Haiti quake catastrophe – Update Jan 13

Port-au-Prince Quake May Be the Last Straw for the Disaster-Stricken Haiti

FEWW Forecast: Another Major Earthquake Could Strike the Region Soon with a Probability of 60% [P ≥ 0.55]

FEWW Comment: The timing of this event may have been particularly “lucky” for the survivors of Haiti earthquake.

First, the event occurred at 04:53:09 pm local time when large numbers of people would have been outdoors.

Second, the earthquake occurred on land. An offshore quake could have generated a major tsunami that would have worsened the extent of the catastrophe.

FEWW Initial  Estimate of EQ casualties

However, the moderators believe up to 20,000 people may have been killed or injured as a result of the Haitian catastrophe caused by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

See also main entry for FEWW earthquake forecast:  Haiti Quake Causes Widespread Death, Destruction

• For images and video reports click Haiti Quake Images

Highlights of reports and eye-witness accounts as the full extent of the Haiti quake catastrophe unfolds:

• The full scale of the catastrophe has yet to emerge.

• The poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti hadn’t even remotely recovered from the destructive hurricanes in 2008.

• About 80 percent of Haiti’s 10 million population live on the equivalent of less than $2 a day.  The capital Port-au-Prince is home to about 2 million people [officially 1.2 million population,]  many of whom live in densely populated shanty towns, locally referred to as bidonvilles.

• Haiti was devastated by four storms two years ago, which left up to a thousand people dead,  destroyed some 15 percent of the national economy, and cost the nation about $1 billion in damage.

• Haiti’s Presidential Palace has collapsed.

Presidential Palace. Top: Before the quake. Bottom: After. Credit: AP and AFP. Images may be subject to copyright.

The Headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), a five-story  building, has collapsed

• Many UN staff are missing following yesterday’s quake quake.

• Eight Chinese peacekeepers were killed in the earthquake and that 10 others are missing, the China Daily newspaper reported.

• “The United Nations can confirm that the Headquarters of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in Port-au-Prince has sustained serious damage along with other UN installations,” the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations said. “For the moment, a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for.”

• Many buildings have collapsed or seriously damaged throughout the capital, Port-au-Prince. AP reported that a hospital had collapsed.

• The mainshock struck about 370 km ESE of a M8.0 quake which struck about 65 km off the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic in 1946. The large earthquake was followed by a major M7.6 aftershock.

• Port-au-Prince was reportedly shrouded in a blanket of dust for about 20 minutes after the earthquake struck.

• Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic occupy the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago.

• The most powerful earthquake to strike Haiti part of Hispaniola island occurred 200 years ago. About a dozen or so powerful earthquakes have struck Haiti side of the Hispaniola in the past 5 centuries.

• The earthquake was also felt on the Dominican side of Hispaniola island, where residents reportedly fled from shaking buildings.

• According to reports up to quarter of all buildings in Jacmel, another Haitian city [population 50,000,] have been  destroyed. More than 10 percent of the residents had moved to Jacmel airport seeking shelter.

• The catastrophe will affect most of Haiti’s estimated 10 million population.

• As of posting, 34 aftershocks measuring magnitude 4.5 or greater have been reported by USGS/EHP.

Related Links:

• Haiti Quake Causes Widespread Death, Destruction
• Haiti Quake Images

Please help the victims, if you can. There are many ways to help the surviving victims. But donate money only to the organizations that you know and trust.

• Red Cross downgraded over 9-11 victims funds: Money mismanaged…
• Red Cross caught red-handed
• The Red Cross Coming Home to Roost: Remember 9/11, Anyone?

For More Information Visit Haiti Earthquake Disaster Links Page!

Haiti Quake Images

Main Report:

• Haiti Quake Causes Widespread Death, Destruction

FEWW Comment: The timing of this event may have been particularly “lucky” for the survivors of Haiti earthquake.

First, the event occurred at 04:53:09 PM local time when large numbers of people would have been out and about.

Second, the earthquake occurred on land. An offshore quake could have generated a major tsunami that would have worsened the extent of the catastrophe.

FEWW Initial  Estimate of EQ casualties

However, the moderators believe up to 20,000 people may have been killed or injured as a result of the Haitian catastrophe caused by the earthquake and its aftershocks.

See also main entry for FEWW earthquake forecast:  Haiti Quake Causes Widespread Death, Destruction

Sad Images of Haiti Earthquake Aftermath

People running past rubble of a collapsing building in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Photo Credit: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

Rescue workers carrying an injured person. Credit: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

A quake victim lies dead or severly injured. Credit: Reuters. Image may be subject to copyright.

