Earthquakes
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Earthquake hits southern Spain, ten dead

Image
© Unknown
Damaged cars in Lorca after the earthquake
At least ten people were reported dead and dozens injured after an earthquake shook southeastern Spain on Wednesday, toppling historic buildings in the medieval town of Lorca.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the town of Lorca in southern Spain, leaving seven people dead and several medieval buildings collapsed.

The 5.2 magnitude earthquake was felt across the Murcia region, where hundreds of British expatriate live, from Alicante to Malaga and as far away as Madrid.

A 5.1 magnitude earthquake has hit the town of Lorca in southern Spain, leaving a seven people dead and several medieval buildings collapsed.

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 5.3 earthquake kills at least 4 in Spain

5.3 earthquake spain
© Unknown
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake has toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, killing at least four people, officials say.

The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.

TV shots showed rescue workers rushing through debris-littered streets.

Lorca Mayor Francisco Jodar told local radio the four deaths were caused by falling debris and cave-ins.

Old buildings, including a clocktower, were badly damaged by the quake, which followed a smaller 4.4-magnitude quake about two hours earlier.

Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has deployed emergency military units to the scene, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.

Earthquakes are common in southern Spain, but they rarely result in casualties.

A number of aftershocks have been felt in the Murcia region, where authorities fear the death toll could rise.

The area worst hit by Tuesday's quake suffered previous tremors in 2005 and 1999.

Bizarro Earth

Loyalty Islands: Earthquake Magnitude 6.8

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 08:55:09 UTC

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 07:55:09 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
20.252°S, 168.273°E

Depth:
14.9 km (9.3 miles)

Region:
LOYALTY ISLANDS

Distances:
134 km (83 miles) SW of Isangel, Tanna, Vanuatu

149 km (92 miles) NNE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

276 km (171 miles) S of PORT-VILA, Efate, Vanuatu

1741 km (1081 miles) ENE of BRISBANE, Queensland, Australia

Bizarro Earth

US: Earthquake Magnitude 3.9 - Colorado

Image
© USGS
Date-Time:
Monday, May 09, 2011 at 23:28:53 UTC

Monday, May 09, 2011 at 05:28:53 PM at epicenter

Location:
37.139°N, 104.726°W

Depth:
4.9 km (3.0 miles)

Region:
COLORADO

Distances:
9 km (6 miles) W (266°) from Cokedale, CO

18 km (11 miles) W (278°) from Starkville, CO

20 km (12 miles) W (260°) from Trinidad, CO

126 km (78 miles) S (184°) from Pueblo, CO

288 km (179 miles) S (176°) from Denver, CO

Bizarro Earth

US: Mysterious Maine Earthquakes Caused by Ice Age Rebound

Mid Coast Earthquakes
© Wire.comMid coast earthquakes.
On the last day of April and first five days of May, dozens of tiny earthquakes caused Maine's eastern coast to tremble. What could have shaken this geologically quiet region, located in the middle of a tectonic plate, far from any active faults?

The last ice age, say geologists. Like a trampoline's surface after liftoff, Earth's crust along the eastern seaboard is still springing back from the pressing weight of a massive ice sheet that has since melted. The earthquakes are a present-time reminder of processes that are prehistoric at a human scale, but from a geological perspective still ongoing.

"This action is still taking place," said Robert Marvinney, director of Maine's Bureau of Geology. "Five or ten thousand feet of ice weighs a lot."

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.3 - West of MacQuarie Island

MacQuarie Quake_090511
© USGSEarthquake Location
Date-Time:
Monday, May 09, 2011 at 18:54:42 UTC

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 04:54:42 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
56.612°S, 147.837°E

Depth:
1 km (~0.6 mile) (poorly constrained)

Region:
WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND

Distances:
730 km (453 miles) WSW of Macquarie Island, Australia

1192 km (740 miles) NNE of Dumont d'Urville, Antarctica

1523 km (946 miles) S of HOBART, Tasmania, Australia

2100 km (1304 miles) S of MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia

Evil Rays

Earthquake shakes wide area of southern Mexico

Image
© Unknown
A moderately strong earthquake shook Mexico's Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Wednesday, sending people fleeing into the streets. No damages or injuries were reported.

The magnitude-5.8 quake occurred at 8:24 a.m. local time (1324 GMT) and was centered about 85 miles (138 kilometers) east of Acapulco, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on its website.

The quake occurred at a depth of nearly 6 miles (10 kilometers).

Bad Guys

US: Swarm of Tiny Earthquakes Stretches From Belfast to Bucksport

Image
© The Associated Press
Searsport, Maine - As many as 30 tiny earthquakes have been detected over the last few days in the area between Belfast and Bucksport, but geologists say there's no cause for alarm.

"Microquakes is what we call them," Henry Berry, a bedrock geologist with Maine Geological Survey, said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. "Unless you were right there, you wouldn't notice them."

But plenty of people have been noticing, Searsport Police Chief Dick LaHaye said Tuesday afternoon, just minutes after he dispatched an officer to Savory Road, where a resident had called to inform authorities about another earthquake.

They've responded to calls about gunshots and shotgun blasts, calls from people who felt their feet vibrate along with the earth and calls about things falling off shelves - all of which were determined to be related to the earthquake, he said.

"We'll continue to investigate," LaHaye said. "There's obviously something going on. It's outside of the police purview at this point, but we'll continue to respond to any and all calls that come in."

The quakes have all measured less than 2 on the Richter magnitude scale, according to a press release from the Maine Department of Conservation. On that scale, the threshold at which damage can occur is magnitude 5.

Bizarro Earth

US, Texas: Smaller Earthquakes Could Mean A Large One Is Coming

Four Earthquakes Border Region In One Week

In the past week, the El Paso region has had four earthquakes at least 4.2 in scale. Seismologist Aaron Velasco tells KFOX14 the earthquakes could foreshadow a large scale earthquake in El Paso.

These earthquakes all happened in a remote area of Chihuahua, Mexico. They were still pretty close to the U.S. border.

Most El Pasoans KFOX 14 spoke with said they never worry about earthquakes because they don't think we're on a fault line. Velasco said the mountains in El Paso are proof that we are on one or more fault lines. "The hazard is not zero here in El Paso," said Velasco. "It's low compared to California and Japan, but at any particular time that means that we could have an earthquake."

Emergency services and Red Cross experts told us that the best thing El Pasoans can do is to prepare themselves for an earthquake. They recommend keeping a go-bag, or emergency kit with things like: AM/FM radio, flashlight, fresh batteries, bottled water, a first-aid kit, and even a whistle in case you get trapped somewhere.

Info

Mexico: Second earthquake in one week recorded in Northern Chihuahua

A 4.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded just before 5:45 a.m. Monday 34 miles southwest of Sierra Blanca in Chihuahua, Mexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The earthquake occurred days after another tremor was recorded in Chihuahua about 40 miles south of Fort Hancock. That quake also registered a 4.3 magnitude on the Richter scale.