Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Japan reels as second blast rocks nuclear plant

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Sendai, Japan - A new explosion at a stricken nuclear power plant hit Japan Monday as it raced to avert a meltdown after a quake-tsunami disaster that is feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.

Searchers found 2,000 bodies in northeastern Miyagi region alone, while millions of Japanese were left without water, electricity, fuel or enough food. Hundreds of thousands more were homeless after the tsunami drowned whole towns.

Panic selling saw stocks close more than six percent lower on the Tokyo bourse on fears for the world's third-biggest economy, as power shortages prompted rolling blackouts and factory shutdowns in quake-hit areas.

Alarm Clock

How the Japan Earthquake Shortened Days on Earth

The massive earthquake that struck northeast Japan Friday (March 11) has shortened the length Earth's day by a fraction and shifted how the planet's mass is distributed.

japan,map
© USGSThis map shows the location of the March 11, 2011 earthquake in Japan, as well as the foreshocks (dotted lines), including a 7.2-magnitude event on March 9, and aftershocks (solid lines). The size of each circle represents the magnitude of the associated quake or shock.

A new analysis of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan has found that the intense temblor has accelerated Earth's spin, shortening the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, according to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Gross refined his estimates of the Japan quake's impact - which previously suggested a 1.6-microsecond shortening of the day - based on new data on how much the fault that triggered the earthquake slipped to redistribute the planet's mass. A microsecond is a millionth of a second. [Photos: Japan Earthquake and Tsunami in Pictures]

Hourglass

Japan earthquake, tsunami death toll likely above 10,000; survivors worry about supplies

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© Unknown
Tokyo - Overwhelmed by a still-growing catastrophe, Japanese authorities struggled Monday to reach buried survivors and the missing, faced roadblocks in delivering aid and raced to contain an expanding nuclear emergency.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the crisis the country's toughest challenge since World War II and said that decimated towns along the northeastern coastline were not yet getting the food and supplies they needed.

A series of unstable nuclear plants across the country threatened to compound the nation's difficulties, which started with Friday's double-barreled disasters: first an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, then a tsunami. At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, one containment building housing an overheated reactor had already exploded. A second explosion, about noon local time Monday, destroyed an outer building at another of the plant's reactors.

Officials said a third reactor at the six-reactor facility had lost its cooling capacity, and the U.S. Seventh Fleet, stationed 100 miles offshore, repositioned its ships and aircraft after some if its personnel came into contact with radioactive contamination.

With a government spokesman saying that the reactor units could be in partial meltdown, an alarmed public struggled to understand the safety implications of trace radiation leakage, even as the government said that public safety was not in danger.

Bizarro Earth

Taiwan: Underwater Volcanoes Pose Risk to Plant, Activists Say

Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant
© Mastehr / WikipediaConstruction of Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant in Taiwan as of March 31st 2006.

The earthquake that hit Japan on Friday last week has provided additional ammunition to environmental activists who are worried that one of Taiwan's nuclear power plants lies within an area known for its underwater volcanoes.

Lee Chao-shing, a professor of applied geosciences at National Taiwan Ocean University, said last year that as many as 70 underwater volcanoes are located within an 80km radius of the soon-to-be-operational Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District, New Taipei City.

Up to 11 of those volcanoes are active, Lee said.

Although atomic regulatory officials dismissed the risks, activists said the authorities should take another look in light of the nuclear incidents in Japan.

The volcanoes, which have the highest concentration near a nuclear plant in the world, could lead to "a serious disaster" in the event of an earthquake or tsunami on the scale of that that struck Japan last week, Lee said.

The extent of their activity can be seen by the nearby presence of crabs, he said, pointing to video that showed hundreds of the crustaceans crawling at the base of what Lee said was an underwater volcano.

X

India: Tripura zoo on alert after death of birds, animals

Close on the heels of the detection of bird flu at two government-run farms in western Tripura, mysterious deaths of some animals and birds at the Sepahijala Zoo has put the authorities on alert.

'Since last week three leopards, one wild cat and 13 birds, including some extremely endangered species, have been found dead at the zoo enclosures. We have sent samples to state and national level laboratories,' director of Sepahijala Zoo and head of the wildlife sanctuary Ajit Bhowmik told IANS Saturday.

He said: 'The samples have been tested by the Eastern Region Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ERDDL) in Kolkata and the High Security Animal Disease Laboratory (HSADL) in Bhopal. No indication of avian influenza or swine influenza has been found.'

Alarm Clock

Best of the Web: Japanese Earthquake Could Be Replicated In Washington

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The Cascadia subduction zone
While Japan struggles to recover from one of the greatest earthquakes in world history, West Coast seismologists are warning that a quake just like it could occur at any time off the Washington and Oregon coasts.

Friday's subduction earthquake in Japan has been calculated at magnitude 8.9, although experts say the number may be increased slightly. The last subduction quake off the West Coast, which occurred on Jan. 26, 1700, has been judged at between magnitude 8.7 and 9.2.

The size of the 1700 earthquake was determined from evidence buried in sediments along the coast. The date is known, because it created a tsunami that washed up in Japan, where observers recorded the date.

In broad-brush terms, "the two earthquakes are very similar," said John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network at the University of Washington. "As a first guess, what might happen here is what happened there."

