“Sea of Police” in Ukraine, Looting in Argentina, Hunger Strike…

Thousands of police move on large protest camps in central Kiev, Ukraine

Thousands of riot police and Interior Ministry personnel have moved on  large protest camps in Independence Square (Maidan Nezalezhnosti) in the center of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev amid snow and sub-zero temperatures.

Clashes broke out after police began tearing down barricades close to the main protest site in the square, but soon turned into a tense standoff.

According to unconfirmed reports police began storming the Kiev city hall, which was occupied by protesters a week ago.

Mass street rallies began about three weeks ago shortly after the government’s decision to withdraw from a free-trade deal with the EU last.

Police surround a section of the protest stage in central Kiev, Ukraine. Image credit: Paulina Leonovich

Looters hit Argentina’s Stores amid ongoing police strike

Looting has spread across 19 out of 23 provinces in Argentina, as police continue their strike due to low pay.

The looting first broke out in Cordoba province earlier this month, leaving several people dead and more than 100 others injured before the local police struck a deal to double their monthly salaries to about $1,900.

Police are demanding above-inflation pay rises and refuse to answer call-outs. Inflation in Argentina is running at 25 – 30 percent a year.

Supermarkets, retail businesses, banks and public transport have all shut down in dozens of Argentina’s cities, just as a summer heatwave engulfs the country.

About a dozen people have been killed and hundreds more injured since the looting began.

One of hundreds of  stores ransacked by looters in the northern Argentine province of Tucuman December 10, 2013. Credit: Paloma Cortes/Reuters Aysua)

Taxi drivers on hunger strike in New Zealand

Auckland taxi drivers are on hunger strike outside the airport’s headquarters protesting conditions at Auckland Airport, according to local reports.

About 100 drivers from the Auckland Taxi Association (ATA), representing drivers from five small taxi companies and dozens of supporters have been holding the hunger strike since Monday because they say changes in rules favors larger companies.

ATA, which represents 180 drivers from smaller companies, wants the minimum fare in line with what the larger companies charge.

Spokesperson for ATA told reporters that with waiting times included, drivers are earning little more than $1 per hour.

Image Credit: One News

Indian Nurses Hunger Strike 2012

Indian nurses working in New Zealand went on a hunger strike vigil at the Ghandi statue near Wellington’s railway station on July 24, 2012.

“The hunger strike began two months after several hundred Indian nurses marched on parliament over the frustrations they have had in attempting to gain registration in New Zealand, including nursing students and graduates of two bridging nursing degree programs,” said a report.

Another Strong Aftershock Strikes Chile

Strong aftershock measuring  up to M6.9 strikes Bio-Bio Chile

The aftershock was the strongest aftershock to strike the region in the previous 72 hours.

However, there was no significant damage as a result of the shock, local officials were reported as saying.

The M8.8 megaquake and ensuing giant tsunami waves caused more damage in Chile’s Maule region and  beyond than did the Haiti quake in that  country, making a mockery of the death toll figure provided by the dysfunctional Haiti govt. Fire-Earth estimates that the Haiti quake death toll may have been exaggerated by as much as 100 folds.  Fire-Earth has now revised down its figure for the number of deaths and injures resulting from the Haiti quake to 5,000 (FIVE THOUSAND). [Original caption: An earthquake survivor walks through the city center after it was destroyed by a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami, in Talcahuano March 4, 2010.] Credit: REUTERS/Mariana Bazo. Image may be subject to copyright.

Yet Another Revised Death Toll by Chilean Govt

Major Chilean newspapers reported on Friday the government had again revised its death toll for Maule region to 316 (previously 587). The epicenter of the M8.8 megaquake was located in the Maule region.

The Tsunami Oops!

Most of the casualties in Saturday’s disasters were killed  NOT by the M8.8 megaquake, but by the three giant tsunami waves that obliterated the coastal population centers hours  later. The Chileans say their govt told them there would be NO risk of a tsunami.

The Chilean Navy has since blamed the catastrophic failure on “a diagnosis error,” admitting that they transmitted “extremely unclear information” to their civilian counterparts. The authorities have since fired head of the Navy’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service [Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada, SHOA,] Commander Mariano Rojas, for failing to issue a tsunami warning [syn: incompetence,] local reports said.

