Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 5.1 - Chiapas, Mexico

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© US Geological Survey

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

Bizarro Earth

Exxon Valdez oil spill could persist for 'decades and possibly centuries'

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The "stunning" legacy of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska is the persistence of oil along the beaches of Prince William Sound that in places is "nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill," says a new report from the group charged with monitoring the cleanup.

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.

Bizarro Earth

4.0 Earthquake Hits Hawaii Island

An earthquake hit Monday morning on the island of Hawaii. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the earthquake as 4.0 on the Richter scale, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially said it was a magnitude 5.2. State Civil Defense reports there was no tsunami threat.

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.

Fish

Ocean "Dead Zones" Spreading

The number of "dead zones" in coastal regions around the world continues to rapidly increase, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the University of Gothenberg, and published in the journal Science.

Bizarro Earth

5.3 Earthquake Off Guatemala's Coast

The U.S. Geological Survey says an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 has been recorded in the Pacific Ocean just off the coast of Guatemala.

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.

Bizarro Earth

California: 2.3 Earthquake Strikes Near Milpitas

The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 2.3 struck this morning in Santa Clara County.

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.

Umbrella

Australia: Cyclone Hamish is heading for South Queensland

Cyclone Hamish 2
© Commonwealth of Australia 2009, Bureau of MeteorologyColour infrared image taken on 9 March 2009
The weather bureau expects Cyclone Hamish will remain a Category 4 system tonight as it continues moving along the central Queensland coast.

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.

Magnify

Australia: Crocodile bites snorkeller at Lizard Island

Rangers are searching for a small crocodile that bit a man on the shoulder while he was snorkelling in Queensland's far north.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the man was snorkelling off Lizard Island, north of Cairns, on Sunday afternoon when a crocodile attacked him.

Blackbox

Arctic summer ice could vanish by 2013

The Arctic is warming up so quickly that the region's sea ice cover in summer could vanish as early as 2013, decades earlier than some had predicted, a leading polar expert said on Thursday.

Warwick Vincent, director of the Center for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec, said recent data on the ice cover "appear to be tracking the most pessimistic of the models", which call for an ice free summer in 2013.

The year "2013 is starting to look as though it is a lot more reasonable as a prediction. But each year we've been wrong -- each year we're finding that it's a little bit faster than expected," he told Reuters.

Cloud Lightning

US: Storms throw bus into Indiana building, damage homes

Strong winds from severe thunderstorms raked parts of the Midwest on Sunday, tossing a school bus onto a building, destroying or damaging homes, and cutting off power to thousands of customers in Indiana and Illinois.

Emergency management agencies reported a tornado in Lawrence County, said John Erickson, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The National Weather Service has not confirmed the reports.

Footage from WTHR-TV in Indianapolis showed a school bus lying atop a flattened building in Fayetteville, about 70 miles south of Indianapolis, where the tornado was reported.

Lawrence County Sheriff Sam Craig said at least 19 houses had been damaged, including three that were leveled.