Earth Changes
Date-Time
* Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 14:40:15 UTC
* Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 10:40:15 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 22.885°S, 69.864°W
Depth 51.6 km (32.1 miles)
Distances 95 km (60 miles) SSE of Tocopilla, Chile
100 km (65 miles) NNE of Antofagasta, Chile
105 km (65 miles) WSW of Calama, Chile
1170 km (730 miles) N of SANTIAGO, Chile
Mexico's National Seismological Service gives an initial estimate of the quake's energy at magnitude 5.3.
The Declaration is based on results from the Second International Symposium on the Ocean in a High-CO2 World, held at the Oceanography Museum in Monaco last October and organised by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The ocean absorbs a quarter of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from human activities. Observations from the last 25 years show increasing acidity in surface seawater, following trends in increasing atmospheric CO2.
The quake was recorded at 12:05 p.m. local time, and the epicenter was 45 km north of Hinatuan, Mindanao at a depth of 103.8 km, reported the United States Geological Service.
A minor 3.4 event occurred at 7:12 PM (HST) and another earthquake registered a 3.5 a few minutes later at 7:17 PM.
Wildfires raged through the southeastern state of Victoria, where authorities said flames had come dangerously close to major electricity transmission lines which supplied power to Melbourne on Saturday.
More than 500 000 homes and businesses in Melbourne were left without power on Friday night after an electrical substation exploded in the heat, bringing the city to a standstill. Temperatures in Victoria topped 43°C for a record-breaking third consecutive day on Friday, when 10 homes and a timber plantation were destroyed in a 6 500 hectare blaze.

Turritopsis dohrnii, a potentially "immortal" jellyfish species that can age backward, is silently invading the world's oceans.
Like the Brad Pitt movie character, the immortal jellyfish transforms from an adult back into a baby, but with an added bonus: Unlike Benjamin Button, the jellyfish can do it over and over again - though apparently only as an emergency measure.
About as wide as a human pinky nail when fully grown, the immortal jellyfish (scientific name: Turritopsis dohrnii) was discovered in the Mediterranean Sea in 1883. But its unique ability was not discovered until the 1990s.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake struck at 6:57 p.m. Thursday with a preliminary magnitude of 2.4.
A magnitude 2.5 to 3 quake is generally the smallest that is felt by people.
The epicenter was about five miles east of Carney and about six miles northwest of Chandler.