Taiwan Earthquake Warning

Large Earthquake Could Strike Taiwan Region

Based on the results of Fire-Earth’s EarthModel simulations, Moderators forecast a large earthquake in the Taiwan Region.

Related Links:

• Earthquakes [Links Page]
• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Taiwan region
• 4th Powerful Quake Strikes Japan Region
• 5th Strong Quake Strikes Japan Region
• 8th Strong Quake Strikes Ryukyu Islands, Japan

Chile Earthquake and Tsunami Update 1 (28 Feb)

Death Toll reaches 309 and Rising

8.8 Megaquake destroys houses, buildings, hospitals, bridges, roads and other structures

The Chile M8.8 quake released about 180 times more energy than the recent Haiti quake (estimated at 7.3Mw). Up to 70 medium to powerful aftershocks measuring M5.0 to M7.0 have been reported by USGS and other EQ monitoring centers

Chilean government has declared 6 regions as “zones of catastrophe,” but has made no formal request for international aid as yet.

Power and telephone lines are down throughout most of Chile making the flow of information extremely difficult [Other countries are advised to revise their communication systems]

• Water lines are cut off in most parts of the country.
• Many deaths are reported in Maule near the epicenter, as well as in the regions of  Araucania,  Biobio,  O’Higgins,  Santiago and Valparaiso, some of the places where powerful aftershocks occurred.
• In Santiago, capital of Chile, at least a dozen large building have collapse killing more than 15 people (the death toll could rise).
• About 200 people were caught inside an apartment block which collapsed  in the major city of Concepcion, the closest to the epicenter, and officials said they had no idea if anyone escaped, according to news reports.
• A chemical plant near Santiago has caught fire forcing the authorities to evacuate several thousand people from the neighborhood.
• Santiago International airport has been damaged and will be closed for at least a week.

Freeze frame from a local TV report shows  a building in Concepcion that caught fire as a result of the earthquake.

The international airport in Santiago, the Chilean capital, located about 320km (200 miles) north of the epicenter, was  closed as the megaquake caused damage to some roads and building facades.

A strong M6.3 aftershock in Salta, Argentina killed at least 2 people last night, officials said.

Rescue workers search for victims and survivors after an apartment complex collapsed during an earthquake in Concepcion some 100 km (62 miles) south of the epicenter, February 27, 2010.  Credit: REUTERS/Jose Luis Saavedra. Image may be subject to copyright. For more image images, click links in the Related Images section below.

The megaquake was the fifth-largest seismic event since 1900.   Chile was also the scene of the largest earthquake in the world  which measured 9.5Mw, which killed  1,655 people and injure 3,000 others, leaving about 2,000,000 homeless.

The tsunami generated by the 1960 quake  caused 61 deaths and $75 million damage in Hawaii [most of the damage occurred at Hilo, with the runup height reaching 10.6 m.] Several hundred other people in Japan and the Philippines were also killed or reported missing as a result of the destructive tsunami.

Collapsed highway Near Santiago.  Vehicles driving along a highway that collapsed during the megaquake were thrown on the road below on Saturday. Photo Credit:  Associated Press. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notie.

Tsunami

Japan is bracing for a possible tsunami wave of 3m (10ft) or higher that could strike the Pacific coast of Hokkaido at about 13:00JST  (04:00 UTC).

Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)Tsunami Forecast Map.  Image may be subject to copyright.

• Major Tsunami is marked in RED: Tsunami height is expected to be 3 meters or higher.
• Tsunami is marked in YELLOW: Tsunami height is expected to be up to 2 meters.
• Tsunami Advisory: Tsunami height is expected to be about 0.5 meters.

Japanese government has ordered thousands of residents on coastal areas to evacuate to higher grounds.

A tsunami generated by the megaquake overwhelmed the port of Talcahuano, a major port in southern Chile, causing substantial damage to the harbor and the boats, and flooding streets.

A huge wave swept the Juan Fernandez islands, President Michelle Bachelet was reported as saying. The wave reportedly 7, with at least a dozen more islanders reported missing, according to a local officials.

Hawaii recorded tsunami surges of up to 12 inches about half an hour later than oceanographers had forecast, according to an official with the Hawaii County Civil Defense. Some officials had predicted that the waves would be as high as 4.8m (14 feet) despite the freely available tsunami ADVISORY reports.

In French Polynesia, a 1.8m (6 ft ) high wave swept ashore. As of posting,  there was no reports of casualties or damage. However,  casualties and damage will most probably occur.

A 1.7m was observed at Valparaiso, west of Santiago, and reports of more damage are expected.

In Australia, a tsunami wave measuring 50cm (1.6 feet) was reported off Norfolk Island, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles ) northeast of Sydney.

On Chatham Islands, NZ officials reported a 2-meter high wave striking the coast. About a thousand people in the coastal cities of Gisborne and Napier in the  North Island were reportedly evacuated from low-lying areas.

In Tonga, there were reports of a 2.2-meter (6.6 feet) high wave sweeping an unnamed small northern island, an official said.

In the Philippines the officials said they were expecting a 1-meter high wave later this afternoon local time.

Socioeconomic Aftershocks

President Michelle Bachelet has said that two million Chileans have been affected by the Saturday’s Megaquake. Her estimate is realistic.

Thousands of people in Argentina may have also been affected.

10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,75°W (USGS)

Latest EQ Location map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW

Fire-Earth Moderators believe that the geophysical prognosis doesn’t bode well for Chile, and a number of other countries, especially those  on the PRF,  for at least the next 3  years.

On January 2, Fire-Earth forecast 2010 Likely the Most Disastrous Year on Record. See also 2010 Disaster Calender- Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters.

Related Links:

• Destructive Tsunami Generated by Chile Quake
• Chile 8.8 Megaquake Strikes Offshore Maule
• Earth undergoing significant geophysical disturbances
• Recent Earthquakes ≥ 6.0 Mw
• Powerful Quake Strikes Chile [November 13, 2009]
• The Largest Earthquake

Related Images:

• Reuters photo gallery
• More images by AP and others
• AP videos

Destructive Tsunami Generated by Chile Quake

A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 005
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1045UTC 27 FEB 2010

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS, EXCEPT ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, OREGON AND CALIFORNIA. [SEE below for other bulletins with those areas included ]

Chile Tsunami preliminary forecast model energy map (WCATWC/NOAA). Click image to enlarge.

Source: NOAA/NWS/West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. Click image to enlarge.

* A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT *

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

CHILE / PERU / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / PITCAIRN / HONDURAS / EL SALVADOR / GUATEMALA / FR. POLYNESIA / MEXICO / COOK ISLANDS / KIRIBATI / KERMADEC IS / NIUE / NEW ZEALAND / TONGA / AMERICAN SAMOA / SAMOA / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / TOKELAU / FIJI / AUSTRALIA / HAWAII / PALMYRA IS. / TUVALU / VANUATU / HOWLAND-BAKER / NEW CALEDONIA / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / NAURU / MARSHALL IS. / MIDWAY IS. / KOSRAE / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / POHNPEI / WAKE IS. / CHUUK / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / INDONESIA / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / YAP / BELAU / JAPAN / PHILIPPINES / CHINESE TAIPEI

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE
DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 0634Z 27 FEB 2010
COORDINATES – 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST
DEPTH – 55 KM
LOCATION – NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
MAGNITUDE – 8.8

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
——————- —– —— —– ————— —–
IQUIQUE CL 20.2S 70.1W 0906Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 72MIN
ANTOFAGASTA CL 23.2S 70.4W 0941Z 0.49M / 1.6FT 52MIN
ARICA CL 18.5S 70.3W 1007Z 0.94M / 3.1FT 44MIN
DART LIMA 32412 18.0S 86.4W 0941Z 0.24M / 0.8FT 36MIN
CALDERA CL 27.1S 70.8W 0843Z 0.45M / 1.5FT 20MIN
TALCAHUANO CL 36.7S 73.4W 0653Z 2.34M / 7.7FT 88MIN
COQUIMBO CL 30.0S 71.3W 0852Z 1.32M / 4.3FT 30MIN
CORRAL CL 39.9S 73.4W 0739Z 0.90M / 2.9FT 16MIN
SAN FELIX CL 26.3S 80.1W 0815Z 0.53M / 1.7FT 08MIN
VALPARAISO CL 33.0S 71.6W 0708Z 1.29M / 4.2FT 20MIN

LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).
PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED WHICH COULD CAUSE WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAT. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY ALONG A COAST DUE TO LOCAL EFFECTS. THE TIME FROM ONE TSUNAMI WAVE TO THE NEXT CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO AN HOUR, AND THE THREAT CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AS MULTIPLE WAVES ARRIVE.

FOR ALL AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL 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.

ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.

LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
——————————– ———— ————
CHILE TALCAHUANO 36.7S 73.1W 0729Z 27 FEB
VALPARAISO 33.0S 71.6W 0739Z 27 FEB
COQUIMBO 29.9S 71.3W 0801Z 27 FEB
CORRAL 39.8S 73.5W 0810Z 27 FEB
CALDERA 27.1S 70.8W 0821Z 27 FEB
ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 70.4W 0844Z 27 FEB
IQUIQUE 20.2S 70.1W 0911Z 27 FEB
ARICA 18.5S 70.3W 0929Z 27 FEB
GOLFO DE PENAS 47.1S 74.9W 0934Z 27 FEB
PUERTO MONTT 41.5S 73.0W 1052Z 27 FEB
EASTER IS. 27.1S 109.4W 1205Z 27 FEB
PUNTA ARENAS 53.2S 70.9W 1213Z 27 FEB
PUERTO WILLIAMS 54.8S 68.2W 1404Z 27 FEB
PERU MOLLENDO 17.1S 72.0W 0936Z 27 FEB
SAN JUAN 15.3S 75.2W 0952Z 27 FEB
LA PUNTA 12.1S 77.2W 1045Z 27 FEB
PIMENTAL 6.9S 80.0W 1114Z 27 FEB
TALARA 4.6S 81.5W 1127Z 27 FEB
CHIMBOTE 9.0S 78.8W 1132Z 27 FEB
ECUADOR LA LIBERTAD 2.2S 81.2W 1202Z 27 FEB
ESMERELDAS 1.2N 79.8W 1234Z 27 FEB
BALTRA IS. 0.5S 90.3W 1313Z 27 FEB
COLOMBIA TUMACO 1.8N 78.9W 1253Z 27 FEB
BAHIA SOLANO 6.3N 77.4W 1327Z 27 FEB
BUENAVENTURA 3.8N 77.2W 1340Z 27 FEB
ANTARCTICA THURSTON IS. 72.0S 100.0W 1312Z 27 FEB
CAPE ADARE 71.0S 170.0E 1650Z 27 FEB
PANAMA PUERTO PINA 7.4N 78.1W 1331Z 27 FEB
PUNTA MALA 7.5N 79.9W 1334Z 27 FEB
PUNTA BURICA 8.0N 82.8W 1340Z 27 FEB
BALBOA HTS. 9.0N 79.6W 1457Z 27 FEB
COSTA RICA CABO MATAPALO 8.4N 83.3W 1344Z 27 FEB
PUERTO QUEPOS 9.4N 84.2W 1417Z 27 FEB
CABO SAN ELENA 10.9N 86.0W 1452Z 27 FEB
NICARAGUA SAN JUAN DL SUR 11.2N 85.9W 1452Z 27 FEB
PUERTO SANDINO 12.2N 86.8W 1512Z 27 FEB
CORINTO 12.5N 87.2W 1520Z 27 FEB
PITCAIRN PITCAIRN IS. 25.1S 130.1W 1455Z 27 FEB
HONDURAS AMAPALA 13.2N 87.6W 1520Z 27 FEB
EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 13.6N 89.8W 1531Z 27 FEB
GUATEMALA SIPICATE 13.9N 91.2W 1539Z 27 FEB
FR. POLYNESIA RIKITEA 23.1S 135.0W 1542Z 27 FEB
HIVA OA 10.0S 139.0W 1723Z 27 FEB
PAPEETE 17.5S 149.6W 1748Z 27 FEB
MEXICO PUERTO MADERO 14.8N 92.5W 1552Z 27 FEB
ACAPULCO 16.9N 99.9W 1615Z 27 FEB
MANZANILLO 19.1N 104.3W 1709Z 27 FEB
SOCORRO 18.8N 111.0W 1719Z 27 FEB
CABO SAN LUCAS 22.8N 110.0W 1749Z 27 FEB
MAZATLAN 23.2N 106.4W 1753Z 27 FEB
PUNTA ABREOJOS 26.7N 113.6W 1856Z 27 FEB
ENSENADA 31.8N 116.8W 2016Z 27 FEB
COOK ISLANDS RAROTONGA 21.2S 159.8W 1814Z 27 FEB
PENRYN IS. 8.9S 157.8W 1925Z 27 FEB
PUKAPUKA IS. 10.8S 165.9W 1950Z 27 FEB
KIRIBATI FLINT IS. 11.4S 151.8W 1836Z 27 FEB
MALDEN IS. 3.9S 154.9W 1934Z 27 FEB
CHRISTMAS IS. 2.0N 157.5W 2028Z 27 FEB
KANTON IS. 2.8S 171.7W 2112Z 27 FEB
TARAWA IS. 1.5N 173.0E 2258Z 27 FEB
KERMADEC IS RAOUL IS. 29.2S 177.9W 1912Z 27 FEB
NIUE NIUE IS. 19.0S 170.0W 1918Z 27 FEB
NEW ZEALAND EAST CAPE 37.7S 178.5E 1918Z 27 FEB
GISBORNE 38.7S 178.0E 1922Z 27 FEB
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 1952Z 27 FEB
NAPIER 39.5S 176.9E 1954Z 27 FEB
WELLINGTON 41.3S 174.8E 1955Z 27 FEB
MILFORD SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 2005Z 27 FEB
NORTH CAPE 34.4S 173.3E 2010Z 27 FEB
BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 2030Z 27 FEB
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2040Z 27 FEB
AUCKLAND(E) 36.7S 175.0E 2056Z 27 FEB
NELSON 41.3S 173.3E 2127Z 27 FEB
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 2129Z 27 FEB
AUCKLAND(W) 37.1S 174.2E 2140Z 27 FEB
NEW PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 2219Z 27 FEB
TONGA NUKUALOFA 21.0S 175.2W 1940Z 27 FEB
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO PAGO 14.3S 170.7W 1951Z 27 FEB
SAMOA APIA 13.8S 171.8W 2006Z 27 FEB
JARVIS IS. JARVIS IS. 0.4S 160.1W 2026Z 27 FEB
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS IS. 13.2S 176.2W 2028Z 27 FEB
TOKELAU NUKUNONU IS. 9.2S 171.8W 2030Z 27 FEB
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 2104Z 27 FEB
AUSTRALIA HOBART 43.3S 147.6E 2105Z 27 FEB
SYDNEY 33.9S 151.4E 2146Z 27 FEB
BRISBANE 27.2S 153.3E 2310Z 27 FEB
GLADSTONE 23.8S 151.4E 0101Z 28 FEB
CAIRNS 16.7S 145.8E 0159Z 28 FEB
MACKAY 21.1S 149.3E 0251Z 28 FEB
HAWAII HILO 19.7N 155.1W 2119Z 27 FEB
HONOLULU 21.3N 157.9W 2152Z 27 FEB
NAWILIWILI 22.0N 159.4W 2158Z 27 FEB
PALMYRA IS. PALMYRA IS. 6.3N 162.4W 2124Z 27 FEB
TUVALU FUNAFUTI IS. 7.9S 178.5E 2125Z 27 FEB
VANUATU ANATOM IS. 20.2S 169.9E 2137Z 27 FEB
ESPERITU SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 2235Z 27 FEB
HOWLAND-BAKER HOWLAND IS. 0.6N 176.6W 2154Z 27 FEB
NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 2218Z 27 FEB
JOHNSTON IS. JOHNSTON IS. 16.7N 169.5W 2245Z 27 FEB
SOLOMON IS. KIRAKIRA 10.4S 161.9E 2321Z 27 FEB
MUNDA 8.4S 157.2E 0001Z 28 FEB
GHATERE 7.8S 159.2E 0001Z 28 FEB
AUKI 8.8S 160.6E 0004Z 28 FEB
HONIARA 9.3S 160.0E 0004Z 28 FEB
FALAMAE 7.4S 155.6E 0017Z 28 FEB
PANGGOE 6.9S 157.2E 0020Z 28 FEB
NAURU NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 2331Z 27 FEB
MARSHALL IS. MAJURO 7.1N 171.4E 2339Z 27 FEB
KWAJALEIN 8.7N 167.7E 0013Z 28 FEB
ENIWETOK 11.4N 162.3E 0102Z 28 FEB
MIDWAY IS. MIDWAY IS. 28.2N 177.4W 0022Z 28 FEB
KOSRAE KOSRAE IS. 5.5N 163.0E 0026Z 28 FEB
PAPUA NEW GUINE AMUN 6.0S 154.7E 0036Z 28 FEB
KIETA 6.1S 155.6E 0038Z 28 FEB
RABAUL 4.2S 152.3E 0102Z 28 FEB
PORT MORESBY 9.3S 146.9E 0123Z 28 FEB
LAE 6.8S 147.0E 0128Z 28 FEB
KAVIENG 2.5S 150.7E 0135Z 28 FEB
MADANG 5.2S 145.8E 0154Z 28 FEB
MANUS IS. 2.0S 147.5E 0214Z 28 FEB
WEWAK 3.5S 143.6E 0237Z 28 FEB
VANIMO 2.6S 141.3E 0258Z 28 FEB
POHNPEI POHNPEI IS. 7.0N 158.2E 0111Z 28 FEB
WAKE IS. WAKE IS. 19.3N 166.6E 0112Z 28 FEB
CHUUK CHUUK IS. 7.4N 151.8E 0213Z 28 FEB
RUSSIA MEDNNY IS 54.7N 167.4E 0236Z 28 FEB
UST KAMCHATSK 56.1N 162.6E 0302Z 28 FEB
PETROPAVLOVSK K 53.2N 159.6E 0333Z 28 FEB
URUP IS 46.1N 150.5E 0354Z 28 FEB
SEVERO KURILSK 50.8N 156.1E 0410Z 28 FEB
MARCUS IS. MARCUS IS. 24.3N 154.0E 0248Z 28 FEB
INDONESIA JAYAPURA 2.4S 140.8E 0302Z 28 FEB
WARSA 0.6S 135.8E 0345Z 28 FEB
MANOKWARI 0.8S 134.2E 0405Z 28 FEB
SORONG 0.8S 131.1E 0433Z 28 FEB
BEREBERE 2.5N 128.7E 0452Z 28 FEB
PATANI 0.4N 128.8E 0505Z 28 FEB
GEME 4.6N 126.8E 0512Z 28 FEB
N. MARIANAS SAIPAN 15.3N 145.8E 0303Z 28 FEB
GUAM GUAM 13.4N 144.7E 0311Z 28 FEB
YAP YAP IS. 9.5N 138.1E 0352Z 28 FEB
BELAU MALAKAL 7.3N 134.5E 0413Z 28 FEB
JAPAN KUSHIRO 42.9N 144.3E 0435Z 28 FEB
KATSUURA 35.1N 140.3E 0453Z 28 FEB
HACHINOHE 40.5N 141.5E 0509Z 28 FEB
SHIMIZU 32.8N 133.0E 0557Z 28 FEB
OKINAWA 26.2N 127.8E 0610Z 28 FEB
PHILIPPINES DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 0527Z 28 FEB
PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 0559Z 28 FEB
LEGASPI 13.2N 123.8E 0604Z 28 FEB
CHINESE TAIPEI HUALIEN 24.0N 121.6E 0626Z 28 FEB
HUALIEN 24.0N 121.7E 0626Z 28 FEB
CHILUNG 25.2N 121.8E 0654Z 28 FEB
TAITUNG 22.7N 121.2E 0655Z 28 FEB

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

WEPA41 PAAQ 271403
TSUWCA

BULLETIN
TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 8
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER…

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF OREGON – WASHINGTON – BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA…

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF ALASKA FROM KODIAK ALASKA TO ATTU ALASKA…

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED WHICH COULD IMPACT THE ADVISORY REGIONS LISTED IN THE HEADLINE. PERSONS IN LOW-LYING COASTAL AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO INSTRUCTIONS FROM THEIR LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. EVACUATIONS ARE ONLY ORDERED BY EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCIES.
– PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

THIS MESSAGE IS BASED ON EARTHQUAKE DATA… OBSERVED TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES… HISTORICAL INFORMATION AND FORECAST MODELS.

A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN OBSERVED AT THE FOLLOWING SITES

LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL
———————— —– —— ——- ———–
74MIN TALCAHUANO C 36.7S 73.1W 0657UTC 1.84M/6.1FT
40MIN SAN FELIX CH 26.3S 80.1W 0832UTC 0.81M/2.7FT
57MIN CALDERA CHIL 27.1S 70.8W 0746UTC 0.52M/1.7FT
47MIN COQUIMBO CHI 29.9S 71.3W 0902UTC 1.27M/4.2FT
78MIN IQUIQUE CHIL 20.2S 70.2W 0851UTC 0.30M/1.0FT
57MIN ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 70.4W 0956UTC 0.46M/1.5FT
84MIN ANCUD CHILE 41.9S 74.3W 0943UTC 0.34M/1.1FT
30MIN CORRAL CHILE 39.9S 73.4W 1012UTC 1.54M/5.1FT
56MIN CALLAO LA PUN 12.1S 77.2W 1029UTC 0.66M/2.2FT
52MIN BALTRA ECUAD 0.4S 90.3W 1251UTC 0.35M/1.2FT

TIME – TIME OF MEASUREMENT
AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES ARE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
MAGNITUDE – 8.8
TIME – 2134 AKST FEB 26 2010
2234 PST FEB 26 2010
0634 UTC FEB 27 2010
LOCATION – 36.1 SOUTH 72.6 WEST
– NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
DEPTH – 19 MILES/31 KM

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER IN EWA BEACH HAWAII WILL ISSUE MESSAGES FOR HAWAII AND OTHER AREAS OF THE PACIFIC OUTSIDE THE STATES AND PROVINCES PREVIOUSLY LISTED.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR THE WATER IS IMMINENT OR EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS UNDER AN ADVISORY. CURRENTS MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO SWIMMERS… BOATS… AND COASTAL STRUCTURES AND MAY CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.

THIS MESSAGE WILL BE UPDATED IN 60 MINUTES OR SOONER IF THE SITUATION WARRANTS. THE TSUNAMI MESSAGE WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. REFER TO THE INTERNET SITE WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV FOR MORE INFORMATION.

