While it’s generally agreed in the natural health arena that organically produced fare is superior in safety compared to crops that utilize GMOs or chemical pesticides, the fact that it’s more nutritious might be overlooked by consumers. Conventional growers insist there isn’t a substantial difference between the two, yet several studies have found otherwise.
The science behind nutrient rich organic edibles
In the battle between conventional versus organic, research has shown the latter to be the victor with higher levels of vitamins and minerals as well as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and omega-3 fats.
Nutritional profile of organic compared to conventional crops
After reviewing 41 published studies examining the nutritional content of conventional and organically grown crops, certified nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington discovered organic food rated significantly higher. Findings include greater levels of vitamin C (27 percent), iron (21.1 percent), magnesium (29.3 percent) and phosphorus (13.6 percent). She also notes that organic crops had lower nitrates and heavy metal contamination. Worthington’s results can be found in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
Likewise, a study led by Alyson Mitchell at the University of California-Davis found free radical scavenging flavonoids were notably higher in organic tomatoes. Over the course of ten years, organically produced tomatoes were compared to their conventional counterpart. The organic fruit was shown to contain between 79 and 97 percent more flavonoid, aglycones, quercetin and kaempferol than conventionally grown tomatoes.
Variance in milk fatty acids between organic and conventional farming practices
A study in the Journal of Dairy Research investigated the chemical composition of milk sourced from conventional and organic dairy sheep and goats in Greece. One hundred and sixty two milk samples were taken over three months. Results showed fat content was lower in the organic milk compared to conventional. Additionally, the researchers discovered:
Milk from organic sheep had higher content in MUFA, PUFA, alpha-LNA, cis-9, trans-11 CLA, and omega-3 FA, whereas in milk from organic goats alpha-LNA and omega-3 FA content was higher than that in conventional one. These differences are, mainly, attributed to different feeding practices used by the two production systems.
According to the study, organic milk has a greater nutritional value (due to its fatty acid profile) compared to conventional milk when “produced under the farming conditions practiced in Greece.”
Similar results were found with cow’s milk. A team of researchers at the Institute of Food Science and Nutrition in Piacenza, Italy evaluated the fat composition of organic bulk milk as well as conventional. Once again, organically produced milk had higher levels of CLA. “The animal diet appears to be the factor which has the highest effect on the CLA concentration in milk and milk products and an organic diet based on fresh or dried forage, that is rich in CLA precursory fatty acids, may improve the yield of fatty acids with beneficial effects on health.”
Massive earthquake in Pakistan – At least 50 killed and 100′s injured
Last update: September 24, 2013 at 2:47 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Update 14:46 UTC : Normally well informed Iranian sources are now reporting an increased death toll of 50. More people remain below the debris which means that the death toll will climb further the coming hours.
Update 14:41 UTC : On the Gwadar coastline, the quake created a small island about half a mile into the sea near an area called ‘Jhanda’, according to Express News. The newly appearing island is said to have a mountainous terrain rising up to a hundred feet. A large crowd was seen gathering at the site to see the new island. This information has been given by normally well informed press sources however ER finds it hard to believe and looks for further confirmation.
Update 14:24 UTC : Around 30% of houses possibly destroyed in the worst parts of Arawan district.
Update 14:20 UTC : We expect the fatalities and injured number still to rise sharply. Our own estimates are better than scenarios of other theoretical engines. Part of the reason is the time of the day the earthquake occurred. We are estimating less than 1000 fatalities based on the current epicenter, Magnitude and depth data.
Update 14:16 UTC : A M5.5 aftershock will probably create more damage and will be possibly life threatening for those buried under the rubble of the collapsed houses. All people who got safely out of their houses will surely not enter them anymore for some time.
Around 200000 people are without power and are in the worst affected epicentral area. This is around 45 times less than the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
32 dead and 54 injured. Balochistan has imposed emergency measures. We are still waiting for confirmation of these figures.
Balochistan earthquake (Courtesy: The Tribe)
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30 dead and 54 injured. Balochistan has imposed emergency measures.
The weather will be around 22 degrees at night, to 35 degrees in the day for the coming week with no rain. Shelter will need to be provided accordingly as well as water supplies.
Many injuries are confirmed.
Around 400 fatalities are expected using theoretical studies and the current USGS shakemap. There still exist huge uncertainties of course.
