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Tag: Earthquake

  • Iran Earthquake Hits Thursday, At Least 7 Killed

    A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck Iran on Thursday, at about 5:21 pm local time, killing at least seven as of the most recent reporting. The epicenter was approximately 40 miles northeast of the city of Bushehr, which is the location of the country’s single nuclear power plant.

    The death toll was reported by the state news agency, IRNA. IANS and Fars news agencies quote it at eight dead. IANS puts the injured at 45. The agencies also report slightly different magnitudes, by a tenth of a point; 5.6 was reported by the U.S. Geological Survey.

    IRNA reported that there was, “total calm,” in the area, quoting the governor of Bushehr, Fereidoun Hasanvand. The governor also says that relief teams are traveling to damaged areas. Fars news agency says that helicopters will fly out on Friday to assess the impact.

    State television announces that the nuclear plant, which went online in 2011, is undamaged. People fled their houses, afraid they would crash in on their residents. A spokesman for the Red Crescent, a humanitarian organization including the Red Cross, witnessed some residential damage as many homes in the area were not earthquake-proof.

    The area is no stranger to seismic activity. An April quake killed at least 37 people and ranked a 6.1 on the Richter scale, that in a town near Bushehr. The nuclear plant sustained no damage.

    Iran itself is a hotbed of activity, located where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates meet resulting in fault lines covering large swaths of the country. In the last decades, nine quakes in Iran reached over a 6.0 magnitude, one of the most destructive in 2003 killing at least 26,000 people in the city of Bam. Iran is estimated to experience one minor quake per day.

    Iran and six world powers, the U.S. included, are embarking on an agreement to curb the country’s nuclear ambitions as of a Sunday announcement. Iran has steadfastly maintained that any nuclear capabilities are peaceful in intent, but that is contradicted by long term skepticism.

    [Image via CIA World Factbook.]

  • Ohio Earthquake Shakes Things Up

    A 3.5 magnitude earthquake shook Ohio today and alarmed residents. The earthquake took place near Nelsonville, Ohio, a small town just North of Athens and East of Columbus. It took place at 12:59 p.m. and was felt throughout southern Ohio and even in West Virginia. The earthquake’s epicenter was 4.9 miles deep about 2.5 miles east-southeast of Nelsonville.

    There were no reports of injuries or damage caused by the earthquake. Earthquakes that measure a 3.5 on the Richter scale are usually small and although they can be felt indoors and over fairly large distances, they are not usually strong enough to cause any damage. The earthquake felt today was the most powerful in Ohio since a 4.0-magnitude temblor centered at Youngstown occurred on Dec. 31, 2011, according to the Ohio Division of Natural Resources’ geological survey.

    Ohio doesn’t usually have to worry about earthquakes, and when they do happen, they are almost always relatively low on the Richter scale. After the quake, many people started looking for the cause of the quake. One popular theory is that water fracking could be causing the earthquakes that do occur in Ohio.

    Water fracking is the process of pumping water into the ground to add pressure to walls, eventually causing cracks that allow natural gas to flow out of them. Youngstown, Ohio is the site of fracking used to expel gas from the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation rich in natural gas. Fracking is known to cause earthquakes and has been proven to be the cause of several in Oklahoma and the 2011 earthquake that struck Youngstown, Ohio.

    Many experts argue that fracking does not cause earthquakes and that the areas where the earthquakes occur are positioned on fault lines. It has not been determined if the earthquake that struck Ohio today was caused by fracking.

    Image from The Columbus Dispatch.

  • Tsunami Debris Still Headed to US, Just No Island

    UPDATE: Nicholas Mallos, Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris specialist, said this with regard to clarifications from the NOAA about the reports of a “Texas-sized” island: “Following the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan a tremendous quantity of debris washed into the Pacific and began heading toward North America. While this debris was initially a solid mass, NOAA is right to indicate that it is not a flotilla and has dispersed significantly in the two years since.

    Tsunami debris is still a very real threat for which we must remain vigilant. What doesn’t reach land will likely end up in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre with the myriad ocean trash already there due to our excessive use of disposable products. As a result, we’re communicating regularly with the Japanese government and environmental officials to ensure a swift response if or when debris makes landfall.”

    Main Story: In the spring of 2011, a massive tsunami/earthquake disaster struck Japan, killing roughly 15,000 and sweeping millions of artifacts and debris from Japanese cities into the Pacific Ocean.

