Strong earthquake felt in northern Honshu and Hokkaido, Japan – 6 persons injured so far in Hokkaido
Last update: February 2, 2013 at 10:52 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
VERY IMPORTANT : There are NO tsunami warnings or advisories for this earthquake (source JMA Japan)
Update 14:33 UTC : JMA Japan reports a Magnitude of 6.4 at 120 km depth which is VERY GOOD NEWS !
Update 14:29 UTC : Preliminary Magnitude of this very strong earthquake : 6.7
JMA 5+ intensity (moderately dangerous) at the following locations : Tokachi-chiho Chubu, Kushiro-chiho Chunambu, Nemuro-chiho Nambu
Intensity map courtesy and copyright JMA Japan
Most important Earthquake ata:
Magnitude : 6.7
Local time at epicenter : 2013-02-02 23:17:33 UTC+09:00 at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 93 km
Geo-location(s) :
Tokachi-chiho Chubu
Kushiro-chiho Chunambu
Nemuro-chiho Nambu
61km (38mi) SE of Obihiro, Japan
68km (42mi) SSE of Otofuke, Japan
81km (50mi) SW of Kushiro, Japan
106km (66mi) E of Shizunai, Japan
826km (513mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan
Update 22:48 UTC : No other news or no other reports from FDMA Japan. Today’s earthquake was one with a happy end but was also a grim reminder of the March 11, 2011 tsunami earthquake.
Earthquake-Report.com senses the same way of reacting against powerful quakes in Japan and in Chile. Both countries had massive quakes the last couple of years and people are very well prepared these days. Exchanging experiences on what happened is a part of the routine. The shaking map below is based on the USGS data which are way stronger than the JMA data (M6.9 @ 102 km vs M6.4 @ 120 km). Based on the many reports we have received from Hokkaido, ER goes for the Japanese JMA scenario.
Update 17:30 UTC : FDMA Japan has just published a new report confirming 6 injured persons (all of them in Hokkaido) Kushiro area: two people injured (minor injury) Kushiro town: one person injured (minor injury) Obihiro: 1 wounded (minor injury) Kitami: 1 wounded (minor injury) Anping town: one person injured (minor injury)
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2013/02/02/strong-earthquake-felt-in-hokkaido-japan/
One of the most unusual weeks of January weather in U.S. history has drawn to a close, and residents of the Southeast are cleaning up after a ferocious 2-day outbreak of severe weather. NWS damage surveys have found that at least 42 tornadoes touched down on January 29 – 30, making it the 3rd largest January tornado outbreak since records began in 1950. Here are the largest January tornado outbreaks since 1950:129 1/21 – 1/22 1999
50 1/7 – 1/8 2008 42 1/29 – 1/30 2013
40 1/9 1/10 1975
As wunderground’s Angela Fritz wrote in her blog today, the powerful tornado that ripped through Adairsville, Georgia, northwest of Atlanta, at 11:19 am EST Thursday morning, killing one person, has been rated a high-end EF-3 with 160 mph winds. At least seven other tornadoes in the outbreak were EF-2s. Damaging winds reports for the 2-day period numbered 597, the highest 2-day January total since NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) began tabulating these in 2000. The severe weather outbreak was fueled an air mass that set many all-time January records for warmth and moisture, as detailed by our weather historian, Christopher C. Burt, in his latest post, A Wild Ride Weather-wise for the Eastern Half of the U.S. the past Four Days.
Figure 1. Damage to the Daiki Corporation factory in Adairsville, GA, after the January 30, 2013 EF-3 tornado. Image credit: Dr. Greg Forbes, TWC.
Figure 2. Severe weather reports for the month of January; 597 reports of damaging winds were recorded January 29 – 30. Image credit: NOAA/SPC.
