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Archive for June 26th, 2011

Strong Quake Strikes N Coast of Papua, Indonesia

Posted by feww on June 26, 2011

Magnitude 6.4 EQ Strikes 172 km N of Enarotali, Papua, Indonesia

Three major earthquakes have struck the region within 330km radius of the epicenter since 1914, including the largest two in the last 40 years (8.1Mw on 10 Jan 1979, and 8.2Mw on 17 Feb 1996).

10-degree Map Centered at 0°N,135°E

EQ Location Map. Source: USGS-EHP. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

Earthquake Details

  • Magnitude: 6.4Mw
  • Date-Time:
    • Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 12:16:41 UTC
    • Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 09:16:41 PM at epicenter
  • Location: 2.389°S, 136.648°E
  • Depth: 36.1 km (22.4 miles)
  • Region: NEAR THE NORTH COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
  • Distances: 172 km (106 miles) N of Enarotali, Papua, Indonesia
    • 331 km (205 miles) ESE of Manokwari, Papua, Indonesia
    • 1,286 km (799 miles) NNE of DARWIN, Northern Territory, Australia
    • 3,336 km (2072 miles) E of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
  • Location Uncertainty:
    • horizontal +/- 14.6 km (9.1 miles);
    • depth +/- 12.2 km (7.6 miles)
  • Source:USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
  • Event ID: usc0004gyw

Historic Seismicity [Mag ≥ 7.0 since 1900]


Source: USGS-EHP

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VolcanoWatch 26 June 2011

Posted by feww on June 26, 2011

VoW: The Restive Kīlauea

Kīlauea: Probably the World’s Most Active Volcano

Kīlauea is the youngest volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i.


The active lava lake in Pu`u `Ō `ō and its levee. View looking east into Pu`u `Ō `ō, its crater partly filled by lava flows accumulating on the crater floor. The active lava lake in the crater is 205 m (673 ft) long and varies in width from 80–115 m (262–377 ft). The West Gap pit is in the central foreground, and the Puka Nui and MLK pits are to the right (the MLK pit is in back). The crater has filled in vertically about 100 m (328 ft) since the crater collapsed on March 5, 2011, at the start of the uprift Kamoamoa eruption. It still has about 12 m (39 ft) to go to reach the level of the crater floor prior to the collapse. Source of image and caption: HVO. Click images to enlarge.


Lighter-colored patches of lava on the crater floor are recent overflows. Source: HVO.


Along with overflows, low-level spattering from points wandering around the perimeter of the lava lake continually builds up the levee that impounds the lake. Source: HVO.


The lava lake’s levee stands up to 8 m (26 ft) above the surrounding crater floor. This steep-sided levee impounds the lava and forms what is called a “perched” lava lake. Pieces of the rim occasionally collapse into the lake, leading to sudden and fast-moving overflows of lava onto the crater floor. Source: HVO.


Map of Kīlauea. Source: HVO

  • Location: 19.425ºN 155.292ºW
  • Elev.: 1,277 m a.s.l.
  • Area: 1,430 km2 (13.7% of Hawai`i)
  • Volume: 25,000-35,000 km3

Click HERE for more images and information …

Weekly Volcanic Activity Report

(based on SI /USGS report for 15 June – 21 June 2011)

New activity/unrest:

FEWW Map of Volcanoes


Map of Volcanoes. Background Map: University of Michigan. Designed and enhanced by Fire Earth Blog. Click image to enlarge.

Ongoing Activity

Current Alerts for U.S. Volcanoes

  • Kilauea Watch Orange 2011-06-25 07:53:30
  • Pagan Advisory Yellow 2011-06-24 10:23:48
  • Long Valley Volcanic Center Normal Green 2011-06-24 17:58:30
  • Mauna Loa Normal Green 2011-06-04 07:16:42
  • Hualalai Normal Green 2011-06-04 07:16:42
  • Haleakala Normal Green 2011-06-04 07:16:42
  • Mauna Kea Normal Green 2011-06-04 07:16:42
  • Yellowstone Normal Green 2011-06-01 14:15:51
  • Lo`ihi Unassigned 2011-06-04 07:16:42

US Volcanoes: Webcams

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State of Emergency Declared in 29 North Carolina Counties

Posted by feww on June 26, 2011

N.C. Gov. declares a state of emergency in 29 counties due to drought conditions, wildfires

Several major fires are raging in Pender, Dare, Brunswick, New Hanover, Columbus, Onslow and Bladen counties.

The fires, covering about 80,000 acres, were started by lightning and have been burning for more than a week.


North Carolina Map of below normal 7-day average streamflow. Source: USGS. Click images to enlarge

State of Emergency Declaration

Gov. Beverly Perdue signed the declaration “due to the extreme fire hazard created by dry conditions and the current wildfires/forest fires in several of these counties.”

Perdue said in a statement:

“I want to assure residents of North Carolina that the state Division of Forest Resources and its partnering agencies are working hard to contain the fires in Eastern North Carolina. They will continue to focus on the top priorities of protecting lives and property nearest the fires.”

Details of property damage and evacuation orders were not known as of posting. However, many communities across the region have been alerted for possible evacuation.

Up to 15 counties are currently under an air quality alert due to particulate matter (PM-2.5) traveling in the wind.

Code Purple Alert

The N.C. Department of Environmental and Natural Resources has issued a Code Purple alert (“very unhealthy”)  for coastal communities due to the smoke from the blazes this weekend.

“Some of the highest particle pollution levels that [the state Division of Air Quality] has ever measured were in smoke plumes from wildfires … Fine particles can penetrate deeply into the lungs and be absorbed into the bloodstream, causing or aggravating heart and lung diseases.” The agency said in a statement.

NOTE: EPA seems to have two Code Purple Alerts!!

The First Code Purple refers to “very unhealthy” air quality, or AQI of 201 to 300.

The Second Code Purple seems to refer to “hazardous” air quality, or AQI of 301 to 500.


AQI color chart – air pollution hazard by EPA. Click to enlarge.

AQI Ratings

  • An AQI of 100 for ozone corresponds to an ozone level of 0.075 parts per million (averaged over 8 hours) [EPA data.]
  • An AQI of 100 for carbon monoxide corresponds to a level of 9 parts per million (averaged over 8 hours) [EPA data.]
  • An AQI of 100 for sulfur dioxide corresponds to a level of 0.14 parts per million (averaged over 24 hours) [EPA data.]
  • An AQI of 300 for PM-2.5 corresponds to a level of 250 micrograms of the particulate per cubic meter (averaged over 24 hours) [FIRE-EARTH calc.]

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