    Earlier this year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was reportedly continuing their efforts to keep the North American coast and the island of Hawaii relatively free from debris, but artifacts like housing materials and styrofoam likely originate from the March 2011 tsunami.

    Nancy Wallace, the director of the marine debris program at NOAA, told LiveScience last March that “This has been a very unprecedented event… We just don’t know how much debris is still floating in the water.”

    The drama came to a climax this week when it was reported on multiple media outlets that an island of tsunami debris the size of Texas was on a crash-course with the West Coast.

    NOAA officials with the Marine Debris Program tried to calm the calamitous media with a blog post. “Here’s the bottom line:” they write. “There is no solid mass of debris from Japan heading to the United States.”

    The team went on, saying “While there likely is some debris still floating at sea, the North Pacific is an enormous area, and it’s hard to tell exactly where the debris is or how much is left. A significant amount of debris has already arrived on U.S. and Canadian shores, and it will likely continue arriving in the same scattered way over the next several years.”

    Essentially, there are too many unknowns and variables to calculate before anyone can make conclusions about aspects of the debris like the surface area. (“Texas”-sized, really?) Lots of debris has already arrived, anyway: at least a dock, a Japanese skiff, and 30 other items have washed up on beaches in Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, and British Columbia. Some of those items had so much foreign marine life, they needed to be decontaminated lest we endure even more invasive species.

    Here’s some news footage from earlier this year of the cleanup efforts, which were still underway:

    [Image via Wikimedia Commons]

  • Japan Earthquake Triggers Tsunamis

    An earthquake hit off the coast of Honshu, Japan, on October 25, 2013, measuring a magnitude of 7.1 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports. According to local Tokyo time, the earthquake hit at 2:10 a.m. and produced tsunamis at four reported locations measuring fifteen inches each. While a 1-meter tsunami advisory was issued for much of Japan’s northeastern coast, this advisory only lasted for two hours after the earthquake hit.

    There have been no fatalities reported as a result of the earthquake, nor any reports of lasting damage. In fact, even Japanese television has been showing images of placid waters surrounding the coast.

    The earthquake happened east of the Japan Trench and within the crust of the Pacific plate, which is about 170 miles from Fukushima and 300 miles from Tokyo, yet the earthquake was still felt as far away as Tokyo.

    A Fukushima prefectural government official, Satoshi Mizuno, gave a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

    “It was fairly big, and rattled quite a bit, but nothing fell to the floor or broke. We’ve had quakes of this magnitude before. Luckily, the quake’s center was very far off the coast,” said Mizuno, who works for the disaster management department.

    Japan has experienced multiple storms lately where recuperation efforts are still underway from Super Typhoon Francisco. Part of the reason for the repeat occurrences are due to Japan’s location near the following four tectonic plates: Pacific plate, North America plate, Eurasia plate, and Philippine Sea plate.

    The earthquake has risen concerns about the stability of Japan’s nuclear reactors where it has been confirmed that Japan’s fifty nuclear reactors are presently offline.

    Efforts are still underway to clean the radiation leak near the Fukushima nuclear plant where reports have indicated that this process is behind schedule. According to Satoshi Mizuno, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which is the company that oversees the Fukushima plant, have not noted any damage as a result of this recent earthquake.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDFOTDS5FVA

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons And Courtesy of Captain Blood]

  • Phillippines Earthquake – Death Toll Rising

    Phillippines Earthquake – Death Toll Rising

    A 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines on Tuesday, killing over 90 people. Cebu and Bohol were two of the areas that were hit the hardest by the earthquake and the following aftershocks and were also the areas where to most fatalities occurred. Churches, homes and low-rise building were all destroyed from the quake. Renato Solidum, head of the state seismology agency, said: “A magnitude 7 earthquake has energy equivalent to around 32 Hiroshima atomic bombs.

    Bridges and roads were destroyed, making it almost impossible for travel and power outages prevented many people from contacting loved ones and causing hospitals to evacuate patients. A centuries old church was one of the many structures destroyed by the quake.

    The quake struck at 8:12am local time, at a depth of 20 miles below Carmen town on Bohol. Cebu and Bohol are both large tourist towns and rescuers were working hard to help people trapped inside collapsed building or underneath rubble. There were no reports of any foreign tourists among the casualties. President Benigno Aquino will visit the earthquake-damaged areas on Wednesday.