EQ Details

• Magnitude as reported by USGS/EHP: 6.6 [Max magnitude estimated by Fire-Earth: 6.9 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Friday, March 05, 2010 at 11:47:10 UTC
  • Friday, March 05, 2010 at 08:47:10 AM at epicenter

• Location: 36.513°S, 73.116°W
• Depth: 35 km (21.7 miles) set by location program
• Region:  OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE

• Distances
  • 35 km (20 miles) N of Concepcion, Chile
  • 90 km (55 miles) W of Chillan, Chile
  • 125 km (80 miles) NNW of Los Angeles, Chile
  • 405 km (255 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Chile

• Source: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• USGS Event ID: us2010tla4

Strong Quake Strikes SW of Sumatra, Indonesia

Meanwhile, a strong earthquake measuring up to 6.8Mw [Fire-Earth estimate] struck SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA, at a depth of about 20km on Friday, March 05, 2010 at 16:06:57 UTC.

The epicenter was located at 4.032°S, 100.806°E, USGS/EHP reported.

Distances:

• 165 km (100 miles) W of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia
• 345 km (215 miles) S of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia
• 415 km (255 miles) SW of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia
• 700 km (435 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia

Related Links:

• Chile Earthquake Links Page
• FEWW Earthquake Links
• Volcanoes
• FEWW Volcano Links

• For more photos click  Reuters Photo Gallery

 

Chile: Two Strong Aftershocks in 8 Hrs

Two strong aftershocks measuring up to magnitude 6.2 and 6.3 strike Bio-Bio and Valparaiso, Chile

The first thing that ought to have come to mind is, thank goodness Chile doesn’t have a nuclear power plant or large scale nuclear waste storage facility. [The country’s two open-pool research reactors (5MWt and 10MWt) are apparently located near Santiago.]

What if megaquakes struck close to a large nuclear power plant, or two?

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude: 6.1 [Max magnitude estimated by Fire-Earth: 6.3 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Thursday, March 04, 2010 at 01:59:50 UTC
  • Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 10:59:50 PM at epicenter
• Location: 33.154°S, 72.064°W
• Depth: 34.4 km (21.4 miles)
• Region: OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
• Distances:
  • 45 km (30 miles) WSW of Valparaiso, Chile
  • 135 km (85 miles) WNW of SANTIAGO, Chile
  • 165 km (105 miles) NW of Rancagua, Chile
  • 190 km (115 miles) SSW of Illapel, Chile
• Location Uncertainty: horizontal +/- 24.6 km (15.3 miles); depth +/- 4.3 km (2.7 miles)
• Source: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID:  us2010tkan

10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,70°W

The two strong aftershocks detailed here are marked in RED on the EQ Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Image Edited and Enhanced by FEWW.

Earthquake Details

• Magnitude: 6.0  [Max magnitude estimated by Fire-Earth: 6.2 Mw]
• Date-Time:
  • Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 17:44:25 UTC
  • Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 02:44:25 PM at epicenter
• Location: 36.452°S, 73.069°W
• Depth: 19 km (11.8 miles) set by location program
• Region:  OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
• Distances:
  • 40 km (25 miles) N of Concepcion, Chile
  • 85 km (55 miles) W of Chillan, Chile
  • 130 km (80 miles) NNW of Los Angeles, Chile
  • 400 km (250 miles) SSW of SANTIAGO, Chile
• Source:  USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
• Event ID us2010tjbk

Tsunami Status

Pacific Ocean Tsunami Warning Center said there were NO Tsunami Warning, Watch  or Advisory in effect.

Related Links:

• Chile Quake Aftermath: Day 5
• Chile Earthquake Links Page

Chile Quake Aftermath: Day 5

There would be enough food and fuel for everyone, if they wait long enough: President Bachelet

Death Toll from the quake and tsunami is slowly inching up above 800, but the number of missing is grossly underestimated.

“There is enough food and therefore we must remain calm. There is also enough fuel, there is no risk of shortages … Be confident … Chile is going to stand on its feet again,” the outgoing president Bachelet blurted out on the nationally TV and radio.

Ms. Bachelet, described as  center-left, has again pleaded with Chileans  not only to stop looting, but cease hoarding supplies, too.

She doesn’t accept that her government’s response to one of the world’s largest earthquake was even more pathetic than the dysfunctional “government” of Haiti to their earthquake disaster in January.

