Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

5.4 magnitude earthquake rattles Costa Rica

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© The Extinction Protocol / USGS
5.4 magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of Costa Rica. The depth of the earthquake was 39.6 km (24.6 miles). The epicenter of the earthquake was 83 km (51 miles) WSW of SAN JOSE, Costa Rica and 162 km (100 miles) S of San Carlos, Nicaragua.

The earthquake was tectonic in nature and represents yet another stress release on the Cocos tectonic plate which experienced a 6.3 earthquake at Revilla Gigedo Islands west of Mexico on November 1. Costa Rica is a tri-junction tension point lodged between the Cocos, Caribbean and Nazca tectonic plate.

Igloo

Best of the Web: Surprise, surprise! Global warming is over, says expert

global warming myth
© cartoonaday.com
It's one of the hottest feuds in science - climate chance zealots insist that we're still destroying the planet but now another scientist has warned the cast-iron evidence just isn't there.

For a minute there it seemed the global warming debate had finally been resolved.

While for years scientists and sceptics have raged against each other on the crucial topic, new research hailed "the most definitive study into temperature data gathered by weather stations over the past half-century" seemed to come to an authoritative conclusion.

Global warming IS real it said, strengthening the need for us all to reduce carbon emissions and boost efforts to try to save the planet.

And this research was headed by a physicist who had previously been a sceptic of global warming and an outspoken critic of the science underpinning it, lending the results even greater credibility.

Comment: If scientists were able to just look at the facts and accept them as they are, without allowing their - or somebody else's - biases and agendas to get in their way, there would not be any debates on whether a global warming is happening on the planet or not. The evidence speak for themselves, as we learn here at SOTT.net by observing and documenting what is actually happening on a daily basis.

For a clear picture of what is happening weather-wise, read also: Connecting the Dots: Cosmic Changes, Planetary Instability and Extreme Weather


Bizarro Earth

Increased seismic turbulence seen at the southern pole - 4 days, 4 earthquakes

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge region today at the shallow depth of 1.1 km. The earthquake is the fourth earthquake to rattle the southern region of the globe in four consecutive days. On November 1, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck the Western Indian-Antarctica Ridge. On October 31, a 5.1 struck the tectonic plate conjunction of the Southeast East Pacific Rise and on October 30, the Southeast Indian Ridge was hit by a 4.5 magnitude earthquake.
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© USGS
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© USGS
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© USGS
Tectonic plate agitation has diffused across the planet over the last 45 days and we're seeing more unrest in places which typically don't have earthquakes like the 6.3 magnitude earthquake which struck Revilla Gigedo Island region west of Mexico on November 1. Whether this latest series of earthquakes shaking the southernmost hemisphere signals a major shift in planetary seismic stress or a further erosion of planetary magnetism remains to be seen. We will be watching developments very closely over the next few days.

Bizarro Earth

Pacific-Antarctic Ridge - Earthquake Magnitude 6.2

Pacific_Antarctic Quake_021111
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Wednesday, November 02, 2011 at 14:59:27 UTC

Wednesday, November 02, 2011 at 05:59:27 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
55.279°S, 128.841°W

Depth
10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

Region
PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE

Distances
1764 km (1096 miles) W of Swain's Island

2011 km (1249 miles) N of Mt. Siple, Antarctica

3384 km (2102 miles) S of ADAMSTOWN, Pitcairn Islands

5041 km (3132 miles) SW of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile

Arrow Down

New York: Elderly man rescued from 8 foot-deep sinkhole

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© WCBS/Mona Rivera/1010 WINSMichael Ciron, 80, stands near the 8-foot-deep sinkhole that opened up on his front lawn in Oceanside, L.I. Ciron fell into the hole Sunday while retrieving his newspaper.
Oceanside, New York - Firefighters rescued an 80-year-old Long Island man who had fallen into a sinkhole on his front lawn.

Michael Ciron had stepped onto his lawn Sunday morning to retrieve his newspaper when he fell into an 8-foot-deep sinkhole, reports CBS Station WCBS.

"I picked up the paper, before you know it, I fell into this here hole," Ciron told WINS Newsradio's Mona Rivera.

