Archive
March 9.0 Japanese quake set off tremors around the world
The earthquake that launched a series of disasters in Japan in March triggered micro-quakes and tremors around the world, scientists find.
The catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck off the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan March 11 set off tremors mostly in places of past seismic activity, including southwest Japan, Taiwan, the Aleutians and mainland Alaska, Vancouver Island in Canada, Washington state, Oregon, central California and the central United States. It was unlikely that any of these events exceeded magnitude 3.
Researchers noted, however, that temblors also were detected in Cuba. “Seismologists had never seen tremor in Cuba, so this is an exciting new observation,” Justin Rubinstein, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey at Menlo Park, Calif., told OurAmazingPlanet.
Part of the excitement of the find is the insight it could add into the inner workings of earthquakes.
“Studying long-range triggering may help us to better understand the underlying physics of how earthquakes start,” explained seismologist Zhigang Peng at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Quakes where normally quiet
Most of these micro-earthquakes and tremors occurred in places that already had high background levels of seismic activity, including California’s Geysers Geothermal Field and the San Andreas Fault. Some of the quakes occurred in low-activity areas, such as central Nebraska, central Arkansas and near Beijing.
“Seismologists generally think of the central U.S. as relatively Read more…
Extreme weather is moving tectonic plates, scientists claim
People who are ridiculed for saying that earthquakes are a result of global warming could actually be right, scientists claim.
Long-term climate change has the potential to spin Earth’s tectonic plates, according to a news study from the Australian National University.
Working with researchers in Germany and France, they have established a link between the motion of the Indian plate over the last ten million years and the intensification of Indian monsoons.
Movements of the earth: Tectonic plate movement could be sped up as a result of the weather
Monsoon rain increased by four metres every year, speeding up the motion in the Indian plate by one centimetre a year, said Dr Giampiero Iaffaldano from the ANU research school of earth sciences.
They discovered that enough rocks were worn away from the eastern side of the plate to account for the plate’s anti-clockwise movement.
Dr Iaffaldano said: ‘The significance of this finding lies in recognising for the first time that long-term climate changes have the potential to act as a force and influence the motion of tectonic plates.
‘It is known that certain geologic events caused by plate motions – for example the drift of continents, the closure of ocean basins and the building of large mountain belts – have the ability to influence the Read more…
Global planetary tremor sends seismometers into the black
April 12, 2011- JAPAN – Following the 6.2 quake that hit eastern Japan, telemetry data from seismographs across the planet registered very dense bands of seismic disturbances- indicating there were massive movements along tectonic plate boundaries. These events are happening now every 72 to 96 hours on average and have been increasing their frequency cycle of occurrence every since the massive 9.0 earthquake struck off the eastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the planet is becoming more unstable after the mega-thrust quake ruptured the sea-floor off the coast of Japan and is now more sensitive to tectonic plate movements after the earthquake afflicted the planet. Below are recent readings from seismographs highlighting areas across the globe which registered strong disturbances. –The Extinction Protocol
(left) Dense bands of activity under China and Japan (right)
(left) Troubling patterns seen in Dominican Republic (Caribbean) and (right) Johnston Island in the Pacific
Supervolcano plume sized up
University of Utah
This image, based on variations in electrical conductivity of underground rock, shows the volcanic plume of partly molten rock that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano. Yellow and red indicate higher conductivity,green and blue indicate lower conductivity.
By John Roach
The volcanic plume beneath Yellowstone is larger than previously thought, according to a new study that measured the electrical conductivity of the hot and partly molten rock.
The findings say nothing about the chances of another cataclysmic eruption at Yellowstone, but they give scientists another view of the vast and deep reservoir that feeds such eruptions.
“It’s a totally new and different way of imaging and looking at the volcanic roots of Yellowstone,” study co-author Robert Smith, an emeritus professor Read more…
Strain from Japan earthquake may lead to more seismic trouble, scientists say
Japan won’t stop shaking. One month after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the nation rode out yet another powerful aftershock Monday, the second in four days. This one rattled buildings in Tokyo and briefly cut power to the damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima.
With soldiers still looking for the bodies of thousands of people who vanished in the killer wave a month ago, Japan is coping with the painful reality that it sits in a seismic bull’s-eye.
