Earth ChangesS


Saturn

World to see biggest full moon in two decades

Super Moon
© Yahoo! UK News

The world is set to experience the biggest full moon for almost two decades when the satellite reaches its closest point to Earth next weekend.

On 19 March, the full moon will appear unusually large in the night sky as it reaches a point in its cycle known as 'lunar perigee'.

Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular view when the moon approaches Earth at a distance of 221,567 miles in its elliptical orbit - the closest it will have passed to our planet since 1992.

The full moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter in the sky, especially when it rises on the eastern horizon at sunset or is provided with the right atmospheric conditions.

This phenomenon has reportedly heightened concerns about 'supermoons' being linked to extreme weather events - such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis. The last time the moon passed close to the Earth was on 10 January 2005, around the time of the Indonesian earthquake that measured 9.0 on the Richter scale.

Comment: As it turns out, gravitational tidal forces might not be all there is to this phenomena. According to James McCanney, any celestial alignment (such as a full or new moon) has the potential to cause a current flow in the solar system, thus disrupting the electrical balance of Earth which then leads to extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc. For more information, see:

Comet Elenin Update!

The True Origins of Electric Comet Theory

Cyclones, Earthquakes, Volcanoes And Other Electrical Phenomena

Pole Shift? Look to the Skies!


Alarm Clock

SOTT Focus: The Dot Connector - The Golden Age, Psychopathy and the Sixth Extinction

The latest issue of Sott.net's new print publication - The Dot Connector Magazine - features an in-depth analysis of the truth about human history, cyclical catastrophes and the edge of the abyss on which we all now sit. If you value your own future and that of your children, this information is of vital importance.


Nuke

Japan rocked by fresh blast at Fukushima nuclear plant, meltdown may be underway

Image
© DigitalGlobe/AFP/Getty ImagesThe damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
The nuclear crisis in Japan escalated as a third explosion in four days rocked the struggling power plant in the country's stricken north-east, according to its nuclear safety watchdog. Tokyo had already called in international help to tackle the escalating crisis.

Non-essential technicians were evacuated from the facility after radiation levels around the Fukushima No 1 power plant briefly rose four-fold in the wake of the blast, which appears to be the most serious to date.

The plant operators said its reading had reached 8,217 microsieverts per hour - described by broadcaster NHK as equivalent to eight times the radiation a person would usually experience in a year. It later fell sharply, the broadcaster said. The peak was still far below the level which would cause immediate damage to health.

Bizarro Earth

And the aftershocks go on: 275 new tremors hit quake-torn Japan as fears grow for missing 10,000 in flattened port town

  • 42 survivors have been pulled out of the rubble
  • Official death toll hits 1,597, but many hundreds believed to be buried under rubble or washed away by waves
  • Toll will soar after around 2,000 bodies were found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture
  • Second explosion at nuclear power plant
  • Number of people contaminated with radiation could reach 160
  • Region hit by hundreds of aftershocks, some up to 6.8-magnitude
  • Rescue operation begins but some areas still cut off by road damage and flood waters
  • 70,000 people evacuated to shelters in Sendai
Forty-two survivors have been pulled from the rubble in the flattened town of Minami Sanrik, where up to 10,000 people are feared to have perished.

Around half the town's 18,000 residents are missing but search and rescue teams are still working desperately through the rubble to try and find more people.

Police are also trying to stop people returning to their homes.

Despite the first tsunami warning being issued to the town that lies two miles from the coastline, some residents decided to stay in their homes instead of fleeing - leading to the high number of missing people, CNN reported today..

Most of the houses in Minami Sanriku have been completely flattened and waterlogged and one house was found even with seaweed inside.

Image
© EPAVillagers carry relief goods in Minami Sanriku, the worst-hit area where almost 10,000 people have gone missing
Image
© EPAJapanese home guard help survivors to safety in the flooded town of Minami Sanriku

Bizarro Earth

Geophysicists Worry Quake is Not The Last

The unusually high number of aftershocks following Japan's strongest ever earthquake last Friday has caused concern among geophysicists that it may actually be a chain of separate quakes.

Ring of Fire
© POSTgraphics
Michio Hashizume, a Japanese geology expert working with Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Science, said his contemporaries in Japan are wondering if the string of tremors felt around the county since Friday's 9.0-magnitude are actually aftershocks.

"We are questioning if they are really aftershocks, because in theory they should happen close to the epicentre, but this time, [some of] the [following] earthquakes have happened far from the epicentre," Mr Hashizume said.

"We are thinking the 9.0 earthquake may have triggered a chain of earthquakes. If so, we expect more earthquakes, possibly as strong as magnitude 7, within the next three days."

The geologists are concerned about the possibility of another big earthquake soon, which could create another tsunami, he said.

Bizarro Earth

Volcano in southern Japan resumes eruptions

Tokyo -- The weather agency says a volcano in southern Japan is spewing ash and rock again as the country struggles with the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in the north.


Bizarro Earth

Scientists warn Japan faces second monster quake and tsunami

  • Second 'monster' quake could measure almost 8 on the Richter scale
  • Terrible tide of at least 2,000 bodies wash up on the coastline
  • Crews fight to bring reactor at nuclear power plant under control
  • Millions left without food and power and hospitals have no medicine
Devastated Japan today faced the prospect of a second massive earthquake and tsunami even as millions of citizen struggled to come to terms with its biggest-ever natural disaster.

On Friday, a quake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale caused widespread fatalities and damage, also triggering a huge wave, which prompted the death toll to spiral into many thousands.

At least 2,000 bodies have now washed up on the country's decimated coastline, crematoriums were overflowing with the dead and rescue workers ran out of body bags as the nation faced the reality of its mounting crisis.

japan,earthquake
Devastating: A woman sobs on a road as she surveys the destroyed city of Natori in the region of Miyagi in northern Japan

Video

Japan earthquake: Footage of moment tsunami hit

Newly emerged footage shows the force at which the tsunami struck Japan's coast.

In the fishing port of Miyako, in Iwate prefecture, boats were overturned, while video from Kamaishi city shows cars being dragged down city streets by the water.

The tsunami that followed the 8.9-magnitude earthquake wreaked havoc along a huge stretch of Japan's north-east coast, sweeping far inland and devastating a number of towns and villages. Powerful aftershocks are continuing to hit the region.

Footage courtesy of TV Asahi and TBS


Evil Rays

Full Core Meltdown In Japan Will Send Radiation Over United States

Jet Stream Analysis


Evil Rays

Japanese Officials: Nuclear Fuel Rods Appear to be Melting in 3 Reactors

japan,reactors
© JiJi Press/AFP/Getty ImagesThis aerial view shows the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in the Japanese town of Futaba, Fukushima prefecture on March 12, 2011.

Japanese officials confirmed Monday that nuclear fuel rods appear to be melting inside three reactors compromised by Friday's earthquake, though nuclear experts differ on whether the outer chamber of a reactor melting in fact constitutes a partial "meltdown."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Monday that "although we cannot directly check it, it's highly likely happening."

Unit 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in northeastern Japan exploded earlier Monday, wounding 11 workers; it had been under emergency watch for an explosion after a hydrogen blast at Unit 1 of the plant on Saturday. Edano said the Unit 3 reactor's inner containment vessel was intact.