A 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit eastern Japan on Saturday. Tremors were felt from inside Tokyo skyscrapers, and the city's high-speed train service was halted as a precaution. The earthquake struck at 8:44 p.m. local time (11:44 a.m. GMT) at a depth of 63 kilometers (39 miles) in the Chiba prefecture which neighbors Tokyo, the US Geological Survey reported. The quake shook skyscrapers in the Japanese capital and temporarily halted the city's high-speed train service, according to AFP. The trains soon resumed after a track inspection. Local broadcaster NHK assured that neither Tokyo's Narita International Airport nor regional nuclear installations were affected by the earthquake. There were no reports of damage or casualties. It comes just one week after another 5.5 earthquake struck close to the capital, and three weeks after a major 7.3 magnitude quake sent small tsunamis to Japan's northeast coast and prompted an evacuation at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
While earthquakes of different magnitudes are not uncommon in Japan, the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster that triggered the core meltdowns of three reactors at the Fukushima plant has made every quake report in the region particularly alarming. As the world watches with apprehension at how Fukushima's decommissioning work unfolds, prominent Japanese-Canadian scientist David Suzuki warned last week that another nearby earthquake of magnitude 7 or higher could trigger a serious nuclear catastrophe, decimating Japan and reaching the U.S. west coast. "If the fourth [reactor] goes under an earthquake and those rods are exposed, then it's bye, bye, Japan and everybody on the west coast of North America should be evacuated. And if that isn't terrifying, I don't know what is," Suzuki said.

Event Time
2013-11-16 03:34:34 UTC
2013-11-16 00:34:34 UTC-03:00 at epicenter

Location
60.400°S 46.900°W depth=32.0km (19.9mi)

Nearby Cities
923km (574mi) SW of Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
1414km (879mi) SE of Ushuaia, Argentina
1662km (1033mi) SE of Punta Arenas, Chile
1687km (1048mi) SE of Rio Gallegos, Argentina
1181km (734mi) SSE of Stanley, Falkland Islands

Technical Details

Event Time
2013-11-13 23:45:48 UTC
2013-11-13 20:45:48 UTC-03:00 at epicenter

Location
60.261°S 47.196°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
924km (574mi) SW of Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
1394km (866mi) SE of Ushuaia, Argentina
1641km (1020mi) SE of Punta Arenas, Chile
1666km (1035mi) SE of Rio Gallegos, Argentina
1159km (720mi) SSE of Stanley, Falkland Islands

Technical Details

To be in a body is to hear the heartbeat of death at every moment.

~Andrew Harvey~

As I write these words in early November, 2013, humanity is confronting an unprecedented and horrific challenge which it may or may not survive. I'm referring to two uncanny realities about which we are not being told the unmitigated truth.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which suffered a catastrophic meltdown on March 11, 2011 is poised to inflict death and disastrous illness on millions, if not billions of people, as a result of ghastly amounts of contaminated water that is gushing daily into the Pacific Ocean and has already been detected on the West coasts of Canada and the United States. (28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Fried By Fukushima Radiation)

Event Time
2013-11-12 07:03:51 UTC
2013-11-12 19:03:51 UTC+12:00 at epicenter

Location
54.681°N 162.286°E depth=47.2km (29.3mi)

Nearby Cities
172km (107mi) S of Ust'-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia
300km (186mi) NE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
305km (190mi) NE of Yelizovo, Russia
321km (199mi) NE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia
2733km (1698mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan

Technical details

Edmond - It's the question being asked across the state. Why are so many earthquakes rocking Oklahoma? Four hit Edmond Monday.

The answer may come from California.

A group of geophysicists are studying what they're calling "induced earthquakes," or quakes caused by human activity. The number of earthquakes to hit parts of Oklahoma have skyrocketed since 2009.

"It was a little unnerving," said North Edmond resident, Ken Janz.

The number of earthquakes felt over the last few years in Oklahoma have without a doubt been unusual. But, for Edmond resident Ken Janz and his family, it's almost becoming the norm.

The latest earthquake was a 3.3 magnitude around 3:15 Monday afternoon outside Edmond.

"It didn't sound like the last earthquake I was in, it was more just a loud boom, house shook momentarily," said Janz. "I thought maybe a tree or something had fallen over and hit the house."

"We've been aware of earthquakes caused by human activity for many, many, years," said California Research Geophysicist, Justin Rubinstein.

Oklahoma County - There was a lot of talk this weekend about those earthquakes. Many people reported not only feeling the rattle, but hearing a loud noise accompanying the quakes.

It's that boom which has many asking the question, why are Oklahoma earthquakes so loud.

Often when we think of earthquakes, we see videos of quakes around the world. The shaking of items off shelves and the knocking people down come to mind.

However, when it comes to Oklahoma earthquakes many people say it's not the shaking but the sound that is unnerving.

Doug Gregory, who lives close to where a number of the earthquakes happened over the weekend, said, "It's kind of like a thunderstorm going over but you know that's not happening."

Mr. Gregory said he felt several over the weekend.

Amie Gibson with the Oklahoma Geological Survey says so far this month Oklahoma has had at least 65 earthquakes. A couple of the largest earthquakes took place this weekend in the area of Memorial Road and Post Road.

Event Time
2013-11-03 11:03:39 UTC
2013-11-03 19:03:39 UTC+08:00 at epicenter

Location
4.614°N 123.358°E depth=546.3km (339.5mi)

Nearby Cities
199km (124mi) SSW of Palimbang, Philippines
207km (129mi) SW of Kiamba, Philippines
227km (141mi) SSW of Kalamansig, Philippines
231km (144mi) SW of Sebu, Philippines
933km (580mi) E of Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Technical Details

Event Time
2013-11-02 18:53:47 UTC
2013-11-02 06:53:47 UTC-12:00 at epicenter

Location
19.157°S 172.642°W depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
152km (94mi) ESE of Neiafu, Tonga
345km (214mi) NE of Nuku'alofa, Tonga
571km (355mi) SSW of Tafuna, American Samoa
578km (359mi) SSW of Pago Pago, American Samoa
596km (370mi) S of Apia, Samoa

Technical Details

A 6.6-magnitude earthquake rocked north-central Chile on Thursday, causing buildings to sway in the capital and nervous people to run out into the streets.But Chile's emergency services office said no damages to infrastructure were reported and Chile's Navy discarded the possibility of a tsunami.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake's epicenter was located about 54 kilometers (33 miles) southwest of the city of Coquimbo or about 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Santiago. Its depth was 10 kilometers (6 miles).