Mississippi River rising
This week’s storm brought widespread rains of 1 – 2″ to Missouri and Illinois, along the drainage basin of the stretch of the Mississippi River that was so low as to threaten to stop barge traffic. Happily, the rains have caused the river to rise by more than seven feet over the past week, along the stretch from St. Louis to Thebes, Illinois. Thanks to this much-needed bump in river levels, plus the future run-off that will occur from the snows that have accumulated in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, I expect no potential low water closures of the Mississippi until June at the earliest. According to today’s newly-released Drought Monitor, though, the area of the contiguous U.S. in moderate or greater drought remained unchanged at 58% this week. It will be dry across the core of the drought region for at least the next week; the GFS model is predicting that the next chance of significant precipitation for the drought region will be Saturday, February 9. Don’t bet on this happening, though, since the model has been inconsistent with its handling of the storm. The drought has killed hundreds of thousands of trees across the Midwest, and many more will succumb during the next few years. According to Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, drought was present in at least isolated spots in all 50 states of the U.S. for the first time in history during 2012.
Figure 3. The water level in the Mississippi River at St. Louis was at -4′ early this week, just above the all-time record low of -6.2′ set in 1940. However, rains from this week’s storm have raised water levels by seven feet. Image credit: NOAA/HPC.
Figure 4. The liquid equivalent of melting all the snow on the ground present on February 1, 2013. Widespread amounts of water equivalent to 0.39″ – 2″ of rain are present over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, which is near average for this time of year. When this snow melts, it will raise the level of the Mississippi River and aid barge navigation. Image credit: NOAA/National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center.
Why are these mysterious booms being heard so frequently? Maybe not so mysterious, just major earth changes
Credits:
David Dees
They’re back!
Why are these so-called “mysterious loud booms” being heard so often around the world?
Once again, mysterious loud booms and shaking are back, this time in Oklahoma, Alaska, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Indiana, if in fact they ever left.
Maybe, not so mysterious after all, just major earth changes rattling the planet.
Many people know the cause of the mysterious loud booms and shaking. The powers-that-be have known for decades, but for reasons known only to them, they refuse to inform the public, while others who know the truth of what is happening and will tell are often not believed.
So there you have it – the mysterious loud booms continue and the “cause remains unknown.”
Planet X (Nibiru) is stressing Planet Earth. As earth stretches and pulls apart in stretch zones, loud booms are created by the air above the areas slapping together. For example, the continental United States is being diagonally stretched, roughly from San Diego to the Northeast with a bow or curve developing between Alaska and San Diego. The loud booms being heard and the shaking being felt are the result of a tearing or stretching Earth.
When a fault-line moves, you get an earthquake, but when earth pulls apart, you get loud booms and shaking.
For those living in stretch zones and hearing these loud booms, it might be wise to keep a close check on your home and the ground around you for suddenly appearing cracks and sinkholes, and exploding manhole covers, houses, and gas lines.
Oklahoma, Guthrie and Boley (Jan 2-3, 2013): Mysterious booms heard in Guthrie. People living in Guthrie have been reporting mysterious unnerving booms around town. Descriptions are similar. Very loud noticeable booms were heard twice on Wednesday, Jan 2, between 7 and 9 p.m.; some houses shook slightly. On Thursday night Jan 3, a 3.7 quake at a depth of 6 miles rumbled near Boley, Oklahoma in Okfuskee County (VIDEO).
South Central Alaska (Jan 3): Loud booms were reported from Eagle River to Mat-Su Valley between 8 and 10 p.m., buildings and furniture shook. Those hearing the booms agree it was a strong and persistent noise, not sonic booms. A woman living in Peters Creek heard several loud booms and, after about a minute of silence, a rumble that caused her chandelier to shake. Thinking it might have been an earthquake, she checked online, but (of course) nothing was listed for that time – 8:05 p.m.
(Note: As so many are aware, the USGS downgrades or drops earthquakes regularly from its reports and has been doing so for quite some time now. So, we may never know for sure whether the rumbling and shaking felt in Peters Creek was caused by an earthquake. Ask yourself, why would USGS lower quake magnitudes or drop quakes from their reports?)
Massachusetts, Marblehead and Salem (Jan 5): Salem and Marblehead police officers searched for the source of a large boom that prompted a multitude of 911 calls around 1:34 a.m. They were unable to locate a source. One resident reported a loud boom accompanied by a flash of light near Salem State University. This is not the first time loud booms were reported in this area late at night.
