Mw 7.2 quake, aftershocks rock Indonesian island

Magnitude 7.2 quake followed by dozens of strong aftershocks rattle the Indonesian island of Kepulauan Talaud

Earthquake Details

Magnitude: 7.2
Date-Time: Thursday, February 12, 2009 at 01:34:50 AM at epicenter
Location:  3.902°N, 126.400°E
Depth:  20 km (12.4 miles) set by location program
Region:  KEPULAUAN TALAUD, INDONESIA
Distances:

• 280 km (175 miles) SSE of General Santos, Mindanao, Philippines
• 320 km (195 miles) NNE of Manado, Sulawesi, Indonesia
• 1320 km (820 miles) SSE of MANILA, Philippines
• 2445 km (1520 miles) ENE of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Location Uncertainty:  horizontal +/- 6.3 km (3.9 miles); depth fixed by location program
Source: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
USGS Event ID:  us2009cybb

Tectonic Summary [USGS]

The recent earthquake near Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia of February 11, 2009 likely occurred as a result of reverse faulting on or near the plate-boundary system separating the Philippine Sea and Celebes Sea basins. Northeastern Indonesia is characterized by complex tectonics in which motions of numerous small plates are accommodating large-scale convergence between the Philippine Sea and Sunda plates. In the region of today’s earthquake, the Philippine Sea plate moves west-northwest with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of about 62 mm/year. Locally, arc-arc collision is occurring between the Sangihe and Halmahera micro plates, wedging between them the Molucca Sea micro plate, which subducts beneath both (i.e. to the east and west) and forms an inverted-U-shaped seismic zone. Seismicity within the Molucca Sea plate is active to depths of approximately 260 km to the east and 400 km to the west. The tectonic setting of this region is unique in that it is the only global example of an active arc-arc collision consuming an oceanic basin via subduction in two directions.

“The earthquake occurred approximately 30 km off the western coast of the Pulau Salebabu (Indonesia) in an area that has seen large earthquakes in the past. Since 1986, there have been two earthquakes with magnitude greater than 7 in this region.

Indonesia

Indonesia consists of more than 17,500 islands scattered over both sides of the equator, about 6,000 of which are inhabited.The five largest islands are Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan (the Indonesian side of Borneo), New Guinea (shared with Papua New Guinea) and Sulawesi.

Indonesian islands sit on the edges of the Australian, Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates and are therefore subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Indonesia is home to about 160 active volcanoes.

Related Links:

• Earthquakes [links page]

Climate Change Finals – CO2: 392 Human Chances: 0

Congratulations! Your atmospheric levels of CO2 are at a million-year high!

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Levels Rise to New Heights

1. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to an 800,000 year high of 392 ppm, a rise of about 3 ppm in 12 months, said Kim Holmen, research director at the Norwegian Polar Institute.

2. Holmen told Reuters the measurements were taken by a Stockholm University team on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, northern Norway.

3. “Carbon dioxide concentrations are likely to have risen further in 2009, he said. They usually peak just before the start of spring in the northern hemisphere, where most of the world’s industry, cities and vegetation are concentrated.” Reuters reported.

4. The precision of analysis of the Law Dome ice core air samples [and other data] show that levels of carbon dioxide are the highest in at least 800,000 years, and up by about 41 percent since the Industrial Revolution [278 ppm.]

5. The CO2 rise is caused by “mainly fossil fuel burning and to some extent land use change, where you have forests being replaced by agricultural land,” Holmen said.

6. Although the latest data is from December 2008, Holmen said, the trend from the winter numbers are obvious.

7. Mauna Loa CO2 monthly mean data: January 2009: 386.92 ppm

Related Links:

• World CO2 Emissions
• FEWW CO2e Links
• Carbon Footprint of Your Dollar
• The Billionaires’ contribution to CO2 pollution

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