Haiti Quake: Eyewitness Account

Haitians react to televangelist Pat Robertson’s ‘devil pact’ remarks

• Reuters Haiti Quake Image Gallery
• Reuters, AP and AFP images
• More Photos from Port-au-Prince – RG2
• Reuters Gallery 3
• Reuters gallery 4
  

For More Information Visit Haiti Earthquake Disaster Links Page!

Haiti Quake Causes Widespread Death, Destruction

M7.3 EQ Causes Widespread Damage in Haiti

Powerful quake measuring up to 7.3 Mw strikes SW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, many feared dead

FEWW Forecast: Another Major Earthquake Could Strike the Region Soon with a Probability of 60% [P ≥ 0.55]

The quake struck about 15 km (10 miles) SW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti at an approximate  depth of 10 km on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 21:53 UTC, USGS/EHP reported.

The mainshock, as of posting, was followed by at least 3 significant aftershocks the largest of which measured up to 6.2 Mw.

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere with abysmal civic and urban infrastructure. The aftermath of this quake could well prove to be catastrophic, with thousands of people killed or injured.

PORT-AU-PRINCE has an estimated population of about 1.2 million.

Estimated Population Exposed to Earthquake Shaking:

• Up to 240,000 people live in the “extreme” and  “violent” zones of the quake epicenter exposed to the earthquake shaking and most severe destruction.
• A total of 1.2 million people live within the “severe” zone of the earthquake damage.

Click Image for USGS PDF file.

Earthquake Location map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW. (Click Images to enlarge).

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude:  [FEWW Estimate: 7.3Mw - USGS/EHP routinely downgrades earthquakes by about 0.3 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 21:53:09 UTC
  • Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 04:53:09 PM at epicenter
• Location: 18.451°N, 72.445°W
• Depth: 10 km (6.2 miles)
• Region HAITI REGION
• Distances
  • 15 km (10 miles) SW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
  • 140 km (90 miles) E of Les Cayes, Haiti
  • 145 km (90 miles) WNW of Barahona, Dominican Republic
  • 1140 km (710 miles) SE of Miami, Florida
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 8.3 km (5.2 miles)
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• USGS/EHP Event ID: us2010rja6

Seismic Hazard Map. Click image to enlarge. USGS/EHP

Political Map of Haiti. USGS/EHP
e

Earthquake Location. Haiti Region. USGS/EHP

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green. USGS/EHP

Historic Seismicity

Shakemap. Click image to enlarge.

Credit: All images on this page are sourced from USGS/EHP

Tsunami Evaluation

NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI 23:45 UTC TUE JAN 12 2010

A tsunami measuring 12 cm crest-to-trough was recorded at Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and a tsunami less than 1 cm  crest-to-trough was recorded on a deep ocean gauge in the east-central Caribbean.  Based on these data there could have been destructive tsunami waves near the earthquake epicenter but there is not a threat to coastal areas further away.Therefore the tsunami watch issued by this center is now canceled.

For any affected areas – when no major waves have occurred for at least two hours after the estimated arrival time or damaging waves  have not occurred for at least two hours then local authorities  can assume the threat is passed. Danger to boats and coastal structures can continue for several hours due to rapid currents. As local conditions can cause a wide variation in tsunami wave action the all clear determination must be made by local authorities.

This will be the final product issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for this event unless additional information becomes available.

Historic Earthquakes in the Region

• Samana, Dominican Republic,  August 04,  1946 at 17:51 UTC, Magnitude 8.0
• Aftershock,  August 08, 1946 at  13:28 UTC, Magnitude 7.6

The mainshock struck about 370 km ESE of a M8.0 quake which struck about 65 km off the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic in 1946. The large earthquake was followed by a major M7.6 aftershock.

The mainshock occurred about 65 km off the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic, causing severe damage in northern Dominican Republic from Samana to Santiago and Puerto Plata. The quake left about 100 people dead and more than 20,000 people homeless.

“Almost all the people killed were drowned by a tsunami at Matanzas, near Nagua (Julia Molina). Although the waves were only about 2.5 m (8 ft) high at this location, they moved inland several km, causing such severe damage that the town was abandoned. Maximum wave heights were estimated at 4-5 m (13-16 ft) at Nagua. A small tsunami was recorded by tide gauges at San Juan, Puerto Rico; Bermuda; Daytona Beach, Florida and Atlantic City, New Jersey.” USGS said.

The 7.6 M aftershock, which occurred 4 days after the mainshock, generated a small tsunami and caused additional damage.

Related Links:

• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes
• FEWW Volcano Links

For More Information Visit Haiti Earthquake Disaster Links Page!