South Carolina, Red Bank in Lexington County (Jan 6): For the past two weeks, Red Bank residents have reported loud booms that sometimes rattle windows and are heard either late at night or early in the morning, most recently on Sunday evening, Jan 6. The FAA and the military have confirmed they are not sonic booms, and USC seismologists have no record of seismic activity in the area.
Evansville, Indiana (Jan 6): Loud booms were reported by many in Evansville on Jan 6. Evansville Dispatch received several calls reporting what sounded like a huge explosion. Nothing was found and neither USGS or the Air Force had anything to report.
For those living in stretch zones and hearing these loud booms, remember to keep a close eye on your home and the ground for suddenly appearing cracks and sinkholes and the like. Remember, there are those “in the know” who will not tell you the truth about what is happening, and there are those “in the know” who will tell you an uncomfortable truth and not be believed.
Who should you believe – those “in authority” who say they are sonic booms (often in the middle of the night?), or should you believe your lyin’ eyes and ears? The choice is yours.
Jan. 28, 2013: Talk about a close shave. On Feb. 15th an asteroid about half the size of a football field will fly past Earth only 17,200 miles above our planet’s surface. There’s no danger of a collision, but the space rock, designated 2012 DA14, has NASA’s attention.
“This is a record-setting close approach,” says Don Yeomans of NASA’s Near Earth Object Program at JPL. “Since regular sky surveys began in the 1990s, we’ve never seen an object this big get so close to Earth.”
A new ScienceCast video previews the close flyby of asteroid 2012 DA. Play it
Earth’s neighborhood is littered with asteroids of all shapes and sizes, ranging from fragments smaller than beach balls to mountainous rocks many kilometers wide. Many of these objects hail from the asteroid belt, while others may be corpses of long-dead, burnt out comets. NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program helps find and keep track of them, especially the ones that come close to our planet.
2012 DA14 is a fairly typical near-Earth asteroid. It measures some 50 meters wide, neither very large nor very small, and is probably made of stone, as opposed to metal or ice. Yeomans estimates that an asteroid like 2012 DA14 flies past Earth, on average, every 40 years, yet actually strikes our planet only every 1200 years or so.
The impact of a 50-meter asteroid is not cataclysmic–unless you happen to be underneath it. Yeomans points out that a similar-sized object formed the mile wide Meteor Crater in Arizona when it struck about 50,000 years ago. “That asteroid was made of iron,” he says, “which made it an especially potent impactor.” Also, in 1908, something about the size of 2012 DA14 exploded in the atmosphere above Siberia, leveling hundreds of square miles of forest. Researchers are still studying the “Tunguska Event” for clues to the impacting object.
“2012 DA14 will definitely not hit Earth,” emphasizes Yeomans. “The orbit of the asteroid is known well enough to rule out an impact.”
A schematic diagram of the Feb 15th flyby.
Even so, it will come interestingly close. NASA radars will be monitoring the space rock as it approaches Earth closer than many man-made satellites. Yeomans says the asteroid will thread the gap between low-Earth orbit, where the ISS and many Earth observation satellites are located, and the higher belt of geosynchronous satellites, which provide weather data and telecommunications.
“The odds of an impact with a satellite are extremely remote,” he says. Almost nothing orbits where DA14 will pass the Earth.
NASA’s Goldstone radar in the Mojave Desert is scheduled to ping 2012 DA14 almost every day from Feb. 16th through 20th. The echoes will not only pinpoint the orbit of the asteroid, allowing researchers to better predict future encounters, but also reveal physical characteristics such as size, spin, and reflectivity. A key outcome of the observing campaign will be a 3D radar map showing the space rock from all sides.
During the hours around closest approach, the asteroid will brighten until it resembles a star of 8th magnitude. Theoretically, that’s an easy target for backyard telescopes. The problem, points out Yeomans, is speed. “The asteroid will be racing across the sky, moving almost a full degree (or twice the width of a full Moon) every minute. That’s going to be hard to track.” Only the most experienced amateur astronomers are likely to succeed.
