Unusual very shallow magnitude 4.0 earthquake in Ohio
Last update: January 2, 2012 at 12:23 pm by ByArmand Vervaeck and James Daniell
Earthquake overview : A single shallow earthquake alerted people in Ohio and even in the neighboring states. Some officials suspect “fracking” to be at the origin of this earthquake, others say that there is no proof that the earthquakes are caused by fracking but are caused near brine injection wells, not fracking. Update 02/01 – 12:19 UTC
An official in Ohio said on Sunday that the underground disposal of wastewater from natural-gas drilling operations would remain halted in the Youngstown area until scientists could analyze data from the most recent of a string of earthquakes there.
There are luckily no reports of serious damage.
Earthquake-Report received a big number of experience Felt It reports. We thank the many people sending us their testimonies. The Felt It reports can be found below.
NPR writes : Officials said Saturday they believe the latest earthquake activity in northeast Ohio is related to the injection of wastewater into the ground near a fault line, creating enough pressure to cause seismic activity. The brine wastewater comes from drilling operations that use the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale.
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Jim Zehringer said during a news teleconference that fracking is not causing the quakes. “The seismic events are not a direct result of fracking,” he said. “Fracking” is common in this area of the state, but this earthquake, and the others in the area over the past year have been near a “brine injection well“, and not any fracking wells. Officials do now believe that the earthquakes are related to the injection wells, but not fracking.
Earthquake-report.com knows that fracking is a highly controversial issue. Both sides have a hard time to proof that they are right. The heated discussion is not only actual in Ohio, but also in a number of other US States.
Feli It map – image courtesy USGS
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/01/unusual-very-shallow-earthquake-in-ohio/
Earthquake overview : A massive earthquake occurred in the hot solid mantle of the earth. Due to the focal depth of 370 km this earthquake has been felt all over Japan. The earthquake was however harmless due to the weakened impact.
Intensity map courtesy JMA Japan
Update : The hypocenter of this earthquake was far too deep to generate a tsunami.
Update : Values of other seismological agencies
EMSC : 7.0 at 365 km
GEOFON : 6.7 at 361 km
CEN : 7.0 at 360 km
The earthquake must have been felt by millions of people.
A little bit to our surprise the shaking was strongest in the greater Tokyo area (see yellow bullets on the JMA map) , although other areas in Japan felt it as a weak shaking and were located closer to the epicenter. Part of the reason will certainly be the propagation of the wave.
The earthquake was calculated to be felt as a weak shaking based on the USGS Data, however the Japanese seismological agency JMA reported a V MMI (moderate shaking). These values are approx. 4 JMA (Japanese use another seismic intensity scale)
Very strong but very deep earthquake with an hypocenter (focal depth) in the hot solid mantle of the earth. Based on calculations of the seismological centers, only a weak shaking will have been felt in a very wide area. The epicenter was located in between a lot of submarine volcanoes .
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 7.0 (JMA) 6.8 (USGS)
UTC Time : Sunday, January 01, 2012 at 05:27:54 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, January 01, 2012 at 02:27:54 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 370 km (JMA) 349 km (USGS)
Geo-location(s) :
242 km (150 miles) SW of Hachijo-jima, Izu Islands, Japan 365 km (226 miles) S of Hamamatsu, Honshu, Japan 393 km (244 miles) S of Shizuoka, Honshu, Japan 495 km (307 miles) SSW of TOKYO, Japan
for more information and updates go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2012/01/01/massive-deep-earthquake-sends-a-vibration-all-over-japan/
Seafloor “Bridges” Found to Span Earth’s Deepest Trench
Crystal Gammon, OurAmazingPlanet Contributor
Date: 29 December 2011 Time: 12:34 PM ET
Areas of the Mariana Trench that were mapped.
CREDIT: James Gardner
The Mariana Trench, located in the Pacific Ocean off the eastern coasts of Japan and the Philippines — at a depth of around 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) below sea level — is famous for being the deepest point on the planet’s surface.
Now, to add to the Mariana Trench’s fame, marine geophysicists recently mapped a set of surprising seafloor features nearby. At least four underwater “bridges” span the depths of the trench, where the Pacific Plate dives under the Philippine Plate.
“It wasn’t common knowledge that these bridges occurred at all,” said James Gardner, a marine geophysicist at the University of New Hampshire who found the structures. “This is really the first time they’ve been mapped in any detail.”