El Niño Weekly Update [11 Jan 2010]

ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions

El Niño Weekly UPDATE prepared by Climate Prediction Center / NCEP –  11 January 2010

The latest weekly SST departures are:

• Niño 4   ~  1.5ºC
• Niño 3.4  ~  1.8ºC
• Niño 3 ~ 1.2ºC
• Niño 1+2 ~ 0.3ºC

El Niño Map. [SOURCE: NOAA/ Climate Prediction Center / NCEP]

SST Departures (°C) in the Tropical Pacific During the Last 4 Weeks

During the last 4-weeks, equatorial SSTs were more than 2.0°C above average in regions east of the Date Line.

Global SST Departures (°C)

During the last four weeks, equatorial SSTs were above-average across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Also, above-average SSTs covered large areas of the Northern Hemisphere subtropics.

Unless otherwise stated, information and images on this page are sourced from Climate Prediction Center/NCEP/NOAA. Edited by FEWW

Summary

• El Niño is present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
• Sea surface temperatures (SST) are 1.0ºC to 3.0ºC above-average across much of the central and east-central equatorial Pacific.
• Based on current observations and dynamical model forecasts, El Niño is expected to continue at least into the Northern Hemisphere spring 2010.

For additional information, previous entries and diagrams see links below:

Related Links:

• Climate Locked into ‘Unending’ El Niño?
• What Florida Might Look Like in 2014
• SE Australia Toasted Brown
• UK Flooding
• Speaking of El Niño, OLR Anomalies in Australia
• El Niño Update [16 Nov 2009]
• Recognizing El Niño
• El Niño and La Niña: Tracing the Dance of Ocean and Atmosphere
• TAO Diagrams
• El Niño Forecasts

El Niño Updates:

• El Niño Weekly Update [4 Jan 2010]
• El Niño Weekly Update [28 Dec 2009]
• El Niño Weekly Update [21 Dec 2009]
• El Niño Weekly Update [7 Dec 2009]
• El Niño Update [30 Nov 2009]
• El Niño [Main Page and Links Archive]

Little Lead Likely Damage Kids’ kidneys

News Release by: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Small amounts of lead may damage children’s kidneys

[EVEN] Small amounts of lead in the bodies of healthy children and teens — amounts well below the levels defined as “concerning” by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — may worsen kidney function, according to a Johns Hopkins Children’s Center study published in the Jan. 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

In 1991, the CDC reduced the lead level “of concern” for children from 30 micrograms to 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood, but the Johns Hopkins findings suggest that even levels below 10 present a health risk, providing the first evidence that lead levels that low may impair kidney function.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that very low levels of lead may impact kidney function in healthy children, which underscores the need to minimize sources of lead exposure,” says lead investigator Jeffrey Fadrowski, M.D. M.H.S., a pediatric nephrologist at Hopkins Children’s.

The Johns Hopkins team cautions that their findings present only a snapshot of kidney status and lead levels, and do not offer definitive proof of cause and effect between the two. But the scientists say their findings are worrisome and emphasize the urgent need for studies that track lead levels and kidney function over time to better understand the interplay between the two.

“Our findings were particularly striking because we saw slightly decreased kidney function in healthy children without conditions that could account for it, and this could spell more kidney trouble down the road as these children get older or if they acquire additional risk factors for kidney disease, such as high blood pressure and diabetes,” says Susan Furth, M.D. Ph.D., senior investigator on the study and a pediatric nephrologist at Hopkins Children’s.

Of the 769 healthy children and teens in the study, ages 12 to 20, more than 99 percent had lead levels below 10, with an average level of 1.5 micrograms per deciliter. Those with lead levels in the upper quarter of the normal range appeared to have worse kidney function than children with lower lead levels. Kidney function is defined by the speed with which the kidneys filter the blood. Those with lead levels above 2.9 had a kidney filtration rate 6.6 units (milliliters of blood filtered per minute and adjusted for body size) lower than children whose lead levels were below 1 microgram per deciliter. Researchers also found that for each twofold increase in the amount of lead in the blood, the kidney’s filtration capacity dropped by 2.3 units in males and by 3.3 in females. The link between higher lead levels and worse kidney function persisted even after investigators eliminated high blood pressure — less than 5 percent of those in the study had it — as a possible factor affecting kidney status.