Those who do might experience a tiny chill when they look at their images. That really was a close shave.
Very strong dangerous earthquake in Kazakhstan – Very strong shaking expected near the epicenter
Last update: January 29, 2013 at 12:38 am by By Armand Vervaeck
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.1 (preliminary)
Local time at epicenter : local time 22:38:55
Depth (Hypocenter) : 22 km
Geo-location(s) :
227 km E Almaty (pop 1,204,762 ; local time 22:38:55.2 2013-01-28)
185 km NW Aksu (pop 340,020 ; local time 00:38:55.2 2013-01-29)
101 km E Tyup (pop 13,437 ; local time 22:38:55.2 2013-01-28)
44 km SW Koshkar (pop 311 ; local time 22:38:55.2 2013-01-28)
Update 17:04 UTC : USGS reports M6.0 at a depth of 10.6 km
All reporting seismological agencies are reporting a very shallow and thus very dangerous earthquake. M6.0 is a potentially deadly earthquake in this area of the world.
Update 17:02 UTC : The earthquake occurred in the triangle of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and China (Xinjiang). We do fear that this earthquake will be damaging to some extend.
It is now dark in the area and we fear that electricity will be down. No electricity means a lot of uncertainty to reach the epicenter area and to do some rescue works.
The area is sparsely populated.
Update 16:58 UTC : EMSC has update their records to M6.1 at a depth of 10 km, less but still VERY DANGEROUS
Update 16:51 UTC : EMSC reports a Magnitude of 6.5 at a depth of 2 km. Various data which will become better the following minutes.
Update : The first notice reaching us is a preliminary Magnitude of 6.1 at a depth of 22 km = Very dangerous
Update : based on the many visitors from Kazakhstan, we think a major earthquake occurred there.
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2013/01/28/very-strong-earthquake-in-kazakhstan/
(ps: if you can, please donate to earthquake report. They do an amazing job.)
The hands of the infamous “Doomsday Clock” will remain firmly in their place at five minutes to midnight — symbolizing humans’ destruction — for the year 2013, scientists announced today (Jan. 14).
Keeping their outlook for the future of humanity quite dim, the group of scientists also wrote an open letter to President Barack Obama, urging him to partner with other global leaders to act on climate change.
The clock is a symbol of the threat of humanity’s imminent destruction from nuclear or biological weapons, climate change and other human-caused disasters. In making their deliberations about how to update the clock’s time this year, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists considered the current state of nuclear arsenals around the globe, the slow and costly recovery from events like Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and extreme weather events that fit in with a pattern of global warming.
2012 was the hottest year on record in the contiguous United States, marked by devastating drought and brutal storms,” the letter says. “These extreme events are exactly what climate models predict for an atmosphere laden with greenhouse gases.” [Doom and Gloom: 10 Post-Apocalyptic Worlds]
At the same time, the letter did give a nod to some progress, applauding the president for taking steps to “nudge the country along a more rational energy path,” with his support for wind and other renewable energy sources.
“We have as much hope for Obama’s second term in office as we did in 2010, when we moved back the hand of the Clock after his first year in office,” Robert Socolow, chair of the board that determines the clock’s position, said in a statement. “This is the year for U.S. leadership in slowing climate change and setting a path toward a world without nuclear weapons.”
The Doomsday Clock came into being in 1947 as a way for atomic scientists to warn the world of the dangers of nuclear weapons. That year, the Bulletin set the time at seven minutes to midnight, with midnight symbolizing humanity’s destruction. By 1949, it was at three minutes to midnight as the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union deteriorated. In 1953, after the first test of the hydrogen bomb, the doomsday clock ticked to two minutes until midnight.
The Bulletin was at its most optimistic in 1991, when the Cold War thawed and the United States and Russia began cutting their arsenals. That year, the clock was set at 17 minutes to midnight.
