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Philippines earthquake: rescuers battle to reach victims Local television channels show desperate scenes as rescuers try to reach those trapped underneath collapsed buildings after a powerful earthquake leaves dozens dead in the central Philippines.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A tectonic 7.2 magnitude quake was recorded near Bohol Tuesday morning with aftershocks expected, authorities said. Initial reports said that four people had died. The quake was recorded from two to five kilometers southeast of Carmen town at 8:12 a.m., the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology and the United States Geological Service reported. Phivolcs said the earthquake had a depth of 33 kilometers. The tremor lasted for a minute and triggered a blackout. Several aftershocks were felt. According to initial reports, some houses and buildings were damaged.

Event Time 2013-10-15 00:13:00 UTC 2013-10-15 08:13:00 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-10-14 17:13:00 UTC-07:00 system time Location 9.800°N 124.200°E depth=33.0km (20.5mi) Nearby Cities 2km (1mi) S of Carmen, Philippines 31km (19mi) ESE of Tibigan, Philippines 40km (25mi) SSW of Talibon, Philippines 41km (25mi) ENE of Tagbilaran, Philippines 636km (395mi) SSE of Manila, Philip

Spain's government said Friday there is a limited risk of a big earthquake shaking the eastern coast after a string of small tremors linked to a vast offshore gas storage plant. In the past month, some 400 earthquakes have rattled the Gulf of Valencia, where a depleted oil reservoir is being used as a giant gas storage facility. The activity has frightened residents but so far caused no damage.

There were dead fish on the surface. And on one side we could hear the hissing sound of the escaping gas," Mr Baloch said. Although they couldn't smell gas, they did put a match to the fissures from where it was oozing, and set it on fire. "We put the fire out in the end, but it was quite a hassle. Not even the water could kill it, unless one poured buckets over it." The story now doing the rounds in Gwadar is that a similar hill had jutted out of the sea 60 or 70 years ago, and that...

As reported earlier, Pakistan and India were both shaken by a strong 7.8 magnitude earthquake with numerous aftershocks. While the damage and the casualties from the quake are not fully known yet although according to Raza news agency the latest death toll is at 45, one quite stunning development has emerged, quite literally, out of the sea. As Pakistani's The News reports, an entire island emerged off the country's Gwadar coast in the aftermath of the quake. "According to DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, the island's altitude is 20 to 40 feet and width around 100 feet. Talking to Geo news,...

A few minutes ago headlines hit that as a result of a strong earthquake, buildings shook in Delhi, India. Moments later, the USGS confirmed that a major 7.8 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter 9 miles below the Awaran/Balochistan region in Pakistan had struck, some 43 miles NNE of Awaran, and close to the India border. It is unclear yet if the two quakes were the same although it seems likely. Reuters had this preliminary report: "An strong earthquake struck remote western Pakistan on Tuesday and was felt in the Indian capital of New Delhi where buildings shook. The United States...

No news of damage currently - this is a large and shallow earthquake.

Earthquake off Siberian land mass was the 'largest deep earthquake' ever recorded By The Siberian Times reporter 21 September 2013 Scientists are puzzling to explain the tremor, 8.3 on the Richter scale, by far the largest since records began The quake broke other records, too, as outlines in journal Science. The rupture extended about 180 km, by far the longest known rupture. Picture: Picture: Alexey Yemanov via copah.info The earthquake struck 609 km beneath the Sea of Okhotsk on 24 May this year, and is seen as 30% larger than its nearest rival, a 1994 earthquake 637 km beneath Bolivia,...

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake that struck deep beneath the Sea of Okhotsk on May 24, 2013, has left seismologists struggling to explain how it happened. At a depth of about 609 kilometers (378 miles), the intense pressure on the fault should inhibit the kind of rupture that took place. "It's a mystery how these earthquakes happen. How can rock slide against rock so fast while squeezed by the pressure from 610 kilometers of overlying rock?" said Thorne Lay, professor of Earth and planetary sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Lay is coauthor of a paper, published in the...

California could join Japan, Mexico and other earthquake-prone countries that alert residents to the approach of powerful shaking under a bill awaiting approval from Gov. Jerry Brown. The state Legislature advanced the bill that would create a quake warning system during Thursday’s last hours of its session. … The U.S. lags behind other nations in developing a public alert system, which provides several seconds of warning after a fault ruptures—enough time for trains to brake, utilities to shut off gas lines or people to dive under a table until the shaking stops. …

First 6.9, then downgraded, upgraded to 7.0 At (am) 9:25 PST

WORKERS have fled New Zealand's capital, Wellington, after a severe earthquake measuring a magnitude of 6.6 rocked the nation. New Zealanders huddled under desks as strong tremors struck the country -- as far north as Auckland and as far south as Dunedin -- at around 2:31pm local time. There were a number of injuries from broken glass but no serious casualties have been reported. Earthquakes damaged houses and there were reports of a home almost totally collapsing in Marlborough on the South Island.