PZZ650-655-673-750-775-565-670-530-535-545-560-455-540-450-
CAZ039>043-087-034-035-530-006-506-508-509-529-002-505-001-
271522-
/O.CON.PAAQ.TS.Y.0005.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
COASTAL AREAS BETWEEN AND INCLUDING THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER…

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR WATER IS IMMINENT OF EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS IN AN ADVISORY. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED SITES IN THE ADVISORY ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

LA JOLLA-CA 1202 PST FEB 27 SAN FRANCISCO-CA 1326 PST FEB 27
SANTA BARBARA-CA 1231 PST FEB 27 CRESCENT CITY-CA 1346 PST FEB 27
FOR ARRIVAL TIMES AT ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS SEE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV

$$

PZZ356-255-310-350-210-250-110-130>135-150-153-156-170-PKZ310-
031>036-041-042-011>013-021-022-043-051-052-053-120-121-125>129-
130-140-141-ORZ022-002-021-001-WAZ001-021-503-506>511-514>517-
AKZ023-024-026>029-018>022-025-017-131-135-121-125-145-271522-
/O.EXA.PAAQ.TS.Y.0005.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
COASTAL AREAS BETWEEN AND INCLUDING THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA
552 AM PST SAT FEB 27 2010

…A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE COASTAL AREAS OF OREGON – WASHINGTON – BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE OREGON-CALIFORNIA BORDER TO KODIAK ALASKA…

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE WATER… OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR WATER IS IMMINENT OF EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS IN AN ADVISORY. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED SITES IN THE ADVISORY ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

CHARLESTON-OR 1402 PST FEB 27 YAKUTAT-AK 1619 AKST FEB 27
SEASIDE-OR 1446 PST FEB 27 KODIAK-AK 1628 AKST FEB 27
WESTPORT-WA 1457 PST FEB 27 JUNEAU-AK 1635 AKST FEB 27
NEAH BAY-WA 1507 PST FEB 27 SEWARD-AK 1639 AKST FEB 27
TOFINO-BC 1515 PST FEB 27 VALDEZ-AK 1657 AKST FEB 27
LANGARA-BC 1551 PST FEB 27 CORDOVA-AK 1706 AKST FEB 27
SITKA-AK 1529 AKST FEB 27 HOMER-AK 1739 AKST FEB 27
KETCHIKAN-AK 1549 AKST FEB 27
FOR ARRIVAL TIMES AT ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS SEE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV

Z = UTC

Related Links:

• Chile 8.8 Megaquake Strikes Offshore Maule

Chile 8.8 Megaquake Strikes Offshore Maule

Large Earthquake Measuring 8.8Mw Strike Off the Coast of Central Chile

The Chilean Megaquake with nearly 1 exajoule of energy (about 240 megaton, or 16,000 times the size of Hiroshima A-bomb) has caused much destruction

The massive quake struck about 100 km (60 miles) NNW of Chillan, Chile, at a depth of about 35km on February 27, 2010 at 06:34:14 UTC, USGS/EHP reported.

The mainshock was followed by at least 11 medium to powerful aftershocks, as of posting, the largest of which was a magnitude 7.0 shock.

Fatalities/Damage:

According to a local report at least 50 people have been killed, but more deaths are highly probable as the mega earthquake unleashed massive energy. Many buildings have been destroyed. The power lines are  down and communication links between the epicenter and Chilean capital Santiago are affected.

Tsunami Warning:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru, and a tsunami watch for Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.

10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,75°W

Earthquake location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude: 8.8
• Date-Time:
  • Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 06:34:14 UTC
  • Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 03:34:14 AM at epicenter
• Location: 35.846°S, 72.719°W
• Depth: 35 km (21.7 miles)
• Region: OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
• Distances:
  • 100 km (60 miles) NNW of Chillan, Chile
  • 105 km (65 miles) WSW of Talca, Chile
  • 115 km (70 miles) NNE of Concepcion, Chile
  • 325 km (200 miles) SW of SANTIAGO, Chile
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 7.2 km (4.5 miles)
• Source: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID:  us2010tfan

Political Map of Chile. Click to enlarge.

Tectonic Summary

This earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca and South American tectonic plates. The two plates are converging at a rate of 80 mm per year. The earthquake occurred as thrust-faulting on the interface between the two plates, with the Nazca plate moving down and landward below the South American plate. Coastal Chile has a history of very large earthquakes. Since 1973, there have been 13 events of magnitude 7.0 or greater. The February 27 shock originated about 230 km north of the source region of the magnitude 9.5 earthquake of May, 1960 – the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the world. This great earthquake killed 1,655 people in southern Chile and unleashed a tsunami that crossed the Pacific, killing 61 people in Hawaii, Japan, and the Philippines. Approximately 870 km to the north of the February 27 earthquake is the source region of the magnitude 8.5 earthquake of November, 1922. This great quake significantly impacted central Chile, killing several hundred people and causing severe property damage. The 1922 quake generated a 9-meter local tsunami that inundated the Chile coast near the town of Coquimbo; the tsunami also crossed the Pacific, washing away boats in Hilo harbor, Hawaii. The magnitude 8.8 earthquake of February 27, 2010 ruptured the portion of the South American subduction zone separating these two massive historical earthquakes. A large vigorous aftershock sequence can be expected from this earthquake. (Source: USGS)

10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,75°W – UPDATE

Earthquake location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FEWW

Historic Seismicity (USGS/EHP)

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green

Seismic Hazard Map

Major Tectonic Boundaries: Subduction Zones -purple, Ridges -red and Transform Faults -green

Population Exposure Maps (USGS)

USGS Population Exposure MAP. Click image to enlarge. Click here for PDF version.

USGS Population ShakeMAP. Click image to enlarge.

Other Events:

Meanwhile, GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin reported a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in San Juan Province, Argentina, about 600 km NNE of the Chile quake:

Region: San Juan Province, Argentina
Time: 2010-02-27 06:51:19.4 UTC
Magnitude: 5.8
Epicenter: 68.82°W 31.46°S
Depth: 64 km
Status: manually revised

Fire-Earth Earthquake Forecast:  Up to 4 more megaquakes could occur globally in 2010 with probabilities of 0.8 (78%) descending to 0.5 (48%).

[Note: The frequency of occurrence of earthquakes measuring 8.0 Mw or greater is about 1 event per year.]

Related Links:

• Earth undergoing significant geophysical disturbances
• Recent Earthquakes ≥ 6.0 Mw
• Powerful Quake Strikes Chile [November 13, 2009]
• The Largest Earthquake

State of Calif: The Ten Internet Commandments

‘The Menace of Fcebook, Twitter’

State of California Effectively Bans Facebook, Twitter from employee Internet access list

State directive says, although agencies and departments are encouraged to  use Social Media technologies, and they have done so allegedly with  some success, there is a measure of risk to address and mitigate.

California State has therefore provided the following Ten Commandments to assist in risk mitigation.

Schwarzenegger uses Multimedia to advance his political agenda (!) Image is a freeze-frame from an AP video. Image may be subject to copyright.

Office of the State Chief Information Officer
Social Media Standard – SIMM 66B – February 2010

USER [State Employee] REQUIREMENTS
1. Users shall connect to, and exchange information with, only those Social Media web sites that have been authorized by agency management in accordance with the requirements within this and other agency and State policies.

2. Users shall minimize their use of “other than government” sections of the Social Media web sites.

3. Users shall not post or release proprietary, confidential, sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII), or other state government Intellectual Property on Social Media web sites.

4. Users who connect to Social Media web sites through State information assets, who speak officially on behalf of the state agency or the State, or who may be perceived as speaking on behalf of an agency or the State, are subject to all agency and State requirements addressing prohibited or inappropriate behavior in the workplace, including acceptable use policies, user agreements, sexual harassment policies, etc.

5. Users shall not speak in Social Media web sites or other on-line forums on behalf of an agency, unless specifically authorized by the agency head or the agency’s Public Information Office. Users may not speak on behalf of the State unless specifically authorized by the Governor.

6. Users who are authorized to speak on behalf of the agency or State shall identify themselves by: 1) Full Name; 2) Title; 3) Agency; and 4) Contact Information, when posting or exchanging information on Social Media forums, and shall address issues only within the scope of their specific authorization.

7. Users who are not authorized to speak on behalf of the agency or State shall clarify that the information is being presented on their own behalf and that it does not represent the position of the State or an agency.

8. Users shall not utilize tools or techniques to spoof, masquerade, or assume any identity or credentials except for legitimate law enforcement purposes, or for other legitimate State purposes as defined in agency policy.

9. Users shall avoid mixing their professional information with their personal information.

10. Users shall not use their work password on Social Media web sites.

Recommended Viewing: Examples of how the Governator and state legislators use Internet/ multimedia for their work:

Schwarzenegger twitpics

http://twitpic.com/kujml
http://twitpic.com/150z22
http://vidly.com/abv1?twitvid

Twitter is a particularly effective medium forSchwarzenegger’s one-liners: “I’ll be back!” “Do you feel lucky ;)” “Not this time!”

While Facebook was described by a reader as “the bleeding edge of human sanity and narcotic-induced nightmare!”

3rd coldest winter on record: NWS

Image of the Day:

Winter storms pummel New York, U.S. Northeast

New York: Frozen Ghost Town, but New Yorkers may soon wish the snow hadn’t gone away!

Large scale climatic oscillations and wild, wild weather may soon become the global norm.

February 26, 2010: Winter Storm Hits New York City

A wave breaks over an occupied car as people attempt to tow it to safety Friday in Saco, Maine. The driver left the car as the tide continued to rise, flooding local streets. Credit: AP. Image may be subject to copyright.

More About the Latest Record-Breaking Winter Storm:

• This month was the 4th coldest February on record, NWS said
  

• It pummeled New York and much of the U.S. Northeast,  depositing about 60cm (2 feet) of snow in NYC.
• Schools were closed in New York City, Philadelphia and other cities in the Northeast.
• Businesses were forced to close down.
• City’s transportation systems were shut down.
• The National Weather Service said more than 50cm (20 inches) of snow had fallen so far, making the storm the third heaviest on record. The record snow for New York was set in February 2006 when more than 68cm (~ 27 inches) of the fluffy stuff covered NYC.
• As of Friday, a new all time snow record was set for the month of February with the latest storm raising the month’s total to 91.5cm (36 inches).

• The storm started on Thursday and could last through Saturday with another 10-20cm of additional  snow forecast for NYC.
  It was the third storm to strike the U.S. Northeast in four weeks.
• About one million homes and businesses across the region experienced blackouts on Thursday and 75 percent were still without 24 hours later, Associated press reported.
• Strong winds, gusting up to 100 km per hour (60 mph) were recorded in eastern Long Island, the National Weather Service said.
• In Philadelphia, winds gusted managed only 80 km per hour (50 mph) prompting the city to declare its fourth snow emergency of the winter, local reports said.
• A man was killed in Central Park, NYC, on Thursday after  he was hit by a tree limb that broke off under the weight of the snow.
• Up to 1,200 flights were canceled throughout the region.
• Most train and commuter bus services in the area were also canceled.

Then:

Now:

For a weather briefing (Ark-La-Miss Region) by NWS click here.

Related Links:

• US Northeast Snow Records Broken

• Snow covers 70 pct of the U.S.
• 6 feet of snow blankets the Alps
• 2010 Disaster Calender – January
• The Storms Attack on California
• California: Powerful new storm sails ashore
• Transitory Impact of AO is the ‘Good News’
• December Snowstorm Only a Cat 3 on NESIS Scale
• United Kingdom of Ice
• State of Emergency in Oklahoma, S. Dakota, Texas
• ‘Humongous’ storm spreads across the US
• You Don’t Bring A Gun To A Snowball Fight!
• Winter Officially Starts Today!
• Deadly Winter Storm Paralyzes United States

The 9th Powerful Quake Strikes Japan Region

The 9th powerful Earthquake (of a possible series of 14) Measuring 6.9 Mw Strikes Ryukyu Isles, Japan

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.9 Mw struck near Naha, Okinawa, Japan at a depth of 10km on February 26, 2010 at 20:31UTC. The mainshock was followed by a magnitude 5.1 aftershock which occurred on February 27, 2010 at 00:49 UTC, USGS reported.

