Earthquakes
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Radar

Strong Magnitude 6.2 Earthquake Hit Eastern Indonesian Province of Papua, Causing Panic Among Residents

Earthquake
© redOrbit
A strong earthquake hit Indonesia's eastern province of Papua on Wednesday, causing panic among residents, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The earthquake, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2, struck at 8:42 a.m. local time Wednesday (11:42 p.m. GMT Tuesday), said Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.

The agency said the quake was centered about 34 kilometers (21 miles) southwest of the mountainous town of Oksibil at a depth of 57 kilometers (35 miles).

It shocked residents in Oksibil, which is located south of Papua's provincial capital, Jayapura.

Radar

US: Seismic Waves Shaking Up Oklahoma,Georgia,Tennessee,& Texas--Sonic Boom-Birds & Bugs Flee

It seems that this past year has been filled with all types of strange weather patterns all across the nation.Between droughts,flooding, tornadoes and rare earthquakes many located in regions not known for seismic activity for 50-150 years.This past week alone reports have been flowing in from worried residents throughout Oklahoma,Georgia,Tennessee,& Texas.The residents reported they heard loud booming sounds while the earth beneath them rattled around .Radar tracking captured birds or bugs fleeing on as the tremors occured.Are these tremors the result caused by seismic waves ? You ask what are seismic waves ?

Seismic waves are waves of energy that travel through the earth, and are a result of an earthquake, explosion, or a volcano that imparts low-frequency acoustic energy. Many other natural and anthropogenic sources create low amplitude waves commonly referred to as ambient vibrations. Seismic waves are studied by seismologists and geophysicists. Seismic wave fields are measured by a seismograph, geophone, hydrophone (in water), or accelerometer.

The propagation velocity of the waves depends on density and elasticity of the medium. Velocity tends to increase with depth, and ranges from approximately 2 to 8 km/s in the Earth's crust up to 13 km/s in the deep mantle.

Bizarro Earth

Turkey - Earthquake Magnitude 5.2 - Near Van

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 22:08:15 UTC

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 12:08:15 AM at epicenter

Location:
8.664°N, 43.099°E

Depth:
10 km (6.2 miles)

Region:
EASTERN TURKEY

Distances:
31 km (19 miles) NW (307°) from Van, Turkey

119 km (74 miles) S (178°) from Karakose (Agri), Turkey

131 km (82 miles) NNW (335°) from Hakkari, Turkey

207 km (129 miles) SW (216°) from YEREVAN, Armenia

Bizarro Earth

US: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Lava lake sinks, spurring quakes

Image
© Hawaiian Volcano ObservatoryA large "skylight" in the Puu Oo lava field permits a view of a tube supplying lava to surface flows north of Royal Gardens subdivision. The tube, which heads southeast, is marked by the line of fume sources in the upper-right portion of the image.
Eight small earthquakes rocked Kilauea Volcano after the lava lake at the summit caldera dropped in elevation Sunday, U.S. geologists reported.

But that seismic shaking was actually below normal levels, they said.

The strongest quake was a magnitude 3.3 at 2:16 a.m. Sunday.

At Puu Oo, meanwhile, a "skylight" in the pahoehoe (smooth, ropy lava) field showed a tube transporting lava on the southeast flank to active flows about three miles to the south.

The active lava flows are within the Kahauale'a Natural Area Reserve, which remains closed to the public because of various hazards - including potentially lethal concentrations of sulfur dioxide - so they are visible only from the air.

But the glow from the vents and flows can be seen from the Hawaii County viewing area at Kalapana if weather conditions are right, said scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Hardhat

Did Fracking Cause Oklahoma's Largest Recorded Earthquake?

Oklahoma Earthquake fracking
© iStockphoto.com / cstar55QUAKE CAUSE?: Oklahoma recently experienced its strongest earthquake ever and some suggest drilling for oil and gas may have played a role.
Probably not, as the gas drilling practice tends to be associated with minor quakes, not big ones, seismologists say

The biggest earthquake ever recorded in Oklahoma struck on November 5, a magnitude 5.6 temblor that buckled a highway and ruptured water pipes. This quake is part of a skyrocketing rise in seismic activity the state has seen in the past three years, leading many to wonder - and worry - about its cause. Might the practice of fracking, a controversial method of drilling into rock for natural gas, be to blame?