In the current study, the investigators measured kidney function by estimating the kidneys’ filtering capacity, called glomerular filtration rate (GFR), using two tests: a standard creatinine test, which measures the speed with which the kidneys filter out creatinine from the blood, and a newer test that measures how fast the kidneys filter out the protein cystatin C. Cystatin C is believed to be a more accurate gauge because, unlike creatinine, which can fluctuate depending on muscle mass and other factors, its levels are more stable. Indeed, the differences in kidney function were far more pronounced when the researchers looked at cystatin C and not as significant when they applied the standard creatinine test. The investigators say this could mean that past studies that have used creatinine tests may have underestimated the true effect of lead on kidney function.

Lead exposure is a well-established risk factor for neurological damage and developmental delays in children, while chronic exposure to high lead levels is a well-known cause of chronic kidney disease in adults. Despite the elimination of lead from gasoline and paint, most Americans still have detectable lead levels in the blood. The mean blood lead levels in the 12-to-19-year-olds were 1.5 micrograms per deciliter in 1991 to 1994 and 1.1 micrograms per deciliter from 1999 to 2000, researchers say.

Current exposure sources include lead paint, folk remedies, glazed pottery, soil and drinking water in some urban areas with older housing.

Chronic kidney disease affects 26 million people in the United States.

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Co-investigators include Ana Navas-Acien, M.D. Ph.D.; Maria Tellez-Plaza, M.D. M.P.H.; Eliseo Guallar, M.D. Dr.PH; and Virginia Weaver, M.D., M.P.H., all of Hopkins.

The research was funded by the National Kidney Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

Related on the Web:

High Blood Pressure Easy to Miss in Children with Kidney Disease
http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/High-Blood-Pressure-Easy-to-Miss-in-Children-with-Kidney-Disease.aspx

Black Kids with High Blood Pressure at Higher Risk for Heart Disease
http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Black_Kids_with_High_Blood_Pressure_at_Higher_Risk_for_Heart_Disease.aspx

Researchers Find New Way to Gauge Kidney Function In Kids
http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/Researchers-Find-New-Way-to-Gauge-Kidney-Function-In-Kids.aspx

Contact: Ekaterina Pesheva
epeshev1@jhmi.edu
Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

In Mosquito Lagoon everything’s dead, even alligators

Cold SW Florida Waters Kill Thousands of Snook

Florida’s record-low temperatures are proving deadly not only for crops, but game fish, too.

Cold water has killed thousands of snook, one of Florida’s most popular game fish, with many other fish species expected to perish soon, News-Press reported.

“There’s a reason snook’s general distribution doesn’t go north of Tampa,” the report quoted the head of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Charlotte Harbor Field Station as saying.

“This kind of cold can put a hurt on the snook population. A lot of people are reporting large fish, and that could affect the spawning stock.”

“Snook are extremely sensitive to the cold: Lethal water temperatures are 48.2 to 57.2 degrees for juvenile snook and 42.8 to 53.6 degrees for adults.” the report said, adding that the water temperatures reached lows of 47.2 at Shell Point and 46 at Blind Pass, Monday morning.

Dead snook have been found at Captiva, North Captiva, North Fort Myers, Pine Island, Sanibel,  Oak Hill near New Smyrna Beach, the Indian River Lagoon, Waccasassa Bay near Cedar Key, Mosquito Lagoon (north of Cape Canaveral), and Tampa Bay, the report said.

“I just talked to a guide who fishes Mosquito Lagoon, north of Cape Canaveral, and he said everything’s dead, even alligators … This is a dramatic event. It could take snook five years to recover from it.”The report quoted Rick Roberts, executive director of the Snook Foundation, as saying.

Dead cowfish, filefish, gag grouper, hardhead catfish, mojarra, mullet and tarpon have also been found by marine researchers at Tarpon Bay, the report said.

Read the full report HERE.

‘Florida agriculture has an economic impact over $87 billion annually.’

“From our citrus groves, to our fields to our tropical fish ponds, initial reports indicate we seen some of the most damaging weather Florida’s experienced in more than a decade,” Republican Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow

Read Putnam letter to Agriculture Secretary HERE.

BAT: Corporate Profits Over Public Health

Released by: Public Library of Science – PLoS Medicine

British American Tobacco helped shape European policy system favoring corporate profits over public health

British American Tobacco (BAT), the world’s second largest tobacco transnational, strategically influenced the European Union’s framework for evaluating policy options, leading to the acceptance of an agenda which emphasizes business interests over public health, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine.

By law, virtually all new policies proposed in the European Union (EU) must undergo an “impact assessment” (IA): a review of the potential economic, social, and environmental consequences. The outcome of such review is heavily influenced by the type of impact assessment tool used. IA tools focusing on economic impacts, for example, tend to favor regulation increasing business profits, even if such policies undermine general public health. Independent experts have suggested that the EU’s current IA tool, which focuses heavily on economic impacts, does not adequately take policies’ health impacts into account.

