Scientists warn of new Chilean quake
Rescue workers search for victims and survivors after an apartment complex collapsed during an 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Concepcion on February 27, 2010. Scientists say there is a high risk of a new earthquake in an area of Chile's Pacific coast which was hit by a massive quake and tsunamis last year.
Nearly 500 people were killed when an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile triggering a local tsunami in February 2010.
According to the report published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the previous quake had only partly broken stresses, deep in the Earth’s crust in the Chilean city of Concepcion, that have been building up since an 1835 quake witnessed by British naturalist Charles Darwin.
Darwin documented the 1835 earthquake during a five-year voyage.
“We conclude that increased stress on the unbroken patch may in turn have increased the probability of another major to great earthquake there in the near future,” the report read.
Chile’s February quake was the most powerful since the one in 2004 which caused a devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean.
“It’s impossible to predict exactly when a new quake might happen,” Stefano Lorito of Italy’s Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia told Reuters.
Scientists examined data from tsunamis, satellites and other sources to calculate the Read more…
Oil Prices: Egypt’s Crisis Could Hurt Europe First
Some crude oil prices brushed $100 a barrel Monday as fears escalated that the violence in Egypt would spread to other parts of the oil-producing Middle East. But so far, no reports have surfaced that the disturbances in Egypt have disrupted oil deliveries.
Brent crude oil surged to $99.97 a barrel on London’s ICE futures exchange, up about 5% since the beginning of last week, when violence spread from Tunisia to Egypt. In U.S. trading, West Texas Intermediate shot up 1.7% on Monday, but was still about $10 a barrel cheaper than Brent crude, its European counterpart.
Julius Walker, a senior analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris, says the organization has received no reports that oil shipments were being delayed, but the website of the agency that runs the Suez Canal has been shut down by the ban on Internet use in Egypt, so a precise reading isn’t available.
“Nothing has been affected. It’s just the worry of it,” Walker says.
A Chokepoint for Europe-Bound Oil
Egypt is a small oil producer, and its output is almost exactly equal to Read more…
Thousands protest in Jordan for third week
Suha Philip Ma’ayeh
AMMAN // For the third consecutive on Friday, Jordanians poured into the streets after noon prayers to protest against soaring prices and call for a change in government.
The Islamist led opposition, professional associations and leftist activists marched yesterday from Al Huesseini Mosque to the capital’s center. They held banners that read “Corruption and normalisation are two faces of the same coin,” called for a “national unity government” and called for the prime minister Samir Rifai to step down.
Police estimated 3,500 people took part in the protest, one of several demonstrations held this month despite two recent government aid packages to mitigate the impact of soaring prices. The measures included a 20-dinar (Dh100) monthly salary increase for state workers and in pension, while the previous aid package increased subsidies for some commodities, including fuel and food staples such as rice and sugar.
Another 2,500 people also took to the streets in six other cities across the country after the noon prayers yesterday. Those protests also called for Mr Rifai’s ouster. Read more…
Get Internet Access When Your Government Shuts It Down
Does your government have and Internet kill-switch? Read our guide to Guerrilla Networking and be prepared on when the lines get cut.
These days, no popular movement goes without an Internet presence of some kind, whether it’s organizing on Facebook or spreading the word through Twitter. And as we’ve seen in Egypt, that means that your Internet connection can be the first to go. Whether you’re trying to check in with your family, contact your friends, or simply spread the word, here are a few ways to build some basic network connectivity when you can’t rely on your cellular or landline Internet connections.
Do-It-Yourself Internet With Ad-Hoc Wi-Fi
Even if you’ve managed to find an Internet connection for yourself, it won’t be that helpful in reaching out to your fellow locals if they can’t get online to find you. If you’re trying to coordinate a group of people in your area and can’t rely on an Internet connection, cell phones, or Read more…
Americans brace for monster winter blizzard
The Rockies got an early blast from an ice storm that glazed the Denver metropolitan area on Monday, snarling traffic and forcing delays at Denver International Airport, followed by snowfall and plunging temperatures.
Denver’s high for Tuesday was forecast at 1 degree below zero Fahrenheit, with a low of minus 17 degrees and wind-chill values at 30 below predicted for overnight Tuesday.
But the nation’s midsection was expected to bear the brunt of the latest winter storm.
