from: http://research.dlindquist.com/quake/historical/?mag=7&type=strength&freq=year&style=raw
Tag Archives: earthquakes
Krakatau, Indonesia Earthquakes
Krakatau, Indonesia – volcanic earthquakes are creating unrest in coastal villages
Last update: October 6, 2011 at 10:51 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Image courtesy Aris Yanto – exploredesa.comIndonesia Volcanology Centre and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG)prohibits people to approach Krakatau volcano within a radius of 2 kilometer. Krakatau has been seismically overactive since Tuesday.
On September 30 PVMBG increased the alert status from 2 to 3 (on a scale from 0 to 4).
Although nothing uncommon happens visually at the moment (Krakatau has small explosive eruptions many times a day all year), the number of volcanic earthquakes is very high since Tuesday.
The PVMBG specialists who are guarding the volcano are saying however that a violent eruption generating a tsunami is highly unlikely at this alert level (krakatau is an island and a huge part of the volcano is below sea level). Many coastal villages in the Sunda strait are very scared that this volcano with a violent past will explode again. Scientists can predict volcano eruptions fairly good today. GPS recordings which show an eventual deformation of parts of the volcano are giving a good hint in the potential danger.
The inhabitants of the coastal villages have been told by the scientists that they should calm down because a major eruption like the 1883 is highly unlikely at this moment.
to read more, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/10/06/krakatau-indonesia-volcanic-earthquakes-are-creating-ner/
Argentina 6.2 Earthquake
Very strong shallow earthquake in Argentina – San Pedro mayor speaks of “impressive shaking”
Last update: October 6, 2011 at 2:20 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Update : Interview from Cadena3 with the “intendente” of San Pedro de Jujuy Mr. Esteban Zamar. San Pedro de Jujuy is the second most populated city of the Jujuy province and is located approx. 60 km from the epicenter.
Click here for the interview (Spanish)
Most important in English : Mr. Zamar is continuously thanking God that despite the intense shaking only light damage has been inflicted in San Pedro. He is thanking God too that nobody got hurt.
Update : People in the quake area have reported that the shaking lasted for about 10 seconds.
Update : The earthquake was also felt in Asuncion, Paraguay
Update : What astonishes us more and more at Earthquake-Report.com is that NO-ONE talks about the villages at a few km from the epicenter but ONLY about the provincial capitals (big cities of course). Most of the attention should go the the people living in a radius of 20 km from the epicenter location, even more when such a shallow earthquake occurs.
Update : So far no traces of serious damage or injuries. Signs of broken windows in San Salvador de Jujuy.
Mobile networks were out of business for several minutes in Salta.
Update : The information in the local press can be called “minimal”. Even the San Salvador de Jujuy local press (closest to the epicenter) has only a couple of paragraphs citing the seismic data as the main content.
Update : People living in San Pedro have reported a MMI VI shaking (strong shaking). San Pedro is approx. 60 km from the epicenter. San Pedro has a population of 58,430 people!)
Update : Based on our CATDAT data from November 19, 1973 and the current data, earthquake-report.com expects a similar kind of damage and NO casualties.
Update : James Daniell’s CATDAT reports : In November 19, 1973, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake produced damage in the town’s eastern provinces of Salta and Jujuy, especially in Santa Clara. No casualties. The estimated peak intensity reached VII degrees on the Modified Mercalli scale and had a magnitude Mb = 5.9 degrees on the Richter scale.
Besides this earthquake there have been many nearby earthquakes without major damage
to read more, and for the link to the interview, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/10/06/very-dangerous-and-very-strong-shallow-earthquake-in-argentina/
Volcanic Activity on Canary Islands prompts Evacuations
Rising Volcanic Activity Prompts Evacuations On El Hierro, The Canary Islands
By MARK DUNPHY – Wed Sep 28, 4:45 pm
MODIS satellite image of The Canary Islands on Tuesday 27 September 2011
Fears are growing that the El Hierro volcano in The Canary Islands could soon erupt after seismic activity beneath the island increased dramatically during Tuesday and Wednesday.
Over 150 earthquakes were recorded on the smallest of the Canary Islands during Tuesday prompting officials to evacuate some local residents, shut El Hierro’s main tunnel, and close local schools.
At least 20 earthquakes, exceeding magnitude 3.0 on the Richter Scale, have been felt by local residents during the last 24 hours. The most recent earthquake, which measured 3.4 magnitude, was recorded just off the southern tip of the island at 07:04 am Wednesday.
The rise in seismic activity last night prompted the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) to advise almost 50 residents of the municipality of La Frontera to leave their homes because of landslide fears.
Plans are also underway to evacuate more of the island’s 10,000 residents, according to Canarias7.es. The newspaper reported that two units of the Spanish military’s emergency intervention unit (EMU) will depart nearby island Tenerife this afternoon to assist in the possible evacuation of hundreds of El Hierro residents.
Meanwhile, the island’s main tunnel (Tunel del Golfo), which links Frontera to Valverde, has been shut forcing motorists to travel across the 280-sq-km island via a mountain road. The Cabildo de El Hierro also has ordered the closure of schools on Wednesday.