Background:

• 8th Strong Quake Strikes Ryukyu Islands, Japan
• Seventh Powerful Quake Hits Japan Region
• 6th Strong Quake Strikes Near Ryukyu Isles, Japan
• 5th Strong Quake Strikes Japan Region
• 6 to 8 more strong EQs may yet strike region
• Earthquake Forecast: Tokyo, Japan

Referring to an earlier forecast, FEWW Moderators believe an additional series of 5 or so quakes measuring ≥ 6.0 Mw could strike Japan region in the coming weeks.

10-degree Map Centered at 25°N,130°E

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Map enhanced by FEWW.

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP.

Political Map of Japan.

Earthquake Information Issued by JMA at 05:31 JST 27 Feb 2010

Occurred at (JST)	Latitude	Longitude	Depth	Mag.	Region Name
5:31 JST 27 Feb 2010	26.3ºN	128.2ºE	10km	6.9Mw	Okinawa-honto Kinkai

Approximate Distances (USGS):

• 80 km (50 miles) ESE of Naha, Okinawa, Japan
• 455 km (285 miles) ENE of Ishigaki-jima, Ryukyu Islands, Japan
• 665 km (415 miles) SSW of Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan
• 1530 km (950 miles) SW of TOKYO, Japan

Tsunami Details

At 05:33 JST 27 Feb 2010   JMA Issued a Tsunami Warning for

• OKINAWA ISLANDS

Residents were advised to:  “Evacuate from the seashore immediately to the safe places near the above coasts.”

A Tsunami Advisory was issued  for

• AMAMI ISLANDS AND TOKARA ISLANDS
• DAITOJIMA AREA
• MIYAKOJIMA AND YAEYAMA AREA

At 07:01 JST 27 Feb 2010 JMA canceled all tsunami warnings and advisories: “No tsunami damage at the above coasts though there may be slight sea level changes from now on.”

JMA Tsunami code:
Tsunami Warning: “Tsunami height is expected to be up to 2 meters, keep watch on tsunamis.”
Tsunami Advisory: “Tsunami height is expected to be about 0.5 meters, pay attention to tsunamis.”

Fire-Earth anticipates intense (above average) seismic activity and volcanic unrest/activity in the Japan Region throughout 2010 and beyond.

Related Links:

• 8th Strong Quake Strikes Ryukyu Islands, Japan [February 7, 2010]
• Seventh Powerful Quake Hits Japan Region [October 30, 2009]
• 6th Strong Quake Strikes Near Ryukyu Isles, Japan [September 29, 2009]
• Strong Quake Strikes Near Shizuoka, Japan [August 11, 2009]
• 5th Strong Quake Strikes Japan Region [August 17, 2009]

• 4th Powerful Quake Strikes Japan Region [August 17, 2009]
• 3rd Powerful Quake in 3 Days Strikes Japan Region [August 13, 2009]
• Strong Quake Strikes Near Shizuoka, Japan [August 10, 2009]
• Powerful Earthquake Strikes Near Izu Islands, Japan [August 9, 2009]
• M 6.4 Quake Strikes SW Ryukkyu Isls, Japan [August 5, 2009]

• Magnitude 6.3 quake strikes Taiwan region
• Earthquakes [Links Page]
• Earthquake Forecast: Tokyo, Japan

Iceberg off Mertz Glacier ‘disrupt ocean currents’?

A large iceberg which calved from The Mertz Glacier Tongue in January [see Addendum] could ‘disrupt the ocean currents,’ and weather patterns globally, sensationalist scientists say.

The Mertz Glacier Tongue, which protrudes from East Antarctica, spawned the iceberg pictured below on or about January 10, 2010. The Iceberg is currently floating south of Melbourne, Australia.

The Mertz Glacier routinely spawns icebergs into the Southern Ocean, some of which drift north and disintegrate rapidly in warmer surroundings, while others circle the frozen continent and could stay relatively intact for many years, provided that they remain in cold waters.

Australian scientists have warned, however, that the 80-square-km iceberg (30 sq miles) could block a region which allegedly produces 25 percent of the world’s cold and dense seawater, BBC reported.

On January 10, 2010, the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured this true-color image of an iceberg that had broken off the glacier tongue. Similar to the glacier that spawned it, this iceberg sports a rippled surface, accentuated by the Sun’s relatively low elevation in the sky when the image was collected. Measuring roughly 8.5 by 9.5 kilometers (5 by 6 miles), this iceberg is surrounded by smaller chunks of ice, which may have broken off the Mertz Glacier Tongue at the same time as the large iceberg, or after it calved.  NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen, Caption by Michon Scott. Edited by FEWW. Click here for ESA image of the entire glacier tongue.

A glaciologist at the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Research Center in Tasmania, was quoted by the BBC as saying that any disruption to the production of the super cold water – known as bottom water – in the region would be detrimental to ocean currents, and therefore the weather patterns, for many years.

“This area accounts for about 25% of the production of bottom water in Antarctica, and therefore it will reduce the overturning circulation rate,” he said.

“You won’t see it immediately, but it has downstream effects. And it will also have implications for penguins and other wildlife in the region that normally use this area for feeding.”

The iceberg is floating in a polynya, an area of open water surrounded by sea-ice.  Latent heat polynyas are responsible for high ice production and possibly dense (high salinity) water production.

“Bottom water produced by polynyas sinks to the bottom of the sea and drives the conveyor-belt like ocean circulation around the globe.” BBC claimed.

“The ice tongue was almost broken already. It was hanging like a loose tooth,”  BBC quoted a French glaciologist as saying.

“If they [the icebergs] stay in this area – which is likely – they could block the production of this dense water, essentially putting a lid on the polynya.”

This map shows the pattern of thermohaline circulation also known as “meridional overturning circulation”. This collection of currents is responsible for the large-scale exchange of water masses in the ocean, including providing oxygen to the deep ocean. The entire circulation pattern takes  about 2000 years. Credit NASA.

Climate Change is bad news of epic proportions, of course,  and the accelerating rate of calving of icebergs is very alarming, indeed. However, despite its deep injuries, planet earth and its thermoline circulation system are far more resilient than to undergo dramatic changes due to a single iceberg.

ADDENDUM [12:40 PM UTC]

Since posting the above, Fire-Earth moderators have been advised that the iceberg featured above is NOT the one which is the subject of the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center.

The new iceberg apparently calved off from Mertz Glacier Tongue on or about February 13, 2010.

ESA © ENVISAT ASAR image from the 16th of February 2010 showing the iceberg newly calved from the Mertz Glacier Tongue. The final separation did not simply occur along all the line of the two pre-existing rifts but sheared across some sections to produce a clean line. The iceberg is now turning about a point at its north-west corner which confirms our belief that is has been resting against a relatively shallow point of the sea-floor. Caption: ACECRC.

• See Large Image of Mertz by ESA

According to the ACECRC website the iceberg that calved from the Mertz Glacier is 78 km long and has a surface area of 2,500 square km. The new iceberg broke off the Mertz Glacier Tongue after a 97km long iceberg smashed into it.

Although the new iceberg is about 30 times larger than the one featured in NASA image (Top of the page), the Fire-Earth Moderators’ initial assessment remains UNCHANGED.

The Moderators do NOT believe the new calving would ADVERSELY affect the large scale ocean circulation, or have any significant climatic impact.

Further more, they see absolutely NO reason why the iceberg may cause significant modifications in the local marine environment.

Additional Notes:

The BBC Himalayan Straw Man?

The Moderators also note that the BBC has since changed the text of the page linked to above  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8538060.stm

However, the page was accidentally saved on disk …

BBC’s initial post, which has since been replaced by an entirely different text. Click image to enlarge. Image may be subject to copyright.

BBC’s 2nd version using the same URL was a pathetic dolphin tearjerker, which has since been removed. Click image to enlarge. Image may be subject to copyright.

Drug Related Violence in Mexico A Major Disaster

Who Is Profiting from Booming Cocaine Trade in the US?

Cocaine Demand in the United States Fuels the drug related Massacres in Mexico

Why isn’t the US government stemming the flow of cocaine to the United States, or making it legal like alcohol?

The mayor of a city in Durango state, a deputy police chief in Chihuahua and five local police officers are among the latest toll in drug related murders in Mexico.

More than 50 people have been killed in Mexico in the past few days, bringing the drug related death toll to more than 15,000 since 2006.

“Last year, according to the El Universal newspaper, was the deadliest in Mexico in the past decade, with 7,724 people killed in violent incidents attributed to organized crime groups.” LAHT said.

In the Ciudad Juarez, a region on the US -Mexico border, some 2,700 murders were recorded in 2009.

So far this year, drug-related violence has claimed at least 1,400 lives, local media reports say.

World annual cocaine consumption is estimated at 600 to 700 metric tons, with the United States responsible for more than 50% of the total. US remains the largest single market for cocaine (Europe 25% of the total, and the rest of the world less than 25%).

The body of “fugitive” U.S. marshal Vincent Bustamante was found in the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on March 25, 2009. AP photo. Image may be subject to copyright.

An estimated 200,000 people have left Ciudad Juarez [population:  1.5 million] since the middle of 2008  from fear of a turf war between the Mexican cartels, according to a number of reports.

“The government of Felipe Calderon is 3 years old and in Sinaloa, we have not seen decisive action against the narcos,”  a Mexican politician said. “Nothing serious is being done.”

As Mexico’s drug cartels battle  for control of the smuggling routes into the United States, the questions Americans should ask is:

Why isn’t the US government stemming the flow of cocaine to the United States, or making it legal like alcohol?

[NOTE: Fire-Earth does NOT condone the use of narcotics, but shares the belief that alcohol consumption is equally, if not more, dangerous than cocaine use.]

Related News Links:

• Mexico captures Sinaloa cartel cocaine trafficker
• Mayor Among Over a Dozen Killed in Mexico

More Activity at Soufriere Hills Volcano

Soufriere Hills Hellbent on Blowing Up Montserrat Island

In Montserrat: What Next? Fire-Earth wrote that Montserrat island could become completely uninhabitable by 2013 or earlier.

“Based on the pattern of volcanic activity at Soufriere Hills volcano since 1995, evidence of increased volcanism globally and a number of other  factors, the FEWW EarthModel forecasts the probability of Montserrat island becoming completely uninhabitable by by 2013 was equal or greater than 80 percent.”

Meanwhile, the Montserrat Volcano Observatory on February 21 reported that “the drainages leading down from Soufrière Hills, including the White River Valley, the Tar River Valley, and the Belham River Valley, were filled with fresh debris,” NASA Earth observatory said. The pyroclastic flows entered the sea via Aymers Ghaut more than a month ago, and the flows reached the sea near Plymouth on February 5, 2010.

Image # 1 (reportedly acquired by NASA on Feb 21, 2010)

Image # 2 (reportedly acquired by NASA on March 17, 200y – used for comparison)
A massive eruption of Montserrat’s Soufrière Hills Volcano triggered by a collapse of Soufrière Hills’ summit lava dome  covered large portions of the island in debris on February 11, 2010. Pyroclastic flows raced down the northern flank of the volcano, leveling trees and destroying buildings in the village of Harris, already abandoned after Soufrière Hills activity in 1995. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory reported that some flows, about 15 meters (49 feet) thick, reached the sea at Trant’s Bay, extending the island’s coastline up to 650 meters (2,100 feet). These false-color satellite images show the southern half of Montserrat before and after the dome collapse. The top image was taken on February 21, 2010, 10 days after the event. The bottom image shows the same area on March 17, 2007. Red areas are vegetated, clouds are white, blue/black areas are ocean water, and gray areas are covered by flow deposits. Fresh deposits are lighter than older deposits. On February 21, the drainages leading down from Soufrière Hills, including the White River Valley, the Tar River Valley, and the Belham River Valley, were filled with fresh debris. Pyroclastic flows reached the sea through Aymers Ghaut on January 18, 2010, and flows entered the sea near Plymouth on February 5, 2010, Montserrat Volcano Observatory said.