Now, this new PLoS Medicine article provides evidence that BAT, working with companies from other sectors (including chemical, oil and food companies), played a key role in shaping the EU’s current business-oriented IA system.

Dr Katherine Smith and colleagues (University of Bath; University of Edinburgh) analyzed over 700 internal BAT documents containing information on BAT’s attempts to influence European regulatory reform, and interviewed relevant European policymakers and lobbyists. They found that BAT created a policy network comprised of representatives from a number of large corporations involved in marketing products that are damaging to public health and the environment, to promote a lobbying campaign to alter EU policymaking rules. The campaign resulted in specific changes to the EU Treaty calling for policymakers to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, ultimately fostering the current system of business-oriented IA, which may well stall or even prevent future EU public health regulations, say the authors. Moreover, the authors report that EU officials were often unaware of the magnitude of BAT’s influence—presumably due to the latter’s creation of a policy network and the campaign’s use of third parties, such as think tanks and consultancy companies.

The authors suggest that BAT and its corporate allies laid the groundwork for a policy evaluation system in the EU which emphasizes corporate interests over citizens’ health. Increased transparency, awareness of corporations’ policy influence and greater understanding of the IA system are thus needed to ensure that EU policies required to protect public health continue to emerge.

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PLEASE ADD THE LINK TO THE PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN ONLINE VERSIONS OF YOUR REPORT: http://www.plosmedicine.org/articl/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000202

PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-07-01-smith.pdf

Contact: Andrew Hyde
press@plos.org
Public Library of Science

Sarah Palin Joins TV Network for Mentally Challenged

Submitted by a reader in Oregon

Animal Killer Sarah Palin Signs on as a Commentator with Fox ‘News’

Former governor of Alaska and the mother of Bristol Palin has joined the Fox ‘News’ Channel as a commentator, reports said.

Oil and Gas Republican Sarah [‘the Lord is coming soon’] Palin, who unsuccessfully ran for the post of vice-president in the 2008 election, and resigned as Alaska governor in July 2009, is hitting the make-believe news network scene.

[Just before this woman shot me, I was alive and well, looking forward to running around with my kids all day.] A video tribute to Sarah Palin at the Republican convention was titled “Mother, Moose Hunter, Maverick.” The word “murderer” was intentionally removed. Photo: AP. Image may be subject to copyright. Click image to enlarge.

Mrs Palin, said to be incapable of stringing a full sentence together, would start as a freshman on the channel [presumably to comment on the sports news,] Australian- owned Fox ‘News,’ said, refusing to divulge financial details of the 3-year deal.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Mrs Palin said in a statement posted on the network’s website.

“It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

“[Mrs Palin] captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum”. Fox’s executive vice-president for programming, Bill Shine, said, forgetting to mention Alaska’s Russian speaking neighbors.

“We are excited to add her dynamic voice to the Fox News line-up,” he boasted.

In addition to her commentary chores, Palin would occasionally host a program featuring  “inspirational tales involving ordinary Americans.” The Washington Post reported.

Asked how she would qualify  as a commentator despite her legendary public displays of total ignorance on political, geographical, environmental, social and parental issues, Mrs Palin is believed to have cited her previous TV experience when she worked part-time as a sports presenter for the KTUU station in Anchorage, Alaska in the 1980s.

When badgered for an opinion, a senior FOX network executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, is believed to have said: “Hey Fux! This is all a load of make-believe crock, what did you expect from Crocodile Dundee network?”

Related Links:

• Palin Told to Quit!
• Palin Fails to Block Beluga Whale Protection

• Index page for Alaska: Environmental issues, Big Oil, politics, CORRUPTION, Sarah Palin, even the moose, beluga whale and polar bear …

• Palin Fails to Block Beluga Whale Protection
• Does your mother shoot moose, too?
• Palin’s Polar Pests Love Their Cubs, Too!
• Hilarious Polar Bear News!
• More Hell-arious Polar Bear News

• Our Justice System Functioning?

• Lord, What about their Moose and Polar Bear?
• Palin: ‘the Lord is coming soon’
• Offshore Drilling: Things can only get better!
• It’s All About Big Oil, Stupid!

Give Steelhead a Chance

NOAA and Calif Officials Say They’ve Agreed to Remove San Clemente Dam

The move is expected to eliminate safety hazard and restore Steelhead habitat

NOAA News Release

NOAA joined state and local officials today in a pledge to remove the San Clemente Dam to eliminate a threat to the lives and property of those along California’s lower Carmel River, and help restore the watershed for federally protected steelhead trout.