Hierro, a shield volcano, has had a single historic eruption from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted approximately one month and produced lava flows.
The Canary Islands Government commenced an in-depth geological survey of El Hierro earlier this month in an effort to determine the source of an earthquake swarm. The Government raised the volcanic risk level to ‘Yellow’ on Sunday, the highest alert status since an unprecedented earthquake swarm commenced in mid-July.
The unprecedented seismic activity commenced on 19 July (the activity was first reported by iWeather Online on 26 July). In excess of 8,200 earthquakes have been recorded up to Wednesday, 28 September 2011.
Up to last weekend, the majority of earth tremors ranged between 1 and 3 magnitude. However, the majority of quakes are now registering between 2 and 4 magnitude and are occuring at depth of 14-17 kilometres, according to the National Geographic Institute (IGN).
Speaking to the El Pais newspaper, volcanologist Juan Carlos Carracedo suggested that an eruption on El Hierro would “not be a major surprise”. He explained: “It is the youngest of the Canary Islands. There is a ball of magma which is rising to the surface and it is stationed at the limit of the earth’s crust. At the moment we do not know if that ball of magna will break the crust and cause an eruption.”
IGN Director, María José Blanco said that any eruption on El Hierro would most likely have a “low explosion value”. He added that an imminent eruption is unlikely.
In the meantime, the frequent and increasingly intense earthquakes being felt throughout El Hierro are unlikely to appease the residents of and visitors to the tiny island.
Super Moon 9/27
“Dark” Supermoon Tomorrow: New Moon Gets Closest to Earth
Lunar encounter to have only minor gravity effects, expert says.
A crescent moon is barely visible as the sun sets over Montana in a 2008 picture.
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Andrew Fazekas
Published September 26, 2011
Tomorrow night the new moon will make a close approach to Earth, giving rise to the second supermoon of the year—but this one will have the power of invisibility.
Because the moon’s orbit is egg shaped, there are times in the roughly monthlong lunar cycle when the moon is at perigee—its closest distance to Earth—or at apogee, its farthest distance from Earth.
“A supermoon occurs when the moon is at perigee and it’s in either a full or new phase,” said Raminder Singh Samra, an astronomer at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada.
In March sky-watchers were treated to a full moon at perigee, which made for the biggest full moon seen in 18 years.
A new moon happens when the lunar orb positions itself between Earth and the sun, so that the side of the moon that faces Earth is unlighted.
“The upcoming moon on September 27, 2011, is set to be at perigee and at the new phase,” Samra said, “so we won’t be able to witness the event, as the moon and sun will be in the same region of the sky” and the lunar disk will be entirely dark.
Supermoon to Affect Earth’s Tides?
Because the size of the moon’s orbit also varies slightly, each perigee is not always the same distance from Earth.
When at perigee, the moon is about 18,640 miles (30,000 kilometers) closer to Earth than its average distance of roughly 240,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). When perigee occurs during a full moon, the lunar disk can appear about 14 percent bigger in the sky, Samra said.
Tuesday’s dark supermoon will be just 222,175 miles (357,557 kilometers) away from Earth.
Some people have speculated that this lunar proximity can have unusual gravitational effects on Earth, triggering dramatic events such as earthquakes.
But the truth is that there’s only a very small correlation between full or new moons and seismic stresses, said Jim Todd, planetarium manager at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.
“Stronger tidal forces caused by the alignment of the sun and moon may put added stress on tectonic plates,” Todd said.
“However, seismologists have found no evidence connecting lunar perigees to heightened seismic activity. Instead the Earth constantly stores up energy and releases it any time the built-up energy becomes too great.”
Lunar close encounters are well known to cause slightly higher ocean tides, so any localized flooding during a supermoon would be most noticeable around beaches and other low-lying areas.
But linking the supermoon to effects beyond that is far-fetched, the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre’s Samra said.
“While the supermoon is thought to provoke various natural disasters on the Earth,” he said, “such claims are exaggerations, as there is simply no scientific evidence for them.”
Series of Earthquakes Rock Turkey
Dangerous Shallow Earthquake in Turkey – 21 aftershocks
Last update: September 22, 2011 at 12:18 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Update 12:18 UTC :Since the mainshock, the area has been hit by 21 aftershocks ranging from 2.6 to 4.0
Update : From the villages near the epicenter are reports of a lot of houses with cracks, but as far as we could see now, no collapsed houses and no injuries. Closest villages to the epicenter are : Balkaya, Giiuventepe, Ardicly, Distas, Karaca and Gulbahce. Only certainty from these villages may be conclusive to report a happy ending.
Update : The town of Refahiye would have experienced a VI strong shaking.
Update : according to the theoretical calculations of USGS, 2,000 people will have experienced a very strong shaking, 9,000 people a strong shaking, 290,000 people a moderate shaking and 6,731,000 people a light shaking
Update : The Turkish seismological agency reports a magnitude of 5.6
A major earthquake has occurred in Turkey. M5.5 and 4.5km depth. We are calling this earthquake extremely dangerous for the direct epicentral area. The town of Refahiye is in the direct epicentral area.
