Earthquakes
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Dominoes

Heading for a big one? Series of small earthquakes hit San Andreas fault

Sean Martin
Daily Express
Fri, 05 Jan 2018 11:27 UTC
California San Andreas fault earthquake
© Getty imagesCalifornia braced for the big one as series of earthquakes hit San Andreas fault
Earthquakes have hit California sparking frantic speculation the terrifying 'big one' is on its way.

In the last 48 hours, the southwestern State in the US has been rocked by eight tremors, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

All but three of the tremors have come along the San Andreas fault - a deadly line which runs through California and is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.

The strongest of the quakes came in Berkeley, near the east coast of California, which measured 4.4 on the Richter scale.

Californian residents took to social media to share their experiences of the earthquakes, with many fearing that the worst is yet to come.

Comment: Nobody knows when the dreaded 'big one' will come - yet it will come.

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Seismograph

Mount St. Helens has experienced 40 earthquakes since New Years day

Trevor Nace
Forbes
Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:22 UTC
Mount St. Helens 1
© U.S. Geological Survey via Getty ImagesA plume of condensation rises off Mount St. Helens, as viewed from the roof of the Cascades Volcano Observatory December 19, 2006, in Vancouver, Washington.
Since New Years Day Mount St. Helens has experienced 40 earthquakes within its vicinity as tremors continue every few hours. The most powerful earthquake was a magnitude 3.9 that occurred around midnight west coast time about 5 miles from Mount St. Helens and 23 miles from the town of Morton.

The 3.9 magnitude earthquake was felt in Portland but there were no reported injuries or damage. Since that earthquake there have been 16 more earthquakes, averaging about every half hour with magnitudes from 0.6 to 2.6.

It is common to experience swarms of earthquakes at Mount St. Helens. While it is certainly not a sign of an impending eruption, the earthquakes are a result of an active volcanic system.


Comment: It seems that swarms of earthquakes in the area are a more recent development and were not so common in previous years.


Mount St. Helens is most commonly known for its major eruption in 1980, the deadliest and most economically damaging volcanic event in the history of the United States. The stratovolcano is situated just 96 miles from Seattle and 50 miles from Portland, making an eruption especially dangerous.

Comment: In recent years there has been much activity in the surrounding area and the recent quakes are said to be related to magma movement underground. See also:

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Seismograph

Magnitude 5.9 earthquake south of Fiji


emsc-csem.org
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 21:03 UTC
chart
Summary

Magnitude Mw 5.9
Region SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
Date time 2018-01-02 14:57:18.7 UTC
Location 24.94 S ; 178.51 E
Depth 580 km

Distances 753 km S of Suva, Fiji / pop: 77,400 / local time: 03:57:18.7 2018-01-03
770 km SW of Nuku'alofa, Tonga / pop: 22,400 / local time: 04:57:18.7 2018-01-03
1264 km E of Nouméa, New Caledonia / pop: 93,100 / local time: 01:57:18.7 2018-01-03
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Seismograph

Flurry of 7 earthquakes rock Greek-Macedonia border region

Nicholas Bieber
Daily Star (UK)
Tue, 02 Jan 2018 20:50 UTC
The flurry of quakes has struck near Thessaloniki
© USGSThe flurry of quakes has struck near Thessaloniki
Seven quakes have struck northern Greece in less than 24 hours near the Brit holiday hotspot Thessaloniki.

The biggest one hit around 75km away from the tourist haven at 6.24am this morning (4.24am UK), measuring 5.0 magnitude.

It left buildings shaking as locals reported it being "scary", "loud and noisy" and "lasting about 6 seconds".

People in neighbouring country Republic of Macedonia also felt the quake.

Experts are now warning Greeks not to enter old buildings amid fears they will collapse.

They are also warning more quakes are likely to hit in the next 24 hours, and potentially a major one.
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Arrow Up

Record-breaking natural disasters from around the world in 2017 (PHOTOS)

Hilary Brueck
Business Insider
Sun, 24 Dec 2017 17:17 UTC
Hurricane Maria damage
© Carlos Giusti/APPeople walk next to a gas station flooded and damaged by the impact of Hurricane Maria, which hit the eastern region of the island, in Humacao, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, September 20, 2017.
2017 was an expensive, deadly year of natural disasters on Earth.

Wildfires relentlessly scorched dry land from California to Portugal. Super-strength hurricanes and tropical storms slammed homes from the Caribbean to Ireland. Famine continued in Somalia and Yemen, while avalanches killed more than a hundred people in Afghanistan.

People around the world recorded record-breaking devastation, much of it caused by higher-than-usual temperatures on land and at sea. Climate experts say that in a warming world, these fatal events will continue to worsen.


Comment: See these related articles on so-called 'global warming':

A November 2017 report released by the Trump Administration cautioned that "extreme climate events" like heavy rainfall, extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and sea-level rise will all get more severe around the globe, and that some of these events could result in abrupt, irreversible changes to the climate as we know it.

Here's a look at some of the deadly power Mother Nature wielded in 2017:

A trio of super-strong hurricanes pummeled the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast, with each storm causing tens of billions of dollars in damage.

Comment: For more information on extreme weather from around the world, check out our Earth Changes Summaries. The latest video for November 2017:

To understand how and why these extreme weather events are occurring read Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection by Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.