The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning and hazardous weather outlook for the Chicago area, calling for frigid temperatures, wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour and heavy snow on Tuesday.
The storm could be the biggest since a 1967 blizzard paralyzed the city, Chicago officials said.
Click more to see the forecast for your area.
Tropical Cyclone Yasi Headed Toward Queensland, Australia
NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of Yasi on Jan. 30 at 23:20 UTC (6:20 p.m. EST/09:20 a.m., Monday, January 31 in Australia/Brisbane local time). Although the image did not reveal a visible eye, the storm appears to be well-formed and also appears to be strengthening. Credit: NASA Goddard / MODIS Rapid Response Team
Tropical Storm Anthony made landfall in Queensland, Australia this past weekend, and now the residents are watching a larger, more powerful cyclone headed their way. NASA’s Terra satellite captured a visible image of the large Tropical Cyclone Yasi late yesterday as it makes its way west through the Coral Sea toward Queensland.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured an image of Cyclone Yasi on Jan. 30 at 23:20 UTC (6:20 p.m. EST/09:20 a.m., Monday, January 31 in Australia/Brisbane local time). Although the image did not reveal a visible eye, the storm appears to be well-formed and also appears to be strengthening.
Warnings and watches are already in effect throughout the Coral Sea. The Solomon Islands currently have a Tropical Cyclone warning for Read more…
Egyptian riots day 6: THOUSANDS of Prisoners escape, Musems Looted,many stranded.
More than 102 dead and thousands of prisoners on the loose in Egypt as 30,000 stranded Britons struggle to leave the country
Around 30,000 British tourists were stranded in Egypt today as army planes buzzed low over Cairo on the sixth day of uprisings.
At least 102 people have been killed, more than 2,000 are injured and there were calls for a multi-party democracy to emerge as President Hosni Mubarack’s grip on power loosens.
Gangs of armed men attacked at least four jails across Egypt before dawn today, helping to free hundreds of Muslim militants and thousands of other inmates as police vanished from the streets of Cairo and other cities.
Now scroll down to see the video:
Show of strength: Egyptians surround an army tank during protests in central Cairo on the sixth day of action
Last night a handful Brits that managed to board flights returning back from Cairo described their relief at escaping the riot-torn country. Read more…
The Internet Kill Switch
This past week was a perfect example of how the “Internet kill switch” is rapidly becoming one of the favorite new tools of tyrannical governments all over the globe. Once upon a time, the Internet was a bastion of liberty and freedom, but now nation after nation is cracking down on it. In fact, legislation has been introduced once again in Congress that would give the president of the United States an “Internet kill switch” that he would be able to use in the event of war or emergency. Of course there would be a whole lot of wiggle room in determining what actually constitutes a true “emergency”. The members of Congress that are pushing this “Internet kill switch” bill want the U.S. to become more like China in this regard. In China, the Internet is highly controlled, highly regulated and highly censored. In fact, China has shut down the Internet in entire regions when they have felt it necessary. So what Egypt did in shutting down the Internet this past week is not unprecedented – but it was quite shocking.
TSA shuts door on private airport screening program
Washington (CNN) — A program that allows airports to replace government screeners with private screeners is being brought to a standstill, just a month after the Transportation Security Administration said it was “neutral” on the program.
TSA chief John Pistole said Friday he has decided not to expand the program beyond the current 16 airports, saying he does not see any advantage to it.
Though little known, the Screening Partnership Program allowed airports to replace government screeners with private contractors who wear TSA-like uniforms, meet TSA standards and work under TSA oversight. Among the airports that have “opted out” of government screening are San Francisco and Kansas City. Read more…
Blast from the Sun
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| This still from SDO caught the action in freeze-frame splendor when the Sun popped off two events at once (Jan. 28, 2011). A filament on the left side became unstable and erupted, while an M-1 flare (mid-sized) and a coronal mass ejection on the right blasted into space. NASA/SDO/GSFC |
The sun unleashed two powerful solar eruptions today (Jan. 28) in a spectacular double blast caught on camera by a NASA spacecraft.
The twin solar storms occurred in concert and marked an impressive start for the 2011 space weatherseason.
A video recorded by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the two sun storms erupting from opposite sides of the star. Neither of the events posed a space weather threat to Earth or its satellites, NASA officials said. Read more…
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