Nearly 100% of buildings are adobe in this region according to Maqsood and Schwarz (2008). In their mean vulnerability index – this region came up one of the highest in Pakistan. Thus, it can be said that the vulnerability of such housing is high.
A lot of damage has occurred in the Khuzdar district in the Arawan area
The economic losses will be less than $1 billion USD. It is likely they will be around $100 million USD, however further modelling will be done in the coming hours.
Still at 10 fatalities.
Another M5.8 aftershock has struck the area .
The sparse population (about 50 times less populated than that of the epicentral region in Kashmir 2005) and time of day (4.30pm local time), will have reduced casualties significantly. 10 people however are reported dead currently.
It should be remembered that this is a rural area and thus the population is sparse. Given the length of the fault break, it is likely that Arawan district was quite heavily hit. .
Mw7.7 and 20km depth has been reported from USGS..
Update:- As a yardstick – the Pakistan earthquake of 2005 was Mw7.6 and at 10km depth. The fault break for Mw7.8 should be of the order of 150-180km long using scaling laws..
Update:- The duration of the quake was close to 2 minutes .
Update:- At least 2 people have been killed.
Update:- Many houses have collapsed, and no power is reported in parts of Balochistan. It is unknown the extent of these collapsed houses.
Update:- M7.8 and 15km depth has been given by IIEES.
Update:- The maximum intensity in Karachi has been around III so it is highly unlikely that there will be any damage there.
Update:- A number of aftershocks have occurred which is making life difficult for inhabitants. An M5.9 and M4.7 earthquake have been the largest so far, however it can be expected that aftershocks will plague the region in the coming hours and days.
No damage has been reported in Iran. Dubai in the UAE reported swinging of buildings.
Update: PAGER is predicting in excess of 1000 fatalities using a theoretical model. Internal models are predicting less than 1000 fatalities, (around 440) but with huge differences currently due to the uncertainty of intensities (and differences in magnitude)
Update: The earthquake occurred at 16:30 local time, which is one of the best times for an earthquake to strike… many people will hopefully been out of the house and out of schools, and agricultural workers will still hopefully have been outside.
Update: Roofs of schools in Arawan district collapsed.
Update: Pakistani news report that a lot of houses were damaged in Arawan area. Many people were injured and are on the way to hospital.
Update: Reports from Pakistan indicate that a lot of houses in western Pakistan were damaged. We expect more damage, also in other parts of Pakistan.
Update: USGS rose the Magnitude to 7.8 again. The quake was also felt in UAE and Oman. So far, we don’t have any reports from greater epicenter area.
Update: Panic was spreaded in Dehli and other Indian cities. People ran to the streets.
Update: According to PAGER, 16.000 people living in the area of strongest shaking. 105.000 in area of Intensity VII and VIII.
Update: USGS has changed the value from M 7.8 to M 7.4, still very dangerous. The quake was also felt in parts of India.
USGS ShakeMap shows a violent shaking in epicenter area, which is only sparsely populted with some villages (Balochistan Region).
A massive very dangerous earthquake with M 7.5 occurred in southern Pakistan.
Nearby Cities
69km (43mi) NNE of Awaran, Pakistan
118km (73mi) NW of Bela, Pakistan
172km (107mi) S of Kharan, Pakistan
174km (108mi) NW of Uthal, Pakistan
793km (493mi) ENE of Muscat, Oman
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 7.7
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-09-24 16:29:49
August 2013 was the globe’s 4th warmest August since records began in 1880, according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). NASA rated it the 5th warmest August on record. The year-to-date period of January – August has been the 6th warmest such period on record. August 2013 global land temperatures were the 11th warmest on record, and global ocean temperatures were the 5th warmest on record. August 2013 was the 342nd consecutive month with global temperatures warmer than the 20th century average. Global satellite-measured temperatures in August 2013 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were 14th or 11th warmest in the 35-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), respectively. Wunderground’s weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, has a comprehensive post on the notable weather events of August 2013 in his August 2013 Global Weather Extremes Summary. The big stories that he highlights are the intense heat waves that hit Central Europe and East Asia, which brought all-time national heat records to Austria, Slovenia, and Japan. Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, passed its all-time heat record a remarkable five times during the month.
