July 18 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s quake agency issued a tsunami warning on Sunday for a 7.1 magnitude quake 537 km northwest of Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moreseby.
7.2-magnitude quake strikes Papua New Guinea-USGS
July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
July 18 (Reuters) – A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck 73 miles/117 km east of Kandrian, New Britain, in Papua New Guinea, on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Service said.
There was no immediate tsunami alert issued.
6.7 magnitude quake hits off coast of Alaska
July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
(Reuters) – A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska on Sunday, but no widespread threat of a tsunami was seen, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The earthquake was centered 27 miles west of Nikolski in the Aleutian island chain at a depth of 21.7 miles.
“A widespread destructive tsunami threat does not exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data,” the Center said in an email.
(Reporting by Alan Elsner)
UPDATE 2-Strong quakes hit off Indonesia’s Papua
June 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
June 16 (Reuters) – A series of quakes struck off Indonesia’s Papua province on Wednesday within a few minutes of each other, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, but there were no reports of casualties.
A 6.4 magnitude quake was followed 10 minutes later by a 7.0 magnitude quake, USGS said. A third quake struck a little later, with a magnitude of 6.3.
Indonesia’s meteorological agency said the quakes occurred 114 kilometres (70.84 miles) southeast of Biak, in Papua, at a depth of 10 kilometres, and issued a tsunami warning after the second quake.
The National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s spokesman, Priyadi Kardono, said there were no reports of casualties from the area. Kardono said he was still awaiting updates after the second quake.
BP (BP.L) said that its Tangguh LNG project in Papua was operating normally and was not affected by the quake.
“According to reports, the quakes were felt strongly in Biak, and with the intensity the quakes could cause cracks on the walls of houses and buildings” said Jaya Murjaya, an official at the meteorological agency.
(Reporting by Olivia Rondonuwu and Muklis Ali; Editing by Sara Webb and Sanjeev Miglani)
Toads get hopping ahead of quakes
April 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
In folklore, toads are boiled up in witch’s potions and the mere touch of them is meant to cause warts.
But now research suggests the common European garden toad might be able to predict earthquakes days before they occur.
When an earthquake struck the Italian City of L’Aquila early last year, it killed 300 people and displaced 40,000 others.
But a study published in the Journal of Zoology suggests the local toads were fine because they had an inkling something bad was about to happen.
A team from Britain’s Open University observed the toads at a nearby lake and found 96 per cent of males fled their breeding ground five days before the quake struck.
Many people have previously suggested a link between earthquakes and animal behaviour.
One – a former a geologist from California, Jim Berkland – was sceptical, until a friend pointed out a curious correlation.
“He looked at a lost-and-found column of the local newspaper and he found that the numbers of missing cats increased dramatically just before local quakes,” Mr Berkland said.
He says the behaviour described in the study comes as no surprise to him.
“It absolutely matches what I have been hearing in every other place,” he said.
“Before that near-eight magnitude quake… in China, just before the eclipse of the sun, thousands of toads went through the streets of the city and the local expert said it doesn’t mean anything, that is just typical.
“It is not typical. Before the Cobak quake in Japan, there was unusual migrations of fish and the fishermen were loading up their nets with these fish and they were quite happy until the big quake hit.”
Toads too ‘variable’
Others are not quite as convinced.
Dr Ross Alford, a professor of Tropical Ecology at James Cook University in Queensland, says many variables affect toad behaviour and it is not uncommon for some species to abandon their breeding grounds en masse.
“Cane toads for example, it is not unusual if you are just going out regularly and counting cane toads at a breeding site to find hundreds one night and two nights later find three when the weather is very, very similar,” he said.
“[The theory] seems possible – toads respond to the environment in quite complicated ways.
“We have actually been working for years on just figuring out exactly what the cues are that cane toads used to decide to breed and we still haven’t gotten anywhere near working it all out, so it is possible that there is some subtle changes in the atmosphere that they pick up that warn them.
“Cane toads are really, really variable.”
Electromagnetic fields
If toads, or indeed dogs or cats, do have a sense that allows them to detect a quake, there is still the question of how it all works.
In this case, the researchers obtained measurements of electrical activity in the uppermost electromagnetic layer in the atmosphere, which were picked up by very low frequency radio receivers.
The toads left during sudden disruptive bursts.
Mr Berkland says electromagnetic fields tip off the animals. Most of them have a way of detecting the fields – in fact, it is the same mechanism that allows homing pigeons to find their way home.
But the theory is controversial and Mr Berkland says it is not widely accepted among geologists.
