Any drop in USGS activity would impact lesser developed nations such as the Philippines, which run smaller-scale monitoring and rely on the USGS for global earthquake data, Robert Geller, a professor of seismology at Tokyo University, said by phone. It would also affect ordinary citizens in the U.S, he said.
"If a big quake occurred now, hypothetically, inside the U.S., disaster relief work might be slowed down if USGS data wasn't available to the government," Geller said. The effect of the shutdown depends on whether the agency has curtailed the monitoring itself or stopped putting the data online, he said.
Earthquake Risk
Despite the warning, the National Earthquake Information Center of the USGS at Golden, Colorado, does not expect delays in earthquake monitoring and said data is being gathered at the same rate as before the shutdown. "At this point we are getting earthquakes posted on our website on time, within 20 minutes for magnitude 5 and larger worldwide, and earlier for a national event," Jana Pursley, a geophysicist at the center, said today in a phone interview.
Earthquakes
© L.A. Times
By the most conservative estimate, as many as 50 of these buildings in the city alone would be destroyed, exposing thousands to injury or death.
A cross-section of the city lives and works in them: seamstresses in downtown factories, white-collar workers in Ventura Boulevard high-rises and condo dwellers on Millionaires' Mile in Westwood.
Despite their sturdy appearance, many older concrete buildings are vulnerable to the sideways movement of a major earthquake because they don't have enough steel reinforcing bars to hold columns in place.
Los Angeles officials have known about the dangers for more than 40 years but have failed to force owners to make their properties safer. The city has even rejected calls to make a list of concrete buildings.
In the absence of city action, university scientists compiled the first comprehensive inventory of potentially dangerous concrete buildings in Los Angeles.
The scientists, however, have declined to make the information public. They said they are willing to share it with L.A. officials, but only if the city requests a copy. The city has not done so, the scientists said.
© Unknown
Rescuers come to the aid of a wounded person in Cebu City, the Philippines, after a major 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the region on October 15, 2013.
Rescuers come to the aid of a wounded person in Cebu City, the Philippines, after a major 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the region on October 15, 2013.
A temblor measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale struck early on Tuesday, crumbling a number of buildings and cracking roads on Bohol Island and the Cebu Island, near Balilihan region, the US Geological Survey (USGS) announced.
According to the Philippines Office of Civil Defense, at least 15 people have been killed in the city of Cebu, 16 in the province of Bohol, and one in the province of Siquijor, following the powerful quake.
Hundreds more have been wounded and at least 33 others are reported missing.
The quake has also destroyed centuries-old monuments and modern buildings in and around Balilihan, one of the Philippines' major tourist hubs.
The officials warned that the death toll could rise, though they expressed relief that the quake occurred on a public holiday.
© USGS
2013-10-12 13:11:52 UTC
2013-10-12 15:11:52 UTC+02:00 at epicenter
2013-10-12 15:11:52 UTC+02:00 system time
Location
35.487°N 23.261°E depth=36.2km (22.5mi)
Nearby Cities
30km (19mi) W of Platanos, Greece
68km (42mi) W of Chania, Greece
110km (68mi) W of Rethymnon, Greece
171km (106mi) W of Irakleion, Greece
279km (173mi) S of Athens, Greece
Technical Details
© USGS
2013-10-12 02:10:29 UTC
2013-10-11 21:40:29 UTC-04:30 at epicenter
Location
10.877°N 62.278°W depth=79.4km (49.3mi)
Nearby Cities
33km (21mi) N of Gueiria, Venezuela
86km (53mi) WNW of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
100km (62mi) NW of Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago
101km (63mi) WNW of Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago
102km (63mi) WNW of Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago
Technical Details
© USGS
2013-10-11 21:24:58 UTC
2013-10-11 09:24:58 UTC-12:00 at epicenter
Location
30.752°S 178.439°W depth=146.5km (91.0mi)
Nearby Cities
87km (54mi) NNE of L'Esperance Rock, New Zealand
871km (541mi) NE of Whangarei, New Zealand
903km (561mi) NNE of Whakatane, New Zealand
915km (569mi) NE of Tauranga, New Zealand
1113km (692mi) SSW of Nuku'alofa, Tonga
Technical Details
Here is my new channel exclusively devoted to my series "2013 IS STRANGE".
This video is for educational/research purposes only.
This application is not commercial and is free to use.
My series include strange phenomena of all kinds and awesome natural events or beautiful phenomena of year 2013 only . Enjoy my editing!
Music:
1) Agoria - Scala EP - Scala
2) nuages - gone
In just a couple of weeks we saw a devastating typhoon hit Japan and China, a 'one-in-one-thousand-years' flood hit Colorado, record rainfall in Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, and India, fireballs turning night into day over Canada and the US, a powerful tornado in Sao Paulo, a 7.7 earthquake in Pakistan that formed a new island in the ocean, followed just 4 days later by 7.2 in the same region, a 7.0 earthquake in Peru, a daytime fireball in Alabama...these are just some of the highlights from the last week of another crazy month on planet Earth!
Thanks for watching here and stay safe!
© USGS
2013-10-06 16:38:08 UTC
2013-10-07 01:38:08 UTC+09:00 at epicenter
Location
12.280°N 141.693°E depth=104.0km (64.6mi)
Nearby Cities
306km (190mi) NNE of Fais, Micronesia
360km (224mi) WSW of Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon Village, Guam
361km (224mi) WSW of Mangilao Village, Guam
367km (228mi) WSW of Dededo Village, Guam
357km (222mi) WSW of Hagatna, Guam
Technical Survey
© USGS
2013-10-04 17:26:14 UTC
2013-10-04 22:26:14 UTC+05:00 at epicenter
Location
38.555°S 78.448°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)
Nearby Cities
114km (71mi) SE of Amsterdam Island,
2543km (1580mi) SSE of Ile Rodrigues, Mauritius
2831km (1759mi) SE of Mahebourg, Mauritius
2833km (1760mi) SE of Plaine Magnien, Mauritius
2866km (1781mi) SE of Port Louis, Mauritius
Technical Details
