Powerful Earthquake Strikes Off Papua, Indonesia

UPDATE @ 08:40UTC

At last a half dozen aftershocks have followed the mainshock including a 6.5Mw, as of posting.

Up to a dozen people have been killed or injured, with more than 500 buildings damaged/destroyed near the epicenter, according to local reports.

Fire-Earth Forecast:  A major quake measuring 8.5Mw or larger, with more significant aftershocks could strike the area.

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Powerful Quake Measuring Up To 7.5Mw Strikes Near the North Coast of Papua, Indonesia

The powerful shock was preceded by a foreshock measuring at least 6.4Mw.

Tsunami Status

There’s no threat of a destructive widespread tsunami in the Pacific Region, the Pacific Tsunami Center/NOAA/NWS said.

However, the earthquake and its aftershock may have generated destructive  tsunamis along the local coasts within a 100-km radius of the epicenter, the report said.

10-degree Map Centered at 0°N,135°E

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by Fire-earth.

Details of Mainshock

GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin
Region: Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia
Time: 2010-06-16 03:16:29.0 UTC
Magnitude: 7.2
Epicenter: 136.51°E 2.09°S
Depth: 5 km
Status: automatic

Distances (USGS/EHP)

• 185 km (115 miles) N (5°) from Enarotali, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
• 299 km (186 miles) ESE (118°) from Manokwari, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
• 473 km (294 miles) W (275°) from Jayapura, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
• 1,077 km (669 miles) SSE (168°) from KOROR, Palau

Details of Foreshock

GFZ Potsdam – Earthquake Bulletin
Region: Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia
Time: 2010-06-16 03:06:04.4 UTC
Magnitude: 6.2
Epicenter: 136.61°E 2.29°S
Depth: 5 km
Status: automatic

USGS/EHP Links:

Historic Information

• Learning from Earthquakes: Indonesia

Institutions

• Badan Meteorologi dan Geofisika – BMG
• ASEAN Earthquake Information Center
• Volcanological Survey of Indonesia

Maps

• Politcal Map of Indonesia
• Seismic Hazard Map
• Earthquake Density Map
• Seismicity Map of Indonesia

Notable Earthquakes

• Historic Earthquakes in Indonesia

Recent Earthquakes

• Last Earthquake in Indonesia
  from the NEIC Earthquake Bulletin
• BMG Recent Earthquakes

Tectonic Information

• Seismotectonics of the Indonesian Region
• Tectonics of Indonesia
• Geology of Indonesia
• Krakatau Volcano

Related Links:

• Earthquakes

Deadly Landslides Kill 100 in Bangladesh, Burma, China

At least 60 people have been killed in  SE Bangladesh, Burma border landslides and about 40 others in China, dozens missing

Most of the deaths in Bangladesh occurred in the beach resort of Cox’s Bazar, with other casualties reported in the neighboring Banderban district, where at least one large family was “entombed by a landslide,”  Banderban police chief Kamrul Ahsan told the BBC.

“At least 34 bodies were recovered from the legal and illegal camps which house up to 300,000 [ethnic Rohingya] refugees described by the UN as one of the most persecuted minorities on Earth.” A report said.

“It was a huge flash flood, it washed everything in its path away,” said district police chief Nibhas Chandra Majhi.

“At least 20,000 people have been trapped by the flash floods. We cannot reach them as the roads are flooded or blocked with mud.”

CHINA

At least 23 people have been killed an d7 others injured after a  massive landslide in China’s Sichuan province buried a construction site for a hydroelectric dam.

GANZI, June 15, 2010  Rescuers search at the collapse site in Pengta Town of Kangding County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, June 15, 2010. A mountain collapse occurred and crushed work sheds at a construction site in Pengta Town at wee hours Tuesday, causing 23 people dead and seven injured. (Credit Image:  Xinhua/ZUMApress.com). Image may be subject to copyright. See Fir-Earth Fair Use Notice.

“In Nanping, eastern Fujian Province, six bodies have been recovered after landslides and flash floods, triggered by heavy rains, engulfed a bus and a mini-van on Monday noon while 18 others remained missing, said Huang Xinmin, deputy secretary-general of the Nanping municipal government.” A report said.

Related Links:

• Mudslide Destroys Many Buildings in BC, Canada
• Latest Landslide Locations
• Landslide News April 28, 2010
• 2010 Disasters
• 2010 Disaster Calendar [May]]
• Landslides

Gulf Oil Disaster: “It’s a war”

Obama says it’s a “battle”

Obama expects the enemy that started “assaulting our shores and our citizens” help us win the battle!!

“… the battle we’re waging against an oil spill that is assaulting our shores and our citizens.” Obama said.

Would you buy a used car from this guy?

“And in the coming weeks and days, these efforts should capture up to 90 percent of the oil leaking out of the well.  This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that’s expected to stop the leak completely.”

President Barack Obama addresses the nation from the Oval Office at the White House in Washington in this television frame grab June 15, 2010.
REUTERS/Reuters TV

STOP Obama from committing America to a premature collapse!

It’s time for an intelligent, caring, competent, and can-do person to lead the country!

Related Links:

• Oil Disasters
• Gulf Oil Disaster: Why Obama Was Slighted
• Obama: A Serious Self-Hater