• More images of this event in Natural Hazards (EO)

Note: Links to Montserrat Volcano Observatory have been removed because the site is used for commercial advertising and promotion of tourism.

Related Links:

• Satellite Images of Recent Volcanic Activities
• Montserrat Soufrière Hills Resumes Activity
• Montserrat: What Next?
• Soufriere Hills Volcano Vents Ash

El Niño Weekly Update [22 February 2010]

ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions

El Niño Weekly UPDATE prepared by Climate Prediction Center / NCEP –  22  February 2010

The latest weekly SST departures are:

• Niño 4   ~  1.1ºC
• Niño 3.4  ~  1.2ºC
• Niño 3 ~ 0.8ºC
• Niño 1+2 ~ 0.4ºC

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

SST Departures (ºC) in the Tropical Pacific During the Last 4 Weeks
During the last 4-weeks, equatorial SSTs were more than 1.0°C above average between 175°E and 125°W.

Global SST Departures (ºC)
During the last four weeks, equatorial SSTs were above-average across the central and eastern Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans.

Weekly SST Departures (oC) for the Last Four Weeks

• Weeks•During the last four weeks, positive SST anomalies have extended from 170°E eastward to the South American coast.
• During the last 30 days, equatorial SST anomalies have decreased across the central Pacific and increased in the extreme eastern Pacific

Sub-Surface Temperature Departures (ºC) in the Equatorial Pacific

• In mid January 2010, positive subsurface temperature anomalies increased in the eastern equatorial Pacific in association with the downwellingphase of an oceanic Kelvin wave.
• The most recent period (below) indicates another downwellingphase of an oceanic Kelvin wave is increasing temperatures in the east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean.

Atmospheric Circulation over the North Pacific & North America During the Last 60 Days
From mid-December to early January, strong mid-latitude westerlies(East Asian and Atlantic jets) were accompanied by troughs over the North Pacific and the eastern U.S. The troughs contributed to below-average temperatures across portions of the U.S. At higher latitudes, strong ridging led to above-average temperatures across parts of Canada. Since mid January,the East Asian jet extended farther east and a trough became established over the eastern Pacific. Over N. America, strong ridging over Canada contributed to above-average temperatures across Canada and the northwestern U.S. During early February, troughing and below-average temperatures became reestablished over the eastern and central United States.

Pacific Niño 3.4 SST Outlook

• A majority of the models indicate that the Niño-3.4 temperature departures will gradually decrease at least into the summer.

• The models are split with the majority indicating ENSO-neutral conditions by May-July 2010 and persisting into the Fall. Several models also suggest the potential of continued El Niño conditions or the development of La Niña conditions during the Fall.

Summary

• El Niño is present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
• Sea surface temperatures (SST) are more than 1.0ºC 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.

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 – Last 4 Weeks:

• El Niño Weekly Update [15 February 2010]
• El Niño Weekly Update [8 February 2010]
• El Niño Weekly Update [1 February 2010]
• El Niño Weekly Update [25 Jan 2010]

• El Niño [Main Page, Links to Weekly Updates Archive]

No Nuke Dump Site Quite Like Nevada

South Carolina to sue President “Chauncey Gardiner” over Yucca Mountain nuke dump site plan reversal

South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster has threatened to take legal action to stop President Obama from abandoning plan to build a nuke waste dumping site in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The Yucca Mountain designated by US Congress as deep geological repository storage facility for the country’s radioactive waste. In 2009 the Obama Admin. proposed to eliminate all funding in the 2009 United States Federal Budget. In March 2009, Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a Senate hearing “the Yucca Mountain site was no longer viewed as an option for storing reactor waste.”

In January, Obama administration announced it was abandoning  a plan to build a  nuclear waste storage site at Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas, Nevada [for political reasons, rather than environmental concerns.]

[Temporary] storage areas for the US nuclear mess.

“McMaster said that he would file a petition to intervene with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week and plans to take additional legal action in appellate courts in Washington and Virginia on Friday.” Reuters reported.

“South Carolina has a vested interest in insuring that the Yucca Mountain licensing proceedings continue, so that the spent fuel and other nuclear material now being temporarily stored in our state will be safely placed in the Yucca Mountain repository, as mandated by the United States Congress,” McMaster said.

The site at Yucca Mountain was considered an ideal nuclear waste repository by Congress in 1987  to store most of the  nation’s high level radioactive waste, which is currently piling up at numerous [“temporary”] locations throughout the country including Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

“Reached for comment, McMaster said he planned to file either a temporary restraining order, a writ of mandamus, or both, to either the District of Columbia Court of Appeals or the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., on Friday.” Reuters said.

“There seems to be no other alternative … The Obama administration is attempting to stop a process that was begun many years ago and was confirmed and ordered by federal law,” he said.

“We have seven nuclear power plants in South Carolina. The nuclear waste is still there and in temporary storage and has been there since the beginning … Our position is it ought to go to Yucca Mountain.”

Annotated astronaut photo of the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA. Picture taken from the International Space Station by ISS Crew. Labels by NASA Earth Observatory newsroom.

Why shouldn’t OUR nuclear waste be dumped in someone else’s backyard, McMaster might have been tempted to say 😉 .

America’s energy requirements could be reduced PAINLESSLY and MANY NEW JOBS could be created, if the government cared!

Related Links:

• Obama Goes Nuclear!
• On The Way To Armageddon
• Top Ten Facts About Your Hungry Building
• 286W
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities

Significant ‘Red Tide’ to Plague New England in 2010

Shelfish such as Mussels and clams accumulate biotoxins produced by Alexandrium, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans who ingest them.

NOAA Public Release

Researchers Issue Outlook for a Significant New England ‘Red Tide’ in 2010

Seed Population on Seafloor Points to a large ‘Red Tide’; Impacts will Depend on Ocean Conditions and Weather

Researchers at Gulf of Maine Toxicity project have issued an outlook for a significant regional bloom of a toxic alga that causes ‘red tides’ in the spring and summer of this year, potentially threatening the New England shellfish industry.

Microscopic image of Alexandrium fundyense cysts, the “seeds” that fall to the ocean bottom at the end of one season’s blooms.  Under the right conditions, these cells can germinate the following year to initiate another season’s blooms. High resolution (Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

The outlook is based on a seafloor survey of the seed-like cysts of Alexandrium fundyense, an organism that causes harmful algal blooms, sometimes referred to as ‘red tides’. Cysts deposited in the fall hatch the following spring; last fall the abundance of cysts in the sediment was 60 percent higher than observed prior to the historic bloom of 2005, indicating that a large bloom is likely in the spring of 2010.

The cyst bed also appears to have expanded to the south, so the 2010 bloom may affect areas such as Massachusetts Bay and Georges Bank sooner than has been the case in past years.

Maps showing the concentration of Alexandrium cysts buried in Gulf of Maine seafloor sediments over four years. The cyst abundance in 2009 is higher than ever observed and the Alexandrium cyst “seedbed” extends further to the south than was ever observed before.  High resolution (Credit: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Although the algae in the water pose no direct threat to human beings, toxins produced by Alexandrium can accumulate in filter-feeding organisms such as mussels and clams, which can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning in humans who consume them. In order to protect public health, shellfish beds are monitored by state agencies and closed when toxin concentrations rise above a quarantine level. There have been no illnesses from legally harvested shellfish in recent years despite some severe blooms.

“’Red tide’ is a chronic problem in the Gulf of Maine and states have limited resources to handle it,” said Darcie Couture, director of Biotoxin Monitoring for the Maine Department of Marine Resources. “When we get this information about the potential severity of a bloom season and the dynamics of the bloom once the season has started, then it gives us an advantage in staging our resources during an otherwise overwhelming environmental and economic crisis.”

More …

Leave Orcas (Dolphins) Out of Your Circus Act

Orcas (Dolphins) Can and Do Kill

Killer whale (orca) kills trainer at SeaWorld amusement park in Orlando, Florida

A female trainer was killed by a 6.5 ton killer whale (orca) at SeaWorld’s Shamu Stadium in Orlando, Florida, police and local media reported.

Orcas perform at Shamu Stadium at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Credit: David Bjorgen.  Copyleft. Multi-license with GFDL and Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.5

The killer whale, who is called Tilikum, or “Tilly,” is actually an orca (Orcinus orca) aka blackfish, the largest member of the dolphin family. Orcas are wild, powerful animals who can and do kill, especially when they feel threatened.

Two mammal-eating “transient” killer whales photographed off the south side of Unimak Island, eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Photo Credit: Robert Pittman/NOAA.

Dawn Brancheau, 40, an experienced “trainer” at the famous Florida tourist attraction, was killed by the killer whale Tilikum after she accidentally fell into the holding tank.

“She apparently slipped and fell into the tank and was fatally injured by one of the whales,” police spokesperson said. “Brancheau was pronounced dead at the park after being recovered from the pool. Orange County Sheriff’s Office homicide investigators continue to investigate the death of the trainer who was reported to have 16 years of experience working with killer whales.”

According to eye-witness reports, the orca at the park’s Shamu Stadium grabbed the woman by the waist, “thrashed her about and dragged her underwater,” minutes before a public performance was about to start.

“There were conflicting reports about how the incident occurred. The Orlando Sentinel quoted a spectator as saying the whale came up from the water and grabbed the trainer by her waist. The sheriff’s official said preliminary accounts indicated she slipped and fell in, but that was still under investigation.” Reuters reported .

“He was thrashing her around pretty good. It was violent,'” an eyewitness  said.

The whale “took off really fast in the tank, and then he came back, shot up in the air, grabbed the trainer by the waist and started thrashing around, and one of her shoes flew off,” she added.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Tilly” was blamed for drowning of one of his trainers at  Sealand of the Pacific in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1991 during a performance.

SeaWorld bought Tilly in 1992, and 7 years later he was reportedly involved in a second incident when the park authorities found the body of a naked man lying across his back.

They claimed the man was drowned after suffering hypothermia.

How the US Woman Emily May Harper Was Killed in NZ

Emily May Harper, 27, had a cardiac arrest while swimming with dolphins in Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, October 20, 2009. Matthew Hawkins had proposed to Emily Harper. (Courtesy Matthew Hawkins )

In October 2009, a  27-year-old American woman was killed in New Zealand while swimming with [agitated] dolphins.

The New Zealand authorities, worried about losing substantial income from their “eco-tourism” industry, tried to cover-up the incident, claiming that the victim had died of natural causes. More …

Related Links:

• US Woman killed Swimming with Dolphins in NZ
• Another American Woman Killed in New Zealand
• Sick kiwis harm generous dolphin
• Tourist boats destroying dolphin community in New Zealand

Tilikum Bio
Tilikum, sometimes misspelled Tillikum, is a bull Orca who lives at SeaWorld Orlando. He was captured near Iceland in November 1983 at about two years of age. Tilikum measures 22 feet 6 inches long and weighs in at 12,300 pounds (as of 2007). His pectoral fins are six and one half feet long, his massive flukes curl under, and his 6-foot-tall dorsal fin is flopped completely to his left side, and weighs close to 200 pounds. He is the largest Orca in captivity and also the most successful sire in captivity, with 13 offspring, 10 of which are still alive. His name means friend in Chinook Jargon, usually spelled Tilicum and also meaning “people/tribe” or “kin”. [Wikipedia]

Massive Oil Spill in Italy Poisoning Major River

“Oil spill threatens ‘ecological disaster’ in Italy”

“An oil spill that fouled a small river in northern Italy reached the Po River on Wednesday, with officials warning of an ecological disaster as they scrambled to contain the spill before it contaminated Italy’s longest and most important river.” AP reported.

