Earthquakes
S


Brick Wall

In pictures: Italy earthquake

Image
© ReutersA 6.0-magnitude earthquake has rocked a swathes of northern Italy, killing at least four people.
Image
© AFPMany historic buildings across Emilia Romagna were destroyed, with the government describing the damage to the region's cultural heritage as "significant".

Bizarro Earth

Update: Powerful quake kills at least 3 in northern Italy

Italy tower quake
© AFP/Getty ImagesA bell tower in Santuario, Italy, was damaged after an earthquake on Saturday.
Rome - One of the strongest earthquakes to shake northern Italy rattled the region around Bologna early Sunday, a magnitude-6.0 temblor that killed at least three people, toppled some buildings and sent residents running into the streets, emergency services and news reports said.

The quake struck at 4:04 a.m. Sunday between Modena and Mantova, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 5 kilometers (3.2 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said.

It was one of the strongest quakes to shake the region, seismologists said, and initial television footage indicated that older buildings had suffered damage: roofs collapsed, church towers showed cracks and the bricks of some stone walls tumbled into the street. As dawn broke over the region, residents milled about the streets inspecting the damage.

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - Northern Italy

N.Italy Quake_200512
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 02:03:52 UTC

Sunday, May 20, 2012 at 04:03:52 AM at epicenterTime of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:

44.800°N, 11.192°E

Depth:
5.1 km (3.2 miles)

Region:

NORTHERN ITALY

Distances:
36 km (22 miles) NNW of Bologna, Italy

69 km (42 miles) E of Parma, Italy

72 km (44 miles) SSE of Verona, Italy

339 km (210 miles) NNW of ROME, Italy

Bizarro Earth

Lessons From Past Earthquakes and Implications For Today and The Future

Image
© Unknown
The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were intense beginning initially with dual earthquakes on December 16, 1811. These earthquakes remain the most powerful to hit the eastern United States in recorded history according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The events were named for the Mississippi River town of New Madrid now within Missouri. Some sections of the Mississippi River appeared to run backward for a short time during the 1811-1812 earthquakes. A request, dated January 13, 1812, by William Clark , then the governor of the Louisiana Territory, asked for expeditious federal relief for the "inhabitants of New Madrid County".

There are estimates that the earthquakes were felt considerably over a 50,000 sq. mi. area. By comparison, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was felt moderately over a much smaller area and a repeat event is expected soon. The New Madrid Seismic Zone consists of reactivated faults that formed when North America began to split during the breakup of a supercontinent during the Neoproterozoic Era. Faults were created along the rift and igneous rocks formed from magma which pushed multi-directionally toward the surface.

In a report filed in November 2008, the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency warned that a serious earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone could result in "the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster in the United States," further predicting "widespread and catastrophic" damage across Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and particularly Tennessee, where a 7.7 magnitude quake or greater would cause damage to tens of thousands of structures affecting water facilities, transportation and other vital infrastructure.

Question

Mystery Earthquake Near McCall Puzzles Scientists, Technicians

Mystery Quake
© KTVB.com
McCall, Idaho -- You could call it a mystery earthquake, a sonic boom, or maybe nothing at all.

Several witnesses report waking up to what they say was a small earthquake south of McCall early Thursday around 4:30 a.m. However, those shaky claims have employees at Idaho's U.S. Geological Survey scratching their heads in disbelief.

Mickey Hart lives five miles south of McCall just off Highway 55. The 50-year-old resident said she's experienced one previous earthquake here in the summer of 2001.

The second earthquake came early Thursday around 4:30 a.m. Hart says that's when her beloved border collie, Mr. Mac, detected the tremor before it hit.

"It was four in the morning, and the house shook," Hart said. "It woke up my husband and scared the crap out of my dog."

However, for some folks here in Idaho, those reports just don't seem to make sense.

U.S. Geological Survey Technical Information Specialist Tim Merrick said his agency's seismographs haven't shown any recent earthquake activity in Idaho.

"If there was anything, it would almost certainly show up," Merrick said. "Our seismology network across the United States is very sensitive."

Scott VanHoff, USGS Geospatial Mapping Coordinator, agrees.

"Idaho looks amazingly quiet, and I don't see anything," VanHoff said, adding that the only earthquake he'd seen recorded was yesterday. USGS records show that event was a magnitude 2.2 earthquake recorded around 9:30 p.m., at a location northwest of Weiser, Idaho.

However, other folks in the Valley County area maintain they positively did feel an earthquake early Thursday morning.

Captain Brandon Swain with the McCall Fire Department says he heard reports of the mystery earthquake from his brother, Clint Swain, who lives near Lake Fork.

"My brother was awake at about 4:30 or 5 a.m., and the earthquake woke up his wife," Swain said.

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Off The Coast of Aisen, Chile

Aisen Quake_180512
© USGS
Date-Time:
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 02:00:41 UTC

Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 09:00:41 PM at epicenterTime of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:

44.594°S, 80.073°W

Depth:
10 km (6.2 miles)

Region:

OFF THE COAST OF AISEN, CHILE

Distances:
542 km (336 miles) WSW of Castro, Los Lagos, Chile

639 km (397 miles) W of Coihaique, Aisen, Chile

676 km (420 miles) WSW of Puerto Montt, Los Lagos, Chile

1478 km (918 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile

Bizarro Earth

Scientists turn to Alaska over fears active fault-line could cause Japan-style tsunami that could devastate California and Hawaii

Scientists say a fault-line running across Alaska could cause tsunamis of the same magnitude as the Japanese disaster of March last year. Attention has turned to the Alaskan-Aleutian subduction zone, a region where one of the earth's tectonic plate, carrying the Pacific Ocean, drops beneath the North American plate.

A particular section of the fault near the Semidi Islands has not ruptured since at least 1788, and measurements on this area - which lies four to five kilometres under water - reveal the pressure is accumulating rapidly. If the Pacific Ocean plate slips, as happened in the geographically-similar Tohoku subduction zone off the coast of Japan, a tsunami could occur - and the deaths could happen as far away as Hawaii and California.
Image
© GoogleThe Semidi Islands lie close to the faultline, and an earthquake could send a tsunami towards Hawaii and California

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - Papua New Guinea

PNG Quake_160512
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 00:59:34 UTC

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at 10:59:34 AM at epicenterTime of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:

5.556°S, 149.710°E

Depth:
154 km (95.7 miles)

Region:

NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Distances:

48 km (29 miles) W of Kimbe, New Britain, PNG

74 km (45 miles) NNE of Kandrian, New Britain, PNG

513 km (318 miles) NNE of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea

2453 km (1524 miles) N of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.2 - Tarapaca, Chile

Tarapaca Quake_140512
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:

Monday, May 14, 2012 at 10:00:39 UTC

Monday, May 14, 2012 at 06:00:39 AM at epicenterTime of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
17.816°S, 69.749°W

Depth:
98.3 km (61.1 miles)

Region:

TARAPACA, CHILE

Distances:

66 km (41 miles) ENE of Tacna, Peru

107 km (66 miles) NE of Arica, Tarapaca, Chile

143 km (88 miles) ESE of Moquegua, Peru

1745 km (1084 miles) N of SANTIAGO, Region Metropolitana, Chile

Bell

Moderate earthquake hits Tajikistan: USGS

A moderate earthquake of 5.7 magnitude struck near Kulob, Tajikistan, early on Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.