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There's a Hole in This Possible Earthquake Pattern

FAULTLINES
© Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times/MCTA few miles from the epicenter of a 7.2 earthquake on April 4, 2010, a passenger snaps a photo of a huge crack in the road in Mexicali, Mexico. The road to Ejido Cucapah, one of several farming villages south of Mexicali, is etched with sinkholes, cracks and buckled pavement.

Los Angeles - As University of California at Davis physicist and geologist John Rundle ponders the map of recent California earthquakes, he sees visions of a doughnut even Homer J. Simpson wouldn't like.

The doughnut is formed by pinpointing the recent quakes in Eureka, Mexicali and Palm Springs.

Seismologists call the possible pattern a Mogi doughnut. It's the outgrowth of a concept, developed in Japan, which holds that earthquakes occur in a circular pattern over decades - building up to one very large quake in the doughnut hole. Rundle and his colleagues believe that the recent quakes, combined with larger seismic events including the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge temblors, could be precursors to a far larger rupture.

They just don't know exactly when.

The idea of predicting earthquakes remains controversial and much debated among California's many seismologists. But as technology improves and the understanding of how earthquakes distribute energy grows, experts are gingerly offering improved "forecasts," some of which have been surprisingly prescient.

For example, Southern California was hit earlier this month by a 5.4 quake that struck in the mountains about 30 miles south of Palm Springs - several weeks after seismologists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and elsewhere warned that pressure was building in the San Jacinto fault zone, which is where the temblor occurred.

That forecast underscores new thinking by seismologists about how earthquakes occur.

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: 3rd Earthquake Magnitude 7.4 - Moro Gulf, Mindanao

Mindanoa3_230710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 23:15:08 UTC

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 07:15:08 AM at epicenter

Location:
6.749°N, 123.268°E

Depth:
616.7 km (383.2 miles)

Region:
MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Distances:
120 km (75 miles) S of Pagadian, Mindanao, Philippines

120 km (75 miles) WSW of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines

135 km (85 miles) E of Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines

900 km (560 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: 2nd Earthquake Magnitude 7.6 - Moro Gulf, Mindanao

Mindanoa_230710
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 22:51:11 UTC

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 06:51:11 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
6.482°N, 123.533°E

Depth:
575.6 km (357.7 miles)

Region:
MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Distances:
115 km (70 miles) SW of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines

150 km (90 miles) S of Pagadian, Mindanao, Philippines

170 km (105 miles) ESE of Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines

945 km (580 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

Bizarro Earth

Philippines: Earthquake Magnitude 7.3 - Moro Gulf, Mindanao

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 22:08:11 UTC

Saturday, July 24, 2010 at 06:08:11 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
6.708°N, 123.479°E

Depth:
604.5 km (375.6 miles)

Region:
MORO GULF, MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES

Distances:
100 km (65 miles) SW of Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines

120 km (75 miles) S of Pagadian, Mindanao, Philippines

155 km (95 miles) E of Zamboanga, Mindanao, Philippines

915 km (570 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines

Bizarro Earth

Canada: Earthquake Magnitude 4.1 - St. Lawrence Valley Region - Quebec

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Friday, July 23, 2010 at 17:24:21 UTC

Friday, July 23, 2010 at 01:24:21 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
46.501°N, 71.621°W

Depth:
18 km (11.2 miles) set by location program

Region:
ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY REG., QUEBEC, CANADA

Distances:
45 km (30 miles) SW of QUEBEC, Quebec, Canada

55 km (35 miles) NNW of Thetford Mines, Quebec, Canada

75 km (45 miles) ENE of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada

120 km (75 miles) N of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

Bizarro Earth

In the Past 11 Days, 556 Dead Baby Penguins, Sea Birds, Dolphins and Giant Sea Turtles Have Washed Up on the Beaches of Brazil -Video

Dead penguin
© Aqurio De PerubeUnusually cold seas may have displaced the penguins' food sources, scientists say.

Biologists suspect that unusually cold waters off the coast of Brazil were responsible for the deaths of more than 550 penguins that washed up on shore in the past 10 days.

Since July 11, about 556 dead penguins have appeared on beaches, Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe Aquarium, told CNN.

At the beach of Praia Grande alone, on the Sao Paulo coast, more than 170 penguins have washed up on shore since Friday, according to the local government.

Cloud Lightning

Video: July 3, 2009 tornado cluster near Salina, Kansas, USA

On July 3, 2009, Chad Cowan chased a cluster of severe storms through central Kansas. After encountering wind damage caused by earlier cells, he finally documented a brief tornado from I-70 between Salina and Abilene. You can follow Chad's chases LIVE at TornadoVideos.net!


Cloud Lightning

Twister strikes western Puerto Rico, at least 4 injured


Cloud Lightning

Lightning and flooding shatter another Irish summer

Image
© Collins Photo AgencyStaff sweep up glass after a window fell off the H&M store near St Stephen's Green in Dublin.
A pane of glass from a department store window crashed to the ground during a burst of freak weather in Dublin city centre yesterday.

Severe downpours of rain along with thunder and lightning hit areas around the country yesterday evening in an unexpected spate of severe conditions.

In one incident, Dublin Fire Brigade shut off part of a busy pedestrian thoroughfare in the capital after a pane of glass crashed to the ground from a department store.

Part of the area immediately around the H&M store beside St Stephen's Green shopping centre was closed off as staff members cleaned up the shattered glass, which is believed to have come from the third floor of the building. However, nobody was injured.

Comment: Funnel Cloud captured on Forth Mountain, just outside Wexford Town on the 22nd of July 2010 at 14:51 GMT




Better Earth

Shock as Ice Block Smashes Through English Roof

Image
© Solent News Vince Foote stands next to the damaged ceiling
A couple had a shock after a huge block of ice crashed through their roof as they slept.

Flat-owner Vince Foote and his wife were asleep when the ice, believed to have fallen from an aircraft, smashed a 2ft hole just before 2am.

Tiles and debris were scattered 30ft due to the impact at Summerdale Court in Chichester, West Sussex, officials at West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said.

Mr Foote said: "I thought at first it was thunder and I got up to investigate. I tried to open the spare bedroom door and it wouldn't move.

"When I forced it open, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was an enormous hole in both the roof and bedroom ceiling and there were great chunks of ice everywhere.