One particular dynamic should garner attention on the West Coast: conjoined lunar and solar gravitational tides. Gravitational tides are one of the overarching forces of the cosmos. Some of the solar system's most iconic features are shaped by them: the towering and ferocious volcanoes of Jupiter's moon Io and the hyper-geysers of Saturn's moon Enceladus. These are powers sufficient to nudge fault lines into action, especially those already under stress. The currently accepted scientific view is that while tidal influence is an ancillary force in seismic activity, it is a minimal stimulus for producing earthquakes powerful enough to cause damage,...

Colombia has announced it is negotiating with China to build an alternative to the Panama Canal. The proposed transport route is intended to promote the flow of goods between Asia and Latin America. The plan is to create a "dry canal" where the Pacific port of Buenaventura would be linked by rail, across Colombia, to the Atlantic Coast. Trade between Colombia and China has increased from $10m in 1980 to more than $5bn last year. The announcement came from the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, who told the Financial Times that the project was "a real proposal... and it is...

The recent border dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is a sign of an ambitious plan by Venezuela, Iran and Nicaragua to create a "Nicaragua Canal" linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that would rival the existing Panama Canal. Costa Rica says that last week Nicaraguan troops entered its territory along the San Juan River – the border between the two nations. Nicaragua had been conducting channel deepening work on the river when the incident occurred. Sources in Latin America have told Haaretz that the border incident and the military pressure on Costa Rica, a country without an army, are...

Nicaragua's parliament is due to vote on Thursday on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Latin America's history – a trans-oceanic canal that is to be built and run by a Chinese company. If it goes ahead, the $40bn (£26bn) scheme, which is twice as expensive as Brazil's Belo Monte dam and likely to be three times longer than the Panama canal, looks set to transform global shipping and jump start the economy of this Central American nation. As well as the waterway, the draft agreement between Nicaragua and a Hong Kong registered firm — Nicaraguan Canal Development Investment...

Nicaragua has approved plans for a mysterious Hong Kong-based company to build an estimated $40 billion canal across the middle of the country, Luis Manuel Galeano and Michael Weissenstein of The Associated Press report. The waterway, which would have to be roughly three times as long as the 50-mile Panama Canal, would be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever. The plan has some serious detractors: Environmentalists say it would devastate Lake Nicaragua, the country's primary source of fresh water, while shipping experts say that it may be an economically unfeasible power play by China. The company, HK Nicaragua Canal...

Waves as high as 7m (22 ft) have hit parts of Chile and coastal areas are on alert as high winds and tidal currents sweep across parts of South America's coast. Footage showed huge waves surging onto the streets of Antofagasta in Chile where at least one injury was reported following the dangerous weather. In Peru, parts of the country's coastline were hit with waves as big as 5m (16 ft) and the weather caused flooded streets in the seaside city of Chimbote.

une 17, 2013 — A new subduction zone forming off the coast of Portugal heralds the beginning of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean close as continental Europe moves closer to America. Share This: 143 Published in Geology, new research led by Monash University geologists has detected the first evidence that a passive margin in the Atlantic ocean is becoming active. Subduction zones, such as the one beginning near Iberia, are areas where one of the tectonic plates that cover Earth's surface dives beneath another plate into the mantle -- the layer just below the crust. Lead author...

Nicaragua has awarded a Chinese company a 100-year concession to build an alternative to the Panama Canal, in a step that looks set to have profound geopolitical ramifications. The president of the country's national assembly, Rene Nuñez, announced the $40bn (£26bn) project, which will reinforce Beijing's growing influence on global trade and weaken US dominance over the key shipping route between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The name of the company and other details have yet to be released, but the opposition congressman Luis Callejas said the government planned to grant a 100-year lease to the Chinese operator. The national...

USGS map showing where the earthquake was located HILO, Hawaii – East Hawaii was shaken after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Big Island. The United States Geological Survey later upgraded the quake to a magnitude 5.6, before being lowered back to a 5.3. The USGS centered the earthquake in the Pacific Ocean, 33 miles southeast of Pahala in the southern Ka’u district. Emergency officials say no tsunami was generated. The temblor was felt across Hawaii Island. The quake shook homes in Hilo for a few moments before settling down. The incident sent local users of social...

