Earthquake in India’s North West corner – Punjab – Himachal Pradesh
Last update: August 29, 2013 at 10:46 am by By Ashish Khanal
Update 10:39 UTC : The depth is still unsure at this moment. Geofon reports a 26 km shallow depth and EMSC a 60 km depth. A M4.6 earthquake should not be damaging at these depths.
Below a picture of the Maharana Pratap Sagar reservoir (at the bottom the dam). At this Magnitude the dam should have no problem at all. The epicenter (taking into account the error margin) was almost below the reservoir.
Update 10:26 UTC : Most of the people reporting are located in the Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana area. The earthquake has also been felt in parts of Pakistan.
Update 10:24 UTC : Based on preliminary data, we expect the Magnitude near M5, depth still unsure.
352 km SE of Islamabad, Pakistan / pop: 601,600 / local time: 15:13:30.0 2013-08-29
132 km NW of Shimla, India / pop: 173,503 / local time: 15:43:30.0 2013-08-29
119 km E of Nārowāl, Pakistan / pop: 68,291 / local time: 15:13:30.0 2013-08-29
8 km W of Dera Gopipur, India / pop: 4,735 / local time: 15:43:30.0 2013-08-29
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 4.7
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-29 15:43:30
Damaging Yunnan, Shangri La area (China) earthquake (August 27/28) – Many houses collapsed and/or damaged – landslides
Last update: August 28, 2013 at 1:59 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Update 13:56 UTC : New update from the assessment and rescue teams in the earthquake zone : 2 counties, 19 villages and 9176 people were affected, 56 houses collapsed, 45 houses severely damaged and 266 houses slightly damaged.
Update 07:47 UTC : At least 36 houses in Yunnan and Sichuan collapsed, some hundreds were damaged. More than 10.000 people are affected. Rescue teams sent thousand of tents and food to the quake victims.
Update 06:36 UTC : Many houses in Yunnan and Sichuan close to the epicenter were damaged by the quake. Some of them severely, respectively nearly collapsed. Many landslides occurred in the steep valleys, which blocked and damaged roads and destroyed water pipes. Some 200 people were trapped on a road. Rockfalls in villages caused additional damage. So far, no reports about injuries, but approx. 4000 people are affected by the quake.
An aftershock with M 4.4, which occurred some hours later, caused additional damage.
The impressive Shangri La Buddhist monastery where the earthquake was also felt – image Armand Vervaeck
Update 21:47 UTC : As usual, International seismological agency data are varying a lot compared with the Chinese data. We trust however the Chinese data based on our long experience with Chinese earthquakes.
We expect detailed assessment news during the UTC morning hours (currently still dark in the epicenter area)
Village of Garze in the epicenter area – Image courtesy and copyright Hatong
Update 21:37 UTC : CEIC China reports a Magnitude of M5.1 at a shallow depth of 9 km. Based on our experience with Chinese earthquakes and our knowledge of the area, we think that this earthquake will be damaging.
The area is very mountainous and the earthquake has struck on the slopes of high hills who are bordering a deep river valley.
More to the south is Shangri-La a location know for his beautiful Monastery which is being visited by huge numbers of tourists every year.
3km (2mi) WNW of Benzilan, China
176km (109mi) NNW of Dayan, China
290km (180mi) W of Xichang, China
295km (183mi) NNW of Dali, China
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 4.9
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-28 04:44:56
Moderate earthquake shakes Spanish Springs, Nevada (August 26/27, 2013)
Last update: August 27, 2013 at 7:08 am by By Ashish Khanal
Update : A 4.1 Magnitude quake (initially reported as a 4.7) struck just 3km from Spanish Springs, Nevada. USGS calculations indicates that 20,000 people may felt a Moderate shaking (MMI V), a moderate shaking can create minor damage like cracked walls and broken windows. The quake was felt in Reno, Nevada (225,000 people) as a light shaking or MMI IV.
3km (2mi) NE of Spanish Springs, Nevada
11km (7mi) NE of Sun Valley, Nevada
16km (10mi) NNE of Sparks, Nevada
19km (12mi) NE of Reno, Nevada
57km (35mi) N of Carson City, Nevada
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 4.65
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-26 17:51:43
This article is dedicated to the courageous people around our planet who have spoken out and written about these crimes. In the ultimate sacrifice, some have given their lives to report the TRUTH.
“There’s a war going on covertly; and I want to know how it relates to the spraying.” ~ Catherine Austin Fitts.
Introduction
Over the past more than 15 years (depending upon where you live), there has been a secret – and criminal – global program of spraying toxic chemicals overhead. It began in the US, then NATO countries were added; but now this lethal aerosol spraying covers the entire globe. Military, private, and commercial planes are used to dramatically change – geo engineer – our global weather. Without any public discussion or news reports, the US military began a highly toxic and on-going assault on us.