“I am a 50-year member of the Geological Society of America and I’ve had great resistance from my colleagues into accepting such things, because they think all truth comes out of a black box and not out of what Mother Nature can tell us,” he said.
“I have made a number of enemies in my colleagues but they haven’t found a better mechanism to predict quakes.”
The ABC attempted to contact Geoscience Australia about the theory but the phone calls were not returned.
Festival to raise funds for Chile quake victims
March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Sydney’s Chilean community is putting on a festival to raise as much money as possible to help victims of last month’s earthquake and tsunami.
The community is putting on a cultural festival in the city’s west, with the proceeds to go to disaster relief and housing.
Hundreds of people were killed in the 8.8-magnitude quake which struck off the Chilean coast last month.
Organiser Elizabeth Reveira says it will be an emotional day for the thousands of Chileans who live in Sydney.
“As much as we are preparing a festival to celebrate the living that are still over there, there’s still a really big black band in our hearts, because we know how many lives have been lost and how many people need our help,” she said.
“So the goal is to make as much money as we can.”
Ms Reveira says many of Sydney’s 30,000 Chileans have been personally affected by the disaster.
“Everybody that is here has family in Chile, the effect of what happened in Chile has actually hit them very hard,” she said.
“In some cases there’s a big majority of the Chilean community that do have families in Concepcion and Talcahuano.”
Strong quake hits off PNG
March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A strong 6.2-magnitude quake has struck off Papua New Guinea’s coast, geologists said, but there was no tsunami warning and the epicentre’s depth lessened the likelihood of damage.
The quake’s epicentre was 95 kilometres north of the town of Rabaul on New Britain island and was at a depth of 423 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
There was no immediate alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, based in Hawaii.
- AFP
Strong quake hits off PNG
March 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A strong 6.2-magnitude quake has struck off Papua New Guinea’s coast, geologists said, but there was no tsunami warning and the epicentre’s depth lessened the likelihood of damage.
The quake’s epicentre was 95 kilometres north of the town of Rabaul on New Britain island and was at a depth of 423 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said.
There was no immediate alert from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, based in Hawaii.
- AFP
4.4 magnitude quake rattles Los Angeles
March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck near Los Angeles, awakening residents but causing no apparent damage in America’s second largest city.
Police at the epicentre of Pico Rivera, 18 kilometres south east of downtown Los Angeles, said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the light quake.
It hit at 4:04am local time and lasted a few seconds, rousing many from their beds and prompting local television stations to issue bulletins.
The quake was at a depth of 18km on the Whittier fault.
Home to 10 million people, Los Angeles County had its last strong earthquake in Northridge in 1994. It killed 60 people.
- Reuters
Power blackout hits Chile two weeks after quake
March 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
(Reuters) – A major blackout left most of Chile without power for hours on Sunday, two weeks after a massive earthquake that killed hundreds and weakened infrastructure.
World | Natural Disasters
Electricity was restored quickly, but the failure of the South American country’s main power grid was another test for conservative President Sebastian Pinera, who took office last week and must rebuild after the huge earthquake.
The power cut rattled the nerves of Chileans still living with aftershocks following the deadly 8.8-magnitude quake on February 27 that triggered tsunamis and tore up roads and towns, causing an estimated $20 billion to $30 billion in damage.
The lights went out at 8:50 p.m./2350 GMT, affecting millions of people and most of Chile’s main cities in a stretch of territory more than 1,200 miles long from north of the capital Santiago, to Puerto Montt in the south.
The quake-devastated city of Concepcion was among those plunged into darkness and some of the country’s key copper mines briefly halted production.
Soon after midnight, power had returned to around 90 percent of Chile, a long, narrow country that produces copper, fruit and wine and is one of the most developed in the region.
SCARED IN THE SUBWAY
Claudia Morales, a 32-year-old nanny, was on the Santiago subway when the power cut hit, stranding commuters in the dark for around 15 minutes. Phones were down too, so they could not call anyone.
“Everyone started to say aloud maybe there had been another quake,” she said. “Everyone was really panicked.”
Passengers had to be evacuated from several subway cars, officials said.
Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said the blackout was due to a problem with a-500 kilowatt transformer.
“Fortunately the reason for the failure has been identified,” he said.
Hinzpeter said that while the power outage was not directly related to the big earthquake last month — which knocked out power at the time — there would be an investigation to see whether there was an indirect cause.
Energy Minister Ricardo Rainieri said the quake left Chile’s power grid fragile, and urged ordinary Chileans to limit energy consumption.