The earthquake struck around 10 P.M. local time about 50 kilometers east of Oklahoma City, and was felt from Saint Louis to Dallas. Until then, the state's largest temblor was a magnitude 5.5 event near the town of El Reno in 1952.

Overall, only minor injuries and damage were reported after last weekend's earthquake. A magnitude 4.7 foreshock preceded the quake by about 20 hours, and dozens of aftershocks were detected as well. These all apparently happened on the well-mapped Wilzetta Fault. "It seems the east side of the fault moved a bit southward," says seismologist Randy Keller, director of the Oklahoma Geological Survey (OGS).

Bizarro Earth

Molucca Sea - Earthquake Magnitude 6.3

Molucca Quake_141111
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time
Monday, November 14, 2011 at 04:05:12 UTC

Monday, November 14, 2011 at 01:05:12 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location
0.954°S, 126.864°E

Depth
19.4 km (12.1 miles)

Region
MOLUCCA SEA

Distances
200 km (124 miles) SSW of Ternate, Moluccas, Indonesia

337 km (209 miles) NNW of Ambon, Moluccas, Indonesia

853 km (530 miles) N of DILI, Timor-Leste

1347 km (836 miles) NNW of DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia

Bizarro Earth

US: Wanna experience the apocalypse before it happens? Visit Oklahoma!

Image
© Unknown
After one of the strangest local weather days in memory, an Oklahoma woman with a sense of humor asked on Twitter earlier this week:

"Wanna experience the apocalypse before it happens? Visit Oklahoma!"

She posted that on Monday night shortly after a 4.7-magnitude aftershock earthquake shook the state. The temblor occurred not long after six tornadoes ripped through southwest Oklahoma, which was preceded by flash-flooding in an area that's been plagued by a historic drought.

"Seriously, WHAT'S GOING ON?" someone else tweeted that night.

The answers vary. Global warning? Coincidence? Bad luck? Bad timing? End of time?

There's agreement on only one thing: It's been weird all year.

"Even for Oklahoma, this is crazy," said Rick Smith, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Norman. "Since January, we've been setting records. People are just kind of amazed and shocked."

State records set this year have ranged from the lowest temperature (31 degrees below zero in Nowata in northeast Oklahoma) to snowfall in a 24-hour period (27 inches, also in Nowata) to the largest hail stone (a spiky, six-inch piece recovered in Gotebo, in southwest Oklahoma).

This year also produced the state's highest-ever-recorded surface wind speed (151 miles per hour near El Reno, outside of Oklahoma City) and biggest known earthquake (5.6 magnitude, breaking the 1956 record).

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 4.2 Western Montana

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Friday, November 11, 2011 at 17:51:53 UTC

Friday, November 11, 2011 at 10:51:53 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
46.618°N, 113.557°W

Depth:
12.1 km (7.5 miles)

Region:
WESTERN MONTANA

Distances:
21 km (13 miles) SE (145°) from Clinton, MT

32 km (20 miles) W (260°) from Drummond, MT

37 km (23 miles) NNW (328°) from Philipsburg, MT

314 km (195 miles) ESE (111°) from Spokane, WA

666 km (414 miles) N (349°) from Salt Lake City, UT

Bizarro Earth

New Caledonia: Earthquake Magnitude 5.2 Offshore

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Friday, November 11, 2011 at 19:00:47 UTC

Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 06:00:47 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
22.750°S, 168.268°E

Depth:
130.7 km (81.2 miles)

Region:
NEW CALEDONIA

Distances:
138 km (85 miles) SSE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

194 km (120 miles) ESE of NOUMEA, New Caledonia

369 km (229 miles) SSW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu

1624 km (1009 miles) ENE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Bizarro Earth

Greece: Earthquake Magnitude 5.2 Northwest of Athens

Image
© USGS
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake struck about 167 km (104) miles from Athens and about 27 km from Patras, Greece. The shallow earthquake was reported at a depth of just 6.9 km (4.3 miles) below the surface. There have been no initial reports of damages.