Bridging the trench
As the Pacific and Philippine tectonic plates converge, they carry seamounts (mountains on the ocean floor that don’t reach the water’s surface) and other underwater features with them toward the trench itself. Some of these plow into other structures on the opposite side of the trench — in a sort of slow-motion seamount collision — or into the trench wall itself.
The result is an underwater “bridge” that stretches across the Mariana Trench. Gardner and a colleague found four of these structures, some rising as high as 6,600 feet (2,000 meters) above the trench and measuring up to 47 miles (75 km) long.
The largest of the four, Dutton Ridge, was mapped in low resolution in the 1980s, but scientists hadn’t noticed any other similar structures in the area. Because the seafloor in the region is riddled with seamounts, guyots (flat-topped seamounts) and other features — many of them part of the Magellan Seamount chain — Gardner suspected he could find other bridges.
“As the Pacific Plate gets thrust down underneath the Philippine Plate, it wouldn’t be totally unexpected that you’d find these things bridging across the trench and being accreted to the inner wall,” Gardner told OurAmazingPlanet.
Using a multibeam echosounder (a tool that uses sonar to measure the topography of the ocean floor in detail), Gardner and a colleague mapped a large swath of the ocean floor surrounding the trench. They presented their findings at the December meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.
Deep, cold and creeping slowly
What the bridges mean for the ocean floor and its occupants is unclear, Gardner said.
“I would certainly expect Dutton Ridge and the others to have different fauna and flora than the trench floor, because they stand about 2 kilometers [1.2 miles] higher,” Gardner said. “But the extreme depth would make it hard to monitor the biology or seafloor currents in the area.”
In fact, the pressure at the bottom of the Mariana Trench is more than eight tons per square inch, and water temperatures hover just above freezing, making it a challenging environment for researchers and sea life alike.
The long-term fate of the bridges is also unknown, Gardner said.
Dutton Ridge, the northernmost of the four bridges, has settled in over the Mariana Trench and seems to be “choking” the plate boundary for now, Gardner said. He also found evidence suggesting that the trench may have already swallowed up other similar bridges.
Whether and when Dutton Ridge and the other three bridges will plunge to the same end isn’t clear. And with the Pacific and Philippine plates creeping steadily toward each other at a rate of less than an inch (2 cm) per year, we aren’t likely to find out anytime soon.
Surtseyan eruption along the coast of Yemen forms a new island – Today eruption cloud + stain !
Last update: December 30, 2011 at 3:07 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Jorgen Aabech, a Norvegian volcano enthusiast writing already a long time in his blog vulkaner.no, wrote us an email on December 20 to attract our attention on a probably new eruption of the Jebel Zubair volcano, which is an island formation on the territory of Yemen. Jorgen asked us if we had any mention of earthquakes in the area, which was negative.
When looking at the Modis Terra and Aqua satellite picture on December 20, we saw indeed a very small cloud in the island area, but nothing important to us. We also followed the Sat24 weather satellite pictures for a while to eventually detect heat on their Infrared images, but also this was negative. This whole eruption, actually found by the scanning of Jorgen Aalbach (if we are right), was almost forgotten until NASA’s Earth Observatory published a far better satellite picture showing more detail of the eruption. Just like during the Eritrea Nabro eruption, satellite images are the only source in this part of the world (in other words, these countries have other concerns than following an active volcano area all the time)
Update December 30
– NASA Modis Aqua satellite picture is showing more activity today. The quality of the Satellite images differs because of indirect circumstances like high cloud, etc (visual image)
Update December 29 (all other info below).
– As you can see on the picture above, the eruption is still ongoing (white cloud and blue stain)
– It is a pity that nobody was around to make beautiful pictures from this Surtseyan eruption (not too late though – to all nature photographers : take your backpack and travel to Yemen (do not forget to hire some armed guards as the country has still a lot of armed rebels and as almost everyone carries a knife and a gun).