MINES BRIEFLY SHUT
State mining giant Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, said the disruption briefly shut its mines in central Chile. Its Teniente division operated with emergency equipment and output was partially affected, a mine official said, though power was returning to normal.
But Codelco’s Norte Division in the northern part of the country was unaffected.
Global miner BHP Billiton’s Escondida deposit, the world’s largest copper mine, was operating normally and was not affected, a union leader said.
The Central Interconnected System, or SIC grid, was the one affected. It delivers power to many cities, including the capital.
But most of Chile’s copper mines are on the northern power grid, so they were not affected.
Some Chileans took the power outage in stride.
“To be honest, I’m not scared,” said 24-year-old mechanic Francisco Silva. “They say it was a power cut because the earthquake left the electricity lines weakened.”
“I am calm, because I think the government can solve the problems,” he added. “We have no option but to trust in it.”
(Additional reporting by Alonso Soto, Fabian Cambero and Alejandro Lifschitz; Writing by Fiona Ortiz; editing by Simon Gardner and Stacey Joyce)
One killed, 336 injured in Yunnan quake
July 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Beijing, July 10 (ANI): A moderate earthquake rocked southwest China Thursday evening, killing one person, injuring at least 336 and collapsing more than 18,000 homes, state media said.
The magnitude-6.0 temblor, centered in Yunnan province’s Yao’an county, damaged another 30,000 homes, the Xinhua news agency said.
Thirty people suffered severe injuries, while the other 305 were slightly injured.
The quake was followed by eight aftershocks and the provincial civil affairs department was sending 4,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and other relief materials to Yao’an.
More than 300 soldiers and hundreds of police were dispatched to the disaster zone.
Yunnan is a quake-prone, mountainous region that lies on China’s southern border with Thailand and Myanmar.
It also borders Sichuan province, where a magnitude-7.9 quake last year left almost 90,000 people dead or missing.
In 1988, a 7.1-magnitude quake in Yunnan near Myanmar killed more than 722 people. (ANI)
North Korea conducts nuclear test
May 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
North Korea says it has staged a “successful” underground nuclear test, prompting international condemnation.
The state says it was more powerful than the previous one in October 2006.
A number of external agencies have confirmed a powerful explosion took place, suspected to be associated with a nuclear test.
US President Barack Obama described the North Korean action as a threat to international peace. Crisis talks were being held in South Korea.
An emergency session of the UN Security Council is being convened by Russia, which currently occupies the council’s rotating presidency.
BBC world affairs correspondent David Loyn says North Korea appears to have moved from a posture of negotiation to confrontation over the nuclear issue.
‘Safeguarding sovereignty’
An official communique read out on North Korean state radio said another round of underground nuclear testing had been “successfully conducted… as part of measures to enhance the Republic’s self-defensive nuclear deterrent in all directions”.
It said the test had been “safely conducted at a new high level in terms of explosive power and control technology”.
The test would “contribute to safeguard the sovereignty of the country and the nation and socialism”, the communique said.
The North gave no details of the test location, but South Korean officials said that a seismic tremor was detected in the north-eastern part around the town of Kilju – the site of North Korea’s first nuclear test.
The US Geological Survey said a 4.7-magnitude quake was detected at 0054 GMT, 10km (six miles) underground.
Geological agencies in both South Korea and the US said the tremor indicated a nuclear explosion.
Russian news agencies quoted the defence ministry as saying said its systems had detected a blast of “between 10 and 20 kilotons” – making it much bigger than the 2006 test, which the US said was less than a kiloton.
Hours after the explosion North Korea test-fired three short-range missiles, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
Pyongyang has so far not commented on Yonhap’s reports.
The US state department said it was still analysing the available data from the test.
But in a strongly worded statement, President Obama said the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatened peace and was in “blatant defiance of the United Nations Security Council”.
“The danger posed by North Korea’s threatening activities warrants action by the international community. We have been and will continue working with our allies and partners in the six-party talks as well as other members of the UN Security Council in the days ahead,” his statement said.
A spokesman for the South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the test was a “grave challenge” to international non-proliferation efforts, while Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said any nuclear test by the North would be “unacceptable”.
Both have formed crisis management teams, and said they would ask for action from the UN Security Council.
The UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said he condemned the test “in the strongest terms” and said it would “undermine prospects for peace on the Korean peninsula”.
South Korea’s stock market fell 4% on the news, over fears that regional tensions would rise.