Figure 1. Departure of temperature from average for August 2013, the 4th warmest August for the globe since record keeping began in 1880. Most of the world’s land areas experienced warmer-than-average monthly temperatures, including Australia, northern South America, western North America, Europe, and much of eastern Asia. Far eastern China, part of eastern Russia north of Japan, and part of northeastern South America were record warm for the month. The southeastern United States, Far East Russia, part of South Africa, Paraguay, and Bolivia were cooler than average. No regions of the globe were record cold. Image credit: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) .
The six billion-dollar weather disasters of August 2013
Disaster 1. The most damaging billion-dollar weather disaster of August was in Northeast China, where the Nei River overflowed, killing 54 and leaving 97 missing in Fushuan. The flooding killed 118 people and cost $5 billion. In this photo, workers use an excavator to clean up mud after heavy rain hit on August 19, 2013 in Fushuan, in the Liaoning Province of China. Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images.
Disaster 2. Super Typhoon Utor killed 70 people in China and did $2.6 billion in damage. Utor also did $33 million in damage in the Philippines. This video taken by storm chaser James Reynolds shows debris flying as Typhoon Utor hits Zhapo, China on 14th August 2013.
Disaster 3. Torrential rains, due, in part, to moisture from Typhoon Trami, fell in the Philippines August 18 – 21, causing massive flooding on Luzon Island that cost $2.2 billion. Twenty-seven people were killed, and 60% of metro Manila was under water at the peak of the flood. According to EM-DAT, the International Disaster Database, this was the most expensive natural disaster in Philippine history. In this photo, pedicabs and makeshift rafts ferry office workers and pedestrians through flood waters that submerged parts of the financial district of Makati on August 20, 2013 in Makati City south of Manila, Philippines. Image credit: Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images)
Disaster 4. In Pakistan, torrential monsoon rains caused significant flooding that affected 5,739 villages. At least 208 people were killed, 63,180 homes were damaged or destroyed, and 1.4 million acres (567,000 hectares) of crops were submerged. The government estimated economic agricultural losses alone at $1.9 billion. Pakistan’s four most expensive weather-related disasters in its history have been floods that occurred in the past four consecutive years. In this photo, Pakistani residents hold onto a rope as they evacuate a flooded area in Karachi on August 4, 2013. Image credit: Asif Hassan/AFP/Getty Images)
Figure 5. Russia experienced its costliest flood disaster in history beginning on August 4, when the Amur and Zeya rivers in the far east of the country along the Chinese border overflowed, flooding 1.7 million acres, damaging or destroying over 11,500 buildings. It was the 4th most expensive natural disaster of any kind in Russian history. These false-color infrared satellite images of Russia’s Amur River taken a little over a year apart show the extent of the extreme flooding that affected the Komsomolsk-on-Amur area (population 500,000) in August 2013. Image credit: NASA.
Disaster 6. A severe weather outbreak in the U.S. Plains and Midwest August 5 – 7 brought baseball sized hail and thunderstorm wind gusts over 80 mph to Minnesota and Wisconsin. Two people were killed, and damage was estimated at $1 billion. In this photo, a severe thunderstorm closes in on Edgemont, South Dakota, on August 7, 2013. Image credit: wunderphotographer ninjalynn.
The world-wide tally of billion-dollar weather disasters so far in 2013 is 25, and the U.S. total is six, according to the August 2013 Catastrophe Report from insurance broker Aon Benfield. This excludes the September Colorado flood, whose damages are preliminarily estimated at $2 billion. Ranked in term of cost, here are the 25 disasters:
Neutral El Niño conditions continue in the equatorial Pacific
For the 17th month in row, neutral El Niño conditions existed in the equatorial Pacific during August 2013. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) expects neutral El Niño conditions to last though the winter of 2013 – 2014, and the large majority of the El Niño models also predict that neutral conditions will last through the winter. Temperatures in the equatorial Eastern Pacific need to be 0.5°C below average or cooler for three consecutive months for a La Niña episode to be declared; sea surface temperatures were 0.0°C from average as of September 16, and have been +0.1 to -0.4°C from average since April 1, 2013.
Arctic sea ice falls to 6th lowest August extent on record
Arctic sea ice extent during August was 6th lowest in the 35-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This was the largest August extent since 2009, and a nice change of pace from last year’s all-time record retreat. The Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent for the year on September 13, and has now begun re-freezing. I’ll have a dedicated post on this, probably on Tuesday.