MOSCOW – A powerful earthquake on Friday hit Russia's Far East with tremors felt as far away as Moscow, about 4,400 miles west of the epicenter. Marina Kolomiyets, spokeswoman for Obninsk's seismic station of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told The Associated Press the epicenter was in the Sea of Okhotsk, east of the Russian coast and north of Japan. She said the quake registered 8.0 on the Richter scale.

A magnitude-3.9 earthquake has struck six miles south of Rancho Palos Verdes and seven miles southwest of San Pedro, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Wondering if any FReepers know of good alternatives to the NEW USGS earthquake map website. What a POS! (Heavily reliant on Java, it was Beta but they didn't give a rats rear if you didn't like it...) Basically worthless. Who the heck do we have in charge of IT these days? A bunch of purple-haired freaks who code C++++++++++++-+++----? Jeesh already!

Women who wear revealing dresses cause earthquakes: Cleric Tehran, May 4: Women who wear revealing clothing and behave immorally are responsible for earthquakes, this is what a senior Iranian cleric has to say. The cleric's unusual explanation for quakes follows the prediction made by the country's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a quake is certain to rock Tehran and many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate to save their lives. Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi told the country's media that women who do not dress in dignified manner "lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society". According to...

China quake: Dozens die and hundreds hurt in Sichuan A powerful earthquake has killed at least 46 people and injured at least 400 in China's south-western province of Sichuan, state TV reports. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake, which had a 6.6 magnitude, was centred 50km (31 miles) west of the town of Linqiong. It said the tremor occurred at a depth of 12km (7.4 miles). There are fears the death toll could rise further. An 8.0 magnitude quake in Sichuan in May 2008 killed nearly 90,000 people.

Event Time 2013-04-20 00:02:48 UTC 2013-04-20 08:02:48 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-04-19 19:02:48 UTC-05:00 system time Location 30.314°N 102.934°E depth=16.4km (10.2mi) Nearby Cities 51km (32mi) WSW of Linqiong, China 98km (61mi) ENE of Kangding, China 115km (71mi) WSW of Chengdu, China 115km (71mi) NW of Leshan, China 1069km (664mi) NNW of Ha Noi, Vietnam

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A major earthquake flattened homes and offices on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border Tuesday, rattling buildings as far away as New Delhi and Dubai. Iranian state media said at least 46 people died, but later Iranian reports offered a far milder picture. The discrepancies and apparent backtracking in the Iranian reports could not be immediately reconciled, but Iran has faced two large quakes in less than week and authorities could seek to downplay casualties. Iran's state-run Press TV initially said at least 40 people were killed on the Iranian side, but later removed the figure...

New Delhi: Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Ahmedabad reported major tremors as an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on the Richter scale struck Iran. The epicentre was reportedly at the Pakistan-Iran border, tremors were felt across North India, the MET department reported. At the NDTV studio in South Delhi, studio lights and equipment shook for nearly a minute. The quake was reportedly felt in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan as well. There were no immediate reports of loss of life or damage to property in the capital. More details are awaited.

Seismologists say a major earthquake has struck a region near the Iran-Pakistan border, less than a week after a quake in Iran killed at least 37 people. The U.S. Geological Survey says the 7.8 quake struck the slightly populated region. There were no immediate reports of injuries, but the quake was felt as far away as New Delhi and Gulf cities of Dubai and Bahrain. The USGS report says Tuesday's quake was at a depth of 15.2 kilometers (nine miles).

Strong 8 magnitude quake hits Iran Tue Apr 16, 2013 7:02am EDT (Reuters) - A strong 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Iran, near the border with Pakistan, at 10:44 GMT on Tuesday at a depth of 73 miles The U.S. Geological survey said.

The White House, at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, offered on Wednesday to help Tehran grapple with a deadly earthquake in southern Iran. The powerful 6.3 magnitude quake struck close to Iran’s only nuclear power station on Tuesday, killing 37 people and injuring 850 as it destroyed homes and devastated two small villages, Iranian media reported. …

Hmmmm. According to this Reuters' report at least 30 people were killed and hundreds more injured as a powerful earthquake hit Iran not far from its Bushehr nuclear power station. What? Earthquake prone Iran had a nuclear power station near a region known for earthquakes? Uhm, isn't that dangerous? Well no, reassure the Iranians and the Russians who built the station. Abdulkarim Jomeiri, a member of parliament for Bushehr, told IRNA that "the distance between the earthquake focal point and the Bushehr nuclear plant was about 80 km and, on the basis of the latest information, there has been no...

A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck about 60 miles southeast of the Iranian coastal city of Bushehr, where the country's only nuclear power station is located, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Tuesday. Initial reports suggested the nuclear plant has not been affected, but the southern province where the quake struck is vast and remote and details were not immediately clear.