The popular term for these aerosols is Chemtrails. It is even the term that the military has used. In an interview last month, Clifford Carnicom (one of the world’s leading researchers on the aerosols) notes in using the word “Chemtrails” versus “Geoengineering” or aerosols, this shows how our perceptions change with the word. “Language is not accidental… and is used to manipulate and control awareness, as well as perception. It serves as a basis of curtailing, basically, serious progress on very real issues.” See:
This aerosol spraying is not the first time Americans have been used as un-informed experimental laboratory animals. Basically, plans to harm us have never stopped. In 2001, Clifford Carnicom posted an excerpt from the Neuremberg War Trials about biological consent of human “subjects.” This consent is essential, but is not part of these covert crimes. See:
Here are just two examples of what has been done to us, and what continues without any informed consent. For 25 years (between 1945 and 1970), a covert Manhattan Project spin-off called the “Manhattan-Rochester Coalition” conducted aerosol tests and researched “the health [?] effects of radioactive materials…on vulnerable populations without consent in St. Louis.” These military-sponsored [radioactive] “studies targeted a segregated, high density urban area, where low-income persons of color predominantly resided.”(1)
More recently, just last month in New York City, unsuspecting subway riders were sprayed with a toxic chemical gas. Signs were posted saying: “The NYPD [New York Police Dept.] will release small amounts of harmless colorless gas in 5 boroughs and 21 subway lines. The airborne non-toxic [sic] test is part of NYPD’s precaution against terror attacks. MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority] Customers are advised to stay calm.” [NOTE: the word “Customers” –not citizens.] This was funded by a $3.4 million transit security grant from Homeland Security and conducted by US Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (who developed this tracer gas in the 1980s) and the NYPD.(2) See:
The gas used, on probably millions of the unsuspecting riders, was not “harmless.” It was a man-made chemical called perfluorocarbon [PFCs] gas. It is linked “to early onset menopause,” birth defects, flu-like symptoms; endocrine disruption; and “excessive exposure may cause effects on the brain and heart.”(3) What is “excessive”? How much of this toxic gas was sprayed on NYC subway riders? This was yet another assault on unsuspecting citizens, based on false-flag scare tactics. See also:
The history of grave harm done to us (by those in government and the military) goes back centuries – not just decades. This article gathers much of what has been discovered by courageous independent researchers, reporters, and others who are concerned with this illegal, but horrific, assault on all of us.
Geoengineering: Global Weather Modification
Humans have been manipulating the weather for a very long time. Rain makers have a history going back to the ancients. What has happened, however, is that, this time, there has been a deliberate and secret agenda of massive global harm directly connected to covertly changing our natural weather and subjecting all of us to continuous and grave harm. This heinous alteration was created by the elites [their other names include: the cabal, illuminati, NWO, or the wealthy government insiders, ptb [powers that be] to maintain secret control of: global finances; food growing and production (including harm through toxic food additives, poisonous chemicals, pesticides and GMOs); health [actually a lack of it, due to this multi-pronged assault on us]; and a controlled educational system closely tied to government and media dis-information. This is well documented. It affects everyone and all aspects of our lives.
Since 1996, the US Air Force is on record with their public document: “Owning the Weather in 2025.”(4) That any organization can think that they can “own” Mother Nature’s forces, about which very little is actually known, is staggering in its hubris and sheer malevolence.
When a country controls the weather, it then can be manipulated to cause extreme droughts [as are now going on these past few months throughout southern California], hurricanes, floods, tornadoes [HAARP-induced in Oklahoma], and other kinds of chaotic and extreme weather conditions that most people do not realize was not a natural event. Here are two recent mainstream TV reports about our dramatically changing weather:
Dr. R. Michael Castle’s “The Methodic Demise of Natural Earth” is essential reading of what has been going on with the destruction of our web of life –due to weather modification.(5) The updated verson was written in 2009. See:
There also has been extensive research on weather modification patents. Geoengineeringwatch.org has posted a large list from the US Patent and Trademark Office:
Over the past decade, research and documentation have not been exclusive to North America. Wayne Hall has been Greece’s vital key to getting this information out to the European Union. Here is an update from Aegina, Greece, between the journalist and former Euro parliamentarian Giulietto Chiesa and the deputy mayor of Aegina, Nektarios Koukoulis, on the subject of aerosol spraying from aircraft and the political system of the European Union:
Amy Worthington has also written an important research paper, “Chemtrails and Terror in the Age of Nuclear War.” It explains to those uninformed that Chemtrails are part of a larger agenda of harm that includes HAARP [High Active Auroral Research Program], a series of 26 arrays around the planet that can punch holes in our ionosphere.(6)
Worthington calls these programs “death technologies.” This is vital information that is withheld from us by the corporate-controlled mainstream media. See:
In addition, several meteorologists have been courageous and reported about Chemtrails. Kevin Martin was one of the first who had a website devoted exclusively to documenting the aerosols. It tracked Chemtrails aerosols all over the world and was updated daily. His website was taken down and his present whereabouts are not known.