NASA MODIS Aqua December 29 satellite picture showing eruption cloud and stain – courtsey NASA
– The Yemen times, a local Yemenite newspaper (who does not mention the creation of a new island) wrote the following :
The Monitoring Center for the Study of Earthquakes and Volcanoes has reported the presence of light volcanic activity on one of the unpopulated islands of ‘Jabal Al-Zubair’ archipelago, 120 km northwest of Hodeida Governorate. Jamal Sha’alan, the manager of the center said that initial indications are that the volcanic eruption was light and will not pose a threat to marine navigation. Saleh Al-Maflahi, the assistant manager of the center, also confirmed that initial indications of the volcanic eruption are reassuring, saying that the centre has commissioned technical experts to travel to the site of the volcano to conduct studies. The team has installed a seismic monitoring station there to alert them to seismic activity that may be the precursor to volcanic activity, according to Al-Maflahi. “The volcanic activity and rising smoke was witnessed by some visitors,” he said, adding that a good deal of seismic activity had recently taken place. He said that the results of a survey of the area’s volcanic history showed that Jabal Al-Zubair is an active volcanic site, and that it witnessed volcanic activity 187 years ago. In September 2007, a volcano on Jabal Al-Tair Island – 20 km southwest of Al-Zubair and 140 kilometers off Yemen’s western coastline – caused the death of eight Yemeni soldiers in addition to injuring others stationed at a military base. Read the complete article here
Distance from the new created island to “Rugged Island”, part of the Zubair volcano group
The text below is courtesy Jorgen Aabech vulkaner.no and a few other sources which are referred to if used
December 19 – Jorgen Aabech wrote in his blog :
A possible eruption occurred at Az Zubair archipelago on 19th December 2011. Fishermen from Salif port city in the west of Yemen reported seeing an eruption with red lava rising to a height of 30 m. This was the first eruption the fisherman can recall from the area. Satellite images showed raised sulphur dioxide emissions close to the volcano on the following day.
On December 19 the NASA Aura/OMI SO² satellite captured a picture that revealed a strong SO² cloud column. This satellite is of great importance to detect remote located volcanoes.
Aura/OMI NASA SO2 satellite image from the December 19 2011 Zubair volcano group Surtseyan eruption
Surtseyan eruption in Yemen – Image courtesy vulkaner.no
December 20 – Jorgen Aabech Update (based on what he also read in Erik Klemetti Wired corner)
It seems like there is a lot of confusion about exactly where the eruption is taking place. A number of sources put the eruption at Jebel Zubair, another island volcano that is part of an archipelago that last erupted in 1824. Jebel Zubair is just to the south of Jebel at Tair, so looking at the OMI map and the new MODIS image found by Eruptions reader Kirby that looks to have a small plume (see above), it is more likely Jebel Zubair. However, there is still not a lot of information out there on this eruption.
December 22 – Jorgen Aabech
On 19 December a SO2 cloud was detected in an OMI satellite image. MODIS imagery from 20 December shows a plume rising from a submarine eruption about 1.5 km SW of Haycock and N of Rugged (near the N end of the Az-Zubair island group), and about 12 km NE of Jebel Zubair island.
A bathymetric sketch map made in 1973 indicates a water depth of about 100 m in that area.
Yemen TV showed an unstable and bad colored report in their news. We cannot trace whether this report is from this eruption, but it was published as it on You Tube. It is however hard to believe that the December 19 eruption (no other SO2 traces on the satellite maps) have build the island in only a week. A possibility is that the eruption had started a lot earlier in his submarine phase.
December 28 – Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism program writes :
An eruption from the northern part of the Zubair Group continued during 21-27 December. MODIS imagery from NASA’s satellites on 22 December showed a plume, possibly containing ash, rising from what was thought to be a submarine eruption. Imagery acquired on 23 December from the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s EO-1 satellite showed a new island at the location with a plume rising from it, roughly 500 m N of Rugged Island and more than 500 m in diameter. The island was not present in a similar image acquired on 24 October 2007.
December 28 – NASA Earth Observatory – Proof of a new island The Picture combination below from NASA Earth Observatory shows the birth of the new island. The cloud picture was acquired by the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite. A thick plume rises from the island, dark near the bottom and light near the top, perhaps a mixture of volcanic ash and water vapor.
NASA Earth Observatory shows the birth of the new Zubair volcano group island
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/29/surtseyan-eruption-along-the-coast-of-yemen-forms-a-new-island-today-eruption-cloud-stain/
Earthquake overview : A very strong earthquake (M 6.5 to M 7.0 following different sources) happened in the South Western part of Siberia. The epicenter was located in a sparsely populated wilderness area at a distance of 120 km from Kyzyl, a city with 109,000 inhabitants and the capital of the Tuva Republic.
