Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.4 - North of Svalbard Archipelago


US Geological Survey
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:59 UTC
Image
© US Geological Survey

Date-Time Friday, March 06, 2009 at 10:50:29 UTC

Friday, March 06, 2009 at 10:50:29 AM at epicenter

Location 80.297°N, 2.046°W

Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Distances 315 km (195 miles) ESE of Nord, Greenland

990 km (610 miles) ENE of Alert, Nunavut, Canada

1320 km (820 miles) NNW of Tromso, Norway

2325 km (1450 miles) NNE of NUUK (GODTHAB), Greenland
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Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 4.2 - Western Montana


US Geological Survey
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:51 UTC
Image
© US Geological Survey

Date-Time Friday, March 06, 2009 at 11:29:54 UTC

Friday, March 06, 2009 at 04:29:54 AM at epicenter

Location 45.703°N, 112.128°W

Depth 11.7 km (7.3 miles) set by location program

Distances 19 km (12 miles) S (187°) from Whitehall, MT

22 km (14 miles) SW (216°) from Cardwell, MT

24 km (15 miles) NE (42°) from Twin Bridges, MT

399 km (248 miles) NE (53°) from Boise, ID

551 km (342 miles) N (358°) from Salt Lake City, UT
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Bizarro Earth

Volcano Erupts in Indonesia


The Straits Times
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:11 UTC
The tallest volcano on Indonesia's Java island erupted on Friday, spewing smoke and ash high into the sky and coating a nearby town in black dust, an official said.

The 3,676-metre Mount Semeru burst into life shortly after midnight but officials said it posed no danger to people living in the area, 35 kilometres southeast of Lumajang.

'We recorded that it erupted after midnight on Friday but luckily we have had rains so the ash isn't causing serious respiration problems for the residents,' volcanologist Agus Budianto told AFP.
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Bizarro Earth

4.7 Earth Tremor Shakes Melbourne, Australia


ABC News
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:41 UTC
Residents across Melbourne have been rattled by an earth tremor that struck about 100km south-east of the city.

The United States Geological Survey reported on its website the tremor measured 4.7 on the Richter scale, about 96 kilometres from Melbourne, and Geoscience Australia says the tremor was centred near Korumburra.

There have been no reports of injury and police are urging people not to call 000 unless they have been injured or suffered property damage.

Victoria Police and the State Emergency Service also say there has been an earth tremor but said there are no reports of any damage so far.
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Bizarro Earth

California: 3.1 Earthquake Recorded in Geysers

Elizabeth Larson
Lake County News
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:00 UTC
An earthquake was felt on Cobb Mountain Thursday afternoon.

The quake, measuring 3.1 on the Richter scale, occurred at 3:06 p.m., according to the US Geological Survey.

It was centered two miles north northeast of The Geysers, three miles west of Cobb and six miles northwest of Anderson Springs, the US Geological Survey reported. It occurred at a depth of three-tenths of a mile.

Residents of Cobb, Middletown and even distant Fresno reported to the US Geological Survey that they felt the quake.
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Magnify

Chilean extremophile bacteria thrive in Mars-like conditions

Matt Ford
Ars Technica
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 07:46 UTC
The Atacama desert lies on the western edge of South America, covering much of northern Chile and parts of Argentina. It is the closest one can get to Mars while remaining grounded on Earth. High atop the Socompa volcano on the Eastern edge of the Atacama desert, the atmosphere is thin, the ultraviolet radiation is intense, and the climate is dry. Nevertheless, the improbable has been found: life. Near the rim of the 19,850-foot-high Socompa volcano, researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Alpine Microbial Observatory found a thriving, complex microbial community that appears to be supported by gases emanating from volcanic vents around the rim.
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Phoenix

Alaska: Okmok Volcano warning level raised to yellow


KUCB News
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:40 UTC
Unalaska - The Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the warning level for Okmok to yellow, or advisory, on Monday after a series of seismic bursts that lasted for six hours. The tremors repeated again Wednesday but have since subsided. AVO coordinating scientist Steve McNutt said these seismic signals could mean anything.

"Signals like this sometimes precede eruptions on the scale of hours to days, sometimes weeks or longer. And then sometimes the volcano just goes back to sleep," he said. "So you have to be cautious and assume that it may erupt and it could do so quickly, so that's the basis for our treating it with caution and changing the color code. On the other hand it could represent a new physical state of the volcano in which case it could do something different and then go back to sleep."
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Bulb

US: Preventing Bat Illness: A Potential Solution?

Susan Cosier
Audubon Magazine
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:31 UTC
Little brown bats
© Al Hicks, New York Department of ConservationLittle brown bats.
Some researchers are suggesting a way to save bats from white-nose syndrome - at least temporarily. In a new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, scientists used mathematical models to determine whether warmer caves could help decrease bat mortality from the illness, recognized by a white fungus on their noses, ears, and wings.

Heating caves "might be a way to keep the bats alive for a while until we come up with a cure or a solution," says lead author Justin Boyles.
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Black Cat

US: Mountain lion spotted in Spooner, Wisconsin

Andy Rathbun
Twin Cities.com
Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:10 UTC
Cougar
© Courtesy of the Wisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesAn adult male mountain lion weighing between 120 and 130 pounds, in a tree near Spooner, Wis. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources attempted to sedate the animal with tranquilizer darts, but it escaped.
An extremely rare sighting of a mountain lion has been confirmed near Spooner, Wisconsin, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The animal, an adult male weighing between 120 and 130 pounds, was first seen Tuesday by a homeowner about 15 miles northwest of Spooner in Burnett County. Dogs were used to track the animal and chase it up a tree.

After the DNR was notified, officals from the department joined in the search, and on both Wednesday and Thursday the mountain lion was chased up trees. Two attempts to sedate the animal with a tranquilizer dart failed, and the mountain lion was not captured.
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Bizarro Earth

4.1 Earthquake Hits New Zealand South Island


Bernama
Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:00 UTC
An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale struck near Sheffield in New Zealand South Island's mid-Canterbury region early Thursday, China's Xinhua quoted the GNS Science as reporting.

New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said the quake, occurred at 03:41 a.m. local time (1441 GMT Wednesday), was centered 20 km east of Sheffield at a focal depth of 33 km.

There were no reports of casualties or damages.
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