Although not a meteorologist, “Dutch Since” is very knowledgeable and well informed. He has an extensive background, and has been tracking weather anomalies that no one else was. His exceptional reporting has been quite accurate. For a time, his website, too, was shut down. His new website is:
Meteorologist Scott Stevens had been reporting weather for ABC, but was fired because he had mentioned Chemtrails. Last year, he lectured at the first US Chemtrails Conference in Los Angeles. Here is his documented evidence (August 2012) of how our weather is being deliberately manipulated via this stealth technology.(7):
Finally, these clandestine weather warfare programs also now include new aerial aerosol explosions. This is a new system dispersal level of hidden but massive harm known as “Chembombs.” These were reported last year by Bruce Douglas at our Los Angeles Chemtrails Conference. As he then said: “The game plan has changed.” Douglas reported that military ships were stationed in the oceans and sent these lethal bomb explosions into our air. See:
With this enormous and constant exposure to aerosol chemicals, heavy metals, and various biological agents, it is not surprising that we also have dramatic global increases in illnesses. Mycoplasma, now bio-engineered to create more health dangers –and linked to asthma, autoimmune illnesses, and AIDS– have also been found in Chemtrails aerosols:
This chronic assault also includes the toxicity of hormone disrupting chemicals (such as soft plastics, known as phthalates), pesticides, food additives, vaccines, drugs, and, for the first time in human history, a 24/7/365 exposure to the serious dangers of EMFs [the Electromagnetic Spectrum – cell phones and cell towers, Wi-Fi, microwave ovens, and so-called “Smart” Meters]. See:
Prof. Olle Johansson is one of the world’s leading authorities on the dangers of chronic EMF exposure. He has been writing and lecturing about these dangers for 40 years.
Click to Enlarge
The synergistic effect of all these poisons on the immune system (both for humans and all other living animals –as well as the entire plant kingdom) is incalculable! What we do know is the we are under a constant and deliberate highly toxic seige.
How many people do you know who are ill in your own family? Your friends or co-workers? How many small children do you know who are critically ill or have died? How many of you have chronic problems, and cannot find a doctor who has any training in environmental medicine? How many of you have been told “there is nothing wrong” when you have serious symptoms, but they do not fit what doctors have been taught? How many of you know young people who often have multiple chronic illnesses? Pharmaceuticals and vaccines cannot fix Chemtrails and other weather modification poisonings.(8) This is corporate media and medical brainwashing. Dr. Ghislaine Lanctot’s book title says it best: “The Medical Mafia.”(9) These illnesses are now at epidemic rates, but neither covered by any mainstream media nor recognized by allopathic medicine. In Los Angeles, rates of upper respiratory and cardiac illnesses continue to climb dramatically.(10) It is no surprise that Los Angelinos are so ill. Look what they are breathing daily!
Barium and aluminum, both found in enormous quantities in our geoengineered air are part of the Chemtrails brew. Left undiagnosed, barium poisoning can and does cause enormous damage to the heart and nervous system. Aluminum is known to cause cognitive damage and brain death. Both are silent killers. Neither one of these should be found in air samples or in human hair. In a recent web interview, Dane Wigington (of geoengineeringwatch.org) noted that “there is a mountain of metal raining down on us…. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen rain tests escalate from 7 ppb [parts per billion] to… 3400 ppb. That’s nearly a 50,000 percent increase of aluminum in the rain. It’s a staggering level.”
Another ingredient in Chemtrails is Ethylene dibromide, a highly toxic desiccant (that causes drying out of mucosal tissues, dry and itchy eyes and parched skin, hastens ageing) is one of the causes of the deaths of millions of trees and plants.
There is also the unreported crisis of brain damage that is now a major global issue. The use of more than 6-billion cell phones around our planet and the attendant epidemic of what was once a rare form of brain cancer, known as glioma, is rarely addressed in any public forum. This is a well-documented and unsafe technology; and EMFs also have a Chemtrails link. See:
Corporate profits always take precedence over our well being and safety. Combine this with other brain damaging heavy metals and chemicals: Mercury (as thimerosol) in vaccines and in dental amalgam fillings; nano-coated fiber aluminum in Chemtrails, deodorants, cookware and food products (such as baking soda). The list is enormous; and thus chronic daily exposure to a myriad of brain poisons assures that our global population is already in early stages of cognitive damage. Board-certified neurosurgeon, Dr. Russell Blaylock, author of the ground-breaking book “Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills” is now speaking publicly about the brain damage resulting in Chemtrails. I urge everyone to listen to this March 28, 2013, interview with Dr. Blaylock:
How much longer can we remain silent, while so many we care about are ill? Remember, none of the “illnesses” are the standard ones. The synergistic implications of all these different illnesses are staggering! The criminals in charge have been manipulating our environments for off-the-scale harm.