His daughter, Maria Ciron, was awakened by his screams. "I run to his room first thinking that maybe he fell down or something," she said.

She finally found her father outside, trying to dig himself out of the sinkhole.

"Taking the dirt from the higher part, scraping it down, and I finally got my head out," Ciron told WINS. His daughter called 911, and a short time later the Oceanside fire department arrived and freed him.

Arrow Down

South Carolina, US: Sinkhole grows larger in Georgetown, South Carolina office park


Parking spots in front of Lindy Swails' insurance company are on the verge of being swallowed. A sinkhole, already three feet lower than other areas of the parking lot, is spreading to an office building that's home to his company and five others in the heart of Georgetown.

"It just happened all the sudden overnight," says Swails.

The business owner says early Saturday morning he noticed a dip outside of his front door. 24 hours later, the sinkhole had gotten much worse.

"I walked in the office," says Swails, "and I noticed the walls cracking and the doors buckling. The doors were jammed so bad I couldn't hardly get in."

And Swails isn't the only one concerned with how this will affect his workspace.

Arrow Down

US: Man files 12 sinkhole claims on 12 homes


Tampa - In the last five years, the number of sinkhole claims in Florida has jumped from 2,000 to 6,000, according to a 2010 report from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation.

Some experts say loopholes allow some to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies. Experts say it's perfectly legal, and you end up paying for it.

The I-Team has gone through hundreds of sinkhole claims as part of a 3-month investigation.

Insurance rates are out of control. Soon, customers will be paying hundreds more. At a September public meeting to discuss rate hikes, angry customers said they were fed up.

"We will have to default on our mortgage. We'll have no other choice," said one customer.

When insurance companies like state-run Citizens Insurance reach into your wallet, they say they have no choice, because they lost $220 million dollars last year paying costly sinkhole claims.

Comment: Hello? Sinkholes are appearing everywhere in Florida, but the media concentrates on insurance fraud?

Only in America could the issue of sinkholes be so distorted, repackaged, remortgaged, reinsured then sold back to the masses as junk.


Cloud Lightning

Western Bangkok bearing large brunt heavy flooding in Thailand

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© Nicolas Asfouri/AFP/Getty ImagesA woman holds a toddler as she walks through floodwaters in an area near the Chao Praya river in Bangkok on October 29, 2011.
Western Bangkok looks set to bear the brunt of the flooding as run-off water from upstream continues to enter the capital.

Several districts of Bangkok, meanwhile, now have a high chance of being spared inundation. They include Phasi Charoen, Sathon, Din Daeng, Pom Prab, Suan Luang, Pathum Wan and Phya Thai, according to Deputy Bangkok Governor Thirachon Manomaipiboon.

He said some districts of western Bangkok, such as Bang Khunthien, would very likely be spared too.

"The chance is about 20 per cent," Thirachon said.

Science Minister Plodprasob Surassawadee, speaking in his capacity as operations chief at the Flood Relief Operations Centre (FROC), said between 80 and 90 per cent of Bangkok's western zone was likely to experience flooding.

Bizarro Earth

Revilla Gigedo Islands Region - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3

Revilla Quake_011111
© USGSEarthquake Location.
Date-Time
Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 12:32:00 UTC

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 at 05:32:00 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
19.891°N, 109.216°W

Depth
5 km (3.1 miles)

Region
REVILLA GIGEDO ISLANDS REGION

Distances
227 km (141 miles) NE of Socorro Island, Mexico

333 km (206 miles) SSE of Cabo San Lucas, Baja Calif. Sur, Mexico

419 km (260 miles) W of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

1050 km (652 miles) W of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico

Radar

2 earthquakes hit China in southwest and northwest, no injuries reported

Two moderate earthquakes have shaken China's northwest and southwest regions.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit China's Xinjiang region about 60 miles (100 kilometres) from the city of Yining at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday, while the other quake struck the region bordering Sichuan and Gansu provinces at 6 a.m. at a magnitude of 5.5.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The earthquake in Xinjiang occurred at a depth of 17 miles (27 kilometres), while the other temblor was 10 miles (16 kilometres) deep.

China's worst quake in recent years was a 7.9-magnitude quake in Sichuan province in May 2008. It left nearly 90,000 people dead.

Source: The Canadian Press