A View of Po River from Turin, Italy. Photo Credit: Miguel Tremblay

The spill is believed to have been caused by sabotage at an oil depot which was previously a refinery, “since the cisterns were apparently opened and allowed to flow into the Lambro River near Monza.”

The amount of the spill is estimated at 600,000 liters (158,500 gallons), which is substantially lower than the initial estimates of about 10 million liters.

“The spill began Tuesday and spread south down the Lambro to Piacenza and Cremona overnight, despite efforts to contain it. By Wednesday, it had reached the Po, which crosses the country from Piedmont in the west, across Milan and Verona before emptying into the Adriatic sea.”  More…

Related Link:

• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution

North Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patch

Researchers Map the North Atlantic Ocean Garbage Patch

A high concentration of plastic garbage is polluting the Atlantic Ocean north of the Caribbean, says a new study by researchers from SEA, the University of Hawaii and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Plastic marine debris collected in a surface plankton net tow. Credit: SEA

Kara Lavendar Law, one of the principal researchers,  announced the findings of a 22-year study at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, US.

Dr Lavender Law said that she and her team of Sea Education Association undergraduates had picked up 64,000 plus small pieces of plastic garbage measuring up to 1cm across, using fine mesh nets  towed by a research boat.

“We found a region fairly far north in the Atlantic Ocean where this debris appears to be concentrated and remains over long periods of time,” she said.

“More than 80% of the plastic pieces we collected in the tows were found between 22 and 38 degrees north. So we have a latitude for [the patch where the] rubbish seems to accumulate.”

Mahi mahi caught using hand line in the North Pacific Ocean. Dissection of the fish revealed a piece of plastic embedded in its stomach. Source: SEA

The “plastic density” was a maximum of about 200,000 pieces of garbage per square kilometer, Dr Lavender Law said. “That’s a maximum that is comparable with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”

“We know that many marine organisms are consuming these plastics and we know this has a bad effect on seabirds in particular.” She said.

Related Links:

• Back from the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
• WILD FACTS SERIES: Our Oceans Are Dying!

• Southern Ocean already losing ability to absorb CO₂
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part IV :  Researchers found evidence of corrosive water about 20 miles off the west coast of North America from Canada to Mexico.
• Human carbon emissions make oceans corrosive : ‘Carbon dioxide spewed by human activities has made ocean water so acidic that it is eating away at the shells and skeletons of starfish, coral, clams and other sea creatures …’
• The Eight Steps that Help Kill More of Our Fish : How Your Car’s Exhaust Emissions Helps Create Dead Zones and Kill Our Fish.
• Global warming could starve oceans of oxygen: study : Areas of the eastern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans with low amounts of dissolved oxygen have expanded in the past 50 years, apparently in line with rising temperatures.
• The Floating Toxic Garbage Island : A patch of garbage twice as large as the continental United States and dubbed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch floats in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in North Pacific Gyre.
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part III : Tourism: The Most Destructive Human Activity After Warfare
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part II : Major Problems: Fertilizer Runoff; Tourism; Coastal Developments [and Ocean Warming due to climate change]
• Oceans, Where Life Started, Are Dying – Part I : Our Oceans Are Now Dying!

Google lands in brown goo again!

Internet Mafia Provokes the Ire of EU Firms

The European Commission is investigating complaints against Google, the Internet Mafia admitted.

Three companies have complained about Google’s mafia-like activities:  UK price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr, and Microsoft’s Ciao.

Recommended Google Logo of the Day.

Google’s senior competition lawyer Julia Holtz said the internet Goliath was “confident” it did not break European competition law, BBC reported.

Foundem says its site is downgraded in Google’s search results, a practice with which  Fire-Earth (this blog) is all too familiar.

“Foundem… argues that our algorithms demote their site in our results because they are a vertical search engine and so a direct competitor to Google,” Google said.

“Ejustice.fr’s complaint seems to echo these concerns.”

The complaint regarding price comparison site Ciao, which Microsoft bought in 2008, concerns Google’s standard terms and conditions.

Microsoft initially took its case to the German competition authority, but Google said it had now been transferred to Brussels.

“Although we haven’t been notified yet by the commission, we do believe it’s natural for competition officials to look at online advertising given how important it is to the development of the internet and the dominance of one player.

“In the meantime, we continue to co-operate with the German government’s investigation into complaints brought by Ciao.” BBC quoted A Microsoft spokesman as saying.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has issued a statement confirming that it had received three complaints against Google, which it was investigating, though not formally.

“As is usual when the Commission receives complaints, it informed Google earlier this month and asked the company to comment on the allegations. The Commission closely cooperates with the national competition authorities,” the statement said.

Another recommended Google logo.

‘Immediate threat’

Google’s attorney, J. Holtz,  has reportedly said that the Commission had contacted the company about the complaints.

“Though each case raises slightly different issues, the question they ultimately pose is whether Google is doing anything to choke off competition or hurt our users and partners,” she said.

“This is not the case.” She reportedly added.

Foundem complaint said that Google had the “ability to arbitrarily penalize rivals and systematically favour its own services.”

It said Google’s Universal Search was a “mechanism for automatically inserting its own services into prominent positions within its natural search results” and “poses an immediate threat to healthy competition and innovation.” BBC reported.

Foundem founder was quoted as saying that  Google had an “unprecedented” amount of control over its market.

Original report: Google faces European competition inquiry

Meanwhile, An Italian court has convicted three Google executives in a trial over a video showing a teenager with Down’s Syndrome being bullied.

“12,000 years of [alleged] human civilization and all we have to show for is Google, Facelift [Facebook] … and cluster bombs.” —JPB

Related Links:

• On Google Digital Book Gouging
• Greedy Google Grows Grabbing National Assets
• Google China Censorship
• Google’s Top 10 List of ‘Holy Cows’
• Two ways in which Google censorship and oppressive  corporate practices can be viewed

Death Toll Rises in Indonesia Landslide

15 Bodies recovered, up to 70 others believed buried, hundreds displaced

Tropical monsoon rains triggered a massive mudslide on a steep slope of a tea plantation in West Java’s Bandung district on Tuesday morning, burying about 50 houses.

According to the latest reports, the mudslide in Ciwidey area, about 150 km (90 miles) southeast of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, has also buried a small tea factory, a health center and a mosque, leaving as many as 800 workers displaced.

“Two excavators arrived last night but the digging has mostly been done with hoes,” the National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson said.

Fire-Earth believe that a combination of deforestation, seismic activity and tropical monsoon rains is expected to cause more landslide throughout Indonesia.

The landslide left a trail of raw earth on this steep slope above houses and tea plantation buildings in West Java’s Bandung district. (AFP Photo/Pikiran Rakyat). Image may be subject to copyright. See Fire-Earth Fair Use Notice.

Partial map of Indonesia with Bandung near the center.

Political Map of Indonesia (US Govt). Click image to enlarge.

Related News Links:

• Indonesian Landslide Death Toll, Number Of Missing Rise
• Hundreds of Bandung Plantation Workers Displaced by Disaster

Related Fire-Earth Links:

• West Java landslide buries village, 5 killed, 72 missing

Will there be another major Haiti earthquake?

For Fire-Earth Haiti-Jamaica Earthquake forecast See: Another Strong Quake Strikes Haiti as Expected

The following is a Public Release by University of Texas at Austin

Rapid response science missions assess potential for another major Haiti earthquake

To help assess the potential threat of more large earthquakes in Haiti and nearby areas, scientists at The University of Texas at Austin’s Institute for Geophysics are co-leading three expeditions to the country with colleagues from Purdue University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the U.S. Geological Survey and five other institutions.

Source: The University of the West Indies at Mona

Rapid response missions can be critical for assessing future risks because a fault can continue to displace the ground for weeks and months after a large earthquake. At the same time, natural weathering processes and human activities can erase valuable geologic evidence.

The goal of the Haiti missions, researchers say, is to understand which segments of the earthquake fault ruptured during the Jan. 12 quake and how much fault movement and uplift of coastal features occurred in locations along or near the fault.

• Expedition 1: Eric Calais of Purdue University led the first expedition, which has ended, collecting Global Positioning System (GPS) data to determine how land moved as a result of the earthquake. A second team participating in the expedition, led by Paul Mann of the Institute for Geophysics and Rich Koehler of the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, used a helicopter and fieldwork to search for signs of ruptures-cracks at the surface along the main trace of the suspected earthquake fault. They found no signs of surface rupture but evidence for lateral spreading and liquefaction-a phenomenon in which soils behave like a liquid instead of a solid. Earthquakes most likely caused by the same fault and resulting in the same kind of lateral spreading and liquefaction destroyed the Jamaican capital of Kingston in 1692 and 1907. Funding was provided by the Rapid Response Research Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF).
• Expedition 2: The second expedition, beginning Feb. 24, will for the first time use a scientific research vessel to examine the underwater effects of the quake. Chief scientist for the expedition is Cecilia McHugh at the City University of New York and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory with co-chief scientists Sean Gulick of the Institute for Geophysics and Milene Cormier of the University of Missouri. For two weeks, a team onboard the RV Endeavor will use sonar to map shifted sediments on the seafloor and seismic sensors to examine faults beneath the seafloor. The scientists hope to solve a mystery about how the earthquake unleashed a tsunami that killed seven people and to explain why corals along the coast have now been uplifted above sea level. The 185-foot Endeavor is owned by the NSF and operated by the University of Rhode Island. Funding is provided by the NSF and The University of Texas at Austin’s Jackson School of Geosciences.
• Expedition 3: The third expedition, led by Fred Taylor of the Institute for Geophysics, will focus on large coral heads exposed by coastal uplift during the earthquake. Taylor will use a specialized chainsaw to collect the now dead coral for study of its tree ring-like structure to reveal clues on recent uplift and previous uplifts extending back hundreds of years. He will be assisted by Mann along with Rich Briggs and Carol Prentice of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The Jackson School of Geosciences and USGS are jointly funding the coral study.

The Jackson School places a special emphasis on mounting rapid response missions to the scenes of geo-hazards, supporting previous missions after the earthquake and tsunami in the Solomon Islands (2007) and Hurricane Ike along the Texas Gulf Coast (2008). Few academic organizations have the infrastructure, equipment and expertise to mount a large field expedition on a few weeks’ notice, yet they can yield valuable insights to prepare communities for future hazards.

“We expect a whole raft of studies about the Haiti earthquake coming out based on remote sensing data from satellites and airplanes,” said Sean Gulick of the Institute for Geophysics. “But there’s no substitute for getting on the ground and in the water to look directly at its immediate effects.”

While collecting information that can save lives in the near future is a top priority of the expeditions, the scientists are also working to help cultivate local earthquake expertise. Two Haitian scientists have been invited to participate-Nicole Dieudonne, a representative of the Haitian Bureau of Mines and Energy, and Steeven Smyithe, a student from the State University of Haiti.

“We’re trying to engage the Haitian science community,” said Mann, who will return to Haiti for the second expedition. “They can help us communicate better with Haitian policy makers and people about the geology behind this devastating earthquake and about the risks going forward.”

In 2008, Mann, Calais and colleagues presented a paper at the Caribbean Conference forecasting a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in the area of Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. The forecast was based on an integration of geologic information on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone with GPS data collected in the region. David Manaker, Calais and colleagues published an article on the same topic in Geophysical Journal International.