At approximately 1345 local time, the town of Sentani was rocked for around 1 minute by a 7.2 earthquake. The epicenter was 240 kilometers WSW of Abepura. At present we have no reports of damage. Papua is Indonesia's easternmost and least populated province. It is expected that minimal damage occurred as the location is in the interior jungle rather than in one of the more populated areas.

Event Time 2013-03-27 02:03:20 UTC 2013-03-27 10:03:20 UTC+08:00 at epicenter 2013-03-26 21:03:20 UTC-05:00 system time Location 23.840°N 121.135°E depth=20.7km (12.9mi)

Depth 2.2 km (1.4 miles)

Related topics gun rights Gun control Earthquake Eric Holder california Advertisement “On Thursday, the California State Senate passed the first in a spate of 30 gun control bills authored in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, which, taken together, have the potential to fundamentally alter gun ownership in the Golden State,” Aaron Sankin of The Huffington Post reported. “The bill, authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and passed in a largely bipartisan vote, would require a mandatory background check fee on all gun purchases,” the report continued. “The state would then use that money for a program that...

Monday morning's magnitude 4.7 earthquake in Riverside County was the largest temblor to hit the Los Angeles region in three years and has produced more than 100 aftershocks. It caused no major damage, but it was felt over what seismologists said was an unusually large area. The quake was initially recorded as three separate quakes because a foreshock tricked seismographs into recording multiple quakes of multiple sizes, said Susan Hough, a USGS seismologist. Earthquakes of a 4.7 magnitude are typically only felt about 120 miles away from the epicenter, but Monday morning's quake traveled farther, shaking coffee cups as far...

Fire officials were on hand to remind the public of what a similar quake could mean for Southern California. “A lot of people don’t realize that we are earthquake prone in California, but we also could get a tsunami,” Los Angeles County Fire Asst. Chief David Stone said. “We just haven’t had one in a long time.” Residents were urged to prepare for a number of disaster scenarios, including how to cope for being at least “two weeks on your own”. “The message for a lot of us needs to be, ‘Be ready for anything’,” said Battalion Chief Larry Collins.

Just felt it http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci15296281.html

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a foul odor that spurred calls to fire departments throughout the city on Sunday is possibly the result of the large release of methane in the Santa Monica Bay. Santa Monica Fire said in a department statement that they believe the strong odor was caused by a naturally occurring methane leak below the ocean floor. “This morning there was a large release of natural ocean floor methane released in the Santa Monica Bay,” the statement said. “This methane is not toxic and dissipates quickly.” Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the Air Quality Management District...

TOKYO (AFP) - A Japanese government-backed researcher said Friday no health effects from radiation released by the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant have been seen in people living nearby. The pronouncement by Kazuo Sakai of Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences is the latest by authorities seeking to quell fears over the long-term effects of the disaster. But it was dismissed by campaign group Greenpeace who said the government should not seek to play down health worries. "Since the accident in Fukushima, no health effects from radiation have been observed, although we have heard reports some people fell ill due to...

New analysis shows that the Chandler Wobble in Earth’s axis changed phase by 180 degrees in 2005. The question is why. If you travel to the Arctic and attempt to find the axis of Earth’s rotation, you’ll notice something odd. The position of this axis on Earth’s surface moves with a period of about seven years. This is the combined result of two effects. The one we’re interested today is called the Chandler Wobble, which has a period of 433 days and was discovered by American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891. The Chandler Wobble is reasonably well understood. Any...

Japanese Video Documenting 9.0 earthquake from 2011

The U.S. Geological Survey says a strong but deep earthquake has shaken western Colombia. The agency says the quake struck at 9:16 a.m. (1606 GMT) Saturday and had a magnitude of 7.0. it was located about 7 miles (11 kilometers) from Pasto. There are no immediate reports of damage.

IT HAS taken the Japanese government more than 18 months since the earthquake and tsunami that hit Fukushima to pay tribute to a group of brave men, once known as the “Fukushima 50”, who risked their lives to prevent meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant from spiralling out of control. But when the prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, belatedly offered official thanks to them on October 7th something strange was afoot: six of the eight men he addressed had their backs to the television cameras, refused to be photographed and did not introduce themselves by name, not even to...

A powerful magnitude 8.0 earthquake off the Solomon Islands generated a tsunami of up to 5 feet that killed at least 5 people, a hospital official says, while the death toll is feared to rise as officials inspect dozens of damaged homes. Authorities on Wednesday canceled warnings for tsunamis on more distant coasts. Solomons officials reported two 1.5-meter (4 foot, 11 inch) waves hit the western side of Santa Cruz Island, damaging between 70 and 80 homes and properties, said George Herming, a spokesman for the prime minister. Many villagers of the South Pacific island chain had headed to higher...

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