A major earthquake, measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre in the Hindukush mountains of Afghanistan was felt in India and Pakistan early this morning but there were no immediate reports of casualty or damage.
The temblor, which occurred at 0317 IST, was also felt in the Kashmir Valley, the scene of a devastating earthquake two months ago.
The quake was epicentred at 36.8 degree North latitude and 70.7 degree East longitude, the Meteorological department said here.
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was a magnitude 6.7 and was centred in the Hindukush region of northeastern Afghanistan.
An official at the Peshawar earthquake centre was quoted by AP as saying the quake "must be" about magnitude 6.5 and struck shortly before 3 am local time.
Kingfisher, Oklahoma -- An outbreak of geysers spewing mud and gas into the air in rural Kingfisher County is puzzling state and local officials.
Kingfisher Fire Chief John Crawford says initial reports of the geysers came in Friday morning, and that firefighters and Oklahoma Corporation Commission officials were on the scene yesterday.
The geysers have appeared throughout the countryside of rural Kingfisher, with stretches of up to 12 miles between spots, and some as short as a quarter of a mile.
Crawford says the threat of the gas igniting is unlikely, but he says there is a concern the gas could begin coming up through water-well lines.
Comment: Like we have been saying, something strange is going on in our planet's interior...
Ethiopian, American and European researchers have observed a fissure in a desert in the remote northeast of Ethiopia that could be the "birth of a new ocean basin", scientists said.
Researchers from Britain, France, Italy and the US have been observing the 37-mile-long fissure since it split open in September in the Afar desert. "They estimate it will take a million years to fully form into an ocean," said Dereje Ayalew, who leads the team of 18 scientists studying the phenomenon.
"The fissure, now 13 feet wide, formed in just three weeks after a September 14 earthquake in a barren region called Boina, 621 miles north east of the capital, Addis Ababa," said Dereje yesterday.
"We believe we have seen the birth of a new ocean basin," said Dereje of Addis Ababa University. "This is unprecedented in scientific history because we usually see the split after it has happened. But here we are watching the phenomenon."
Still reeling from the devastating earthquake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, miserable survivors huddle in crowded quarters, preparing for the onset of a Himalayan winter. In some Kashmiri villages, a new calamity is unfolding, with nearly half of them suffering skin diseases, respiratory problems or other cold-related illnesses, health officials say.
Two months after the 7.6 magnitude tremor destroyed their world, a second wave of death is expected to scythe through vulnerable communities in the mountains. "Scabies, flu and respiratory-tract problems are common," said Irshad Hussain, a doctor at a field hospital in Ghari Dopata, 20 miles south-east of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-ruled Kashmir.
Some 700 cases of scabies have been treated in his clinic, close to the epicentre of the quake that killed 87,000 people and left nearly three million homeless. About 200 people suffered from colds but only a few had contacted pneumonia. Measles vaccinations are still a priority.
Montreal - Former US president Bill Clinton took to the podium at the UN climate talks here to ram home a grim message about global warming and demand the United States move quickly away from the fossil fuels causing the problem.
In a show-stealing appearance rumoured to have ired the US delegation, Clinton defended the UN's Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases that was ditched by his successor, President George W. Bush, and said the switch to cleaner energy would create millions of jobs for the American economy.
"There's no longer any serious doubt that climate change is real, accelerating, and caused by human activities," Clinton said.
Michael Armstrong
HomerNewsFri, 09 Dec 2005 12:00 UTC
Following an increase in small earthquakes under Augustine Volcano last week, the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Anchorage raised the level of concern for Augustine Volcano from code green to code yellow. Scientists also have measured a 1-inch bulge in the volcano's dome.
In its four-level system, code yellow means the volcano is restless and the potential for an eruption has increased. Gas and steam plumes with minor amounts of ash also are possible.
Augustine last erupted with a series of explosions that started March 27, 1986. Historically, Augustine is more active than the other Cook Inlet volcanoes Iliamna, Redoubt and Spurr said Chris Waythomas, a geologist at the observatory. Augustine is also known to have erupted in 1812, 1883, 1908, 1935, 1963-64 and 1976.
"It wouldn't be a big surprise if it should erupt again," he said. "The one nice thing is almost always it has some precursor of seismic activity."
Loihi seamount, the small underwater volcano off the southeastern coast of the Big Island, experienced a swarm of 45 small earthquakes Tuesday night and yesterday morning, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said.
The most likely explanation is "structural adjustment" of the earth's crust in response to the weight of the small mountain, said Steven Brantley, second in command at the observatory.
The description refers to rocks breaking under stress, he said.
Loihi has not been erupting, and there is nothing to indicate that the swarm represents an eruption, he said.
The quakes started at 10 p.m. Tuesday and continued to 9:48 a.m. yesterday, according to the observatory Web site.
The biggest, with a magnitude of 4.7, was also apparently the deepest at 17 miles. Another was magnitude 4.0. A third earthquake during that time had a magnitude of 4.2, but it was on the Big Island near the lava flow area, unrelated to the Loihi swarm.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Ethiopian, American and European researchers have observed a fissure in a desert in the remote northeast that could be the "birth of a new ocean basin," scientists said Friday.
Researchers from Britain, France, Italy and the U.S. have been observing the 60-kilometer (37-mile) long fissure since it split open in September in the Afar desert and estimate it will take a million years to fully form into an ocean, said Dereje Ayalew, who leads the team of 18 scientists studying the phenomenon.
The fissure, now four meters (13 feet) wide, formed in just three weeks after a Sept. 14 earthquake in a barren region called Boina, some 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) north east of the capital, Addis Ababa, said Dereje.
Comment: Note that the Scientists say that it will take millions of years', but that may not be the case at all. We would like to point out that the Western Pacific Rim has been quite active over the past few years, while the Eastern side of the "Ring of Fire" has been unnaturally quiet. There have also been rather frequent "outgassing" events over the past few years. All of this suggests that something is going on in our planet's interior... and all bets are off.
Ambae Island, Vanuatu - An erupting volcano on this remote South Pacific island burst into spectacular life Thursday shooting steam and toxic gases 9,845 feet into the sky.
Huge columns of dense white steam and muddy ash spewed above Ambae Island to reach the greatest height seen since the Mt. Manaro volcano began erupting Nov. 27.
The people of the Arctic filed a landmark human rights complaint against the United States, blaming the world's No. 1 carbon polluter for stoking the global warming that is destroying their habitat.
The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), representing native people in the vast, sparsely-populated region girdling the Earth's far north, said they had petitioned an inter-American panel to seek relief for Canadian and US Inuit.
Comment: Like we have been saying, something strange is going on in our planet's interior...