    Although the death toll is likely to rise as workers remove debris and gain access to more homes and buildings, it could have been much higher if not for a new public holiday that was being observed Tuesday. the Muslim holiday known as Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice) kept many children out of schools and people out of office building, many of which collapsed during the earthquake.

    The 2010 Haiti earthquake that caused so much devastation was a 7.0 magnitude quake, making it slightly weaker than the one that struck the Philippines. It is not uncommon for the Philippines to be hit with powerful earthquakes. The are situated on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of islands that are prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions. Tuesday’s earthquake was followed by at least four aftershocks measuring more than 5.0 in magnitude.

    Aftershocks can caused building that have been weakened by the earthquake to collapse, making it dangerous for rescuers to find everyone. Once the aftershocks have stopped, it will be safe for rescuers to assess the situation and aftermath and get a better idea of injuries and damage.

    Image from Wikimedia Commons.

  • Philippines Earthquake: Death Toll Now at 85

    The death toll from a deadly earthquake that struck the Philippines at 8:12 am local time, has risen from an initial count of 6 to 85 dead. The quake hit near Balilihan, a town of about 18,000 people on Bohol, at a depth of 12 miles, the United States Geological Survey reported. The town lies across a strait about 37 miles from Cebu island, where the majority of fatalities were reported. Efforts are hampered, as would be expected, by power outages and communications damage, according to Sky News.

    Neil Sanchez, the head of Cebu’s disaster management office, said: “Communication lines are quite difficult here. “Even the disaster risk reduction management office has been damaged. We had to move elsewhere.”

    Watch as it actually happens:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwIY_eBHXeI

    Residents, as well as tourists, reported that there was extensive damage to historical and modern buildings, including a major university. They also reported several road outages, as many had been simply ripped apart.

    The earthquake was a rude awakening for some. Janet Maribao, a receptionist on Cebu, said: “I was fast asleep when suddenly I woke up because my bed was shaking. I was so shocked, I could do nothing but hide under the bed.”

    The initial earthquake was then followed by at least four jarring aftershocks, each measuring at more than a 5.0 magnitude.

    The Philippines is precariously located in the legendary Pacific Ring of Fire, a chain of islands that are prone to quakes and volcanic eruptions, which in turn, can produce some serious tsunamis. However, as of yet, there has been no tsunami warning issued by the Tsunami Warning Center.

    85 lives lost is hard to swallow, no matter what the disaster is, but this earthquake, thankfully, hasn’t come close to the deadliest recorded natural disaster in the Philippines. That event occurred in 1976, when a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 7.9 earthquake devastated the Moro Gulf on the southern island of Mindanao. A shocking 5,000 to 8,000 people were killed, according to official estimates.

    This has been a tough weekend for The Philippines, which endured Typhoon Nari on Saturday. Nari hit the North coast, killing 13 people so far.

    Image via youtube

  • Earthquake In Greece, Magnitude Over 6

    Crete, in the southern part of Greece, was the recent site of an earthquake that measured a magnitude of greater than six on the Richter scale, which uses seismic energy to determine the actual amplitude or motion of the ground.

    There is some reported variation in the exact strength of the earthquake. According to the US Geological Survey, the specific magnitude was reported as being 6.4 while the Athens News Agency, which receives information from the Athens Observatory, reported a magnitude of 6.2.

    According to Efthymios Lekkas, who is a geology professor, the fact that the earthquake happened is not entirely unexpected given the location in which the earthquake was reported.

    “The quake took place in an area known for its seismic activity. It was strongly felt in Crete but also in the rest of Greece,” Efthymios Lekkas explained to Skai radio.

    The Athens Geodynamic Institute has reported that the earthquake occurred at 4:12 p.m. 42 miles west of Chania, Crete, and 172 miles south from Athens. While the center of the quake came from 14 miles under sea, the impact was felt for quite a distance.

    The Deputy Mayor for Chania, Manoussos Lionakis, recently spoke with The Associated Press.

    “The earthquake was very strong and lasted long. Fortunately, there was no serious damage. The worst I’ve heard was some rock falls in a ravine west of the city. A bus was trapped, but no one was hurt. We have removed the debris. Right now we have employees inspecting the buildings in the old city, but, apart from some cracked marble facades here and there, we have found nothing,” Manoussos Lionakis said.

    Greece has been subject to a history of earthquakes. The seabed near Ios Beach is cracked with deep crevices from the seismic activity that happens in the area.