From then until 2010, however, it was a gradual creep back toward destruction, as hopes of total nuclear disarmament vanished and threats of nuclear terrorism and climate change reared their heads. In 2010, the Bulletin found some hope in arms reduction treaties and international climate talks and bumped the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock back to six minutes from midnight from its previous post at five to midnight. But by 2012, the clock was pushed forward another minute.
The submarine eruption at El Hierro continued into 2011. Image: INVOLCAN
2012, for all the hype about apocalypse, was a volcanically-quiet year. No Eyjafjallajökulls, no Puyehue-Cordon Caulles, no Pinatubos. Sure, we had some notable eruptions, but most were small-to-moderate events that, many times, won’t even end up getting preserved in the geologic record. However, that didn’t stop me from posting way too much! No, really, it was still a great year for Eruptions, with decidedly more posts about the science of volcanoes when the actual volcanic events were low. Here is the 2012 Volcanic Year in Review!
I also tackled a topic that came up repeatedly during the year – the missing eruptions in the ice cap record. Namely, the ice cores suggest a large eruption in 1258 AD, but no source has been definitively identified (although inroads have been made). Another mysterious caldera eruption, the Kuwae caldera eruption in the 1450s, was also examined about whether it actually occurred.
Both Popocatépetl and Nevado del Ruiz kept on producing small eruptions as we headed into June, while Cleveland in Alaska had a explosive eruption, likely due to collapse of the dome that had been growing in the crater since earlier in the spring. We also saw the alert status raised at El Hierro in the Canary Islands for the first time in months after an intense seismic swarm occurred — but this swarm didn’t lead to any new eruption.
With all the excitement of the US Presidential election in early November, I looked at the perception of probability versus prognostication when it comes to volcanic mitigation. If you’re looking for a volcano movie to watch, I finally wrote up my guide to volcanic cinema and I described what a SHRIMP-RG is and how I use it in my research.
So, there you have it. The Volcanic Year in Review … and hopefully 2013 will bring us more volcanic excitement.
Erik Klemetti is an assistant professor of Geosciences at Denison University. His passion in geology is volcanoes, and he has studied them all over the world. You can follow Erik on Twitter, where you’ll get volcano news and the occasional baseball comment.
Earthquake in the Mediterranean Sea close to Turkey
Last update: January 8, 2013 at 3:29 pm by By Ashish Khanal
Update 14:49 UTC : USGS theoretical calculations are reporting a max. MMI of VII near the epicenter, but probably less on the islands. So far only a MMI V to VI has been seen which is a good sign. MMI V to MMVI (moderate to strong shaking) will lead to eventually minor damage like cracks in walls.
Update 14:46 UTC : The island of Lemnos, Greece is closest to the epicenter, but this does not mean that the strongest shaking will have been felt at Lemnos. It depends also of the propagation of the earthquake wave. Too soon to find out, but if people living at Lemnos or close to the epicenter (radius of 40 to km) can tell us how the earthquake was felt, a lot will be clarified.
Update 14:34 UTC : ER calls this earthquake moderately dangerous for the islands in the direct area of the epicenter. Not strong enough for a tsunami. The earthquake was felt as far as Istanbul and Sofia
Update 14:25 UTC : The earthquake struck in Mediterranean waters. Very close to Myrina island.
Update : the first preliminary reports are mentioning a M5.9 earthquake off the Turkey coast probably felt in many countries
Based on an increasing number of visitors joining us from Bulgaria, we believe that an earthquake was felt. When you are one of the people who experienced this earthquake, please fill in the form behind “I Felt A (not Listed) Earthquake”. Thank you.