Quiet in the Atlantic
In the Gulf of Mexico, the tail end of a cold front off the coast of Texas has developed a few disorganized heavy thunderstorms. This disturbance has some modest spin to it, thanks to absorbing Invest 95L on Saturday. However, wind shear is high, 20 – 30 knots, and I don’t expect this disturbance will develop. The disturbance is expected to bring 1 – 3″ of rain to Florida later this week, and on Saturday, the Army Corps of Engineers has re-opened the flood gates on Lake Okeechobee to dump water out of the lake in anticipation of the heavy rains. None the reliable models for tropical cyclone formation is predicting development during the coming five days.
In the Western Pacific, Typhoon Usagi has dissipated after hitting China about 100 miles east-northeast of Hong Kong. The storm is being blamed for at least 25 deaths in China and 2 in the Philippines. Preliminary damage estimates are over $500 million.
Environmentalists and concerned citizens are increasingly beginning to recognize the delusion of the ‘technological fix’ – the use of technology to remedy problems caused by previous technology.
It is increasingly obvious that a new pesticide won’t finally eliminate the superweeds that evolved to resist the previous pesticide, that new and more powerful antibiotics won’t bring final victory over the superbugs that evolved to resist previous antibiotics, and that massive geoengineering projects like seeding the stratosphere with sulphuric acid or the oceans with iron (to combat climate change) will likely cause horrific unanticipated consequences.What is less obvious is how pervasive the mentality behind the technological fix is. In the United States, we respond to the failure of metal detectors, lockdowns, and other forms of control in our schools by calling for even more control. European countries unable to pay their debts are lent even more money, with the proviso that they try even harder to pay their debts. Imperialist powers apply military violence to fight the terrorism that is a response to previous imperialism and violence. Doctors prescribe drugs to address the side-effects caused by other drugs. Urban planners address traffic congestion by building more roads (which leads to more development and more traffic). And millions of people manage the emptiness of a life of material acquisition by buying more material possessions.
Underneath the technological fix is a way of perceiving ourselves and the world. More than a mere mentality of separation and of control, it comes from a disconnected state of being that is blind to the indwelling purpose and intelligence of nature.
For example, a skilled organic farmer might see weeds or bugs not as interlopers but as a symptom of imbalance in soil ecology. To address them holistically, she must believe there even is such a thing as soil ecology. In other words, she must believe in the wholeness and interconnectedness of all beings that make up soil. She must see soil as a collective, emergent entity in its own right, and not an inert, generic substrate that plants grow in.
Conventional agriculture, on the other hand, sees weeds as kind of an outbreak of badness, similar to the way we have seen terrorism, or violence in schools, or disease. To see it otherwise, as a symptom of a deeper disharmony, presupposes that there is such a harmony, an integrity, a beingness, and not just a senseless jumble. The technological fix addresses the symptom while ignoring the illness, because it cannot see an integral entity that can become ill.
I don’t want to gloss over the profundity of the paradigm shift we are accepting if we are to see nature as intelligent and purposive. To do so is to abdicate the exclusive domain to which we have appointed ourselves: the sole intelligence of the world. It is to humble ourselves to something greater, and seek our place not as Cartesian lords and possessors of nature, but as contributors to an unfolding process beyond our selves. This inescapable conclusion is, perhaps, the reason why teleology is anathema to orthodox science. Purpose was supposed to be our domain! And the king of that domain was the scientist, wielding technology to enact its dominion.
The idea of an inherently purposeful universe is far more radical than religious notions of intelligent design, which agree with mechanistic science about matter and cede intelligence to an external, supernatural being. Such a narrative offers no compunctions to limit the despoliation of nature. It asks us to humble ourselves to nothing of this world.
To be so humbled, we must see that the soul of nature – its purpose, intelligence, and beingness – comes not from without but from within. It is an emergent property borne of non-linear complexity. In non-linear systems, small actions can have enormous consequences. The technological fix is based on linear thinking. The alternative is to develop sensitivity to the emergent order and intelligence that wants to unfold, so that we might bow into its service.
What might that look like? Technology in service to Earth includes things like regenerative agriculture and permaculture to heal the soil, replenish the aquifers, and sequester carbon. It includes green energy technologies, conservation technologies, bioremediation, wetlands restoration, zero-waste manufacturing, anything that contributes to the health of the planet and its ecosystems.