    [Image Via Wikimedia Commons And Courtesy Of Captain Blood]

  • Balochistan Pakistan Home To Powerful Earthquake

    On Tuesday afternoon, a strong earthquake blew through Balochistan. 328 people have died while more than 400 people are injured and about half of those are in critical condition.

    According to The Telegraph, “The doctor in charge of the largest hospital close to the epicentre in Balochistan province told The Daily Telegraph his staff were working in chaotic conditions and with poor facilities to save lives but many victims remain stranded in remote villages beyond the reach of the rescue services.
    “It’s a complete chaos here at the hospital. And we do not have 4×4 ambulances, so its really tough to reach out to the affected areas, to bring the injured or even the dead bodies to the hospital,” said Dr. Noor Baksh Bizenjo, medical superintendent of the district hospital in Arawan.”

    The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.7 and covered a 13 mile area.

    Many houses have been destroyed and a lot of people are moving to different areas to live for the time being.

    It has also been reported that a small island has appeared after the earthquake. It is located off the coast of Gwadar, Pakistan. According to Discovery News, “A mud volcano is a likely possibility because Gwadar’s coastline already has several of the gurgling, steamy cones, both onshore and at sea. One suddenly popped up where sea level was 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 feet) deep on Nov. 26, 2010, creating an island.

    Balochistan is the largest province in Pakistan. Although it is a large area, it only holds about 7 million people. It is a plateau made up of rough terrain.

    [Photo via Youtube]

  • 5.3-Magnitude Earthquake near Fukushima

    5.3-Magnitude Earthquake near Fukushima

    An earthquake that registered as a 5.3-magnitude on the Richter scale was detected at 17:25 GMT today, according to a statement made by the United States Geological Service (USGS). Currently the ‘USGS’ and organizations like the ‘Japan Meteorological Society’ and the analysts at ‘The Weather Channel’ aren’t in complete agreement as to the size of the quake – both of which currently assert that they detected it as a 5.8-magnitude. Regardless of this minor qualm, the incident in itself caused quite a scare. The quake was within a close enough range that it’s effects were once again experienced by the Fukushima Prefecture – the region that is home to the recently devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
    Fukushima Nuclear Plant
    The areas primarily affected by the tremors were said to have only been in the constrains of the ‘Intensity II’ category as described in the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. Intensity II describes areas which the tremors were only felt by a limited number of people who were currently at rest, as well as some movement in the upper floors of buildings and skyscrapers. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, more concisely known as Phivolcs estimated that the epicenter was about 84 kilometers Southeast of General Santos City (Philippines). The group initially cited the coordinates of the epicenter to be 05.45 degrees North latitude and 125.54 degrees East longitude.

    After the March 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, the Fukushima Daiichi plant was rendered virtually unusable – as well as being extremely dangerous. In the aftermath of the two natural disasters, Fukushima had three of it’s reactors meltdown and extensive damages were caused to one of the primary fuel cooling pools. Fortunately, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) had been advised only days before by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to ensure all six reactors were completely shutdown (including the two that weren’t damaged last year). The Prime Minister also encouraged the plant to concentrate their full attention and capabilities toward solving the clean-up and disposal issues associated with the radioactive water leak caused by the disasters that happened in 2011. In pictures of the facility we can see several large barrel shaped tanks that are currently holding the contaminated waste that has already been collected in efforts made by associates of the plant.
    Plant Disaster Diagram
    During the time the tremors began to effect the Fukushima Prefecture, operations at the plant were being heavily monitored and has thus far not reported any incidents. Seismic activity within the Prefecture registered at a depth of around 13 miles (22 km.). Throughout the history of Japan, the people have been continually plagued by large and often disastrous earthquakes in the majority of the country’s various regions. Japan is the closest country to the vicinity at which four primary tectonic plates are all almost adjacent: the North American plate, the Pacific plate, the Eurasian plate, and the Philippine Sea Plate – the constantly floating plates cause the location to be an extremely seismically active region.

    Photos Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons: Aerial View of Fukushima Daiichi 1975, Present Day Plant Photo, Plant Damages Diagram

  • Alaska Earthquake Hits Small Towns

    A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook the small towns of the Aleutian Islands on Friday.The earthquake occured in a seismically active region, and produced aftershocks of up to 5.2 magnitude. Even though the area is known to have earthquakes now and then, it’s something you never get used to. The shaking lasted about one minute.