Listen to the earthquake – Soundquakes by flyrok.org
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : Mw 5.7
UTC Time : 2013-01-08 14:16:09 UTC
Local time at epicenter : 2013-01-08 16:16:09 UTC+02:00 at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 9.9 km
Geo-location(s) :
Approx. 25 km from Lemnos, Greece
47km (29mi) WSW of Bozcaada, Turkey
67km (42mi) WSW of Ezine, Turkey
80km (50mi) NW of Mitilini, Greece
89km (55mi) SW of Canakkale, Turkey
246km (153mi) NE of Athens, Greece
for more informaitoin, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2013/01/08/strong-earthquake-in-the-eastern-mediterranean-sea-close-to-lemnos-and-the-turkish-coast-greece-turkey-bulgaria/
VERY SPOTTED SUN: Solar activity is still relatively low, but the appearance of the sun suggests the quiet might not last. Over the weekend, a profusion of new sunspot groups peppered the solar disk with dark cores–each one a potential source of eruptions. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of M-class flares and a 5% chance of X-flares during the next 24 hours. Solar flare alerts:text, voice.
There are so many spots on the sun, even a jumbo jet cannot hide them:
Raffaello Lena took the picture on January 5 not far from the international airport in Rome, Italy. “An animation of the flyby is available here,” he says.
Snow in Mexico and Southwest Texas, Record Heat in Australia
El Paso, Texas picked up 3.0” of snow (officially at the NWS office) on Thursday and Friday this week and heavy snow fell in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico about 200 miles south of El Paso. How unusual is this?
The answer is that it is not unusual to see snowfall in Chihuahua (or El Paso). The city of Chihuahua (pop. 840,000) rests at an altitude of 4,600’ (1,400 meters) and is one of Mexico’s coldest cities during the winter. About 2” of snow fell there on Thursday and the temperature fell to 32°F (0°C) during the duration of the snowfall between 2p.m.-6p.m. On average Chihuahua can expect one or two days of measureable snow every winter. It’s greatest snowfall on record is apparently 40 cm (about 16”) at some undisclosed date in the past.
A deep snow (about 6-8”) blanketed Chihuahua, Mexico on Christmas Eve, 2004. Such events are not as uncommon as one might suppose. Photographer unknown.
Mexico’s coldest temperature on record was also recorded in the Chihuahua State at the village of Valerio when a reading of -28.5°C (-19.3°F) was measured on January 30, 1949.
A map shows Mexico’s absolute minimum temperatures for the POR of 1941-1977 in C°. Note the large area of below zero F° (-18°C or lower) isotherms that reach far south of the border and into the Chihuahua region. The map has an apparent error so far as the -14°C isothermal line is concerned. Map from the Mexican Meteorlogical Department.
El Paso, Texas normally sees a few snowfalls every winter as well, even though it is a bit lower than Chihuahua at 3,700’ (1,140 m) but, of course, much further north. El Paso’s greatest snowfall on record was 22.4” on December 13-15, 1987 (about the same as Chicago’s record!) of which 16.8” fell in one 24-hour period. During the great cold wave of January 1962 the temperature fell to an all-time record low of -8°F (-22.2°C) on January 11th.
Some elevated suburbs of El Paso received as much as 8” from the recent storm. Ironically, the official 3” at the NWS office means that the city has now had three times more snowfall this season than Chicago, which continues its record-breaking streak of snowless weather.
Hot in Australia
All-time record highs were broken at several Australian sites in Western Australia. Red Rocks Point topped the list off with a 48.6°C (119.5°F) reading on January 3rd. Eucla, which sits right on the coast of the Great Australian Bight, measured a record 48.2°C (118.8°F). Perth had its hottest New Year’s Eve on record (and 3rd warmest December day) when the heat peaked at 42.1°C (107.8°F) on December 31st. Temperatures are forecast to exceed 45°C (113°F) today (January 4th) in portions of South Australia and New South Wales. Australia’s hottest temperature on record is 50.7°C (123.3°F) at Oodnadatta, South Australia on January 2, 1960.
Hobart, Tasmania broke its all-time heat record on Friday with a 41.8°C (107.2°F) reading. The previous record was 40.8°C (105.4°F) set in January 1976. The POR for this site in Hobart is 126 years old.
A wild fire swept through the town of Dunalley in southeast Tasmania briefly heating the weather site’s thermometer to 59.9°C (140°F) at one point Friday afternoon (at 4:22 p.m.). Winds were gusting to 82 km/h at the time.
KUDOS:Howard Rainford for Australian temperatures.