Ms Bachelet has urged Chilean’s to help with relief efforts, like every good citizen should. But even Gen Pinochet knew an army cannot march on an empty stomach.

Enter the EXTREME Right

If her government was really center-left, may good have mercy on Chileans because the ultra conservative president-elect, billionaire businessman Sebastian Pinera, can only be described as EXTREME right. To people like him, people are mere numbers on a balance sheet and the bottom line must always be black. Chile may be reentering the “dark ages” again.

More Aftershocks

Concepcion, Chile’s second largest and the closest major city to the epicenter of the M8.8 megaquake that struck on Saturday, was shaken by a swarm of strong aftershocks which  sent the locals scurrying to higher grounds fearing a new wave of tsunamis.

The capital Santiago was also shaken by at least two strong aftershocks on Wednesday.

Earthquake location map (10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,70°W) shows the approximate location of the M8.8 megaquake and 195 aftershock, many larger than M5.0 as 01:00UTC (GMT) on March 4, 2010.  Source: USGS/EHP.

Dead and Missing

The number of dead was reported as 813 by late Wednesday, but there are probably as many as 1,000 people still unaccounted for especially in the coastal villages that were completely obliterated by the three large tsunami waves (which the government had said won’t happen).

As many as 500 people are unaccounted for in Constitucion, one of several fishing  villages which were almost entirely wiped out.

Curfew

Concepcion is currently under an 18-hour curfew enforced by as many as 17,000 troops (3,000 more than the number reported by the media) as well as the local police force. But with so many buildings destroyed or damaged, and residents  refusing to enter their homes in case of a collapse, this curfew must be a very strange one.

Basic Necessities at  Extortionate Prices

A few shops have opened in Concepcion, but foodstuffs are sold at extortionate price, inflated by 300 percent.

Related Links:

• Chilean Quake Shortened the Earth Days?
• Chile Earthquake: Disaster to Tragedy
• Chile Earthquake: Topographic Map
• Chile quake Update 3 (March 2)
• Chile Earthquake Update 2 (Mar 1)

• Santiago, Chile: Satellite Images
• Chile Earthquake and Tsunami Update 1 (28 Feb)
• 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

Chile quake Update 3 (March 2)

Chileans Need Food, Water and Care; NOT Bazookas!

Chilean authorities never cease to defy common sense, or harm their own citizens beyond your wildest imagination

The death toll from Chile’s megaquake and tsunami nears 750

The term Shell shock would of course fail to describe the state of the survivors, living victims, of the Chilean earthquake; they were hit by a megaquake. However, the traumatic experience they have suffered is very much the same as being “shell-shocked.”

Now they need food, water and shelter, but more importantly a caring establishment that treats them as vulnerable victims of a massive shock!

What they got instead, were soldiers carrying heavy-caliber machine guns and anti-tank weapons with the muzzles pointed at them!

“Go on, shoot them, put them out of their misery … what do you care? You’re only doing your job [sic.]” Surely, so long as the copper mines continue to yield and the soldiers receive their rations,  the establishment would have no worries.

Chilean soldiers patrol the streets to stop looting and keep the order, as a building burns in the background after a major earthquake in Concepcion March 1, 2010. Chile’s government scrambled on Monday to provide aid to thousands of homeless people in coastal towns devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunamis, as 10,000 troops patrolled to quell looting. Credit: REUTERS/Jose Luis Saavedra. Image may be subject to copyright.

Extent of the quake damage

The megaquake struck near the village/town of Dichato instantly destroying three quarters of the town. Then three successive tsunami waves arrived. “The first two were big and didn’t do much damage, but the last one almost wiped the village off the map,” a local resident said.

“Surging waves triggered by the quake smashed houses and cars in fishing villages on the country’s long Pacific coast. In the town of Constitucion alone, 350 people are believed to have died and a public gym was turned into a makeshift morgue.” Reuters reported.

Looting

Chilean government has imposed a curfew in Concepcion and the adjacent region of Maule, where the megaquake struck, after sporadic “looting” broke out. There are images of looters, of course, who are breaking into shops and warehouses, carrying white goods on their shoulders.  But they are a minority. Nearly three days after the megaquake and the tsunamis struck, the majority of the local folks described as “looters” are simply desperate for basic necessities—food and water.

The desperate “looters” have even raided a fire station looking for water.

“The looters are more organized,” said Concepcion’s mayor, Jacqueline Van Rysselberghe, Reuters reported, asking the Bachelet government to dispatch more of those troops with [antiaircraft rocket-launchers and] intimidating helmets to reinforce “law and order” in the country’s second largest city.

Caught between thirst and hunger,  on the one hand, and soldiers armed with bazookas, on the other, the victims are taking their chances.  Unsurprisingly, they are evolving and becoming more organized.

[To the readers who are sitting at home in the comfort of their armchairs  reading these lines: THIS CAN and PROBABLY WILL HAPPEN to YOU, TOO!  CHANGE YOUR SYSTEM and LIFESTYLES, NOW! IT IS ALREADY WAY TOO LATE!]

We find it hard to term the desperate victims as “looters”; they are traumatized folks struggling for survival.

Related Links:

• Chile Earthquake and Tsunami Update 1 (28 Feb)
• 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:

• Most recent quake photos
• Reuters photo gallery

Chile Earthquake Update 2 (Mar 1)

“No Danger of a Tsunami,” Chileans Were Told!

Death toll from Chile megaquake and tsunami surges over 720

“It’s an enormous catastrophe … there’s a growing number of missing people,” Chilean President Bachelet said, as her government dispatched 10,000 troops to enforce curfews in the worst hit areas, especially Chile’s second largest city Concepcion, and prevent alleged outbreaks of looting.

The surviving victims are desperate for food and water, making the government’s “iron-fist” response highly questionable.

The massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck about 115km north-northeast of Concepcion on Saturday, has left many people homeless, and many more have stayed outdoors in tents or makeshift shelters fearing the deadly aftershocks that are powerful earthquakes to be reckoned with.

The megaquake has destroyed or damaged probably as many as half a million homes, wrecked bridges, highways and other infrastructure. There’s  widespread power cuts throughout most of the country.

Criminal Negligence by the Chilean Authorities

Once again fatal errors made by an incompetent military proved fatal for many ordinary Chileans. Many lives could have been saved if the he government experts had sought independent advice concerning the certainty of a tsunami.

It has now been revealed the Chilean government declared immediately after the megaquake struck offshore Maule, “there would be no danger of a tsunami.”  Their fatal error, which they now blame on “incorrect data” supplied by their “Navy experts” probably doubled the death toll as it now stands.

It’s difficult to believe that the average earthquake “expert” would consider an 8.8Mw earthquake striking offshore, especially in an area with previous records of deadly quakes and fatal tsunamis as “no danger.”

Surely, even a university freshman with some understanding of geophysics, earthquakes and tsunamis, and knowledge of earthquake history in the area, facing a magnitude 8.8 quake, could have put two and two together,  at least erring on the side of caution.

The authorities in Japan, a country almost halfway across the world from Chile, took the precautionary measure of evacuating more than a million of their citizens from coastal areas to protect them against potential tsunamis caused by the Dichato quake.

How could the Chilean authorities make such an incomprehensible mistake with such catastrophic consequences?

Aftershocks Update

10-degree Map Centered at 35°S,70°W

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

Since FEWW Chilean Disasters Update # 1 posted yesterday, at least 40 additional aftershock have struck central Chile, with two events measuring M6.0 or greater. The aftershocks should continue to occur for sometime.

Image of the Day

Cars and Dogs seeking safety on higher grounds in case “Navy experts” had made a mistake about the tsunami. [Original caption: Debris is washed up by waves generated by a major earthquake near the epicenter in Dichato February 28, 2010. Credit: REUTERS/Jose Luis Saavedra. Image may be subject to copyright.]

FEWW Estimate of the Quake Damage

Based on the preliminary information available, Fire-Earth Moderators estimate the cost of damage from Saturday’s megaquake at about US$10 billion.

The Moderators believe the Chileans should consider the earthquake and subsequent tsunami disasters as an opportunity and re-build their communities as eco-centered, low-carbon, intelligent communities.

Any more mistakes made by the authorities in the way they handle the quake and tsunami aftermaths could prove even more catastrophic in the near future.

Related Links:

• Chile Earthquake and Tsunami Update 1 (28 Feb)

• 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