    The Christian Science Monitor reports that Kathleen Nevzoroff was sitting at her computer at 8:25am when the tiny village of Adak, was shaken. “I ran to my doors and opened them”, she said, “and my chimes were all ringing.”

    The epicenter was located 67 miles to the southwest of Adak, about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage. The earthquake didn’t trigger a tsunami warning, but the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center is monitoring the situation continually for tsunamis triggered by landslides that can occure on land or under water. The quake occurred offshore where plates of the Earth’s crust grind and dive. By contrast, the San Andreas, is a strike-slip fault. Quakes along strike-slip faults tend to move horizontally.

    “I thought it was my dog running up the stairs,” Debra Sharrah said. She was getting ready for work, upstairs in her two-story townhome, “It kept making noise and then it got louder. So then all of a sudden the rumbling started. Nothing fell off my walls, and the wine glasses didn’t go out of the hutch or anything.” The only thing knocked over in her house was a stool.

    The quake affected Adak, which has a population of 320, and an even smaller nearby community of 64, Atka. Atka residents were displaced during the World War II, relocating to Southeast Alaska so the U.S. government could demolish the village to prevent the Japanese from seizing it as they had other Aleutian communities. After the war, the U.S. Navy rebuilt the community and residents returned. Today, the community is a cluster of utilitarian buildings scattered over rolling hills that turn beautiful emerald green in warmer months.

    Adak, 110 miles to the west, had been home to U.S. military installations that allowed forces to wage a successful offense against the Japanese after they seized the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu. After the war, Adak was transformed into a Naval air station that served as a submarine surveillance center during the Cold War. Later, the facilities were acquired by the Aleut Corp. — a regional native corporation — in a federal land-transfer agreement. It became a city in 2001 and today retains its military appearance.

    Image via Wikipedia

  • New Zealand Hit By 6.5 Earthquake

    New Zealand, which has been experiencing a rash of earthquakes in recent days, was hit by the largest so far Sunday. The quake, which occurred around midnight eastern time, was at first reported as registering at 6.9, but that figure was later changed to 6.5.

    Quakes of 5.8 and 5.7 rocked the small country earlier in the weekend, but the latest’s proximity to the capital of Wellington has caused flights to be grounded and has added to concern.

    Earthquakes are nothing new to New Zealand, which experiences nearly 14,000 a year due to its placement along the boundary between two tectonic plates. Today’s quakes are thought to be a product of this placement. Geologist Dr. Anna Kaiser was quoted as saying “These quakes this morning are very close to the subduction interface, which is the boundary between the Pacific and Australian plate.”

    No major damage has been reported in the aftermath, but power lines and water mains were damaged. There is also no risk of a tsunami forming, which is always a threat when large quakes occur in the pacific.

    The Dominion Post compiled a list of quakes, mostly smaller pre-quakes and aftershocks, that took place around today’s 6.5, as well as a map of the epicenter’s of the quakes.

    [Thanks to The Telegraph for the footage]

  • Sumatra Earthquake Causes Deaths, Injuries

    A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Tuesday. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake occurred in the Aceh reagion at the northern end of the island, around 34 miles from the city of Bireun. The quake occurred at an estimated depth of 6.2 miles and was followed by two aftershock quakes later this morning, one measuring 5.3 magnitude and the other measuring 5.2 magnitude.

    Though the earthquake occurred inland in a mountainous region, deaths and injuries have been reported in the area. According to an Australia Network News report, at least 11 people have died as a result of the quake, with dozens of others injured. The quake triggered landslides in the region, destroying property and burying at least one man working at a coffee plantation. Six children died when a mosque collapsed, with 14 other children still trapped inside. Four other people in area hospitals reportedly died as the result of injuries sustained during the quake.

    The Aceh region was devastated in 2004, when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake that struck just off the Indonesian coast caused a tsunami that killed over 200,000 people in countries bordering the Indian Ocean. No tsunami warnings have been issued as a result of this most recent earthquake. Sumatra also endured a massive 8.6 magnitude earthquake in April 2012.

    (via Australia Network News)

  • Washington: 4.3 Earthquake Hits Near Leavenworth

    A small earthquake hit central Washington on Wednesday evening. The 4.3 magnitude quake hit at around 7:45 pm local time. It was centered around 16 miles from Leavenworth, Washington – 117 miles from the state capital of Olympia.

