Earth ChangesS


Evil Rays

Japan Plant Fuel Melted Partway Through Reactors


NTI
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:29 UTC
Image
© Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images(Apr. 15) - Abandoned flowers wilt on Tuesday in the exclusion zone surrounding Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Nuclear fuel has melted inside three reactors at the severely damaged facility, says an expert assessment published on Friday

Nuclear fuel has melted in three reactors at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and fallen to the lower sections of their container vessels, raising the specter of overheated material compromising a container and causing a massive radiation release, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan said in a report released on Friday (see GSN, April 15).

The group played down the possibility of a container breach, though, noting that only a small amount of fuel had melted so far and affected material had assumed a granulated structure and remained relatively cool, Kyodo News reported. The six-reactor plant was crippled by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and devastating tsunami that hit Japan on March 11; the confirmed death toll from the events now exceeds 12,000 people.

The melted fuel was thought to have dispersed uniformly across the lower portions of the containers of reactors No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3, making the material highly unlikely to resume the fission process in a "recriticality," according to the organization, which said fuel rods in all three reactors had been harmed. Fuel in the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors has made contact with air, while the No. 3 reactor's rods have remained underwater, the group said.
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Bizarro Earth

US California: Four Back-to-Back Earthquakes Hit Near Anza-Borrego Springs


Local 2 KPSP
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:39 UTC
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© USGS
There was some early-morning shaking happening south of the Coachella Valley Friday. Four earthquakes hit just minutes apart from one another. The first one was a magnitude 3.2, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It happened at 4:47 a.m. Then, one minute later, three 3.0 magnitude shakers, all hit within seconds of each other at 4:48 a.m. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damages.

Here's how the U.S.G.S. breaks down the science of the earthquakes:

4:47:25 a.m. - a 3.2-magnitude earthquake hit 14 miles from Anza

4:48:42 a.m. - a 3.0-magnitude earthquake hit 15 miles from Borrego Springs

4:48:52 a.m. - another 3.0-magnitude earthquake hit 16 miles from Borrego Springs

4:48:56 a.m. - the final 3.0-magnitude earthquake hit 14 miles from Anza
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Bizarro Earth

Africa: Earthquake Magnitude 4.8 rattles rural Tanzania, felt in Kenya; earthquakes rare in Africa


Sun Sentinel / Associated Press
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:34 UTC
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© USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey says a 4.8-magnitude earthquake shook rural Tanzania southwest of Mount Kilimanjaro.

Friday's earthquake could be felt as far away as Nairobi, Kenya, by people on high floors of downtown buildings. Nairobi is 220 miles (350 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the epicenter was 90 miles (145 kilometers) southwest of Arusha, Tanzania.

Africa does not have any known major earthquake zones. The area southwest of Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the few regions on the continent with regular seismic activity.
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Evil Rays

Hear the REAL sound of the earth moving: Incredible noise captured of moment mega quake triggered Japan's catastrophic tsunami

Emily Allen
The Daily Mail
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:58 UTC
If there was ever a sound of devastation this must surely be it.

Scientists have released the menacing noise of the Japan earthquake which plunged the nation into unprecedented chaos when it shook the nation on March 11.

The cataclysmic mega-quake sent a merciless tsunami bulldozing its way through streets and homes wiping out towns and communities in a matter of minutes.

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© PMELScientists have released the menacing noise of the Japan earthquake which has been sped up 16 times
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Cloud Lightning

Cut off by floods, Minnesota town accessible only by boat


Today.com
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 16:05 UTC
Oslo MN Flood
© Eric Hylden / The Grand Forks Herald via AP Locals get a ride on the Oslo Fire Department air boat on Wednesday after Red River flooding cut off road access to the town of Oslo, Minnesota
'By the end of the week I am assuming that people are going to get stir crazy,' mayor says

Residents of Oslo, Minnesota, are waiting out massive flooding that has turned their community into a tiny temporary island in the Red River for a third year in a row.

The last road to Oslo closed Tuesday night, leaving a boat ride of at least two miles the only option for residents to reach the banks of the Red River in North Dakota or Minnesota for at least the next week.