Subduction earthquakes are caused by the slippage between two tectonic plates. Plates on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean are different, but in either case a tsunami would travel a short distance before hitting land. As in Japan, people living in Washington's coastal communities might have less than half an hour to escape from a surge of water from a subduction earthquake.

Robert Yeats, professor emeritus of geology at Oregon State University, said West Coast residents should take the Japanese experience to heart.

"What you are seeing in Japan today is what you will see in our future,"he said, "except that they are better prepared than we are."

Question

Is The Big One About To Hit California?

California Next_1
© The Right PerspectiveIs California next?

California may be the next in line for a devastating earthquake, based on a recent history of massive geological activity and other naturally-occurring indicators.

Quakes in one part of the world help to trigger seismic events thousands of miles away, sometimes even months later. Hours after Japan was struck by a devastating 9.1 magnitude earthquake last Friday, a volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted, for example.

The Japanese quake is only the latest in a string of massive geological activity. Working backward, a line of large earthquakes taking place over the last 18 months can be drawn. On February 21, New Zealand suffered its worst natural disaster for 80 years when a 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, killing more than 200 people and causing much devastation. The same area was already weakened by a 7.0 quake that struck a few months before on September 3, 2010.

California Next_2
© The Right PerspectiveChile has recently been hit by massive quakes
Across the Pacific, Chile was stuck with a 6.8 earthquake on February 11, sending thousands into the streets but causing little damage. Almost exactly a year earlier on February 27, 2010, the country was hit with a massive 8.8 quake which lasted more than 3 minutes and ranked as the sixth largest quake ever recorded at the time. That earthquake triggered a tsunami, which destroyed several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano.

Exactly a month before, Haiti was leveled by a 7.0 quake on January 27, 2010. Inadequate building design in the country killed an estimated 316,000 people, injured 300,000 and made 1,000,000 homeless.

Bizarro Earth

Incredible Swarms of Fish Form off Coast of Acapulco: But Was Surge Caused by Tsunami Thousands of Miles Away?

The shores of Acapulco's beaches were this weekend teeming with masses of fish packed so tightly they looked like an oil slick from above.

Thousands of sardines, anchovies, stripped bass and mackerel surged along the coast of the Mexican resort in an event believed to be linked to the devastating Japanese tsunami.

Delighted fishermen rushed out in wooden motor boats, abandoning their rods and nets and simply scooping the fish up with buckets.

Acapulco Fish Swarm_1
© AFP / Getty ImagesA man photographs a shoal of sardines off the shore of Acapulco
Acapulco Fish Swarm_2
© ReutersFishermen flocked to the water to take advantage of the surge

Better Earth

Flashback Now the Pentagon tells Bush - climate change will destroy us

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- Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war
- Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years
- Threat to the world is greater than terrorism


Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters..

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents.

'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once again, warfare would define human life.'

Comment: The Observer writes: "The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a President who has insisted national defence is a priority."

Well, maybe that is disingenuous. Maybe the leaders of the world know that this is the truth and they have all agreed to pretend to be at odds with each other so as to create wars which will eliminate millions - or billions - of "useless eaters."

Or maybe Bush is setting the US up to be the "king of the mountain"? Not only can the US eliminate billions of people, they can then take all their resources for the "chosen people."

It's difficult to tell what the liars do or don't know, the only thing that is certain is that it does not look good for most of humanity. And, as Dave McGowan wrote:

"Perhaps you are thinking that this type of future is not for you. You'd really prefer something a little different. That's unfortunate, because the future holds very few options. Here's Campbell again, concluding his mini version of Mein Kampf:
Another problem is likely to be the residual opposition to population reduction from sentimentalists and/or religious extremists unable to understand that the days of plenty, when criminals and the weak could be cherished at public expense, are over. Acts of violent protest, such as are carried out today by animal rights activists and anti-abortionists, would, in the Darwinian world, attract capital punishment. Population reduction must be single-minded to succeed.
"So it appears as though those who fight back against the agenda will likely be summarily executed, while those who passively go with the flow stand about a 95% chance of being killed off anyway. With odds like that, I would think that fighting back might be a good idea. By any means available. And sooner rather than later."

Better do a quick re-read of Laura's two recent articles: 94% and Political Ponerology.

And again we say: get a copy of The Secret History of The World and How to Get Out Alive.

This ain't just an advertisement, either because you can get all the info that is in the book by reading everything on this site. But if you want to have the info available when the system locks down, and if you want it condensed and explicated clearly, get the book. Save yourself (and those you love) some time and grief in the coming "Hard Times."


Phoenix

Mud volcano erupts in Azerbaijan

Mud Volcano
© APA
A mud volcano erupted in Gobustan region of Azerbaijan on March 13. Witnesses heard explosion before the eruption, mud breccia erupted and then fire blazed up in the territory of Shikhzayirli mud volcano, APA reports quoting the website of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The fire had an altitude above 50 m. Experts and rescuers of the Ministry of Emergency Situations immediately arrived at the site to prevent any emergency situation.

The fire altitude in the Shikhzayirli mud volcano lowered currently and 1-2 m fire is seen in two centers. Its activation decreased and mud flow is seen in some bald peaks.

Deep grikes were created around the crater.

The mud volcano is not threatening the nearby villages.