    Though the earthquake was relatively mild, it hit at a depth of only 5.7 miles. People in Leavenworth and the surrounding area reported feeling light shaking, and people as far away as Olympia reported feeling some very light shaking. There have been no reports of injuries or damages caused by the earthquake.

    This Washington earthquake is one of several smaller earthquakes that have hit notable locations this month. On June 18 Lima, Peru was shaken by a small 4.6 magnitude earthquake that also caused no damage. Last week, northern Italy was hit with a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, and some light damage to property near the town of Fivizzano was reported.

    Much larger earthquakes have also been measured in 2013, mostly in the Pacific’s “ring of fire.” In May a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake hit just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, and in April a 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook a string of islands northeast of Japan.

  • 5.1 Earthquake Shakes Northern Italy

    5.1 Earthquake Shakes Northern Italy

    Just two days after a small 4.6 magnitude earthquake gently shook Lima, Peru, a mid-sized 5.1 magnitude earthquake has now shaken northern Italy.

    The quake occurred at around 12:30 local time on Friday and was centered one mile from the city of Fivizzano, a small town close to the coastal city of La Spezia. It had a depth of only 6.4 miles (10.3km) and was felt throughout northern Italy. People as far away as Venice reported feeling weak shaking from the event, while people in closer cities, such as Florence and Livorno reported light to moderate shaking. No serious injuries have been reported as a result of the earthquake, though some light damage to houses near the epicenter have been reported.

    The Italian earthquake was mild when compared to some of the sizable seismic events already seen this year. During April, a 6.8 earthquake hit Papua New Guinea and a 7.2 magnitude quake shook the islands off the northern coast of Japan. A large 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit southeastern Iran that same month killed dozens of people in neighboring Pakistan. More recently, a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk, just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula.

  • Lima, Peru Shaken by Small Earthquake

    Lima, Peru Shaken by Small Earthquake

    The capital of Peru was shaken Tuesday night by a relatively small earthquake.

    The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at a mild magnitude of 4.6. The epicenter of the quake was around 22 miles (35km) off the coast of Lima, and occurred at a depth of around 38 miles (61km). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued no tsunami warnings as a result of the light quake.

    There are no reports of damage or injury as a result of the earthquake. The quake was felt by residents of Lima as only a light shaking. The quake was also felt by some residents of the smaller city of Barranca.

    The ring of fire – the coastal areas of the Pacific where earthquake and volcanic activity is prevalent – has been particularly active already this year. Earlier this month, the big island of Hawaii also experienced a small 5.3 magnitude earthquake. In May, a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk, just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Before that, large earthquakes also struck northern Japan and Papua New Guinea.

  • Hawaii: 5.3 Earthquake Hits Just Off Big Island

    A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit near Hawaii’s Big Island this week. The rumble occurred at around 2 pm local time, and hit just 34 miles off the southeastern coast of Pahala, Hawaii.

    According to the U.S. Geological Survey, residents throughout the Big Island reported feeling light to moderate shaking during the quake, and even some residents on Maui reported feeling some shaking. Though homes near the epicenter were well-shaken, there have been no reports of injury or major property damage.

    The earthquake occurred at a depth of 25 miles. According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, no tsunami is expected to result from the quake.

    This Hawaiian earthquake comes during a significant year for earthquake activity. Just two weeks ago, a massive 8.2 earthquake hit just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Before that, a 7.2 earthquake had hit northern Japanese islands in mid-April.

  • 8.2 Quake Hits Eastern Russia, No Deaths Reported

    A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck in the Sea of Okhotsk of Friday. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the quake was located just off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, in the far eastern part of the country. The massive quake was followed by a smaller (but still very large) magnitude 6.8 aftershock further out in the Sea of Okhotsk.

    The quakes occurred deep in the Earth, with both centered at a depth of more than 600 km (about 372 miles). Neither the USGS’s West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center nor its Pacific Tsunami Warning Center have issued tsunami warnings connected to the Okhotsk quakes. No deaths have been reported as a result of the quakes.

    Several large earthquakes have been reported in the past two months. In April 2013, an 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Iran caused extensive damage to rural communities in neighboring Pakistan. That massive quake was followed within days by a quake in Papua new Guinea that was measured at magnitude 6.8, a quake in northern Japan that was measured at magnitude 7.2, and another Papua New Guinea quake measured at magnitude 6.4.

