine Martinez. Crews were allowing the fire, which was 30 percent contained, to burn itself out in uninhabited wilderness.

Colorado Gov. Bill Owens toured the area Wednesday, then banned open burning and fireworks on all state-owned land and ordered the National Guard to prepare four helicopters for firefighting duty.

The blaze, ignited by lightning and reported Sunday, was near Fort Garland, about 150 miles south of Denver.

In New Mexico, heat, wind and rugged terrain slowed efforts to control fires that have burned nearly 70,000 acres of forest.

The largest blaze, burning across about 33,250 acres in southwestern New Mexico, continued to threaten cabins in the Willow Creek area, fire officials warned.

In Santa Maria, Calif., firefighters battled a 10,000-acre blaze that had stopped short of a critical ridgeline in Los Padres National Forest. No homes were threatened as the fire burned away from the small town of New Cuyama, about 45 miles east of Santa Maria.

Wildfires have charred more than 3.1 million acres nationwide so far this year, well ahead of the average of about 900,000 acres by this time, the National Interagency Fire Center reported. Huge grass fires that swept Texas and Oklahoma this spring account for much of the increase.

[Soldier4Christ]

Volcano still a huge threat

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia -- Indonesia's Mount Merapi sent avalanches of searing hot gas and debris roiling down its scorched slopes yesterday, and a scientist warned the peak's fragile lava dome still posed a threat to thousands of villagers.

The area around the 2,955-metre volcano has been at a near-continuous state of high alert for seven weeks.

Avalanches carried debris more than three kilometres down the peak's flanks yesterday, said Subandrio, a government scientist who uses only one name

[Soldier4Christ]

Kanlaon causes 2 volcanic quakes

TWO high frequency volcanic earthquakes were recorded Wednesday by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) along the perimeters of Mt. Kanlaon.

The volcano's steaming activity was noted to be moderate though, reaching a height of 50 to 200 meters and drifted either to the northwest and southwest direction as the Phivolcs bulletin showed.

Reports further showed that steam ash-laden clouds were observed at a distance in Barangay Linothangan and Masulog in Canlaon City and Cabagnaan in La Castellana.

The Cabagnaan station's seismograph recorded a 13-minute tremor on the first ash explosion and a duration of a minute for the second explosion.

Last week, Phivolcs' monitoring network has also recorded one high frequency and one low frequency earthquakes. Dirty white to grayish steam emission reached the maximum height of 1.5 kilometers with ash deposits confined at the upper northwest, northeast and southwest slopes of the volcano.

The volcano has been spewing ashes for the past three weeks since June 3.

Phivolcs and the Mt. Kanlaon Park Superintendent's Office have prohibited trekkers from entering Mt. Kanlaon's Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ), a four kilometer radius from the central crater as sudden explosions are likely to occur as the volcano is still within a period of unrest.

In addition, areas fronting gullies leading to the upper slopes should be avoided because lahars and rockfalls may affect these localities especially during heavy rains on the volcano slopes, the report added.

Meanwhile, Acting Governor Isidro Zayco said the province is ready for any eventualities in case Kanlaon erupts anytime soon.

He said the five percent calamity fund of the province is still intact and ready for disbursement if the worst-case scenario happens.

On top of this, Zayco said that all rescue groups in the towns and cities of Negros Occidental are ready if an evacuation of the residents will be ordered.

In Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, Mayor Judith Cardenas recently convened their City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) for possible plans and action related to the on going activities of Kanlaon.

Canlaon City is located at the foot of Kanlaon.

In case of minor eruption, five barangays will be affected that include the Masulog, Pula, Lumapao, Malaiba and Linuthangan,

But in time of major eruption, the entire city might be totally buried of lahar.
With the daily ashfall, school children in this City are advised to bring wet handkerchief to cover their mouth and nose while in school.

[Soldier4Christ]

Earthquake jolts eastern Indonesia


An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale struck Indonesia's eastern province of Maluku Thursday, but there is no immediate report of damages.

The Jakarta-based geophysics agency said in a release the quake occurred at 12:48 local time (03:48 GMT) and was centered 154 km east of the provincial capital of Ambon.

According to the agency, there has been hardly a single day passes without earthquake across the country since a magnitude-5.9 quake rocked central Java and killed more than 5,800 people on May 27.

[Soldier4Christ]

Mild earthquake hits central Philippines


A 3.2-magnitude earthquake struck Masbate and Sorsogon provinces in central Philippines around 07:00 a.m. local time (23:00 GMT) Thursday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said.

No casualty or damage has been reported so far, said PHIVOLCS.

PHIVOLCS said the earthquake's epicenter was northeast of Masbate in the Visayas region. An intensity 2 quake was felt in neighboring towns of Casiguran to the north and Irosin to the south, it added.

PHIVOLCS said the earthquake was not related to Mount Bulusan's volcanic activity, which has seen continuous spewing of ash over the past several months.