Morgellons
In the long list of covert activities that comprise these aerosol crimes, the dispersal of Morgellons may be the worst. Morgellons can rightly be called a human-induced condition. It is not a disease, nor an illness. Rather, from extensive investigation, it is likely that this weaponized condition was developed in some secret bio-weapons lab to be unleashed to create more planetary havoc. It affects millions of people. NASA’s logo letters have been found on a Morgellon’s sufferer. See:
For more than a decade, the brilliant independent researcher Clifford Carnicom has been documenting the poisons in our air and the link with Morgellons found in human and animal blood samples. Please see his extensive research at: http://www.carnicominstitute.org This is essential reading for everyone.
In typical governmental-military-medical Orwellian fashion, people who suffer from Morgellons are called “delusional.” This is the heinous way that real suffering is addressed publicly in a police state. There is a wide range of symptoms, and these disrupt the thyroid, liver, amino acids, and oxygen.(11)
Due to the dramatic alteration of our weather and air, Clifford Carnicom has stated in many of his public lectures that we are now breathing “plasma.” He has written that:
“The fundamental principles of the HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program) have once again come to the forefront of this research. The role of aerosols, ionization, electromagnetic radiation and the creation of an artificial ‘plasma’ state in a now artificially modified atmosphere has already been discussed. These building blocks, along with present observations and the stated premise of the HAARP project bring us to a new threshold of understanding of the immediate and direct effects of the HAARP project upon this planet.
“Although it has been stated within the literature of HAARP, it can now be directly understood by this researcher that the magnetic field of the earth is a primary medium by which we, as subjects, are being affected. The artificial patterns of ELF energy, characterized by unusual pulsations of frequency, can now be most logically assumed to originate from the HAARP facility or technology. Such energy forms have a myriad of applications in the military arena. Unfortunately, a parallel set of effects upon biological systems, health and mental functioning must also be accepted as a price to be paid. [My italics.]
:The issue involved here is no less than that of the control of the planet. Control of the planet with the methods that are used to manifest power -control of your environment, and by affecting your life and health.”(12)
Our atmosphere has been dramatically changed; and “this supports the claim that the fundamental electrical nature of the atmosphere has been altered as a result of the aerosol operations that continue to be conducted without informed consent.”(13)
Carnicom has heroically documented the synthetic clouds overhead contain the same synthetic Morgellons fibers that are found in people who have Morgellons. He has done a “Systems Perspective” Chart that show the extent of these crimes.
Click to Enlarge
Planetary Destruction
As our health and air are being destroyed every day, this also includes planetary-wide degradation and destruction. This has been going on since the mid-nineteenth century. However, it has now accelerated with unregulated and dangerous nano-technology, micro-chipping, Chemtrails, HAARP, and other unregulated technologies.
The web of life on Gaia [the ancient Greek name for our Mother Earth] is not just under constant siege, it is being deliberately destroyed by these dark agendas. Weather modification has intensified droughts. This, in turn, has decimated millions of forests. From the Pacific northwest, to the Grand Canyon and South American tropical rain forests, the trees are dying at unprecedented numbers. Called the “Sixth Extinction” this is human caused. The toxic synthetic cloud cover has also decreased our sunlight by 20 percent! Doctors are prescribing Vitamin D supplements to help with this deficiency. See also Ultra Violet research at:
When whales or dolphins tragically beach themselves in unprecedented numbers, this has been linked to the heinous use of military sonar. When the bees die by the millions, this has been linked to the toxicity of pesticides. When thousands of birds “fall out of the sky” –this, too, is human caused. With more dis-information, the media claims scientists are puzzled by these mass deaths. When the public is poorly educated and is then mis-informed, the elite can control people through fear. This has been going on for centuries. How much more do you want to be deceived?
Retired USDA biologist and organic gardener Francis Mangels has been testing the soil and has found high levels of aluminum, barium, and strontium. None of these should be in our soil. Mangels notes that “the normal concentration in our rains should be zero.” In further testing, he notes that these levels are now 10,000 parts per billions [ppb].” See his interview on the dangers of geoengineering at:
On the West Coast, earlier this Spring, there were some very unusual fogs. They came in rapidly and remained in heavy concentrations (but did not move much until early morning the next day). In my own organic garden, within less that 12 hours, this dense and toxic fog destroyed almost all my blooming lilacs. The large green leaves on my hydrangeas turned white overnight! All the plant’s chlorophyll was gone. Here is another photo of dying plants taken August 15 in Los Angeles:
Even the snow in Winter (but now found in Summer, too) has been dramatically altered over the past six or seven years. Mother Nature is askew –done at the hands of individuals working on stealth programs. Our beautiful one-of-a-kind snow flakes have disappeared. In their place is what I spell “sno” –tiny white pellets that don’t melt rapidly. When they come down, the air smells full of chemicals. Everything is geoengineered for maximum harm and maximum profits. Nature is just an inconvenience for corporate greed and malevolent tactics.