Today, painfully, we are becoming aware of the folly of the delusion that we can, with clever enough technological solutions, avoid the consequences of what we do to the world. We are learning that we are not separate from nature, and that it bears a wholeness that we ignore at our peril. Our techno-utopian dreams and basic scientific paradigms are unraveling in tandem with many of our social institutions, because the underlying narrative of separation is unraveling as well.
These converging crises – social, ecological, and intellectual – are expelling us from our old story. As that happens, none of our fixes, technological or otherwise, are working anymore to control the pain: the grief, the rage, the loneliness we feel as we gaze out upon what we have wrought. Thus begins the healing journey into a new narrative of cocreative participation in the unfolding destiny of our planet.
Source: “Technology and the Intelligence of Nature,” by Charles Eisenstein, from theecologist.org
The catastrophic drought of 2012 lingered on in some parts of the United States, while other areas of the country have slipped back into dry conditions recently. U.S. Drought Monitor statistics released recently show that approximately half of the contiguous U.S. now suffers some degree of drought.
Multi-year drought tortures the western half of the United States especially in portions of Texas, western Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, California and the Four Corners states, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s most recent maps. These ongoing dry conditions contributed to the wildfires that devoured forests and homes in the western United States this year.
However there has been some improvement. Less of the western United States suffers under “exceptional” and “extreme” drought category conditions than at the start of this year. In January, The National Drought Mitigation Center classified 6.75 percent of the Lower 48 as an “exceptional” drought and 21.31 percent as “extreme.” Those statistics have dropped to 1.25 percent and 9.86 percent, respectively.
The Midwest and southern Mississippi River Valley escaped from the drought after a wet winter. Though recently, dry conditions have returned to the Midwest. A streak of high temperatures and little rain caused a “flash drought” in the corn-growing region. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that approximately 45 percent of the nation’s prime corn growing region have dipped into drought as the harvest season approaches.
2013 has been a year of contrasts for corn growing communities. For example, Burlington, Iowa had its wettest spring on record since 1898, but also its driest summer in that same time period.
IMAGE: “Pray for Rain” placard in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 5, 2013. (Billy Hathorn, Wikimedia Commons)
As U.S. political and media leaders prepare for military strikes against Syria, the parallels to the lead-up to the war with Iraq should give us pause. Weapons of mass destruction, we are told, are being used by a cruel Middle Eastern despot against his own people. A military strike is inevitable, media voices say; we must respond with missiles and bombs. The arguments sound all too familiar.
U.S. intervention would play into the hands of the Syrian regime, triggering an outpouring of nationalist support for Damascus.
Meanwhile, weapons inspectors from the United Nations are on the ground investigating evidence of chemical weapons. But U.S. and European leaders are looking at an immediate strike anyway—although Britain’s Labor Party, still smarting from popular opposition to its leading role in the invasion of Iraq, has successfully pressed for a hold on military action until the results of the U.N. investigation are in.
There are a great many differences between circumstances in Syria and Iraq, of course. Nonetheless, critics warn that, much as it did in Iraq, a military incursion here could have disastrous consequences. Here are 11 reasons the United States should stay clear of military action:
1. We don’t actually know who is behind the chemical weapons attack. An attack employing chemical weapons took place in the suburbs of Damascus on August 21 and killed 355 people, according to Doctors Without Borders. Obama administration officials say the attack was carried out by the Syrian regime, but Institute for Policy Studies analyst Phyllis Bennis points out we haven’t actually been given evidence that this is the case. And, while it’s unlikely that the opposition was behind the attack, NPR has pointed out that the rebels have an incentive to use such weapons to trigger outside intervention and end the stalemate they’ve been stuck in since late 2011.
2. A military strike would be illegal under the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution. U.S. military attacks can only be carried out by an act of Congress, unless there is a national emergency created by a direct attack upon the United States. The fact that Congress has adjourned doesn’t change that. “There is no provision in the Constitution or the War Powers Resolution for a ‘recess war,'” says Robert Naiman, writer for Just Foreign Policy. If it was a true emergency, Congress could be called into session to pass a declaration of war.
3. It would violate international law, too. Syria has not attacked the United States, and there is no U.N. Security Council authorization for a strike on Syria. It wouldn’t be the first time the United States has violated international law, but doing it again adds to a damaging precedent and contributes to a lawless world.