Rocket condemnation
The North says it remains under military threat from its historic rival, South Korea, and South Korea’s allies, primarily the US – citing such examples as the annual US-South Korean military exercises undertaken in South Korea.
It says it is entitled to retain a military deterrent.
Last month, Pyongyang pulled out of six-party talks on its nuclear programme, in protest against international condemnation of its test-firing of a rocket on 5 April.
The UN Security Council adopted a statement calling on North Korea to comply with a 2006 resolution banning missile tests.
Pyongyang says its rocket carried a satellite, but several nations viewed it as cover for a missile test.
The six-party talks – involving the US, China, Japan, Russia and the two Koreas – have stalled over the failure of Pyongyang to verify the shutdown of the Yongbyon nuclear plant.
North Korea had agreed to dismantle the facility as part of an aid-for-disarmament deal and, in response, the US removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist.
But the North now believes it is no longer bound by its previous bilateral agreements with the US and agreements under the six-party talks, reports the BBC’s John Sudworth in Seoul, South Korea.
He says the North, which already faces a stringent sanctions regime, probably thinks it has little to lose.
Strong quake shakes Mexico City without causing damage
May 23, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Mexico City – A quake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale shook Mexico City Friday, sending thousands of people pouring onto the streets.
The tremor at 1924 GMT briefly interrupted telephone and subway services. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said officials had examined important infrastructure such as hospitals, the water supply and important buildings and that they had escaped major damages.
The strength of the quakes was revised downward from 5.9 by the National Seismological Institute.
The epicentre of the quake was in the state of Puebla, 170 kilometres southeast of the Mexican capital, according to the National Meteorological Service, and the phenomenon was felt in many areas in central Mexico.
The 19-million residents of Mexico City live in a region that is often shaken by earthquakes. In 1985, a 8.1 magnitude quake killed 10,000 people. (dpa)
6.3-magnitude quake hits off northern Chile
April 19, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Santiago de Chile – An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale struck off Chile’s northern coast late Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.
No immediate reports about casualties or damage were available.
The quake occurred at 10:08 pm (0208 GMT Friday) off the Tarapaca region, about 1,600 kilometres north of Santiago. Its epicentre was located 80 kilometres north-west of the port town Iquique.
The US Geological survey later revised the magnitude down to 6.0. (dpa)
Hopes dim in Italian search for quake survivor
April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Search for possible survivor of Monday’s quake
* Rescue efforts winding down
* Death toll rises to 291; around 40,000 homeless
By Silvia Aloisi
L’AQUILA, Italy, April 11 (Reuters) – Rescue workers searched on Saturday for what could be the last survivor of Italy’s devastating earthquake but said there was no guarantee anyone was left alive under the rubble.
A day after Italians held a state funeral for the victims of Monday’s quake, the death toll rose to 291 after more bodies were pulled from the debris. Nearly 40,000 people were made homeless.
Sniffer dogs picked up a human scent late on Friday coming from beneath the ruins of what was a four-storey building in L’Aquila, the medieval mountain city hardest hit by the 6.3 magnitude quake. Rescue workers also heard noises.
But it went quiet overnight and officials say dogs could have responded to the scent of a corpse, or even just human blood. At least nine bodies have already been pulled from that site, firemen said.
“We dug all night and now we just have to wait. We can hear almost nothing now,” a rescue worker told Reuters.
Still, on the sixth day after the quake, hopes are fading of finding people alive. The latest survivor to be rescued, a 20-year-old woman, was pulled from the rubble on Tuesday.
The Civil Protection Agency has signalled that the search is almost over and many officials expect the agency to wind up rescue operations on Sunday. Violent aftershocks continued to shake the Abruzzo region overnight and into the morning, further terrifying survivors, many of whom prepared to celebrate Easter homeless.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi estimated that almost 24,000 of the homeless were living in emergency camps and 15,000 had been given shelter in hotels or private homes.
Berlusconi, a billionaire media mogul, has offered to put up the homeless at three of his own properties.
“I will do what I can too, by offering some of my houses,” said the 72-year-old prime minister, Italy’s second richest man. Attention is now starting to turn to the reconstruction of a region that relies on tourism, farming and family firms. More than half the companies in the Abruzzo region are out of action.
One estimate put the damage at up to 3 billion euros ($4 billion), but its impact on Italy’s economy, which is worth nearly 2 trillion euros a year and is already mired in recession, is expected to be limited.
