Earth ChangesS


Target

Magnitude 5.0 - Kermadec Islands Region


USGS
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:34 UTC
Magnitude 5.0
Date-Time
* Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 12:48:44 UTC
* Thursday, July 17, 2008 at 12:48:44 AM at epicenter
* Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location 28.354°S, 175.771°W
Depth 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
Region Kermadec Islands Region
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Target

Moderate earthquake hits NW China, no damage reported


Xinhua
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:32 UTC
Xining -- A moderate earthquake measuring 5.3on the Richter scale jolted Tanggula region in northwestern Qinghai Province at 6:58 a.m. Thursday (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
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Evil Rays

Earthquake jolts Maluku of Indonesia


Xinhua
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 03:15 UTC
Jakarta -- An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale shook eastern Indonesian province of Maluku on Thursday morning, there was no casualties and material losses.
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Target

Second quake hits near Greek island


CNN
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 03:13 UTC
Athens, Greece -- The Athens Geodynamic Institute says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 has struck near the Greek island of Rhodes. No injuries or damage have been reported.
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Fish

Fragile Antarctic Marine Life Pounded By Icebergs: Biodiversity Suffering


Science Daily
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:44 UTC
Antarctic worms, sea spiders, urchins and other marine creatures living in near-shore shallow habitats are regularly pounded by icebergs. New data suggests this environment along the Antarctic Peninsula is going to get hit more frequently. This is due to an increase in the number of icebergs scouring the seabed as a result of shrinking winter sea ice.

Image
©British Antarctic Survey
A British Antarctic Survey marine biologist encounters a giant sponge nearly 20m below the surface.

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) show how the rate of iceberg scouring on the West Antarctic Peninsula seabed is affected by the duration of winter sea ice, which has dramatically declined (in space and time) in the region over the last few decades due to climate warming. This increase in iceberg disturbance on the seabed, where the majority of all Antarctic life occurs (80%), could have severe effects on the marine creatures living as deep as 500m underwater.
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Info

Cyprus always had to hoard water - a bit of history


Homeboy Medianews
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:22 UTC
With most households now having their water supplies reduced by a third to try to tackle the shortage, Cypriots can be forgiven for believing that this is the worst drought the island has ever experienced. Well, think again.

Comment: Seems like in the old days the people of Cyprus were much better planned and prepare to deal with the always present drought problem, than they are today.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills three, injures five in Russia's Volga republic


RIA Novosti
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:08 UTC
Three people, including two teenagers, were killed and five injured, when they were struck by lightning in the Russian Volga Republic of Bashkortostan, a local emergencies spokesman said on Thursday.
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Fish

Giant Clams 'Secure For Another Generation' After Philippine Re-seeding


Science Daily
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:42 UTC
Re-seeding programmes on over 50 reefs are securing the survival of the giant clam for at least another generation, according to World Wildlife Fund-Philippines.

giant clam
©Kurt Domingo
The true giant clam (Tridacna gigas), 40 of which were transplanted last month to a new home in Batangas province, Philippines.

The clams, the world's largest bivalve mollusks and the star of lurid but mostly imaginary literary and cinematic depictions of trapped divers, can live for over a century. They have been known to exceed 1.4 metres in length and weigh in at over 260 kilograms.

Once common throughout Philippine reefs, excessive hunting for the food, pet and curio trade all but depleted the wild giant clam population by the mid-1980s, prompting the IUCN to classify them as vulnerable.

An attempt to restore natural clam populations is now being spearheaded by Dr. Suzanne Mingoa-Licuanan of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute in partnership with World Wildlife Fund-Philippines.

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Binoculars

Tropical storm Fausto forms off Mexican coast, hurricane Elida strengthens

AP Staff
Associated Press
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:15 UTC
MEXICO CITY - Tropical storm Fausto formed off the Mexican resort city of Acapulco on Wednesday, while Elida strengthened to a Category 2 hurricane far away from Baja California's coast.

Neither storm was expected to threaten land. Fausto was moving west away from land at 26 km/h, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was located about 625 kilometres south of Acapulco with winds reaching 65 km/h.
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Bizarro Earth

Icelandic Volcanoes Help Researchers Understand Effects Of Eruptions


Terra Daily
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 23:44 UTC
For the first time, researchers have taken a detailed look at what lies beneath all of Iceland's volcanoes - and found a world far more complex than they ever imagined.

They mapped an elaborate maze of magma chambers - work that could one day help scientists better understand how earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in Iceland and elsewhere in the world.

Lake Öskjuvatn
©Unknown
Formed by an eruption from Askja in 1875, Lake Öskjuvatn is the deepest lake in Iceland at 735 feet (224 meters).

Knowing where magma chambers are located is a key first step to understanding the chemical composition of the molten rock that is flowing within them - and of the gases that are released when a volcano erupts, explained Daniel Kelley, doctoral student in earth sciences at Ohio State University.
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