San Clemente Concrete Monstrosity on Carmel River, California. Photo Credit: NOAA

The 89-year old, 106-foot high dam, which once helped bring water to residents of Monterey County, is at risk of failing during a significant earthquake or flood. Sediment has been building up behind the dam for years, making it a hazard for those living below it and almost useless as a water storage reservoir. If the dam were to fail, an estimated 2½ million cubic yards of sediment and more than 40 million gallons of water could rush downstream with potentially disastrous consequences.

The dam removal will also aid in the recovery of steelhead trout by opening up access to more than 25 square miles of spawning and rearing habitat. Steelhead in Carmel River were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1997.

“The removal of the San Clemente Dam will help restore richness to the entire ecosystem of the Carmel River while eliminating this major safety threat to the people and their property along it,” said Rodney McInnis, NOAA’s Fisheries Service southwest regional administrator. “The dam removal is vital to the recovery of this important steelhead trout run.”

San Clemente Dam on Carmel River, CA, after rainfall. Credit NOAA (High Resolution.)

According to the agreement signed today, NOAA, the California State Coastal Conservancy and California American Water will work along with other federal, state and local organizations to develop a project plan for the Carmel River Reroute and San Clemente Dam Removal Project by November. The dam removal itself may take place as early as 2012.

The total cost for the project is currently estimated at about $85 million. According to the agreement, California American Water will pay approximately $50 million, while the California State Coastal Conservancy, with assistance from NOAA, will secure the additional $35 million from state, federal and private funding sources by the end of the year.

“The San Clemente Dam Removal Project presents a unique opportunity for public and private interests to work together to realize public benefits far beyond what either could achieve working alone,” states Sam Schuchat, executive officer of the California State Coastal Conservancy.

VolcanoWatch Weekly [8 January 2010]

VoW: Turrialba

Turrialba has been quiescent since a series of explosive eruptions during the 19th century that were sometimes accompanied by pyroclastic flows. Photo by Federico Chavarria Kopper, 1999. Caption: GVP.

Volcano Details

• Country: Costa Rica
• Volcano Number: 1405-07=
• Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
• Last Known Eruption: 1866 (see below for latest report)
• Summit Elevation: 3,340 m
• Latitude: 10.025°N  (10°1’30″N)
• Longitude: 83.767°W  (83°46’1″W)

SI /USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report
(30 December – 5 January 2010)

New activity/Unrest:

• Galeras, Colombia
• Mayon, Luzon
• Nyamuragira, Democratic Republic of Congo
• Piton de la Fournaise, Reunion Island
• Rinjani, Lombok Island (Indonesia)
• Tungurahua, Ecuador
• Turrialba, Costa Rica

Volcano News (Source: GVP)

An explosive eruption from Galeras on 2 January prompted INGEOMINAS to raise the Alert Level. An ash plume rose to an altitude of 12 km (39,400 ft) a.s.l. Ejected incandescent blocks ignited fires.

Nyamuragira erupted on 2 January from a fissure on the SE flank. By 3 January, the lava flow had traveled 4.6 km and had burned about 10 hectares of forest.

On 1 January, an ash plume from Tungurahua rose to an altitude of 5.9 km (19,500 ft) a.s.l. and drifted NW. Slight ashfall was reported the next day in Manzano. On 3 and 4 January, incandescent blocks were ejected from the crater.

On 5 January, OVSICORI-UNA reported that an eruption from Turrialba produced ashfall in local areas, particularly in areas to the SW. (SOURCE: GVP)

Ongoing Activity

Barren Island, Andaman Is;  Chaitén, Southern Chile;  Karymsky, Eastern Kamchatka;  Kilauea, Hawaii (USA);  Kliuchevskoi, Central Kamchatka (Russia);  Nevado del Huila, Colombia;  Rabaul, New Britain;  Sakura-jima, Kyushu;  Sangay, Ecuador;  Santa María, Guatemala;  Shiveluch, Central Kamchatka (Russia);  Soufrière Hills, Montserrat;  Suwanose-jima, Ryukyu Islands (Japan).

The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey’s Volcano Hazards Program.