0O0

For more information from the source responsible for the above see:

• http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/research/marine-geology-geophysics/haiti-offshore-a-rapid-response-expedition
• http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/rels/011310.html
• http://www.jsg.utexas.edu/news/rels/011310-resources.html

Contact: Marc Airhart
mairhart@jsg.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin

The biggest hurdle for the ‘Rapid Response Expedition Teams’ could prove to be a political one. They may have to find creative ways of preventing USGS Earthquake People from altering the results of their research. See various notes and comments on Fire-Earth about USGS/EHP downgrading the magnitude of earthquakes for political reasons.

Related Links:

• Another Strong Quake Strikes Haiti as Expected
• Earthquakes
• Haiti Earthquake Disaster
• Earthquake Damage in Haiti: Engineers Report

ESA Says Australia Dry!

Finally, the first calibrated images are being delivered by ESA’s SMOS mission. Most what they tell us we already know. AND, NO, they couldn’t program ESA SMOS to do a rain dance. But let’s at least hope that the images would help convince the world government to keep the hydrocarbons buried inside the earth, where they belong. Fire-Earth

Public Release: European Space Agency

First images from ESA’s water mission

In less than four months since launch, the first calibrated images are being delivered by ESA’s SMOS mission. These images of ‘brightness temperature’ translate into clear information on global variations of soil moisture and ocean salinity to advance our understanding of the water cycle.

Launched on 2 November, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is improving our understanding of Earth’s water cycle by making global observations of soil moisture over land and salinity over oceans. By consistently mapping these two variables, SMOS will not only advance our understanding of the exchange processes between Earth’s surface and atmosphere, but will also help to improve weather and climate models.

In addition, the data from SMOS will have several other applications in areas such as agriculture and water resource management.

SMOS captures images of ‘brightness temperature’, which then require substantial processing to realise information on soil moisture and ocean salinity. Brightness temperature is a measure of the radiation emitted from Earth’s surface. During the commissioning phase, considerable effort is put into improving the quality of these images of brightness temperature before using them as input for the soil moisture and ocean salinity data products. ESA is now in a position to show the first results, which are very encouraging.

This is a calibrated image of brightness temperature over Australia. Compared to the uncalibrated image, the “noise” in the product has been reduced so that the coast lines and physical features of the landscape are much sharper. Credit: ESA

Since it was launched, engineers and scientists from various institutes in Europe have been busy commissioning the SMOS satellite and instrument. This commissioning phase, which will continue until the end of April, initially involved testing the Proteus platform – a generic ‘satellite bus’ developed by the French space agency CNES and Thales Alenia Space – and the all-important MIRAS instrument developed by EADS-CASA in Spain under contract to ESA. Both platform and instrument have shown excellent performance during their first four months in orbit.

Achim Hahne, ESA’s SMOS Project Manager, said, “Our development team is extremely happy and proud to see the real performance of the SMOS system in orbit. We are only half-way through the in-orbit commissioning phase and it is rewarding to see these first very promising calibrated products delivered by SMOS.”

Among other tasks, commissioning also includes testing the system that sends the data to the ground and the process through which the data is distributed, as well as calibrating the data products delivered by MIRAS – the Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis instrument.

MIRAS produces a snapshot of brightness temperature every 1.2 seconds. The image of Scandinavia shows one snapshot acquired by SMOS. From these images of brightness temperature, it is possible to derive how much moisture there is in the surface layers of soil and how much salt there is in the surface waters of the oceans. High brightness temperatures translate into dry soils and low brightness temperatures into wet areas. This is why bodies of water show up as cold spots.

Calibration and validation are a major undertaking in any Earth observation mission. Once the data get to the ground, they need to be checked that they make sense and can be used for scientific research. The last three months have been dedicated to performing these calibration activities in order to assess the performance of the mission.

This first calibration step is important to ensure the instrument meets the required performance. The process also includes making corrections for errors caused by, for example, temperature variations in the instrument’s antenna receivers or light reflected from the Sun and Moon. The effect is instantly visible in the calibrated image of Australia, where geophysical features, such as lakes, are clearly visible, compared to the uncalibrated image.

The image showing Brazil highlights the rainforest, which is relatively stable and bright, and the Amazon River is seen in lower brightness temperatures.

Susanne Mecklenburg, who, as ESA’s SMOS Mission Manager, will formally take over the reins of the mission at the end of commissioning said, “It is exciting to see these first data products, which are already of excellent quality, even though we haven’t completed all the calibration activities yet. We also had very positive feedback from the scientists who have already started using the data.”

Yann Kerr, who first proposed the mission to ESA, added, “SMOS has delivered its first products earlier than expected and of a quality better than the specifications.”

The acquisition of these calibrated images marks a very important step in the progress of the SMOS mission and also demonstrates the excellent quality and availability of the data, which will soon be available to the science community.

Jordi Font, the mission’s Lead Investigator for ocean salinity, said, “For the ocean products, a lot of work still has to be done before the release of operational data. The low sensitivity to variations in salinity requires very accurate instrument calibration and data processing to achieve the mission’s measurement goals for ocean salinity. However, the excellent performance of MIRAS, and the work being done in commissioning means we are very close to obtaining good results for measuring salinity.”

The commissioning phase will continue to the end of April, after which the mission will be operational. However, the science team will continue to asses the quality of the data products throughout the lifetime of the mission. An airborne validation campaign is under way in Australia, comparing in situ measurements with those taken by the satellite. In addition, extensive airborne campaigns will be carried out in Germany, Spain and France in the spring.

Contact: Robert Meisner
robert.meisner@esa.int
European Space Agency

Related Links:

• The World Cities Are Running Out of Fresh Water [AND Sinking]
• Canceling Your Life Insurance Policy with Nature

West Java landslide buries village, 5 killed, 72 missing

Massive landslide in West Java, Indonesia, buries village leaving 5 dead and 72 missing

At least five people were killed and 72 others were reported missing following a massive landslide which  buried Ciwidey village in a tea growing area near Bandung, south of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, officials were reported as saying.

Flooding in Bandung, West Java, on Sunday.  Photo Credit: Antara

Partial map of Indonesia with Bandung near the center.

Political Map of Indonesia (US Govt). Click image to enlarge.

The landslide buried tea plantation workers’ housing area (barracks), leaving about 500 people homeless earlier this morning.

“It had been raining very heavily since yesterday [Monday] and that probably caused the landslide,” Disaster Management Agency spokesman told the AFP news agency.

“We believe the landslide area could be the size of two football fields. The tea-processing plant and 50 houses were also buried.”

Bandung district has experienced the worst flooding in 8 years, with more than 10,000 houses inundated,  state-run Antara news agency said, AFP reported.

Flooding in Bandung and Jakarta have forced thousands of people out of their homes over the past 10 days.

“The daily activities for Dayeuhkolot residents have been halted because of the floods, reaching heights of between 30 cm and 200 cm in the village.” Antara reported.

A combination of deforestation, seismic activity and tropical monsoon rains is expected to cause more landslide in Indonesia.

Related Links:

• Drought and Deluge: Two Major Mechanisms of Collapse
• Floods Kill 32 on Portuguese Island of Madeira

• Italian Town Buried by Mud Avalanche
• Landslides
• 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters
• Extreme Rain Events, Floods, Mudslides 2010
• 2010: The Year of Disasters
• Earthquake, Heavy Rain, Mudslides Strike Peru
• Image of the Day: Landslide in Honduras

Goodbye and Good Riddance, Dick?

Image of the Day:

Nefarious Dick may be leaving—permanently

It’s a shame upon humanity that he wasn’t prosecuted for ecocide, uranium pollution, genocide, war crimes and all other crimes against humanity …

Photo: Leslie E. Kossoff-Pool/Getty Images. Source: FP. Image may be subject to copyright. See Fire-Earth Fair Use Notice.

Cheney, 69, and really sick, has had four heart attacks, quadruple bypass surgery, two dozen angiogram and heart operations to clear blocked arteries with at least 170 doctors and medical staff looking into his coronary arteries. He was fitted with a pacemaker in 2001, which required three repairs. [Yet all he ever needed was a wooden stake!]

The Great Antarctic Peninsula Ice Shelf Extinction

Public Release: USGS

Ice shelves disappearing on Antarctic Peninsula

Glacier retreat and sea level rise are possible consequences

Ice shelves are retreating in the southern section of the Antarctic Peninsula due to climate change. This could result in glacier retreat and sea-level rise if warming continues, threatening coastal communities and low-lying islands worldwide.

Click Images to Enlarge!

Southern Portion of Antarctic Peninsula. This image identifies the southern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula, which is one area studied as part of this project. Research on the southern Antarctic Peninsula is summarized in the USGS report, “Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Palmer Land Area, Antarctica: 1947—2009” (map I—2600—C). Source: U.S. Geological Survey

Multi-year ice. ARCTIC OCEAN – A multi-year ice floe slides down the starboard side of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Aug. 11, 2009, as the ship heads north into even thicker ice. “You can tell that this is a multi-year ice floe by the light blue melt ponds that have formed on top of the floe,” said Pablo Clemente-Colón, chief scientist at the U.S. National Ice Center. Credit: Patrick Kelley, U.S. Coast Guard

Southern Antarctic Peninsula. This image shows ice-front retreat in part of the southern Antarctic Peninsula from 1947 to 2009. The southern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula is one area studied as part of this project, and is summarized in the USGS report, “Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Palmer Land Area, Antarctica: 1947—2009” (map I—2600—C). Source: U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Geological Survey says its research is the first to document that every ice front in the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsula has been retreating overall from 1947 to 2009, with the most dramatic changes occurring since 1990. The USGS previously documented that the majority of ice fronts on the entire Peninsula have also retreated during the late 20th century and into the early 21st century.

The ice shelves are attached to the continent and already floating, holding in place the Antarctic ice sheet that covers about 98 percent of the Antarctic continent. As the ice shelves break off, it is easier for outlet glaciers and ice streams from the ice sheet to flow into the sea. The transition of that ice from land to the ocean is what raises sea level.

“This research is part of a larger ongoing USGS project that is for the first time studying the entire Antarctic coastline in detail, and this is important because the Antarctic ice sheet contains 91 percent of Earth’s glacier ice,” said USGS scientist Jane Ferrigno. “The loss of ice shelves is evidence of the effects of global warming. We need to be alert and continually understand and observe how our climate system is changing.”

The Peninsula is one of Antarctica’s most rapidly changing areas because it is farthest away from the South Pole, and its ice shelf loss may be a forecast of changes in other parts of Antarctica and the world if warming continues.

Retreat along the southern part of the Peninsula is of particular interest because that area has the Peninsula’s coolest temperatures, demonstrating that global warming is affecting the entire length of the Peninsula.

The Antarctic Peninsula’s southern section as described in this study contains five major ice shelves: Wilkins, George VI, Bach, Stange and the southern portion of Larsen Ice Shelf. The ice lost since 1998 from the Wilkins Ice Shelf alone totals more than 4,000 square kilometers, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.

The USGS is working collaboratively on this project with the British Antarctic Survey, with the assistance of the Scott Polar Research Institute and Germany’s Bundesamt fűr Kartographie und Geodäsie. The research is also part of the USGS Glacier Studies Project, which is monitoring and describing glacier extent and change over the whole planet using satellite imagery.

Related Info:

• The report, “Coastal-Change and Glaciological Map of the Palmer Land Area, Antarctica: 1947—2009” and its accompanying map is available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/i-2600-c/.
• The other completed reports in the Coastal Change and Glaciological Maps of Antarctica series can be viewed online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2600/.
• For photos regarding this release, visit http://gallery.usgs.gov/tags/NR2010_02_22.