4. The American people oppose it. Sixty percent of Americans oppose intervention in Syria, according to a recent Reuters poll. Just nine percent support intervention. Even if the use of chemical weapons is proven, just 25 percent of Americans would support intervention.
5. Violence begets violence. According to Stephen Zunes, chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, military interventions actually worsen and lengthen violence in the short term. “Countries whose dictatorships are overthrown by armed groups … are far more likely to turn into new dictatorships, often accompanied by ongoing violence and factionalism,” Zunes says in an article in Foreign Policy in Focus. In the long term, he writes, interventions only reduce violence if they are impartial, which would certainly not be the case in any upcoming conflict in Syria.
6. Foreign intervention will deepen nationalist support for the Syrian Baath Party and the Assad regime. Zunes also reports that hundreds of members of the Syrian Baath Party, a key source of support for Assad, have left the party in outrage over the regime’s killing of nonviolent protesters. But, he says, “few defections could be expected if foreigners suddenly attacked the country.” U.S. intervention would play into the hands of the Syrian regime, triggering an outpouring of nationalist support for Damascus. The same thing happened in 1983-84 following U.S. Navy air attacks on Syrian positions in Lebanon, he says, and in 2008 after U.S. army commando raids in eastern Syria.
Syria has become a venue for a war between the United States and Russia, and between Iran and an allied U.S. and Israel.
7. There are no logical targets. Bombing stockpiles of chemical weapons would be untenable, since many would release poison gases into densely populated neighborhoods, according to Zunes. And there are too many ways of delivering chemical weapons—planes, missiles, mortars, and so on—to eliminate all of them.
8. It will be impossible to control who benefits from Western intervention among the rebels. The Pentagon estimates that there are between 800 and 1,200 rebel groups currently active in Syria, according to USA Today. Among them are ones with avowed affiliations with Al Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other groups the United States considers to be terrorists. While the House Intelligence Committee has said it’s ready to accept the risk of providing weapons to such groups, a look at Iraq and Afghanistan shows how such plans can easily unravel.
9. Civilians will be killed and maimed. Policy analyst Phyllis Bennis points out the obvious: Strike with bombs and missiles, and, whatever your intent, civilians with no involvement in the conflict—including children and the elderly—will be harmed.
10. There is no apparent exit strategy. Once we are involved, it is unclear how we will extract ourselves from a massive, ugly civil conflict that could spread to involve nearby countries such as Lebanon, Israel, and Iran.
11. Yes, there is a better way. Tried, true, and boring though it may be, diplomacy often works. As Bennis told Democracy Now! this week, Syria has become a venue for a war between the United States and Russia, and between Iran and an allied United States and Israel.
What’s needed, she says, are peace talks involving not only the parties who are fighting, but their backers as well. We need “all the forces on the two sides coming together to talk,” she says, “rather than fighting to the last Syrian child, to resolve these wars.”
Sarah van Gelder wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas and practice actions. Sarah is executive editor of YES!
Very Strong but Very Deep earthquake in the Izu Islands region, Japan
Last update: September 4, 2013 at 1:28 am by By Ashish Khanal
Update 01:02 UTC : JMA JApan reports a Magnitude of M6.9 but also very deep at 400 km = the hot solid mantle of the earth. Harmless.
Very deep earthquakes cannot generate tsunamis. Maximum shaking was a JMA 4 at Iwanuma-shi Sakura*
JMA 4 shaking = * Most people are startled.
* Hanging objects such as lamps swing significantly.
* Unstable ornaments may fall.
Based on our experience with Japanese earthquakes, earthquake-report.com considers JMA 5+ intensity as a potentially dangerous shaking.
Very strong but also very deep earthquake in the Izu Islands region, but far enough from populated islands and the mainland to remain harmless. The depth has the consequence that this earthquake was felt in a wide radius, even in Tokyo (637 km).
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — For the first time since a wildfire broke out around Yosemite National Park, dense smoke has begun to obscure the region’s majestic mountain views, park officials say.
The smoke from the two-week-old fire that shrouded parts of Yosemite Valley Saturday also hampered firefighting efforts.
“I’m in Yosemite Valley right now, and I cannot see the cliffs around me,” spokeswoman Kari Cobb said. “The wind has shifted and smoke is impacting the entire park. We have been lucky until now.”
All the campgrounds in the Valley still were full as of Saturday morning, despite the thick blanket and burning smell that permeated the area and was expected to linger until at least Monday, she said.
