San Salvador: More than 700 slight to moderate earthquakes hit an area in eastern El Salvador in a 24-hour period, damaging dozens of homes but hurting no one.
The brief quakes, which started Thursday and ranged from 1.8 to 4.6 in magnitude, have occurred in the municipality of El Carmen, some 163 km (101 miles) east of the capital of San Salvador, the country's National Territory agency said.
Jorge Melendez, in charge of civil protection, said on Friday that 80 homes were damaged by the tremors, known as an earthquake swarm. A hospital in the area showed cracks on the walls but no structural damage so far, he said.
Army troops were sent in to monitor the damaged areas. While authorities have not ordered evacuations yet, many residents of El Carmen chose to sleep in the open and the army was handing out tents.
El Salvador suffered two powerful earthquakes 10 any ten years ago: one of 7.6 magnitude in January 2001 and another of 6.6 magnitude a month later. The quakes killed more than 1,150 people and left about one million others homeless.
Earth Changes
© Takuma Imamura
Operations at a golf course in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, have been suspended.
Operations at a golf course in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, have been suspended.
"Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO," the utility said.
That argument did not sit well with the companies that own and operate the Sunfield Nihonmatsu Golf Club, just 45 kilometers west of the stricken TEPCO plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
The Tokyo District Court also rejected that idea.
But in a ruling described as inconsistent by lawyers, the court essentially freed TEPCO from responsibility for decontamination work, saying the cleanup efforts should be done by the central and local governments.
© Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Groesbeck Mayor Jackie Livingston said the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told town officials at a City Council meeting late Monday they could run the line through Fort Parker State Park. But she said construction on the line would not begin until the written contract is received, which should take less than a week.
Towns throughout Texas have been struggling with dwindling reservoirs and water resources as a historic drought parches the state.
Livingston said the town of 6,500 people about 100 miles south of Dallas normally draws water from a nearby river. The river, however, has run dry and the town has purchased a four-month supply of water from a rock quarry seven miles away. The pipeline would bring the quarry water to the town's water treatment facility.
© swisseduc.ch
Eruption at Anak Krakatua in 2009.
Eruption at Anak Krakatua in 2009.
Actually, this volcano is the remnant of the biggest blast ever recorded on Earth. That was the 1883 eruption of Mount Krakatoa. From the ruins of that gigantic crater left in the land has come forth what is now known as the Anak Krakatau volcano - literally "Krakatoa's Child."
In the time since the original eruption, scientists have gotten much better at predicting when a volcano will have a catastrophic eruption, distinguishing it from the many smaller eruptions which do not harm the local population or environment.
One of the telltale signs is sudden and increased activity like what scientists are seeing in this past week at the Anak Krakatau volcano.
© Mainichi
A worker uses a high-pressure washer on the roof of a home while carrying out decontamination work in Fukushima in October.
A worker uses a high-pressure washer on the roof of a home while carrying out decontamination work in Fukushima in October.
The city began decontamination work in the Onami district on Oct. 18. Located in the mountains in the eastern part of the city, it has been heavily affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, with radiation in rice over the nation's provisional limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram detected, leading to a ban on rice shipments.
Although monitoring of six homes where decontamination was carried out found an average drop of 70 percent in radiation in front of entrances and on gravel parking spots, there was only a 30 percent drop for roofs and a 25 percent drop for asphalt in the yard. Furthermore, there was only a 22 percent drop for second floor interiors.
The city has suggested that the low effect on the roofs may be due to radiation from the surrounding forests, where decontamination has not been carried out. As for the asphalt, radioactive material tends to stick to it and remain even after being washed, so the city has decided to try removing the top layer of the asphalt.
Tokyo - Two strong earthquakes rattled northern Japan on Thursday, but neither caused any apparent damage or a tsunami.
A magnitude-6.1 quake struck Thursday evening south of the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
It hit about 465 miles (750 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo and 19 miles (30 kilometers) below the sea surface. The agency did not issue a tsunami warning.
About 3,900 households in the towns of Erimo and Samani lost electricity shortly after the quake, but power was restored about an hour later, according to the Hokkaido Electric Power Co.
The shaking was not felt in Tokyo, though a morning quake was.
That magnitude-6.0 temblor struck just off the coast near the nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The two shakings are believed unrelated and did not affect the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant or other nuclear plants in the region.
A magnitude-6.1 quake struck Thursday evening south of the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.
It hit about 465 miles (750 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo and 19 miles (30 kilometers) below the sea surface. The agency did not issue a tsunami warning.
About 3,900 households in the towns of Erimo and Samani lost electricity shortly after the quake, but power was restored about an hour later, according to the Hokkaido Electric Power Co.
The shaking was not felt in Tokyo, though a morning quake was.
That magnitude-6.0 temblor struck just off the coast near the nuclear power plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The two shakings are believed unrelated and did not affect the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant or other nuclear plants in the region.
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Earthquake Location
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10:25:34 UTC
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 07:25:34 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
41.877°N, 142.710°E
Depth:
42.3 km (26.3 miles)
Region:
HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
Distances:
122 km (75 miles) SSW of Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan
124 km (77 miles) SE of Tomakomai, Hokkaido, Japan
164 km (101 miles) E of Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan
734 km (456 miles) NNE of TOKYO, Japan
An underwater 'icicle of death' which sinks to the seabed destroying everything it comes into contact with has been caught on camera for the first time.
The sinking brine is so cold that it causes the seawater to freeze around it.
BBC film crews recorded the brinicle for the first time ever as it sunk to the bottom of the sea in Antarctica.
When it hits the surface, a web of ice spreads killing sea urchins and starfish.
The remarkable underwater footage was filmed for Frozen Planet on BBC One using timelapse technology.
The sinking brine is so cold that it causes the seawater to freeze around it.
BBC film crews recorded the brinicle for the first time ever as it sunk to the bottom of the sea in Antarctica.
© BBC
The icicle of death: The brinicle can be seen extending towards the seabed. Slowly it grows bigger over time as more water freezes around it
The icicle of death: The brinicle can be seen extending towards the seabed. Slowly it grows bigger over time as more water freezes around it
The remarkable underwater footage was filmed for Frozen Planet on BBC One using timelapse technology.
© USGS
Earthquake Location
Earthquake Location
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 at 19:24:31 UTC
Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 04:24:31 AM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location:
37.373°N, 141.387°E
Depth:
33.3 km (20.7 miles)
Region:
NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
Distances:
66 km (41 miles) ENE of Iwaki, Honshu, Japan
100 km (62 miles) E of Koriyama, Honshu, Japan
101 km (62 miles) ESE of Fukushima, Honshu, Japan
244 km (151 miles) NE of TOKYO, Japan
Torrential rain battered eastern Sicily on Wednesday, where mudslides have killed at least three people and muddy torrents have swept away cars and washed out bridges, authorities said.
Comment: A precursor or activity of this?: Architect of Fukushima's Reactor 3 warns of massive hydrovolcanic explosion