Contact: Jessica Robertson
jrobertson@usgs.gov
United States Geological Survey

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• Canceling Your Life Insurance Policy with Nature

Earthquake Damage in Haiti: Engineers Report

University of Washington: Public Release

Earthquake engineers release report on damage in Haiti

A five-person team sent to evaluate damage from the devastating magnitude-7 [Max magnitude estimated at 7.3 by FEWW] earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12 found no surface evidence of the fault that might have caused the quake, but installed four instruments to measure aftershocks and help pinpoint the epicenter.

Tectonic Map of the area. Click image to enlarge. Source: USGS

University of Washington civil and environmental engineering professor Marc Eberhard led the team that provided engineering support to the United States Southern Command, responsible for all U.S. military activities in South and Central America.

Eberhard is lead author on a report released late last week to the national Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the United States Geological Survey, both of which sponsored the trip. The report is posted at http://tinyurl.com/yl7gtwb.

A main conclusion is that much of the loss of human life could have been prevented by using earthquake-resistant designs and construction, as well as improved quality control in concrete and masonry work. The authors recommend that simple and cost-effective earthquake engineering be emphasized in Haiti’s rebuilding effort.

The group also gathered more seismic data. Assessing an earthquake’s magnitude can be done from afar, Eberhard said, but establishing the location requires several stations fairly close to the earthquake’s center. Such monitoring stations were not present in Haiti. Knowing the location will help understand what caused the earthquake and forecast the likelihood of future quakes in the area, he said.

Figure 43. Fissures caused by lateral spreading at (a) eastern and (b) western ends of the North Wharf. Source: USGS/EERI Haiti EQ Damage report.

The team provided a ground assessment of places that were worst hit, including the port in Port-au-Prince, the cathedral, the National Palace, the Hotel Montana and the Union School, attended by children of many nationalities. They photographed damage in smaller towns and assessed the safety of hospitals, schools, bridges and other critical facilities.

A survey of 107 buildings in a heavily damaged part of downtown Port-au-Prince found that 28 percent had collapsed and a third would require repairs. A survey of 52 buildings in nearby Léogâne found that more than 90 percent had either collapsed or will require repairs.

“A lot of the damaged structures will have to be destroyed,” Eberhard commented. “It’s not just 100 buildings or 1,000 buildings. It’s a huge number of buildings, which I can’t even estimate.”

Many people asked team members to inspect buildings where the occupants were camped outside because they feared a collapse.

“There’s an enormous amount of fear,” Eberhard said. “People may see cracks in their houses. A large part of what we were doing was identifying what was serious damage versus what was cosmetic damage.”

[…]

For more information, contact Eberhard at  eberhard@uw.edu or  Hannah Hickey at hickeyh@uw.edu
University of Washington

Related Links:

• Haiti Earthquake Disaster
• Earthquake

USGS/EERI Advance Reconnaissance Team
TEAM REPORT V. 1.0
February 18, 2010

Executive Summary:
A field reconnaissance in Haiti by a five-member team with expertise in seismology and earthquake engineering has revealed a number of factors that led to catastrophic losses of life and property during the January 12, 2010, Mw = 7.0 earthquake. The field study was conducted January 26 – February 3, 2010, and included investigations in Port-au-Prince and the heavily damaged communities to the west, including Léogâne, Grand Goâve, Petite Goâve, and Oliver.

Seismology. Despite recent seismic quiescence, Haiti has suffered similar devastating earthquakes in the historic past (1751, 1770, 1860). Haiti had no seismographic stations during the main earthquake, so it is impossible to estimate accurately the intensity of ground motions. Nonetheless, the wide range of buildings damaged by the January 12, 2010 earthquake suggests that the ground motions contained seismic energy over a wide range of frequencies. Another earthquake of similar magnitude could strike at any time on the eastern end of the Enriquillo fault, directly to the south of Port-au-Prince. Reconstruction must take this hazard into account.

The four portable seismographs installed by the team recorded a series of small aftershocks. As expected, the ground motions recorded at a hard rock site contained a greater proportion of high frequencies than the motions recorded at a soil site. Two of the stations continue to monitor seismic activity.
A thorough field investigation led the team to conclude that this earthquake was unlikely to have produced any surface rupture.

Geotechnical Aspects: Soil liquefaction, landslides and rockslides in cut slopes, and road embankment failures contributed to extensive damage in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. A lack of detailed knowledge of the physical conditions of the soils (e.g., lithology, stiffness, density, and thickness) made it difficult for us to quantitatively assess the role of ground-motion amplification in the widespread damage.

Buildings: The Haitian Ministry of Statistics and Infomatics reported that one-story buildings represent 73% of the building inventory. Most ordinary, one-story houses have roofs made of sheet metal (82%), whereas most multi-story houses and apartments have roofs made of concrete (71%). Walls made of concrete/block/stone predominate both in ordinary houses and apartments.

It appears that the widespread damage to residences, and commercial and government buildings was attributable to a great extent to the lack of attention in design and construction to the possibility of earthquakes. In many cases, the structural types, member dimensions, and detailing practices were inadequate to resist strong ground motions. These vulnerabilities may have been exacerbated by poor construction practices. Reinforced concrete frames with concrete block masonry infill appeared to perform particularly poorly. Structures with light (timber or sheet metal) roofs performed better compared with structures with concrete roofs and slabs.

The seismic performance of some buildings was adequate, and some of the damaged buildings appeared to have had low deformation demands. These observations suggest that structures designed and constructed with adequate stiffness and reinforcing details would have resisted the earthquake without being damaged severely.
A damage survey of 107 buildings in downtown Port-au-Prince indicated that 28% had collapsed and another 33% were damaged enough to require repairs. A similar survey of 52 buildings in Léogâne found that 62% had collapsed and another 31% required repairs.

Bridges: There was no evidence of bridge collapses attributable to the earthquake. Most bridges in Port-au-Prince are simple box culverts consisting of 2.0 to 2.5 meter (6 to 8 ft) deep box girders. However, in several cases the roadway settled differentially between the approaches and the section spanning the culvert. Multi-span bridges on primary routes are engineered structures that experienced some damage but are still serviceable.

Port Facilities: The main port in Port-au-Prince suffered extensive damage during the earthquake, inhibiting the delivery of relief supplies. The collapse of the North Wharf appears to have been caused by liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. The westernmost 120 meters (400 ft) of the South Pier collapsed, and approximately 85% of the vertical and batter piles supporting the remaining section were moderately damaged or broken. The remaining section of pier was shut down to vehicle traffic following additional damage that occurred during an aftershock. The collapse of a pile-supported pier at the Varreux Terminal resulted in the deaths of about 30 people working on the pier at the time of the earthquake. Less severe damage, including a small oil spill, occurred at a marine oil terminal located near Port-au-Prince.

Damage to Institutions: The functioning of the government and social infrastructure was seriously deteriorated by the loss of personnel, records and facilities. Such losses occurred in numerous clinics, hospitals, police stations, schools, universities, palaces, ministries and churches. These losses have compromised the recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Satellite Imagery: The use of use of remote sensing data, including satellite and aerial imagery, proved highly effective in assisting damage assessment, evaluating the extent of landslides, and guiding rescue and recovery efforts. Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) technology has been effective to create three-dimensional images for damage assessment and rebuilding operations.

Conclusions: The massive human losses can be attributed to a lack of attention to earthquake-resistant design and construction practices, and absence of quality control of concrete and masonry work. The historic pattern of prior earthquakes in Haiti indicates that a Mw 7 earthquake or larger could strike southern Haiti near Port-au-Prince at any time. Reconstruction must therefore be based on sound, simple and cost-effective engineering practice for all possible natural hazards. These principles must be clearly communicated to the citizens of Haiti who are afraid to reoccupy their homes for fear of the next event. Additional fact gathering is needed, both to quantify the January 12th fault rupture and earthquake history (inputs to calculations of future earthquake probabilities), and to more comprehensively evaluate damage to buildings and infrastructure, so as to inform decisions about reconstruction.

Britain and Argentina Headed Toward Another War?

It’s about oil, again!

Another War in Falklands Could Flare Before Natural Gas Does

The Falklands War, which followed Argentina’s “re-occupation” of  the Falklands in 1982, claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British soldiers.

Argentina considered the action as the “re-occupation of its own territory,” where as the British government saw it as an “invasion” of a “British dependent territory” and dispatched its naval force to retake the islands.

The limited war fought between the two countries resulted from the centuries-old dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, as well as South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which were initially occupied by France in 1764.

The islands lie in the South Atlantic, about 400 miles east of Argentina and some 8,000 miles away from Britain.

Geographically, Argentina has a legitimate claim to the sovereignty of Falkland Islands—proximity.

Cancun Summit 2010

Leaders of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries unanimously backed Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands at a 2010 Cancun summit in Mexico, said a report .

In their  statement, the 32 leaders reaffirmed “backing for Argentina’s legitimate rights in its sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom relating to the ‘Malvinas Question,'” and condemned the oil drilling operations.

The Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the UN to debate Argentina’s sovereignty claim to the islands.

“What is the geographic, the political or economic explanation for England [Britain] to be in Las Malvinas?” Lula asked.

“Could it be because England is a permanent member of the UN’s Security Council where they can do everything and the others nothing?”

The Undesired

Desire Petroleum, a UK energy company, probably owned by one or more of the multinationals, is about to begin drilling for oil in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean, despite strong objections from Argentina.

The semi-submersible Giant oil rig Ocean Guardian, built 24 years ago, traveled 62 days  from Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth to the Falklands. Source: Desire Petroleum.  “Desire Petroleum estimates potential oil reserves exceeding 3.5 billion barrels and more than nine trillion cubic feet of gas. … In 1998 six wells were drilled to the north of the islands that revealed the presence of a rich organic source rock that could hold up to 60 billion barrels of oil.”

The oil fields near Falklands are said to hold an estimated total of 60 billion barrels; however, Desire Petroleum, has said “the amount which could be exploited commercially would probably be a fraction of that.” BBC UK reported.  [The rest of it would be released in the ocean to keep an oil-rich marine environment.]

Desire Oil has towed a platform to a drilling site about 100km (62 miles) north of the Falklands. Drilling was scheduled to  start at 06:00UTC today.

Argentina, which has long claimed the islands, known locally as las Malvinas, filed a claim with the United Nations “for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the island chains governed by the UK, ” BBC reported.

Based on the claim, Argentina says drilling by the UK company violates its sovereignty and has since imposed shipping restrictions around the Falklands, and has threatened to take “adequate measures” to stop “British oil exploration in contested waters around the islands.”

Argentine government has asked its neighbors to also impose shipping restrictions in the area, and  is further seeking support from Latin American countries.

According to desire oil, Argentina is about to start its own exploration off the west west coast of the islands.

Map of the region with exploration areas marked. Source: UN/ BBC UK.

Comments made by various parties:

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela: Britain is acting irrationally and it’s high time it realized the “time for empires was over.”

Argentinian Govt:  No war this time, but Britain must negotiate sovereignty.

UN: He who has nukes calls the tunes.

Desire Petroleum [having towed the giant rig, the Ocean Guardian,about 13,000 km (6,950 NM) from the Cromarty Firth, Scotland] : “Desire is an oil company and it’s exploring for oil and not getting involved in what Argentina is saying about going to the UN. The rig is sitting firmly inside UK waters.” Even if the commercially viable quantities of oil were to be found in the are, it would many years before any oil would be recovered. The Company spokesman added.

Falklands Legislative Assembly [“The Licensor”]:  We have “every right” to do “legitimate business.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband:  British oil exploration in the Falklands is “completely in accordance with international law.” [British government may be occupied by Israel-first interests, but Britain is not like Israel.]

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown:  UK government has “made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure the Falkland islanders are properly protected.” [We have nukes; Argies don’t.]

Related Links:

• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution