Earth Changes

Above, workers prepare the remote operated vehicle (ROV) for its plunge to the depths of the Pacific Ocean.
Geosciences professor Robert Stern's research has him scouring the depths of the ocean. But he's not hunting lost treasure. He and graduate student Julia Robeiro are studying volcanic activity beneath the sea.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, Stern and Robeiro undertook the first part of their study Feb. 2-7 analyzing underwater volcanoes in the Western Pacific.
Stern said he has always liked to discover new things. With few places on land to discover virgin territory, the seas were the logical place for Stern. Covering more than two-thirds of the earth's surface, there was no telling what mysteries the depths might reveal, he said.
Date-Time
* Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 00:36:47 UTC
* Monday, March 09, 2009 at 06:36:47 PM at epicenter
Location 16.676°N, 93.111°W
Depth 181.1 km (112.5 miles)
Distances 10 km (5 miles) S of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico
50 km (30 miles) W of San Cristobal d/l Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
360 km (220 miles) NW of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala
710 km (440 miles) ESE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Prepared for the 20th anniversary of the tanker accident that spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of the West's most majestic waterways, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council said surveys even 14 years after the spill found an estimated 21,000 gallons of crude oil lingering below the surface of beaches - some of it more than 450 miles away from the spill, on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast.
"At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely," the report said.
The quake's depth was 6.5 miles, according to the USGS.
The epicenter of the quake was at 20.113°N, 155.175°W approximately 10 miles offshore of Laupahoehoe or about 29 miles NNW of Hilo. It struck at 9:44 am.
There was no immediate word on whether the earthquake was felt or caused any damage.
The quake was recorded just after midnight (2 a.m. EDT) at a depth of 47 miles and centered 65 miles south of Guatemala City.
According to the USGS, the earthquake struck at about 5:55 a.m. and had a depth of 4.1 miles.
The quake was centered 7 miles east of Milpitas and 10 miles northeast of San Jose City Hall, according to the USGS.
The Category 4 storm is located off the Capricornia coast and is estimated to be 255 kilometres east of Yeppoon and 245 kilometres north-north-east of Bundaberg, moving south-east at 17 kilometres per hour.
The Environmental Protection Agency says the man was snorkelling off Lizard Island, north of Cairns, on Sunday afternoon when a crocodile attacked him.