Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Pakistan: 6.2 Quake Jolts Upper Parts of Country

Islamabad - A moderate earthquake with an intensity of 6.2 has rattled upper parts of country including federal capital Islamabad early on Sunday morning before dawn, Geo news reported.

According to met office, the areas received the shocks of tremor, included upper and lower Dir, Swat, Bunir, Hangu, Malakand, Shangla, Nowshera, Mansehra, Balakot, Attock, Peshawar and Momhand Agency.

The epic center of quake was somewhere in Afghanistan beneath Hindu Kush's mountainous region, met office told media.

No loss of life or property was reported, however, people in fear came out of their homes reciting verses from Holy Qura'an, witnesses told reporters.

Evil Rays

US: Small Earthquake that Sounded like a Train Derailing, a Plane Crash or a Sonic Boom, Woke Up Northern Illinois

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© The Daily Herald
"We definitely were jolted out of bed" recalls Bob Gehrke who's property sits adjacent to the epicenter of the quake. My daughter Carolyn said it felt as if the floor was moving.

To some, it sounded like a train derailing, a snowplow taking out a car, a plane crash, a sonic boom.

To dogs, it was clearly something to panic about.

But the U.S. Geological Survey said what woke people well before dawn Wednesday was a mild, 3.8-magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was about three miles beneath a farm field a short distance south of Pingree Grove, near Route 20 and Switzer Road in western Kane County.

Evil Rays

US: Small Earthquake and Sonic Boom Hit Part of Ohio

Northwestern Ohio was hit with a small earthquake Thursday afternoon. The Fostoria Police Department says the earthquake hit around 4:30 p.m., in the city which is about 35 miles south of Toledo.

"We received a couple of calls from citizens. Thought we had either a sonic boom or a small explosion of some type. We didn't have any report of damage or injury but after contacting Seneca County Emergency Management Association and talking with the Ohio Seismic Network, early reports have told us that they had a small earthquake somewhere here around Fostoria," said Chief John McGuire with the police department.

Bizarro Earth

Backgrounder: The World's most Devastating Earthquakes over last 20 years

An earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale shook Chile on early Saturday morning, killing at least 147 people and leaving a great destruction in the center and south of the country.

The earthquake occurred at 3:36 a.m. local time (0636 GMT), when most of people were asleep. This earthquake according to the experts was 50 times more powerful than the one that devastated Haiti on Jan. 12.

Following are some of the most devastating earthquakes over the last 20 years:

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US: Snow Squall Causes 70-Car Accident Near Kansas City (Video)

Dozens of weather-related crashes shut down stretches of several highways in the Kansas City area Sunday.

The Kansas City Star reports that one crash on Interstate 35 in Lenexa involved up to 30 vehicles. Meanwhile, another pileup along Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Kan., involved up to 40 vehicles.

Multiple accidents have also been reported along Interstate 70, including one that involved 70 cars. The Kansas Department of Transportation says I-70 was closed for several hours.

Bizarro Earth

Untouched by quake, Haitian city hit by flooding, mudslides

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© Esteban Felix/APA woman walks with an umbrella at a survivors camp during heavy rains in Port-au-Prince
Port-Au-Prince - Flooding and mudslides in southwestern Haiti Saturday killed one person and forced the evacuation of 500 prisoners, officials in this quake-hit nation told AFP.

The deluge occurred in and around Les Cayes, Haiti's third-biggest city, which escaped the earthquake devastation that trashed the capital Port-au-Prince January 12.

Haiti's civil emergency services unit told AFP that one person was killed in the nearby town of Baraderes, according to the local mayor.

It also said 500 detainees in Les Cayes's prison were being evacuated by UN peacekeepers and Haitian police as 50 centimeters (20 inches) of water inundated the facility.

There was up to 1.5 meters (60 inches) of water in Les Cayes, a coastal city on a peninsula 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Port-au-Prince.

Witnesses said houses had also collapsed.

Bizarro Earth

Tsunami Waves from Chile Quake Reach New Zealand

The first waves of a tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile reached New Zealand on Sunday, authorities said, but there were no reports of any injuries or damage.

Hundreds of residents on the country's east coast were evacuated to high ground and ships moved out to sea as authorities warned that surges from the tsunami might be felt for most of the day.

Chile was hit on Saturday by a powerful 8.8-magnitude earthquake, which killed at least 214 people, knocked down buildings and triggered a tsunami that threatens Pacific coastlines.

The first waves were reported at the remote Chatham Islands, around 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of New Zealand, with surges measured at up to 1.5 meters, the Civil Defense Ministry said.

Bizarro Earth

Chile Quake Similar to 2004 Indian Ocean Temblor

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© AP PhotoResidents look at a collapsed building in Concepcion, Chile, after an 8.8-magnitude struck central Chile.
Scientists say the major earthquake that struck off the coast of Chile was a "megathrust" - similar to the 2004 Indian Ocean temblor that spawned a catastrophic tsunami.

Megathrust earthquakes occur in subduction zones where plates of the Earth's crust grind and dive. Saturday's jolt occurred when the Nazca plate dove beneath the South American plate, releasing tremendous energy.

The U.S. Geological Survey says 13 temblors of magnitude-7 or larger have hit coastal Chile since 1973.

The latest quake occurred about 140 miles north of the largest earthquake ever recorded.

Bizarro Earth

Quake-Triggered Tsunami Rushes Ashore in Hawaii

A tsunami triggered by the Chilean earthquake sent a surge of water ashore in Hawaii, California and islands in the South Pacific on Saturday as the waves continued onto Alaska and parts of Asia.

There were no immediate reports of widespread damage, injuries or deaths in the U.S. or in the Pacific islands, but a tsunami that swamped a village on an island off Chile killed at least five people and left 11 missing.

In Hawaii, water began pulling away from shore off Hilo Bay on the Big Island just before noon, exposing reefs and sending dark streaks of muddy, sandy water offshore. Waves later washed over Coconut Island, a small park off Hilo's coast.

The tsunami was causing a series of surges that were about 20 minutes apart, and the waves arrived later and smaller than originally predicted. The highest wave at Hilo measured 5.5 feet (1.7 meters) high, while Maui saw some as high as 2 meters (6.5 feet).

Bizarro Earth

Tsunami Waves Hit French Polynesia After Chile Quake

The first small waves of a tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile reached French Polynesia on Saturday, authorities said.

Residents were asked to move away from the shores and seek high ground while schools were shut down and most roads closed.

The first waves hit Gambier Archipelago at 10:50 a.m EST and Tahiti at 12:50 p.m. EST but Tahiti's seismological center said the waves were only 36 centimeters high.

The tsunami is expected to hit Bora Bora at 1:15 p.m. EST, the French Polynesia High Commissioner said in a statement.

French Polynesia President Gaston Tong Sang sought to reassure residents saying the territory was used to cyclones and hurricanes.