“I have Felt it” Reports –>see below + Let us know “how you have felt this earthquake”
To read the full story as it happened, we advise our readers to start at the lower part of the page (earthquake data).
Keep this page open or return regularly as we will be back with more details when they become available
Landscape in the greater epicenter area – Panoramio image courtesy Roman Petrov
Update 28/12 – 00:34 UTC Overview of the reported magnitudes and depth from the seismological agencies reporting worldwide earthquakes : RAS (RUS) – M 6.5 @ 10 km USGS (USA) – M 6.6 @ 6.9 km EMSC (Europe) – M 6.5 @ 10 km GEOFON (Germany) – M 6.6 @ 10 km CEN (China) – M 7.0 @ 10 km
Update 28/12 – 00:13 UTC RAS (Russian Academy of sciences) has reported 3 aftershocks of 4.6 @ 10km; 4.3 @ 10 km and 4.9 @ 15 km
Update 28/12 – 00:13 UTC : RT (English broadcasting) is reporting that Mr. Shoigu has said that themagnitude was raised to 9.5. We do not believe this report. The Minister mentioned the number as MSK (almost equivalent to MMI and on a scale from 0-12). A 9.5 magnitude at this shallow depth would have been totally destructive and damaging far beyond the epicenter. Kyzul suffered light to moderate shaking. As a result there might be some cracks in houses, but Kyzil (said to be at ca 100 km from the epicenter) had no severe damage or devastation.
Update 23:55 UTC : During the night, specialized rescue personnel from other areas have been transported to Kyzyl. They will leave as soon as possible to the epicenter area to assess the situation. The emergency minister was saying that many people had their second home in the greater epicenter area. Having visited Siberia before i (Armand) know for sure that these houses are in 99% of the cases 1 level houses. Being the Siberian winter (freezing temperature at the moment is -20 to -30 °C) people will not be in these houses in great numbers. Our estimate is that there might be damage at these houses, but that apart of some accidental dead, the toll will be acceptable. This estimate is based upon the epicenter of USGS and the population numbers of GDACS ‘see below). Let us hope that we are right.
Update : The earthquake in Siberia is estimated at 9.5 MSK, according to Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Description IX MSK : Destructive – General panic. People may be forcibly thrown to the ground. Waves are seen on soft ground. Substandard structures collapse. Substantial damage to well-constructed structures. Underground pipelines ruptured. Ground fracturing, widespread landslides.
Update : Magnitudes and focal depth are reported in different numbers by the different sources. Magnitude goes from 6.5 until 7.0. Focal depth ranges from 45 km to 6.9 km !
Update : The picture looks almost romantic, but bear in mind the people have to stay outside during the night at temperatures of -26 °C ! Luckily no fresh snow. Snow is however still on the streets. This is Siberia !
Update : MSK scale : The Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik scale is somewhat similar to the Modified Mercalli (MM) scale used in the United States. The MSK scale has 12 intensity degrees expressed in Roman numerals. The description of 8 MSK is as follows : Damaging / Many people find it difficult to stand, even outdoors. Furniture may be overturned. Waves may be seen on very soft ground. Older structures partially collapse or sustain considerable damage. Large cracks and fissures opening up, rockfalls. (source Wikipedia)
Update : 8 MSK at the epicentre according to RAS. Only 5 MSK at Kyzyl meaning that there is likely only minor damage.
In Novosibirsk, the intensity of the earthquake was to be 1.6 points. “This is the calculated data, while data from seismic stations, which
should fix the surface waves has been reported. As soon as they arrive and are processed, there will be more accurate, more likely, the strength of earthquakes will increase,” – said the RAS. According to Director of Geophysical Service (TOS), Siberian Branch of RAS Victor Seleznev, the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the upper Yenisei River east of the city of Kyzyl, in the area of Academician Obruchev. The scientist said that the shaking in Krasnoyarsk was 3-4 MSK, at the epicenter – 8 MSK.
(ER : 8 MSK means that there will be likely damage in the epicentral area – epicenter area damage has not been reported yet)
Update : According to the MOE, the epicenter of the earthquake was located 120 kilometers east of Kyzyl(Tuva). (ER : USGS reported the earthquake epicenter at 96 km from Kyzyl)
Update : According to preliminary data, there has been no deaths or destruction reported after the earthquake in Siberia , told RIA Novosti by telephone a representative of the Siberian Regional Emergency Center.
Update : Video from people having to spend the night outside their houses at a temperature of at least -20°C
Update : Residents of Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk and Khakassia felt the quake. The apartments had swaying chandeliers and furniture moving. People fled their homes. However, users of the Internet in their microblogs
reported outage of cellular communication in the area. Meanwhile it is reported that the earthquake in Siberia had no effect on the power plant there. (ER : these cities are several hundred km from the epicenter).
Meteor sighting caught on video proves to be re-entry from Soyuz
Published on December 25, 2011 2:05 pm PT
– By TWS Staff Reporter
– Edited by Staff Editor
(TheWeatherSpace.com) – Another failed launch from Russia as the Soyuz-2.1B rocket crashed into Siberia. The failure did not go silent, many witnessed the rocket and satellite burning up over Germany.
The sighting was seen on Saturday, prompting some to call it Santa Claus, being it was Christmas Eve. However, the sighting over Southwestern Germany was just a re-entry.
“The ball observed … above Belgium, The Netherlands, France and Germany was the return of the last stage of the Soyuz rocket launcher,” Belgium’s Royal Observatory said yesterday.
A video posted on the internet (below) shows how spectacular some of these re-entries are. To catch one you have to be in the right place and at the right time.
Computer-generated image depicting a view of Earth as seen from the surface of the asteroid Toutatis.
CREDIT: NASA/JPL
Earth has two moons, a group of scientists argues. One is that waxing and waning nightlight we all know and love. The other is a tiny asteroid, no bigger than a Smart Car, making huge doughnuts around Earth for a while before it zips off into the distance.
That’s the scenario posited by the scientists in a paper published Dec. 20 in the planetary science journal ICARUS. The researchers say there is a space rock at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) wide orbiting Earth at any given time. They’re not always the same rock, but rather an ever-changing cast of “temporary moons.”
In the scientists’ theoretical model, our planet’s gravity captures these asteroids as they pass near us on their way around the sun. When one is drawn in, it typically makes three irregularly shaped swings around Earth — sticking with us for about nine months — before hurtling on its way.
According to the researchers, surprisingly little attention has been paid to Earth’s natural satellites other than the moon, despite the fact that they’re sure to exist. “There are lots of asteroids in the solar system, so chances for the Earth to capture one at any time is, in a sense, not surprising,” said co-author Jeremie Vauballion, an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in France.
The group claims that its paper is the first effort to theoretically model the orbits and sizes of Earth’s temporary second moons. The researchers’ results are consistent with observations of one such “temporarily-captured asteroid” that is believed to have orbited Earth for about a year starting in June 2006. The object, labeled 2006 RH120, was discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona; estimated to be between 10 and 20 feet (3 and 6 meters) wide, it appeared to be orbiting Earth from two moon-distances away.
Mikael Gravnik, a physicist at the University of Helsinki and lead author of the new paper, says 2006 RH120 was probably discovered because it was slightly larger than most of the other “temporary moons” that come traipsing through our planetary system. Most of the hobo moons are only about 1 meter wide.
“Objects of this size are too faint to be detected when being at a distance of, say, a few lunar distances from the Earth,” Gravnik told Life’s Little Mysteries.”When coming closer in during their orbit, they are moving too fast to be detected, because the limited amount of photons is spread over too many pixels.”
These limitations mean we don’t currently have a way of finding our second moons. But an observatory called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), planned to open in Chile in 2015, could change that.
“We hope that LSST will do something about this, but dedicated programs will without doubt be even better,” Vauballion said. “Statistic study is still needed to see where and how to look for them.”
NASA’s Spaceguard Survey tracks the paths of all near-Earth objects (NEOs) in Earth’s neighborhood that are larger than 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) in diameter, but the scientists are less concerned with bodies that are too small to pose a threat to Earth — as is the case when they’re just 1 meter wide.
But if our distant, noncommittal moons don’t threaten Earth, and are much too dim to act as nightlights, does it matter that they’re there at all?
According to astronomers, it does. Some researchers say it might be possible to go and get one of these temporary moons and bring it back to Earth for analysis.
“When found, such an asteroid will immediately raise the question whether or not we should go, and I’m ready to bet that many astronomers will argue that we definitely have to go!” Vaubaillon said in an email. “The reason is simple: What astronomers would not want to have a full and intact (unaltered by any physical process) piece of space rock? Meteorites are all altered because they go through our atmosphere. The only piece of asteroid we have comes from the Japanese Hayabusa mission (a few grams at the very most). The comet grains the Stardust mission got back from comet Wild 2 were all altered.”
Clark Chapman, senior scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo., said a lot could be learned from the retrieval of a temporary satellite. “No doubt it is true that temporarily captured NEOs would be comparatively easy to get to and get back from ― it wouldn’t take an especially powerful rocket, and round-trip times would be short,” said Chapman, who is an expert on asteroid impact hazards.
Gravnik said, “We certainly hope that a space mission to a natural Earth satellite would someday materialize, and have actually already started a collaboration with experts in spacecraft orbital mechanics to find out how a mission from the Earth to a temporary satellite could be accomplished.”
El Hierro Volcano : Yellow-Red alert – the eruption continues at a moderate rate
Last update: December 24, 2011 at 3:13 pm by By Armand Vervaeck
Update 24/12 – 15:13 UTC
– NO NASA Modis satellite image today as it was too cloudy when the satellite was padding by.
– NO new earthquakes
– continuous harmonic tremor slightly decreasing since 06:00
– The video below is the morning time lapse video from the Telefonica / Cabildo La Restinga village webcam as captured by Julio del Castillo Vivero. The emitting vent and corresponding stain can well be seen from the middle of the morning until the end
Joke Volta early morning pictures
Click on the picture to see all images in full size
Update 24/12 – 09:14 UTC
– NO new earthquakes
– continuous harmonic tremor with a lot of action from 03:30 until 04:00
– a very small stain can be seen on the El Pinar / Ustream and La Restinga village webcams
– Joke reports that the she saw a very vast stain from her starting point at El Pinar this morning. Now she is in La Restinga and says that she sees the source of the stain at the main vent. The emitted material is carried by the current to the west (hard to see on the webcam)
– IEO (Oceonographic Institute of Spain) has reported that they are currently analyzing the bathymetry data(depth measuring of the sea floor) from their latest mission. They have a lot of work to do before a final report can be issued as many irregular measurements have to be eliminated. The emission gases, floating and suspended sediments and water conditions are resulting in false data.
Christmas tree in CAP science center in La Restinga. The tree hangers are images of the main events of the eruption
Update 23/12 – 18:43 UTC
Joke has created a small video from the pictures that she made while traveling with the bus from La Restinga to El Pinar. Additionally, click here to see the pictures Joke made today.
Update 23/12 – 14:00 UTC / updated 15:43 UTC
Today’s NASA Modis satellite image (from max. a couple of hours ago) shows a very strange picture from the stain and the emission vent. The left white patch is the main vent emission point and small stain. The right white patch at the smallest point of the stain maybe a small remaining cloud patch from the bigger cloud range below it or a new vent (highly unlikely on this location). Click here to see the location of the satellite image.
NASA Modis satellite image of today December 23 – zoomed version (cloud has been blackened)
NASA Modis image without blackened clouds
Update 23/12 – 11:30 UTC
– an active fresh stain visible from La Restinga.
– periods with increased harmonic tremor
image courtesy IGN
La Restinga eruption stain on December 23 – image courtesy Cabildo de El Hierro and Telefonica
Update 23/12 – 08:07 UTC
– 2 new earthquakes since midnight UTC . Both had a magnitude of 1.6 at a depth of respectively 16 and 15 km. The first one happened at 02:16 (epicenter location) and the second at 04:09 (epicenter location)
– variable harmonic tremor
– 25 cruise ships have planned to visit El Hierro next year. The port of La Estaca will be the embarkation port. The average number of passengers will be 300 per ship.
– the company running the Christmas lottery, one of the first lotteries in the world, has decided to pay 60,000 euro as a gift to the people of El Hierro.
– the Terencio supermarket chain did send a food load of 4200 kg to help the Herreños
This information comes from: earthquakereport.com. For more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/
Earthquake overview : Multiple aftershocks hit the city of Christchurch and his suburbs during the early afternoon of December 23. 2 major aftershocks measuring 5.8 and 5.9 magnitude were the largest since many months.