Whistleblowers
Despite the real dumbing-down of Western societies, and the massive fear-mongering that permeates our lives, in what are now police-states throughout Western countries, there still are brave individuals who have come forth publicly to inform us of the extent of these covert environmental geoengineering aerosol crimes. This is an incomplete list, but gives the reader a clearer understanding of some of the scope of these operations, from those who worked for the military, and what they are doing without our knowledge.
In May, Kristen Meghan Edwards, a former industrial hygienist for the US Air Force, came forth publicly to report what she knew personally about Chemtrails aerosols. Here is her interview:
Various warnings and threats abound for anyone who speaks out against these crimes. People have disappeared. Fear is instilled, as a way of societal control for these dark agendas. However, this totally corrupt system is not fixable. Ted L. Gunderson, former Chief FBI Agent in Charge of Los Angeles, Dallas, and Memphis was interviewed in 2011:
However, the tide is changing. Just this past week, the former premier of British Columbia, Bill Vander Zalm, put Canadian politicians on notice with his open letter regarding Chemtrails. See:
The most important issue relating to geoengineering is for the public to become informed. As a society, we are dumbed down and treated to trivia – we get baby pablum for news. As consumers, we are expendable. We are treated as consumers – NOT as citizens. It is now imperative that we become well-educated about this vast issue. We cannot make any informed decisions, that are absolutely critical to our lives, if we do not know what is really happening.
1. Get tested for heavy metals poisoning! This is something I have been urging for the past 4 years. How many of you have ever had a hair analysis done for heavy metals toxicity? This is an accepted way to determine what the human (or animal) body has accumulated in toxins. [Blood tests show short-term results done on the day of the test. A hair analysis shows a more overall, long-term impact of toxic exposure in the body.] It is a simple and non-invasive procedure; and it can be a practical way to test your body’s mineral balance. It can detect accumulations of poisons from external sources and how they can impact and damage all your biological functions. It is an easy test to do: cut a small amount of your hair from the base of your neck (about a small teaspoonful, 1 1/2 inches of new growth), fill out a form (provided by a licensed lab), enclose a check (unless you pay your health care provider directly), and mail this to a reputable lab. Results are usually sent back to your health care provider within two weeks.
Everyone I know who has had it done, finds these metals levels to be very high. This does not show up in regular CBC [Complete Blood Count] tests. For the body (human or animal), there are no safe levels of arsenic, barium, strontium, nano-coated fiber aluminum, or mercury. It takes decades for high levels of these metals to wreck one’s immune system. I urge everyone: GET TESTED! It is in your own best interest to do so. It may save your life, as heavy metals poisoning does kill. I write from personal experience, as my mother died from mercury poisoning.
2. Learn my 3 P’s. Put them into daily use:
(1) PRECAUTION– If you are not sure about anything, don’t do it.(14)
a) When we have reasonable suspicion of harm; or
b) When there is scientific uncertainty; then
c) We have a duty to take action to prevent harm. This is what REAL precaution is all about.
(2) PREVENTION– Before we engage in any task, or plan anything: if it involves any kind of harm, then STOP! Don’t do it.
(3) POWER OF THE PURSE– The buck really DOES stops at the cash register! Don’t support any company that profits by harming us. We would save millions; and their profits would go down the drain.
Both individually and collectively, we have the internal capabilities to NO LONGER be experimental lab rats. The cabal is now in its death throes. NO LONGER can they instill global fear as their way of controling us. Control means no freedom, and no creativity. CONTROL equals HARM. The stealth chaos they have created for centuries, with financial deception and enormous historical deceit, is almost over – and there will be accountability. So, we can, and we must! take back our own power from this dark agenda. We are creative and loving humans – if we choose to remember to stay centered in our hearts. This then is the highest conscious life focus we can have. It just was deliberately hidden from us.
A recent post says it best:
“You are all needed in active participation in [healing] our planet; and above all it is about the retaining of your freedom, as individuals and as a collective, it’s about retaining your personal power, your truth, and the restoration of Gaia to her most pristine condition. It is a monumental task”…
But with our own internal fortitude and deep wells of courage, we are all up to doing it. Please join me in helping heal Gaia. It will help heal us all. It will create PEACE for all of us. We can create a new dawn filled with love and compassion, kindness and the harmony of the spheres.
for more, go to the source: http://wakeup-world.com/2013/08/23/chemtrails-the-greatest-crime-of-all-time/
Landsat 8 OLI image of Iliwerung in Indonesia on Lembata Island, seen on August 12, 2013. The dark grey area is the volcanic complex, while the grey box marks where the new submarine eruption from the Hobal vent is likely occurring. Image: USGS/NASA.
