Earthquakes
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Fire

This week in volcano news: Tsurumidake alert level raised - Raung gas emissions

volcano
In the last week, the alert level was raised at the Tsurumidake volcano which more than 100,000 people live in close proximity to. Also, the Raung volcano produced an earthquake swarm which was associated with an increase in sulfur dioxide emissions. Clearly, magma is present at depth. And, also in Japan, the Tomachidake volcano is showing signs of unrest. This video will discuss these volcano related news stories, as told and analyzed by a volcanologist.


Seismograph

Shallow 6.4-magnitude earthquake hits off the coast of Chile

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 jolted Off the coast of Aisen, Chile at 19:37:21 GMT on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 10.0 km, was initially determined to be at 44.5696 degrees south latitude and 79.7528 degrees west longitude.

Seismograph

Shallow 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Easter Island region

quake
6.8 magnitude earthquake

UTC time: Tuesday, July 12, 2022 19:17 PM
Your time: Tuesday, July 12, 2022 at 8:17 PM GMT+1
Magnitude Type: mww
USGS page: M 6.8 - Easter Island region
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 1 person

10 km depth

Seismograph

Shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake off Vanuatu

quake
UTC time: Monday, July 11, 2022 21:10 PM
Your time: Monday, July 11, 2022 at 10:10 PM GMT+1
Magnitude Type: mww
USGS page: M 6.0 - 84 km ESE of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 3 people

10 km depth

Fire

This week in volcano news: Fuego erupts, warning on Kanlaon

Volcán de Fuego, Guatemala
Volcán de Fuego, Guatemala
This week there were several major news stories related to volcanoes. In Guatemala, Volcan Fuego produced a long duration pyroclastic flow which travelled 6 kilometers away from its summit. It stopped only a short distance from a local town.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the Phivolcs disaster agency released a special warning regarding the Kanlaon volcano. And, in Alaska, two volcanoes which have each not erupted in about a century produced a several thousand foot tall plume of ash.

This video will discuss these volcano related news stories, as told and analyzed by a volcanologist.


Seismograph

At least five people killed in magnitude 6 earthquake in Iran

People sit by the rubble amidst destruction in the aftermath of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Iran's southern Hormozgan province on 2 July.
© AFPPeople sit by the rubble amidst destruction in the aftermath of a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in Iran's southern Hormozgan province on 2 July.
At least five people were killed and dozens more injured in a shallow magnitude 6 earthquake that shook southern Iran early Saturday, according to an initial report by the state news agency Irna.

According to state television, 49 people were injured in three successive earthquakes that shook the southern province of Hormozgan, including the worst-hit village of Sayeh Khosh.

The first earthquake occurred at about 02:00 local time (21:30 GMT) with a magnitude of 6 at a depth of 16 km, according to the US Seismological Institute (USGS).

It was followed by two other aftershocks, two hours later, with a magnitude of 5.7 and 6, at a depth of 10 km.

According to television footage, several residential buildings collapsed in Sayeh Khosh and the town was plunged into darkness following a power failure.


Seismograph

6.0-magnitude earthquake rattles northern Philippines

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An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 rattled Cagayan province in the northern Philippines before dawn on Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

The institute said the quake, which occurred at 2:40 a.m. local time, hit at a depth of 27 km, about 27 km southeast of Dalupiri Island in Calayan town.

The tremor was also felt in nearby provinces, including Apayao and Ilocos Sur on the main Luzon island. The institute said the tectonic quake will trigger aftershocks but can not cause damage.

The Philippines has frequent seismic activity due to its location along the Pacific "Ring of Fire." (ANI/Xinhua)

Fire

This week in volcano news: Supervolcano earthquake swarm - Ebeko erupts

Ebeko
In the last week, an earthquake swam began underneath the dangerous Long Valley supervolcano in California. In less than a week more than 400 quakes occurred at shallow depths. Meanwhile in Vanuatu, the Ambrym volcano is showing signs of unrest and is likely to produce a significant flank eruption in the near future. And, in the Kuril Islands, two volcanoes began new eruptions on the island of Paramushir. This video will discuss these volcano related news stories, as told and analyzed by a volcanologist.


Info

Serious issues with plate tectonics

Geological map of Alaska showing various exotic terranes.
© USGSGeological map of Alaska showing various exotic terranes.
David Pratt's publication in the year 2000 enumerates multiple problems affecting the theory of plate tectonics and seafloor spreading.

The above schematic of Alaska reveals regions of rock strata that appear to have "accreted" to an original craton. Southern Alaska is composed of fragments in all shapes and sizes, each one telling its own tale. They are all "exotic terranes", formed at different places and times. How they were transported to their present location, and why some are rotated with respect to adjoining terranes is a mystery.

Some exotic terranes arrived from regions on the other side of the world, while others are from nearby locations. They are each quite different from one another in their characteristics, representing strata from many so-called "geologic ages". There are deposits from the Quaternary period lying in proximity to those from the Cambrian and Mesozoic periods. Those epochs represent hundreds of millions of years. If the theory of continental movement is correct, then "collisions" between landmasses took place more than a dozen times in Alaska. However, each terrane is not arranged side-by-side with its neighbor, they are intermixed with each other, as the schematic reveals.

Another puzzling aspect to the terrane lithography is that some of it is oceanic crust, while some is continental. Some terranes appear to be from volcanic islands. Others appear to be the remains of continental shelves from South America. Less than one percent of Alaska is thought to be from the "original" North American continent.

In the Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 14, No. 3, pages 307-352, David Pratt took issue with the theory of tectonic displacement of continental and ocean floor structure. As he wrote: "The classical model of thin lithospheric plates moving over a global asthenosphere is shown to be implausible."

Seismograph

Best of the Web: Powerful earthquake kills at least 1,150 in Afghanistan (UPDATE)

quake
© BAKHTAR NEWS AGENCYTaliban officials and residents survey the damage to homes in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province after a major earthquake.
A powerful earthquake has killed at least 920 people and left hundreds more injured in Afghanistan, Taliban officials have said.

Pictures show landslides and ruined mud-built homes in eastern Paktika province, where rescuers have been scrambling to treat the injured.

In remote areas, helicopters have been ferrying victims to hospitals.

Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada said hundreds of houses were destroyed and the death toll was likely to rise.


Comment: Update June 24

The New Arab reports:
A devastating earthquake in crisis-hit Afghanistan this week resulted in at least 1,150 deaths, according to figures from state media on Friday.

damage
The death toll from a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan continued to climb days after it turned brick and stone homes into rubble, killing 1,150 people and wounding scores more, according to the latest figures carried in state media on Friday.

The country of 38 million people was already in the midst of a spiralling economic crisis that had plunged millions deep into poverty with over a million children at risk of severe malnutrition.

The magnitude 6 quake has left thousands without shelter.

State media reported that close to 3,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged in Wednesday's earthquake.