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Seismograph

One dead and dozens hurt as 4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes near Tehran, Iran

Tom Embury-Dennis
The Independent
Wed, 27 Dec 2017 19:55 UTC
graph
One person has died of a heart attack and at least 56 people were injured after a 4.2 magnitude earthquake struck 50km west of Tehran, according to state media.

Most of the injured were trying to escape buildings and were released from hospital after treatment, Iran's Emergency Medical Services said.

The earthquake, which struck at 12.54am local time, was an aftershock of a bigger 5.2 magnitude quake on 20 December, which left two people dead.
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Question

Minister rules out link between HAARP and Iran earthquakes


Tehran Times
Tue, 26 Dec 2017 18:35 UTC
Mohammad Hossein Zolfaqari
© Shahab GhayuomiMohammad Hossein Zolfaqari.
Tehran - Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Law Enforcement Mohammad Hossein Zolfaqari has ruled out a link between repeated earthquakes in Iran and the HAARP project, saying the claim lacks scientific basis.

The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) was initiated as an ionospheric research program jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Navy, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It was designed and built by BAE Advanced Technologies (BAEAT). Its original purpose was to analyze the ionosphere and investigate the potential for developing ionospheric enhancement technology for radio communications and surveillance.

As a university-owned facility, HAARP is a high-power, high-frequency transmitter used for study of the ionosphere.

Over time, HAARP has been blamed for generating such catastrophes, as well as thunderstorms, in Iran, Pakistan, Haiti, Turkey, Greece and the Philippines, and even major power outages, the downing of TWA Flight 800, Gulf War syndrome, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
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Seismograph

Tehran earthquake: Magnitude 5.2 tremor strikes near Iran's capital


The Independent (UK)
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 21:24 UTC
Iran earthquake map Dec 2017
© GoogleThe epicentre was at Meshkin Dasht in Alborz Province, 50 km west of Tehran

Quake comes five weeks after a major earthquake in the country killed at least 600 people

A large earthquake of magnitude 5.2 has struck Iran's capital Tehran, according to state television.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The report said the quake hit just before 11.30pm Wednesday local time, Reuters reports.

The epicentre was at Meshkin Dasht in Alborz Province, 50 km west of Tehran, Tasnim news agency quoted Morteza Salimi, the head of Relief and Rescue Organization of Iran's Red Crescent, as saying.

The earthquake was also felt in the cities of Karaj, Qom, Qazvin and Arak according to state TV.

"There have been no reports of casualties or damage," Behnam Saeedi, a spokesman for Iran's National Disaster Management Organization, was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.
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Seismograph

Huge 6.5 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesian island sparking fears of a tsunami (UPDATE, VIDEOS)

Jane Lavender and Dave Burke
Mirror
Fri, 15 Dec 2017 20:14 UTC
The earthquake has struck the Indonesian island
The earthquake has struck the Indonesian island
The massive earthquake has hit Java in Indonesia, where people were woken as their homes shook

A huge 6.5 magnitude earthquake has struck a holiday island sparking fears of a tsunami.

The massive earthquake has hit Java in Indonesia, where people were woken as their homes shook.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) said the epicentre of the quake was at a depth of 92 kms, about 52 kms southwest of Tasikmalaya, a city in West Java.

Describing the quake to CSEM EMSC, one witness wrote that tremors lasted for about a minute.

Comment: From theThe Guardian:
A powerful earthquake that struck the Indonesian island of Java has killed at least three people and caused damage to hundreds of buildings.

People ran into the street in panic in many areas and Indonesian television showed heavy traffic on roads as people fled coastal areas. There were also reports that buildings had collapsed in the city of Tasikmalaya in West Java.

A 62-year-old man in Ciamis and an 80-year-old woman in Pekalongan city were killed when the buildings they were in collapsed, a national disaster mitigation agency spokesman said. A 34-year-old woman from the city of Yogyakarta died when she fell while running out of her house.

People inspect the ruins of a house in Tasikmalaya in West Java after an earthquake
© Daeng/EPAPeople inspect the ruins of a house in Tasikmalaya in West Java after an earthquake
The latest news videos:





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Seismograph

Shallow 4.0 magnitude earthquake strikes northern Oregon; shaking felt across metro region


kgw.com
Wed, 13 Dec 2017 07:04 UTC
Oregon quake map
© USGS
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck west of Molalla, Oregon on Wednesday evening. KGW viewers reported shaking across the metro region.

The earthquake struck at 5:24 p.m., about 17 kilometers deep, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. The epicenter was directly east of Scotts Mills, a town of about 350 people in Marion County.

There have been no reports of damage yet. The Marion County Sheriff's Office said deputies are responding to the Scotts Mills area to check on residents as a precaution.

A 4.0 magnitude earthquake is relatively minor, although many people who were indoors felt the shaking.

"If you're really close to the epicenter area it's likely to give you a pretty good jolt, but this is not the type of earthquake that we would expect to see any damage associated with it," said Rafael Abreu, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "Very typical quake for the Pacific Northwest."

Abreu said he does not expect to see any aftershocks.

An earthquake struck in nearly the same spot in 1993. That earthquake was called the "Spring Break quake" and had a magnitude of 5.6.

Comment: The really big one: The next full Cascadia rupture will spell the worst natural disaster in North American history

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