Interesting news coming out the of the East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia. An undersea volcano off of the southern coast of Lembata unexpectedly erupted over the last few days, producing strongly discolored waters and a plume (likely made dominantly of steam) that reached 2 km (6,500 feet). The latest GVP Weekly Volcanic Activity Report also mentions incandescence noted at the sea’s surface. According to news reports, the volcano is called “Mt. Hobalt”, however, in the Global Volcanism Program‘s database, no such volcano exist. There is a Hobal that is part of the larger Iliwerung complex in the right area of Lembata, so this seems to be the volcano that is erupting. This volcanic complex has been producing diffuse fumarolic activity since the beginning of the month and the PVMBG noted that seismicity has increased sharply in this area as well. This new eruption from Hobal has prompted the PVBMG (Center for Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation) to put Hobalt on a Level II alert and warned fishermen and tourists to avoid the area. There have been some fears that this activity near the coast could produce a tsunami, but so far those fears are unfounded. This would be the first eruption from Iliwerung since 1999 and much of the eruptive activity at Iliwerung has been from Hobal since 1973. The last known subaerial eruption from Iliwerung was in 1948 (but records can be incomplete across Indonesia).
Meanwhile, the continued eruptions at Rokatenda has caused a larger-scale evacuation of the region around the volcano. Seven hundred housing units are to be constructed for people who have had to leave their homes since October 2012 due to the ongoing activity. Recently at least 6 people died from a pyroclastic flow that swept across a beach where villagers were living on the island volcano.
Strong earthquake in Northern Chile (Antofagasta, near Calama)
Last update: August 23, 2013 at 8:59 am by By Ashish Khanal Because of the depth, we do not expect any damage by this quake, but it was felt in many parts of northern Chile and neighbour regions of Argentina and Bolivia.
Nearby Cities
42km (26mi) ENE of Calama, Chile
170km (106mi) E of Tocopilla, Chile
240km (149mi) NE of Antofagasta, Chile
272km (169mi) SW of Uyuni, Bolivia
643km (400mi) S of La Paz, Bolivia
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.8
Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-08-23 04:33:59
Fukushima Radiation Leak: 5 Things You Should Know
By Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer | August 21, 2013
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
Credit: TEpc
Japan’s nuclear regulator has raised the threat level of a radioactive leak at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant from 1 to 3 on a 7-point scale.
Officials said Tuesday that a storage tank has leaked 300 tons of radioactive water into the ground. The rating upgrade, which has to be confirmed by the United Nations’ nuclear agency, would be the first since the March 2011 quake-induced reactor meltdown.
Here are five things to know about the leak and related radiation:
1. What does the nuclear warning level mean?
The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) is a rating system for describing the severity of nuclear accidents. It was introduced in 1990 by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which reports to the U.N.
The 7-point scale ranges from 1 (“Anomaly”) to 7 (“Major Accident”). Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority classified the Fukushima disaster as a level-7 event in 2011.
The new leak is the first to be given an INES rating since the original disaster. Initially classified as a level one (“Incident”), it has been upgraded to level three (“Serious Incident”), pending confirmation by the UN nuclear agency. A The upgrade to level 3 (“Serious Incident”) means the event involves the release of “a few thousand terabecquerels of activity into an area not expected by design which requires corrective action,” or one resulting in radiation rates of “greater than one sievert per hour in an operating area,” according to the INES user’s manual. A terabecquerel is 1 trillion becquerels, defined as the radioactive decay of one nucleus per second; a sievert is a unit of biological radiation dose equivalent to about 50,000 front view chest X-rays.
2. How much radioactive material leaked into the ocean?
Immediately after the June 2011 meltdown, scientists measured that 5,000 to 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive material was reaching the ocean. The biggest threat at that time was from the radionuclide cesium. But for leaks that enter the ground, the radionuclides strontium and tritium pose more of a threat, because cesium is absorbed by the soil while the other two are not.
The Tokyo Electric Power Plant (TEPCO) estimated that since the March 2011 disaster, between 20 trillion and 40 trillion becquerels of radioactive tritium have leaked into the ocean, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported.
The damaged plant is still leaking about 300 tons of water containing these radionuclides into the ocean every day, Japanese government officials say. An additional 300 tons have leaked into the ground from the latest storage tank leak.