  • Earth Permanently Deformed After Earthquakes in Chile, Shows Study

    A new study by geologists at Cornell University has shown that earthquakes can leave the Earth deformed.

    Cornell geologist Richard Allmendinger told LiveScience that strong earthquakes in Chile have left permanent cracks in the surface of the Earth. The findings “perplexed” Allmendinger and his colleagues, as the Earth is known to “rebound” after earthquakes – an effect that is chronicled using satellite technology. Deformation, such as cracks, in the Earth’s surface is generally thought to be temporary, with geological processes erasing them in “days or weeks.” From the LiveScience report:

    “It is only in a place like the Atacama Desert that these cracks can be observed – in all other places, surface processes erase them within days or weeks of their formation, but in the Atacama, they are preserved for millions of years,” Allmendinger said.” We have every reason to believe that our results would be applicable to other areas, but is simply not preserved for study the way that it is in the Atacama Desert.”

    The researchers were able to study thousands of years worth of earthquakes in the dry rock of the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. Allmendinger told LiveScience that this new research could change current models of the way upper-plate deformation due to earthquakes is recovered. He also stated that another large earthquake (over magnitude 7) could allow geologists to test these new hypotheses.

  • 7.2 Quake Off Japan Rocks Northern Islands

    It seems that the planet’s recent surge of large earthquakes isn’t quite over. The U.S. Geological Survey has recorded a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that shook the islands North of Japan on Friday morning.

    The quake was centered around 250 km (155 miles) Northeast of the town of Kuril’sk, Russia and 521 km (324 miles) Northeast of Nemuro, Japan. Kuril’sk is located on the string of islands located Northeast of Japan, and Nemuro is one of the Easternmost cities on the Japanese mainland. No damage has been reported as a result of the quake.

    The National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has not issued a warning as a result of the earthquake, and neither has the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

    Earlier this week, over two consecutive days, earthquakes hit Iran and Papua New Guinea. The earthquake that hit Iran was measured at a 7.8 magnitude on the Richter scale and caused multiple fatalities in a rural area of Pakistan. The 6.6-magnitude earthquake in Papua New Guinea caused no reported injuries.

  • 6.8 Earthquake Hits Papua New Guinea

    A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has hit Papua new Guinea. This is the second large earthquake to hit around the world in as many days.

    The U.S. Geological Survey, (USGS) is reporting that the 6.6 magnitude earthquake was centered 18 km to the Southeast of Aitape, Papua New Guinea. Aitape is a small town on the northern coast of Papua New Guinea with a population of around 8,000.

    The National Weather Service’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has not issued a warning for a Pacific-wide tsunami and doesn’t expect a tsunami to threaten Hawaii.

    This earthquake comes just one day after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Iran and Pakistan. Though that quake was centered in a mostly rural area, buildings and houses in the area were still destroyed. Reports have stated as many as 40 Pakistanis may have died.

    The earthquake in Iran caused little damage relative to its 7.8 Richter scale reading due to its depth, which was recorded by the USGS as being 82 km deep. The Papua New Guinea quake was much more shallow, being measured at 13 km deep.

    Australia’s foreign office has stated to AFP that there have been no reports of serious damage or injury.

  • Earthquakes Turn Water to Gold, Shows New Study

    One of the major goals of alchemy was to create gold from other, less expensive materials. Now it appears that if alchemists of old could have harnessed the power of the Earth, they might have been successful.

    A new study has shown that earthquakes can play a role in turning water into gold. Sort of.

    The study, published in this week’s Nature Geoscience, shows that earthquakes can cause gold deposits to form almost instantaneously. The effect is caused by the vaporization of liquids during an earthquake.

    Researchers used a thermo-mechanical piston model to simulate the effects of earthquakes, where fluid-filled cavities in the earth can often expand. This expansion lowers the pressure within the cavity, causing the fluid to expand rapidly and vaporize. Gold contained within the liquid is then deposited in small amounts. Subsequent earthquakes would also deposit gold, turning a small deposit into a significant one.

    The process also deposits silica, which helps to explain why gold deposits can be found mixed with quartz deposits. It could also explain why many gold deposits can be found near old fault lines.

    Though the idea of pressure differentiation causing mineral deposits is not a new one, the extent to which it is responsible for those deposits is debated in geological circles. This new study demonstrates that extreme conditions within the Earth’s crust could build up sizable gold deposits in well under one million years.