Related Links:

• Volcanic Explosions Could Split More Than Africa
• Arabia Shakes
• VolcanoWatch Weekly [28 Oct 2009]
• VolcanoWatch Weekly [26 Oct 2009]

More Links:

• Messages From Earth’s Powerhouse
• Weekly Volcano Watch: 19 March 2009

• A New Era of Intense Volcanic Unrest May Have Begun
• Tonga’s Metis Shoal may be erupting
• Rumble III Volcano “blew its top!”
• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes

FEWW Volcanic Activity Forecast

• Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts
• Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts
• Volcano Watch Weekly: 23 April 2009

• Weekly Volcano Watch: 16 April 2009
• Weekly Volcano Watch: 2 April 2009

• FEWW Volcano Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Earthquake Links

Other Related Links:

• U.S. Volcano Status Map
• Elevated Activity Page
• U.S. Volcano Webcams

Air New Zealand Jet Windscreen Cracked Midflight

Submitted by TEAA

An Air New Zealand jet windscreen cracked midflight between Auckland, New Zealand and Cairns, Australia

The plane carrying 118 passengers was forced to divert to Brisbane airport for emergency landing.

Air New Zealand Passenger Jet.

An Australian passenger was reported as saying:

“There was a moment when the airplane suddenly slowed down and we lost a lot of altitude,” she said.

“The seat light came on.

“The air hostesses were very firm in telling us to go back to our place and put the rubbish away and clear the path.

“It was enough to wake my child up – she was sleeping.”

It took  another long, heart-stopping 40 minutes before the diverted plane finally made an emergency landing in Brisbane.

“We were going very slowly at very low altitude when we landed – he’d dropped right down to below the clouds,” she said.

“We saw the windscreen when we left the airplane – they let us have a look out the front and it looked like an enormous slug trail across the windscreen with a Y shape.

“It was on the left hand side of the plane … it was a fairly scary looking crack, that’s for sure.”

Air New Zealand have not confirmed whether the passenger jet was an Airbus.

On June 2, 2009 MSRB said:

The probability remains that the next major air disaster would occur as a result of an Air New Zealand Airbus crashing into the sea [with a certainty of 0.74]

Related Links:

• Top 10 Most Dangerous Airlines in 2009/2010
• How Air New Zealand Killed 257 People …
• Air NZ won’t apologize to Erebus families for negligent homicide
• Flying Coffins
• Air New Zealand Flying Coffin Crashes in the Mediterranean

• Pilot Error Downed Air New Zealand Airbus!
• Another Near Miss For Air NZ Flying Coffins
• Bend Over, Spread Your Legs and say Baa . . .
• Propeller falls off New Zealand plane
• An Air New Zealand Flying Coffin Forced to Land

Strong Quake Strikes Offshore N California

Magnitude 6.5 [Possibly 6.7Mw] Strikes Offshore Northern California

Strong earthquake measuring up to 6.7Mw struck offshore northern California Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 00:27:39 UTC.

The quake was located at 40.674°N, 124.655°W about 35 km (22 miles) WNW (288°) from Ferndale,  and 39 km (24 miles) W (261°) from Humboldt Hill, CA, and occurred at a depth of 16.4 km (10.2 miles), USGS reported.

The Mainshock which occurred to the east of Cascadia Subduction Zone, was followed by at least 4 aftershocks, as of posting, the largest of which measured 3.8 to 4.1Mw.

Tsunami Information

According to NOAA’s West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Center website there was no Tsunami Watch, Warning, or advisory in effect. Click image to enlarge.

Closeup View

Event Location

Alert Status

10-degree Map Centered at 40°N,125°W

Earthquake Location map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW. (Click Images to enlarge). All images are sourced from USGS/EHP

USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database for the United States: Eureka 1° x 2° Sheet

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude: 6.5 [FEWW Estimate: Mainshock may have measured up to 6.7Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 00:27:38 UTC
  • Saturday, January 09, 2010 at 04:27:38 PM at epicenter
• Location: 40.645°N, 124.763°W
• Depth: 21.7 km (13.5 miles)
• Region: OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
• Distances:
  • 43 km (27 miles) W (280°) from Ferndale, CA
  • 48 km (30 miles) W (259°) from Humboldt Hill, CA
  • 51 km (32 miles) WSW (255°) from Bayview, CA
  • 53 km (33 miles) WSW (252°) from Eureka, CA
  • 365 km (227 miles) NW (310°) from Sacramento, CA
• Location Uncertainty:  horizontal +/- 0.7 km (0.4 miles); depth +/- 1.6 km (1.0 miles)
• Parameters Nph= 56, Dmin=41 km, Rmss=0.24 sec, Gp=220°,
• M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=8
• Source: California Integrated Seismic Net:   USGS; Caltech; CGS; UCB; UCSD; UNR
• Event ID: nc71338066

Earthquake Location.

USGS Topographic Map, Resolution: 16.0 meters/pixel

Seismic Hazard Map

Estimated Population Exposed to Earthquake Shaking. Click images to enlarge.

Related Links:

• Volcanoes
• Earthquakes
• FEWW Volcano Links

Transitory Impact of AO is the ‘Good News’

The Bad News?
More Permanent Changes May Be Occurring!