The government has also announced an inquiry after President Giorgio Napolitano said shoddy construction may be behind the collapse of modern buildings that should have been quake-proof. (Writing by Phil Stewart)
Berlusconi offers own homes to quake survivors
April 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
L’AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) – Italy’s billionaire prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, Friday offered to put up in his own homes some of the thousands of people made homeless by this week’s earthquake.
“I will do what I can too, by offering some of my houses,” the 72-year-old media mogul told reporters after a state funeral for the victims in the mountain city of L’Aquila.
About 17,000 survivors are living in tents in L’Aquila and other towns in the central Abruzzo region, which was hit by the 6.3 magnitude quake Monday. Thousands more are being put up in hotels or have found refuge with family.
Berlusconi’s private homes include a mansion in Arcore near Milan, beach villas in Sardinia and Portofino on the Riviera, another on Lake Maggiore, an apartment in central Rome and many more. Forbes magazine rates him as Italy’s second richest man.
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; writing by Stephen Brown)
Italy holds state funeral as quake toll hits 289
April 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment
L’AQUILA, Italy (Reuters) – Italy held a state funeral Friday for victims of its worst earthquake in three decades, as the death toll climbed to 289 and survivors voiced anger that houses simply collapsed.
Thousands of mourners prayed before 205 coffins covered by flowers and photos of the dead, laid out on the parade ground of a police academy in the mountain city of L’Aquila, the worst hit by Monday’s 6.3 magnitude quake, before being taken for burial.
Small white caskets with the bodies of children lay on their parents’ coffins, some with a favorite toy placed on top. The youngest was a five-month-old boy, killed with his mother.
“These dead will always be with us, each one of them. The children, the students, all of them,” said 59-year-old mourner Daniela. “I’m filled with pain but we must remain hopeful. We’re a strong people here, I’ve seen lots of courage and solidarity.”
Piero Faro, paying his respects to a family friend who died with her son, said sadness was mixed with “a lot of anger. Their building simply disintegrated. This should not have happened.”
Some mourners kissed and hugged coffins at a mass led by the second highest priest in the Vatican, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
“I feel spiritually present in your midst and share your anguish,” said a message read out from Pope Benedict.
Flags flew at half-mast on a national day of mourning, shops lowered shutters, airports stopped take-offs for a minute’s silence and traffic wardens removed their bright jackets.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appeared emotional as he offered comfort to bereaved relatives. The billionaire premier offered to put up some of the thousands of people made homeless in some of his luxurious villas dotted around the country.
“I will do what I can too, by offering some of my houses,” said the 72-year-old media mogul, Italy’s second richest man.
POSSIBLE SURVIVOR?
Five days after the earthquake, rescuers were still sifting through the rubble.
Hopes of finding at least one more survivor were lifted on Friday after rescuers in L’Aquila detected a noise coming from beneath the debris. Still, they cautioned it could just be an animal.
“We called in the sniffer dogs. The dogs got excited and barked. It could mean there is a human being alive,” a firefighter told Reuters.
Firefighters accompanied some people into their homes to retrieve personal items as soldiers guarded against looters. Berlusconi said four Romanians had been arrested for looting.
Violent aftershocks, some felt in nearby Rome, continued to shake Abruzzo region overnight, further terrifying survivors.
The number of people made homeless by the quake has risen to almost 40,000, Berlusconi said, with 24,000 living in emergency camps and 15,000 given shelter in hotels or private homes.
“Beneath the rubble can be felt the wish to start over, rebuild and dream once more,” said Cardinal Bertone, voicing the hope of “rebirth” which Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday.
But some survivors did not find much comfort in religion.
“Now the professionals of prayer are praying, saying mass. Everybody prays: popes, archpopes, bishops, archbishops, excellencies, eminences, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and yet Jesus Christ sends us an earthquake,” said Francesco Pagani, an aged survivor sitting in one of the emergency camps.
Attention is now starting to turn to the reconstruction of a region that relies on tourism, farming and family firms. More than half the companies in Abruzzo have been put out of action.
“I’ve lost so many friends. My house is ruined, the business I ran after years of sacrifice has collapsed,” said mechanic Guido Pietropaoli, living in a tent with his pregnant partner. “I really hope they help us.”
One estimate put the damage at up to 3 billion euros ($4 billion), but its impact on Italy’s nearly 2-trillion-euro economy, already mired in recession, is expected to be limited.
The government has announced an inquiry after President Giorgio Napolitano said shoddy construction may be behind the collapse of modern buildings that should have been quake-proof.
(Writing by Stephen Brown; additional reporting by Antonio Denti and Gabriele Pileri; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)