3. How will the radioactive material affect sea life?
Ever since the 2011 disaster, scientists have been measuring levels of radioactivity in fish and other sea life. Several species of fish caught off the coast of Fukushima in 2011 and 2012 had cesium levels that exceeded Japan’s regulatory limit for seafood, but the overall cesium levels of ocean life have dropped since the fall of 2011, U.S. and Japanese scientists both reported.
U.S. scientists say the groundwater leaks could become worse, but warn against drawing conclusions about the impacts on sea life before peer-reviewed studies are completed. “For fish that are harvested 100 miles [160 kilometers] out to sea, I doubt it’d be a problem,” Nicholas Fisher, a marine biologist at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y., told LiveScience for a previous article. “But in the region, yes, it’s possible there could be sufficient contamination of local seafood, so it’d be unwise to eat that seafood,” Fisher said
4. What is being done to contain the leak?
Plant operators have started to remove the contaminated soil around the leaking tank, and are expected to remove any water remaining inside by the end of today (Aug. 21), NBC News reported.
But operators are concerned that other tanks may fail too. About a third of the tanks, including the one that just leaked, have rubber seams that TEPCO says were only meant to last about five years, The New York Times reported. A TEPCO spokesperson said the company plans to build additional watertight tanks with welded seams, but will still have to use the ones with rubber seams.
Cleaning up the radioactive water will take decades. Officials are considering several possible methods for preventing contaminated groundwater from reaching the ocean, including freezing the ground around the plant or injecting the surrounding sediment with a gel-like material that hardens like concrete. Ultimately, an integrated systematic water treatment plan is needed, Dale Klein, former head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told LiveScience for a previous article.
5. How does Fukushima compare with the Chernobyl meltdown?
The Fukushima plant’s meltdown in 2011 is considered the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine in 1986. Although both were given an INES rating of 7, far more radiation was released at Chernobyl — about 10 times as much as at Fukushima, NPR reported. And the health consequences a Fukushima to date have been much less severe.
The Chernobyl meltdown involved the explosion of an entire reactor that sent out a plume of radiation over a wide area. Many people nearby drank contaminated milk and later developed thyroid cancer.
By contrast, Fukushima’s radioactive cores remained mostly protected, and much of the radioactive material has been carried out to sea, far from human populations. People in risky areas were evacuated, and contaminated food was kept out of stores. While the long-term health risks are unknown, the World Health Organization said there is very little public health risk outside of the 18-mile evacuation zone.
Moderate earthquake in Central Italy (near Ancona) – Minor damage and landslides
Last update: August 22, 2013 at 10:22 am by By Ashish Khanal
The quake caused damage to buildings in Ancona, which is 14 km northwest of the offshore epicenter. Among them, one governmental building and a fire station. Small cracks are also reported from residental houses and offices. This is to be verified by civil protection. Nothing serious so far.
Some landslides and rockfalls along the cliffs (limestone) are reported. It was temporarily thought that one of them might have buried a man on the beach, but this was not confirmed later.
Western Wildfire Update: Yosemite-Area Blaze Balloons in Size
Gosia Wozniacki Published: Aug 22, 2013, 11:42 AM EDT Associated Press
Fhttp://www.weather.com/news/west-wildfire-update-yosemite-natl-park-fire-rages-out-control-20130822RESNO, Calif. — A wildfire outside Yosemite National Park – one of more than 50 major brush blazes burning across the western U.S. – more than tripled in size overnight and still threatens about 2,500 homes, hotels and camp buildings.
Fire officials said the blaze burning in remote, steep terrain had grown to more than 84 square miles and was only 2 percent contained on Thursday, down from 5 percent a day earlier.
The fire has destroyed two homes and seven outbuildings and led to the voluntary evacuation of the gated summer community of Pine Mountain Lake, which has a population of 2,800.
Several organized camps and at least two campgrounds have been evacuated since the fire broke out Saturday.
Each icon represents one of the dozens of large fires currently burning across the West.
The fire also caused the closure of a 4-mile stretch of State Route 120, one main path into Yosemite on the west side. The park remains open and can be accessed via state Routes 140 and 4.
“This is typically a very busy time for us until Labor Day, so it’s definitely affecting business not having the traffic come through to Yosemite,” said Britney Sorsdahl, a manager at the Iron Door Saloon and Grill in Groveland, a community of about 600 about 5 miles from the fire.
The board of supervisors in Tuolumne County held an emergency meeting and voted for a resolution asking Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency and free funds for the firefight.
The resolution said the fire was “directly threatening” communities and “beyond our capabilities,” according to the Modesto Bee.
The fire was among the nation’s top firefighting priorities, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
Fifty-one major uncontained wildfires are burning throughout the West, according to the center, including in California, Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. More than 19,000 firefighters were fighting the fires.