A new calculation by American and Japanese scientists has concluded that the March 11 event may have heightened the stress on faults bracketing the ruptured segment of the Japan Trench.
“There’s quite a bit of real estate on which stress has increased, by our calculations,” said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Ross Stein. “The possibility of getting large, Read more…
Strong geomagnetic storm slams Earth on Wednesday
(TheWeatherSpace.com) — A solar storm is in progress right now with the highest Kp-index in a while being recorded.
The solar storm has a Kp-Index of 6, out of the 0-9 scale. This is higher than any previous solar storms, including the March event. What caused this without a flare?
“This solar storm is likely a flare caused storm,” TheWeatherSpace.com Senior Meteorologist Kevin Martin said. “It may not have been Earth directed but a blast from the sun a couple days ago hurled a lot of material into space. This material sometimes does not follow a straight line, but can curve with the influence of magnetic fields and gravity.”
Mid and High latitude observer should check out the skies and see if the northern and southern lights are around.
Martin is the scientist that thinks solar storms are triggers to earthquake activity. Will it cause a large quake? Time will tell but enjoy the skies for the next nine hours if it is clear, dark, and you are in a higher latitude.
Magma Proves Undersea Volcanoes Do Explode
Deep-sea volcanoes can explode instead of just oozing, scientists now confirm.
The new proof — higher-than-expected levels of carbon dioxide in the magma from a volcano off the coast of Oregon —suggests the volcanoes may play a greater role in global climate than thought.
Of all the volcanic activity on Earth, 75 to 80 percent of it takes place at deep-sea ridges in the middle of the oceans. Most of these volcanoes apparently spew out huge volumes of lava instead of erupting explosively, as many volcanoes on land do.
It is a high level of gas trapped in a volcano’s magma that normally fuels explosive volcanic bursts. This level has long been thought to be low at mid-ocean ridges; moreover, potential undersea explosions would be suppressed by the crushing pressure from the surrounding water.
However, based on volcanic ash found at certain sites, geologists have speculated over the last decade that explosive eruptions do take place in deep-sea volcanoes. Now researchers say they have proof.
The Juan de Fuca ridge lies between the separating Pacific and Juan de Fuca tectonic plates. Credit: USGS
A team of scientists used ion beams to analyze the composition of materials recovered from ash deposits on Axial Volcano, on the Juan de Fuca Ridge off the coast of Oregon. Trapped within crystals from the deposits were droplets of magma containing very high levels of carbon dioxide. These droplets revealed that the magma was indeed rich in gas, at concentrations high enough to generate bubbles in the molten rock for explosive underwater eruptions.
“Direct evidence for high carbon dioxide concentrations in a mid-ocean-ridge volcano was unexpected and surprising,” researcher Christoph Helo, a volcanologist at McGill University in Montreal, told OurAmazingPlanet.
These findings suggest the amount of the global-warming gas carbon dioxide that is released from the deeper mantle into the Earth’s atmosphere at mid-ocean ridges falls within the higher end of past estimates, nearly 10 times more than the lowest end. That could have key implications for climate change.
Still, Helo said, volcanic carbon dioxide, unlike man-made emissions, “is not a variable that has undergone drastic changes within the past century.”
The scientists detailed their findings online March 13 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Woman who predicted Japan earthquake says another will happen March 31, 2011
She was correct in predicting the Japan quake, but I pray that she is wrong on the next…
I would have to disagree with the stockpiling ammo quote because you never know…
Upcomming days of interest for possible Seismic Activity
- Keep in mind of sunspot 1176’s possible activity
Dozens killed and injured in Burma quake: official
More than 60 people were killed, 90 people injured and dozens of buildings destroyed when a strong earthquake struck Burma near the Thai border, officials from both countries said today.
Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China during the earthquake yesterday, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8.
A Burma official said dozens of people were killed in two towns close to the epicentre.
“The death toll of the quake has increased to more than 50 in Tarlay and Mine Lin townships,” said the official, who declined to be named.
“Roads are also closed. According to the information that we have, more than 130 buildings collapsed because of the quake. There might be more casualties and damage.”
Across the border, Thai authorities said a 52-year-old woman was killed in Mae Sai district after a wall in her Read more…
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](https://i0.wp.com/www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)
crisisboom
CRISISBOOM 
You must be logged in to post a comment.