"It will be a long haul here," Mayor Scott Kosmatka said in a telephone interview. "By the end of the week I am assuming that people are going to get stir crazy."

Flood fighting efforts have turned to smaller communities along the Red River and its tributaries in North Dakota and Minnesota as the National Weather Service on Wednesday trimmed a foot off the river's projected peak in Grand Forks.
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Sun

Build-up of cosmic material in the atmosphere? Indonesia: Mysterious halo around the sun sets people wondering

Jane Moh
Borneo Post Online
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 15:39 UTC
The sky made heads turn upwards yesterday, on the eve of the polling day when a halo formed an outer ring of the sun, radiating the rainbow colours.

The 30-minute display, starting from 11.30am sparked a discussion among the people why it had to appear as the polling day was approaching.

sun halo
© Unknown

Comment: "Rare" sun halos appear to be on increase, lately. And there is a "dustier" reason for it than shiny ice crystals. Take a look at the following articles:

Have You Seen a Sun Halo in Your Area? North Carolina, US: Solar halo continues this afternoon...
Are Ice Crystals Really to Blame? US: Halo Appears Around The Sun Over The Central Savannah River Area
Not rare anymore! India: Beholding Sun god with halo around
Spectacular sundogs and ice halo seen from Stockholm
Ghana: Halo Appears Around Sun
Swaziland: Panic Over Sun's Strange Appearance
Mysterious Sun Haloes

Our hypothesis is, that the sun is being refracted by the changed atmosphere. That is, a combination of possible comet dust loading and changes in the layers of the atmosphere.

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Blackbox

Japan Sinking?


You Tube
Fri, 15 Apr 2011 06:23 UTC

Comment: This video shows slippage (watch the paving stones) and sinking during earthquakes in Japan.


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Cloud Lightning

US: New Storm System Bringing Dangerous Thunderstorms AND Snow!


AOL News
Wed, 13 Apr 2011 09:00 UTC
Another round of dangerous thunderstorms will sweep eastward across a large portion of the United States in the coming days, and this storm system will be accompanied by something that we may not have expected to hear about again until next winter -- a swath of accumulating snow.

The thunderstorms will pound areas that have been hit hard by severe weather during what's been a very stormy month, spreading from the Plains on Thursday to the Southeast on Saturday. The snow will fall from the northern Rockies to the upper Midwest, with the chance for some late-season snow in parts of the interior Northeast over the weekend.

The most likely location to receive a disruptive amount of snow -- locally over 6 inches -- will be in western and central South Dakota from later Thursday through Friday, where the National Weather Service has issued winter storm watches. The snow will accumulate more on unpaved surfaces than on roadways; however, travel will be disrupted, especially at night. The snow will be accompanied by winds that will reduce visibilities to under a half-mile.

The snow will begin today and tonight in an area where late-season snow is not uncommon -- the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies. Depending on the path of the storm, a second area of wet snow might develop in the higher elevations of upstate New York and New England later in the weekend.
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Bizarro Earth

Indonesia Merapi Sees New Lava Dome

Arry Anggadha
Viva News
Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:09 UTC
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© BPPTK, Yogyakarta
Indonesia's most active volcano Merapi has seen a new lava dome formation at a diameter of 400 meters recently.

"The dome is resulted from the latest eruption which has expanded to 400 meters in diameter," said Subandriyo, Chief of Volcanology Technology Research and Development Agency (BPPTK) of Yogyakarta, on Tuesday.

According to Subandriyo, the new lava dome is not visible, "because it does not overflow."
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Bizarro Earth

US: Scores of earthquakes reported on California-Nevada border


LA Now
Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:21 UTC
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© USGS
A swarm of earthquakes continued along the California-Nevada border, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

It began Sunday and continued into Thursday, with scores of small temblors reported.

On Wednesday, the region around Hawthorne, Nev., recorded a 4.4 and 4.1 quake as well as many smaller temblors. There have also been smaller quakes on the California side of the border, along the Eastern Sierras in Inyo and Mono counties.
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