Video of the shaking of the M 6.0 earthquake
Michelle Collins from Christchurch captured the shaking by accident as her camcorder was still running while positioned on a Christmas tree. She talks to the NZ Herald about the experience. This is what a M 6.0 feels like if you live near the epicenter. The heavy shaking lasted “only” 10 seconds, longer would certainly have generated much more damage. Miss Collins runs immediately outside while the shaking is still going on. Not wise at all, but in her case forgivable as she was only a few meters away from the patio/garden.
Liquefaction also occurred today. Funny to look at but something which may become very dangerous with higher magnitudes
Update18:55 UTC
CERA (Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority) has advised the authorities that a Christchurch wide survey of houses would be desirable. The main reason of such a check is to find out whether the houses can withstand a new strong earthquake.
Update 17:40 UTC M 5.1 2011/12/23 17:36 Depth 9.0 km CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND
local time 06:37
One of the stronger aftershocks right below the Akaroa peninsula on a location that we had almost no aftershocks so far
10 km east of Akaroa and 50 km south-east of Christchurch Satellite map of the greater epicenter area
Update16:26 UTC
In Sydenham, the 100-year-old former Post Office building was demolished last night after sustaining further damage during yesterday’s aftershock.
Update16:10 UTC
29 + M 3.0 aftershocks since the mainshock!
Update15:06 UTC – An example to all earthquake sensitive countries in the world Telecommunications were not hit that hard as a result of the quake. The disruption noticed was due to the problems with the main power supply, which implicated that some equipment was operating on battery and generator backup. Telecom was asking people to use texts, rather than calling, in order to ease the load on its mobile networks. Emergency calling remained operational (Earthquake-Report.com is in favor of this policy – other countries should follow this example asap (we have encountered continuous problems elsewhere in the world due to too high peaks and due to non-battery backup masts).
Update10:52 UTC
It looks like the current epicenter can be called “little out of range” of the other powerful earthquakes. The epicenter of the initial quake who triggered the other ones was was located a little out of the coast. Hopefully this will not start off a new episode of aftershocks
for more information and updates, go to: http://earthquake-report.com/2011/12/23/3-large-dangerous-aftershocks-hit-christchurch-new-zealand/
The winter solstice marks the shortest day of the year, when the sun is at its lowest point in the sky.
CREDIT: Stockxpert.
Winter officially arrives late Wednesday or in the wee hours of Thursday, depending on the time zone you are in.
The official time corresponds to 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (5:30 a.m. Universal Time) Thursday (Dec. 22). This is the point when the northern half of our planet will face directly away from the sun.
This means that days, which have up until now been growing shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, will begin to lengthen.
This happens because the Earth rotates on an axis that is tilted by 23.5 degrees, so the planet leans one way or another as it travels around the sun. This doesn’t make much difference for folks living around the Earth’s equator, but for those of us farther north, or south, this tiltcreates seasons.
The winter solstice marks the end of fall and the beginning of winter. During the solstice, the northern half of the Earth is facing away from the sun, hence it will experience its shortest day of the year as the planet rotates.
The effect of this tilt, and of the solstice, depends on your latitude. Everything above the Arctic Circle will remain shrouded in darkness, with no sun that day, and to the north, the North Polegoes without sunlight for months. Farther south in the Northern Hemisphere, the solstice day becomes longer.
The opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere. There, the December solstice marks the arrival of summer.
For those of us in the north, the days may begin to grow longer, but the coldest days are still to come. This is because ocean temperatures drive much of the weather on the continents, and they continue to cool in the relative lack of sunlight this time of year.
Feli It map – image courtesy USGS
NASA MODIS Aqua December 29 satellite picture showing eruption cloud and stain – courtsey NASA
Distance from the new created island to “Rugged Island”, part of the Zubair volcano group
NASA Earth Observatory shows the birth of the new Zubair volcano group island
Christmas tree in CAP science center in La Restinga. The tree hangers are images of the main events of the eruption
image courtesy IGN
La Restinga eruption stain on December 23 – image courtesy Cabildo de El Hierro and Telefonica
Liquefaction also occurred today. Funny to look at but something which may become very dangerous with higher magnitudes