But the U.S. Forest Service, the nation’s top wildfire-fighting agency, said Wednesday that it is running out of money to fight wildfires and is diverting $600 million from timber, recreation and other areas to fill the gap. The agency said it had spent $967 million so far this year and was down to $50 million – typically enough to pay for just a few days of fighting fires when the nation is at its top wildfire preparedness level, which went into effect Tuesday.
There have been more than 32,000 fires this year that have burned more than 5,300 square miles.
On Wednesday, the National Interagency Fire Center listed two fires in Montana as the nation’s number one priority. They include a wildfire burning west of Missoula that has surpassed 13 square miles, destroyed five homes, closed U.S. Highway 12 and led to multiple evacuations. The Lolo Fire Complex, which was zero percent contained, also destroyed an unknown number of outbuildings and vehicles.
At least 19 other notable fires were burning across the state, leading Montana Gov. Steve Bullock to declare a state of emergency, which allows the use of National Guard resources ranging from personnel to helicopters.
In Oregon, a fire in the Columbia Gorge about 10 miles southwest of The Dalles grew to 13 square miles, burning a fourth home. The fire was 15 percent contained. Strong winds continued to fan the blaze, pushing it into the Mount Hood National Forest.
Firefighters in southwestern Oregon braced for a return of lightning storms that started a series of fires last month that continue to burn in rugged timberlands.
In Idaho, progress was reported in the fight against the nearly 169-square-mile Beaver Creek fire, which forced the evacuation of 1,250 homes in the resort area of Ketchum and Sun Valley. That fire was 47 percent contained, authorities said.
In Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, officials reopened a 7-mile section of road closed briefly by a wildfire. As of Wednesday, the Alum Fire had burned about 12 square miles and was spreading slowly, leading park officials to make preliminary evacuation plans for a community on the shore of Yellowstone Lake.
AP writers Jeff Barnard in Grants Pass, Ore., Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., and Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyo. contributed to this report.
(NaturalNews) Several Roman Catholic priests and Catholic laymen are seeking to convince some in the Church hierarchy to publicly denounce genetically modified organisms as they prepare to publicly honor a trio of scientists largely responsible for GMO development.
In an open letter to Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, who is set to honor the three scientists in Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 16-18, Brother David Andrews, a senior representative of Food & Water Watch and the Committee on World Food Security, among other groups, says he wants the Church to reconsider:
As you know, the United States government and agriculture giant Monsanto have been seeking the support of the Holy See for genetic modification of food for years.
During my last visit to the U.S. Ambassador Miguel Diaz, just before he resigned, Diaz sung to me the praises of Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, because he supported GMOs. I wonder what you will say, particularly given your leadership of the synod on Africa and the strong advocacy that Monsanto and the U.S. government have for transforming African agriculture through the G-8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition.
Monsanto pushing the Vatican for endorsement
In his letter, Andrews says the U.S. has “repeatedly” pushed the Holy See to endorse GMO seeds “as a moral obligation,” but that the “policy of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has been to resist officially adopting GMOs.”
“While the Academy of Sciences has recurrently hosted one-sided conferences on GMOs in 2004 and 2008, the Holy See formerly has not done so. Cardinal Renato Martino, your predecessor at the justice and peace office, came close but backed off, and you yourself have been quite careful,” David writes.
He goes on to say that the U.S. has typically taken the position that the world, and the African continent in particular, has to produce more food, and that the best way to do so is through the implementation and use of GMO seeds, most of which are pushed by Monsanto (one of the three scientists to be honored is a Monsanto executive and the founder of Syngenta Biotechnology).
Most African farmers, however, disagree, David says, “believing instead that agro-ecology is the better way to go: through methods of production more in harmony with their own cultures and traditions, and more realizable by small-scale farmers and women producers.”
Continuing, he writes:
In my meetings with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the State and Agriculture Departments and congressional staff, this method of production – agroecology, which was endorsed by the United Nations through the 2008 International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology in Development – is referred to as eco-topian thinking, theology or faith-based reasoning. Yet more than 50 countries endorse that study, conducted by hundreds of scientists and agriculturalists.
U.S. working behind the scenes
He also points out that U.S. farmers have complained that Monsanto owns upwards of 60 percent of the seeds planted in American soil, just to limit the availability of other seeds. He calls that an unhelpful track record on the part of Monsanto, saying also that “the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition fails to provide adequate guidelines for responsible agricultural investment.”
“I hope you will speak to the U.S. public about the important issue of GMOs in your World Food Prize address in Des Moines,” David concludes.
Other open letters have similarly requested that the Vatican refrain from endorsing GMO seeds.
Says Dr. Brian John, at GMWatch.com: “These open letters reflect the debate within the Roman Catholic church about GMOs and the ongoing diplomatic offensive by the U.S. administration to push the interests of Monsanto and the other biotech multinationals within the Vatican and within the Roman Catholic church generally. The Wikileaks cables gave us some indication of how the US works behind the scenes.”