Impact of Arctic Oscillation on Winter Temps

[Stay Tuned ...]

Click image to enlarge. See  Kingdom United by Ice for detailed data and charts. Image Credit: NASA EO.

NASA image compares December 2009 temps to the average December temps between 2000 and 2008. Blue (red) for colder (warmer) than average land surface temps.

The Arctic Oscillation (AO), a climate pattern, impacts  winter weather in the Northern Hemisphere. The Arctic is dominated by a low-pressure air mass, while the mid-latitudes (around 45 degrees North, about the latitude of Montreal, Canada or Bordeaux, France) are governed by high pressure systems.

The strength of the high- and low-pressure systems oscillates. Weaker than normal systems cause the pressure difference between the two to decrease, allowing Arctic air to escape south and warmer air north. A weaker-than-normal AO is defined as “negative.” Strong high and low pressure systems characterize positive AO.

AO was strongly negative during Dec 2009. This image  observed by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite shows cold Arctic air impacting land surface at midlatitudes, while Arctic land, like Greenland and Alaska, was much warmer than usual. NASA Earth Observatory image by Kevin Ward. Caption by Holli Riebeek. Edited by FEWW.

See    Kingdom United by Ice for detailed data and charts

Related Links:

• Kingdom United by Ice
• El Niño
• 2010 Disasters

• Pacific storm moves across the Northwest
• State of Emergency in Oklahoma, S. Dakota, Texas
• Winter Officially Starts Today!

• Deadly Weather in Your Area?
• UK Flooding

December Snowstorm Only a Cat 3 on NESIS Scale

NOAA Ranks December Snowstorm a Category 3 on the Northeast Snowfall Impact 5-tier Scale

Snowfall accumulation from the Dec. 18-21, 2009 storm. (Credit: NOAA). [Click image for High Resolution]

NOAA says the Dec. 18-20, 2009 system that dumped heavy snow from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England, was only a Category 3 or “Major” winter storm on its Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale,  NESIS.

NESIS ranking uses data provided by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, which are based on

• How much snow falls in the area (must deposit at least 10 inches)
• Scale of the area impacte
• Population of the impacted area

NESIS ranks these storms on a five-tier scale ranging from Category 1 “Notable” to Category 5 “Extreme.”

“While snowfall from the December storm ranked in the top ten for Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, the storm only provided a glancing blow to the New York City and Boston metropolitan areas and overall affected a relatively small area. This led to it being classified as a Category 3,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction – a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service – and co-developer of NESIS with Paul Kocin also with NCEP in Camp Springs, Md. Both Uccellini and Kocin are published winter weather experts.

“Last month’s storm was one of only five in the past decade that ranked Category 3 or higher,” added Kocin. The others being: December, 2002 (Category 3); February, 2003 (Category 4); January, 2005 (Category 4); February, 2006 (Category 3) and February, 2007 (Category 3).

Category 5 storms or  the  ‘Superstorm’ top the NESIS scale the only two storms rated Cat 5 occurred on March, 1993 followed by the ‘Blizzard of ’96‘ in January, 1996. The scale was devised in 2004 and it catalogs storms since 1888, NOAA said.

Lynching in 21st Century: UNACCEPTABLE!

Submitted by TEAA

Indian Man Attacked, Set Alight in Melbourne, Australia

Racist Attacks Against Indian students in Australia Escalate

An Indian man is in a serious condition in a Melbourne hospital after being attacked and set alight by a gang of men, a news bulletin said.

Jaspreet Singh, 29, was attacked in Essendon, northwest Melbourne, and set alight. He is said to have received 15 percent burns, the report said.

The attack comes only days after two other recent murders. An Indian graduate student, Nitin Garg, 21, was stabbed to death in the city last week. Three days ago the Australian police revealed that the partially-charred body of yet another Indian student had been found on December 29.

Shortly after the murder of Mr Garg, the Indian government issued a travel advisory to the 70,000 [90,000?]  students who study in Australia.

It’s believed that up to 60 Indian students in Australia were either murdered or died of other, mostly unnatural causes in 2009.

Related Links:

• Indian man attacked and set alight in Melbourne
• Racists and Liars
• Australian Soldiers Massacre Afghan Children
• Afghan war ‘kills three kids a day’

• Ku Klux Klan cartoon angers Aussies
• Blog Quiz: Murder of Indian Students
• Aussies compete with pakeha to kill Indians
• New Zealand has total contempt for Asians, especially the Vietnamese, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese and Indians.
• A reply to a young Indian doctor who was considering working in New Zealand