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7.0-magnitude undersea quake hits near Vanuatu in South Pacific, no tsunami alert
Tsunami animation courtsey GDACSNEW YORK — The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a powerful undersea earthquake off the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.
The U.S.G.S. says a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck at 5:19 a.m. Sunday local time (1819 GMT) at a depth of 28.5 kilometers (17.7 miles). Its epicenter was 69 kilometers (42 miles) south-southwest of the Vanuatu capital of Port-Vila.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says no tsunami warning is in effect.
Vanuatu is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching from South America through Alaska and down through the South Pacific. Read more…
Fukushima: Pacific Ocean radiation over 3,000 times normal
Japan’s nuclear accident has caused radiation levels in the Pacfic Ocean to rise over 3,000 times normal. Say what?
Top scientists in the field of Marine Chemistry, have done the testing and research and the result is not good. Fukushima’s poison radiated water spewn into the pacific ocean will cause Read more…
Superfast Military Aircraft Crashed in Pacific Ocean, DARPA Says
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| The Falcon hypersonic HTV-2 aircraft emerges from its payload fairing before gliding back to Earth. CREDIT: DARPA |
This story was updated at 5:42 p.m. ET.
An unmanned military plane billed as the “fastest aircraft ever built” crashed into the Pacific Ocean today (Aug. 11) after a malfunction caused it to stop sending signals while flying at more than 20 times the speed of sound, military officials said.
The flying prototype, called the Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2), plunged into the ocean after shifting into a mode that allows it to fly Mach 20, or about 13,000 mph, according to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which oversaw the Read more…
Why Oceania Matters
Since World War II, the United States has devoted few resources to the promotion of peace and stability in Oceania. Instead, it has relied on Australia and New Zealand to maintain Western strategic influence in the region. However, faced with a rising China and other emerging security issues, many analysts believe that the United States can no longer take Oceania for granted. Indeed, without the support of the United States and other regional powers, some question whether Australia and New Zealand will be able to sustain their roles as the sole guarantors of peace and stability in the region indefinitely.
Few regional analysts have been as vocal as Ernest Bower, head of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ recently launched Pacific Partners Initiative (PPI),on the issue.
‘Very few US policymakers understand the importance (of Australian and New Zealander contributions to peace and security in Asia since World War II)…these are important US partners, but their views aren’t sufficiently reflected in our policies. This has resulted in US policy not being robust enough to manage security issues in Asia-Pacific in the next century,’ he says. ‘If we don’t shift the policy focus, then we will Read more…
Scientists Study Future Megathrust Earthquake In Pacific Northwest
The Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, USA, and British Columbia, Canada, could be among the hardest hit locations in the event of a future megathrust earthquake along the Pacific coast.
A new study led by Simon Fraser University earth scientist Andy Calvert and published in Nature Geoscience this week indicates the depth of the fault between the two tectonic plates forming the Earth’s surface in the Pacific Northwest is seven kilometres deeper than previously proposed.
Calvert speculates it may mean part of the fault’s locked zone — where a megathrust earthquake can occur — could be beneath the Olympic Peninsula.
Calvert’s team studied a 200-kilometre section of a fault formed by the subduction of the oceanic Juan de Fuca plate under the Read more…
U.S. West Coast Erosion Spiked In Winter 2009-10, Previewing Likely Future As Climate Changes
Knowing that the U.S. West Coast was battered during the winter before last by a climatic pattern expected more often in the future, scientists have now pieced together a San Diego-to-Seattle assessment of the damage wrought by that winter’s extreme waves and higher-than-usual water levels. Getting a better understanding of how the 2009–10 conditions tore away and reshaped shorelines will help coastal experts better predict future changes that may be in store for the Pacific coast, the researchers say.
Credit: Patrick Barnard, USGS
Rising Oceans – Too Late to Turn the Tide?
(Click to enlarge)
If sea levels rose to where they were during the Last Interglacial Period, large parts of the Gulf of Mexico would be under water (red areas), including half of Florida and several Caribbean islands. (Photo illustration by Jeremy Weiss)
Melting ice sheets contributed much more to rising sea levels than thermal expansion of warming ocean waters during the Last Interglacial Period, a UA-led team of researchers has found. The results further suggest that ocean levels continue to rise long after warming of the atmosphere has leveled off.
Thermal expansion of seawater contributed only slightly to rising sea levels compared to melting ice sheets during the Last Interglacial Period, a University of Arizona-led team of researchers has found.
The study combined paleoclimate records with computer simulations of Read more…
Big-Time 7.8 Earthquake Strikes Off New Zealand
The earthquake is a 7.8, and it’s that big red dot in the Pacific, near New Zealand.
There are tsunami fears. Warnings are in effect for Tonga and the Kermadec Islands, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
The New Zealand dollar is falling a bit on the news. You can see the big dropoff on the Kiwi on this chart.
More details here from the USGS.
Contaminated Fluid Spills From Japanese Nuclear Plant
Roughly 15 tons of radiation-tainted fluid has escaped into the earth from a container at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the nation’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Tuesday (see GSN, June 27).
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power indicated it was looking into the source of a container rupture, which was discovered on Tuesday and then patched, Reuters reported.
Plant personnel have battled to prevent radioactive contaminants from escaping the six-reactor Fukushima facility following a March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 20,000 people dead or missing in Japan. Radiation releases on a level not seen since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster have already forced the evacuation of about 80,000 residents from a 12-mile ring around the facility.
Separately, workers on Tuesday resumed operation of equipment deployed recently at the site for treating contaminated liquid, Tokyo Electric Power representative Junichi Matsumoto said.
The firm has pumped water into the facility on an ongoing basis in an effort to cool components, resulting in Read more…
Indonesia Hit By Strong Earthquake, Latest On Ring Of Fire
Indonesia was hit by a large earthquake and a series of strong tremors Sunday afternoon. A 6.5 magnitude quake, the latest in string of strong quakes to hit the Pacific Ring if Fire region during the last week, struck the country’s easternmost Province of Papua 1.16 p.m. GMT.
The quake was centred 53 kilometres (33 miles) northeast of Waren, a town on the northern coast of Papua island, according to Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency. It was also felt in nearby Biak island, and Enarotali town on the main island The U.S. Geological Survey put the initial quake’s magnitude at 6.4.
The region was hit by at least moderate tremors in the following hours. The tremors measured 5.4 (x2), 5, 4.5 and 4.3 on the Richter Scale. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued.
Papua comprises most of the Read more…
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