As yet, only a little news has come from the epicentral area. Yenigun talked to an AA correspondent, 7 kilometers from the epicenter of an earthquake in the south of the town of Refahiye Cengerli and stated that the village,”according to the first determinations does not have any loss of life or major damage”, he said.
This earthquake has occurred in the Erzincan area, which had a major earthquake in 1939 killing over 32,000 people.
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/22/dangerous-m5-5-shallow-earthquake-in-turkey/
Germany/Holland Earthquake
Germany / Holland earthquake 08/09 : NO damage or injuries + videos
Last update: September 9, 2011 at 9:52 am by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake overview : At 21:02 local time a moderate shallow earthquake has hit the area in between Duisburg and Nijmegen (Netherlands / Germany border). The hypocenter depth was calculated by GFZ at 3 km.
Update 09/09 09:51 UTC : After screening our many various sources in Germany and in Holland (The Netherlands), we are happy to report that this earthquake made NO damage or did NOT injure people.
Update 09/09 09:45 UTC : We want to make clear for many people thatthe earthquake swarm in the Germany Czech Republic border has NOTHING to do with this earthquake and vice versa.
to read more and for a link to the video, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/08/moderate-shallow-earthquake-with-epicenter-in-germany/
Recent Extreme Earth Events
Disasters in US: An extreme and exhausting year
September 4, 2011 By SETH BORENSTEIN , AP Science Writer
In this May 25, 2011 file picture, a line of severe storms crosses the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tenn., passing by the Memphis Pyramid. The dark formation was reported a few minutes earlier as a tornado in West Memphis, Ark. Nature is pummeling the United States in 2011 with extremes. There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths. What’s happening, say experts, is mostly random chance or the bad luck of getting the wrong roll of the dice. However, there is something more to it, many of them say. Man-made global warming is loading the dice to increase our odds of getting the bad roll.
Unprecedented triple-digit heat and devastating drought. Deadly tornadoes leveling towns. Massive rivers overflowing. A billion-dollar blizzard. And now, unusual hurricane-caused flooding in Vermont.
If what’s falling from the sky isn’t enough, the ground shook in places that normally seem stable: Colorado and the entire East Coast. On Friday, a strong quake triggered brief tsunami warnings in Alaska. Arizona and New Mexico have broken records for wildfires.
Total weather losses top $35 billion, and that’s not counting Hurricane Irene, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There have been more than 700 U.S. disaster and weather deaths, most from the tornado outbreaks this spring.
Last year, the world seemed to go wild with natural disasters in the deadliest year in a generation. But 2010 was bad globally, and the United States mostly was spared.
This year, while there have been devastating events elsewhere, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Australia’s flooding and a drought in Africa, it’s our turn to get smacked. Repeatedly.
“I’m hoping for a break. I’m tired of working this hard. This is ridiculous,” said Jeff Masters, a meteorologist who runs Weather Underground, a meteorology service that tracks strange and extreme weather. “I’m not used to seeing all these extremes all at once in one year.”
The U.S. has had a record 10 weather catastrophes costing more than a billion dollars: five separate tornado outbreaks, two different major river floods in the Upper Midwest and the Mississippi River, drought in the Southwest and a blizzard that crippled the Midwest and Northeast, and Irene.
What’s happening, say experts, is mostly random chance or bad luck. But there is something more to it, many of them say. Man-made global warming is increasing the odds of getting a bad roll of the dice.
Sometimes the luck seemed downright freakish.
to read more, go to: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-disasters-extreme-exhausting-year.html
Weak San Francisco Quake
Weak very shallow earthquake frightens downtown San Fransisco
Last update: August 30, 2011 at 8:47 am by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake overview : A weak but very shallow earthquake has frightened a lot of people living in downtown San Francisco.
Update : The fault line where the quake occurred is the Peninsula Section of the San Andreas Fault line.
Update : The current epicenter area has no historic earthquakes greater than 1.0 the last 7 days or NO quakes greater than 3.0 the last 40 years.
Update : The earthquake has been felt as far as Burlingame to the south, Martinez to the East and San Anselmo to the North.
to read more, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/08/30/weak-very-shallow-earthquake-frightens-downtown-san-fransisco/
Germany-Czech Border Earthquake Swarm
Earthquake swarm is hitting the Cheb / Vogtland area on the Chech – Germany border
Last update: August 26, 2011 at 2:29 pm by By Armand Vervaeck and James Daniel
Lomnicka August 25 earthquake area – Panoramio image courtesy Pavel Sykora – http://www.panoramio.com/photo/476659
Earthquake overview : The Germany-Czech border area has been hit by an earthquake swarm with mainly veryweak quakes, the strongest ones measuring 4.0 and 3.6.
The earthquakes started their sequence on Tuesday
to read more, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/08/26/earthquake-swarm-is-hitting-the-cheb-vogtland-area-on-the-chech-germany-border/