As a health precaution, visitors were being asked to scale back their outdoor recreation plans and avoid strenuous activities or even stay indoors.
Meanwhile, firefighting aircraft were grounded most of the morning because of low visibility caused by the smoke, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Mark Healey said. The blaze had scorched 348 square miles of brush, oaks and pines and 11 homes, as of Saturday, an area larger than the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose combined.
Of that total, 94 square miles of wilderness have burned in the northern section of Yosemite, up from 75 square miles a day earlier.
The fire was 40 percent contained.
Although containment efforts proceeded on a positive note overnight, officials became concerned Saturday about a 150-acre spot fire that crossed a road and prompted an evacuation order for homes near the west entrance of Yosemite, Healey said.
Once planes and water-dropping helicopters were cleared to take off again, the worry lifted some along with the evacuation order.
“Air operations are going full-blast to bring this fire under control,” Healey said late Saturday afternoon.
The cause of the fire, which started August 17 and has claimed the most acreage in the Stanislaus National Forest, is under investigation.
Healey said fresh firefighters were being brought in to replace tired crews, but that officials did not plan to reduce the nearly 5,000 people assigned to the blaze.
The wildfire is the largest now burning in the United States and is the fifth-largest in California history.
Deep harmless earthquake in the Banda Sea (Indonesia) felt until Australia
Last update: September 1, 2013 at 12:25 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Update 12:12 UTC : In our back office we are receiving from our readers almost the same MMI values from Timor (Dili) as from Australia (Darwin), althoudg the distances to the epicenter are completely different (Dili 319 km and Darwin at least 500 km)
Update 12:12 UTC : The main reason why this earthquake (although very strong but not massive) was felt at such big distances is the depth of the hypocenter. The wave bundle radiates far away from the explosion point and reaches even Australia. Scary but harmless, but always wise to consult our pages if the depth was not shallow.
The earthquake source is located in the hot solid mantle of our planet.
Update 12:12 UTC : This is how the earthquake looks like on the seismograph at Soe (Indonesian part of Timor), the islands relatively close to the epicenter
Seismogram courtesy and copyright Geofon, Germany
NO Tsunami risk for the whole region (reason : not strong enough and too deep)
319 km E of Dili, East Timor / pop: 150,000 / local time: 20:52:32.3 2013-09-01
2046 km SE of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei / pop: 64,409 / local time: 19:52:32.3 2013-09-01
2079 km W of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea / pop: 283,733 / local time: 21:52:32.3 2013-09-01
Extremely dangerous earthquake/aftershock in Yunnan, China – at least 5 people killed and 36 injured
Last update: August 31, 2013 at 1:16 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Update 12:53 UTC : The death toll has unfortunately risen to 5.
36 people have been injured by the quake. At least 15 of them have been hospitalized.
The fatalities have been recorded in both the counties of Shangri-La and Deqen (Yunnan Province).
The present damage and injured/death toll may climb further the coming hours as rescue teams will further search the area.
Landslides and a heavy truck who slashed into a minibus (not specified whether this is the minibus with the tourists in it). The injured were hospitalized. Image courtesy and copyright news.xinhuanet.com
Update 09:57 UTC : The Chinese press is now reporting the death of 4 people and at least 17 injured. Telecommunications were down in some parts of the hardest hit area and emergency units are being installed by the Chinese authorities. A lot of landslides have been reported in this mountainous Yunnan area. Assessment is still continuing but the following numbers can be reported as minimum damage :
– 600 rooms have collapsed
– 55,500 rooms have been damaged to different extend
– +9,000 residents have been affected and had to live in tented camps or with relatives.
Update : At least 3 people have been killed by this earthquake and 17 have been reported as injured. Many houses (who might have been already damaged from the M5.1 earthquake) have collapsed and even more damaged further.
Electricians work to supply electricity to the affected area in the area bordering the counties of Shangri-La, Deqen of Yunnan Province and Derong County of Sichuan Province, with a depth of about 10 kilometers, the center said. (Image courtesy and copyright Xinhua/Shi Xianrao)
Update : Also tourists seems to have been involved in this earthquake. The greater earthquake area is a highlight in many Chinese tours, a visit to the town and Monastery of Shangri La, also called Little Tibet.
24th September 2013
Sarah van Gelder wrote this article for 
