Category: Black Horse

Water leaks after new earthquake damage at Fukushima nuclear plant

Strange Sounds – February 20, 2021

Cooling water levels have fallen in two reactors at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant since a powerful M7.1 earthquake hit the area last weekend, indicating possible additional damage.

New damage could further complicate the plant’s already difficult decommissioning process, which is expected to take decades.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Keisuke Matsuo said the drop in water levels in the Unit 1 and 3 reactors indicates that the existing damage to their primary containment chambers was worsened by Saturday’s magnitude 7.3 quake, allowing more water to leak.

The cooling water level fell as much as 70 centimeters (27 inches) in the primary containment chamber of the Unit 1 reactor and about 30 centimeters (11 inches) in Unit 3. TEPCO wasn’t able to determine any decline in Unit 2 because indicators have been taken out to prepare for the removal of melted debris.

Since the 2011 disaster, cooling water has been escaping constantly from the damaged primary containment vessels into the basements of the reactor buildings. To make up for the loss, additional cooling water has been pumped into the reactors to cool the melted fuel remaining inside them. The recent decline in the water levels indicates that more water than before is leaking out, TEPCO said.

I think this is a no-end disaster! More here.

https://strangesounds.org

The Temporary Collapse Of Texas Is Foreshadowing The Total Collapse Of The United States

– February 18, 2021

We are getting a very short preview of what will eventually happen to the United States as a whole.  America’s infrastructure is aging and crumbling.  Our power grids were never intended to support so many people, our water systems are a complete joke, and it has become utterly apparent that we would be completely lost if a major long-term national emergency ever struck.  Texas has immense wealth and vast energy resources, but now it is being called a “failed state”.  If it can’t even handle a few days of cold weather, what is the rest of America going to look like when things really start to get chaotic in this country?

At this point, it has become clear that the power grid in Texas is in far worse shape than anyone ever imagined.  When extremely cold weather hit the state, demand for energy surged dramatically.  At the same time, about half of the wind turbines that Texas relies upon froze, and the rest of the system simply could not handle the massive increase in demand.

Millions of Texans were without power for days, and hundreds of thousands are still without power as I write this article.

And now we are learning that Texas was literally just moments away from “a catastrophic failure” that could have resulted in blackouts “for months”…

Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday.

As millions of customers throughout the state begin to have power restored after days of massive blackouts, officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which operates the power grid that covers most of the state, said Texas was dangerously close to a worst-case scenario: uncontrolled blackouts across the state.

I can’t even imagine how nightmarish things would have eventually gotten in Texas if there had actually been blackouts for months.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Ring of Fire earthquake ALERT: TEN huge quakes hit Indonesia in 4 hours – tsunami warning

James Bickerton – February 10, 2021

A SERIES of powerful earthquakes struck off Indonesia and New Caledonia – sparking tsunami fears.

An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck southeast of Loyalty Islands on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said. The quake’s epicentre was 401 km east of Tadine, New Caledonia, and was at a depth of 2 km, EMSC said. Ten earthquakes and aftershocks hit the region in a short space of time – ranging between a magnitude of 5.0-6.2 – with the first quake at 12.24.21 (UTC) and the final at 14.59.37 (UTC).

In response, a tsunami warning was issued with waves of between 0.3 and one-meter feared for Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

A lesser warning for a tsunami of up to 0.3 meters was issued for Australia, Papua New Guinea and American Samoa.

Separately an earthquake of magnitude 6.2 struck southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia, on Wednesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said.

The quake was at a depth of 30 km (18.64 miles), EMSC said.

It struck around 217 kilometres to the south-west of Bengkulu, a city of 328,000 people, at 19:52 local time (12:52 GMT).

https://www.express.co.uk

Cumbre Vieja is going to erupt shortly: Second earthquake swarm within a month hits beneath the volcano on the Canary Islands prompting fears of a cataclysmic tsunami

Strange Sounds – February 1, 2021

In the last few years, the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma / Canary Islands was hit by several earthquake swarms. The first major series occurred in October 2017. It was followed by another seismic event in February 2018 and five in 2020, the latest end of December 2020.

Meanwhile, a new seismic unrest has started beneath the volcanic peak since January 31, 2021. The magnitudes of the earthquakes are between 1,2 and 2,5 (MbLg) and their depths range between 10 and 29 km right under the western slope of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Although this new seismic swarm poses no danger to residents and visitors to La Palma given the low magnitude and depth of the earthquakes, it clearly shows that something is going on there.

Cumbre Vieja has erupted twice in the last 70 years, first in 1949 and then again in 1971. Taking those 22 years between each eruption as indicator, it means the volcano is about 25 years overdue for its next eruption.

There also have been thousands of tremors recorded near or beneath the Spanish volcano in the past couple of years, suggesting it could blow anytime.

Moreover, we went from 1 seismic crisis in 2017 and 2018 to 5 unsettling swarms in 2020. That’s a dramatic increase in activity!

There are concerns that if Cumbre Vieja blows, the massive slab of rock could smash into the Atlantic Ocean causing a killer tidal wave.

This gigantic tsunami could travel thousands of miles and wash out coastal areas of Britain and even parts of the eastern seaboard of America.

https://strangesounds.org

Dramatic shark decline leaves ‘gaping hole’ in ocean: Study

CNA – January 28, 2021

TOKYO: Overfishing has savaged populations of some sharks and rays by more than 70 per cent in the last half-century, leaving a “gaping, growing hole” in ocean life, according to a new study.

Decades of data show an alarming decline in species ranging from hammerhead sharks to manta rays.

Among the worst-affected is the oceanic whitetip, a powerful shark often described as particularly dangerous to man that now hovers on the edge of extinction because of human activity.

Targeted for their fins, oceanic whitetips are also the victims of indiscriminate fishing techniques. Their global population has dropped 98 per cent in the last 60 years.

“That’s a worse decline than most large terrestrial mammal populations, and getting up there or as bad as the blue whale decline,” Nick Dulvy, a professor at Simon Fraser University’s department of biological sciences, told AFP.

Dulvy and a team of scientists spent years collecting and analysing information from scientific studies and fisheries data to build up a picture of the global state of 31 species of sharks and rays.

They found three-quarters of the species examined are now so depleted that they are threatened with extinction.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com

Powerful M7.1 earthquake hits off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines

– January 21, 2021

A powerful earthquake registered by PHIVOLCS as M7.1 hit off the coast of Mindanao, Philippines at 12:23 UTC (20:23 LT) on January 21, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 116 km (72 miles). The USGS is reporting M7.0 at a depth of 96 km (60 miles), EMSC M7.1 at a depth of 114 km (71 miles).

The epicenter was located about 211 km (131 miles) SE of Pondaguitan and 312 km (194 miles) SE of Davao, Philippines.

There are about 100 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles).

6 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking and 173 000 moderate.

Based on the depth of the earthquake, a tsunami is not expected, NTWC said.

The USGS issued a green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction. The predominant vulnerable building types are unknown/miscellaneous types and heavy wood frame construction.

Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as tsunamis and landslides that might have contributed to losses.

https://watchers.news

Powerful Indonesia quake kills at least 37, topples buildings

Haeril HALIM, Agnes ANYA – January 25, 2021

A powerful earthquake rocked Indonesia’s Sulawesi island Friday, killing at least 37 people, levelling a hospital and severely damaging other buildings, authorities said, as they warned there were people still trapped beneath rubble.

Hundreds were also injured when the 6.2-magnitude quake struck in the early hours, triggering panic among the terrified residents of the island, which was hit by a huge quake and tsunami two and a half years ago that killed thousands.

So far, 29 bodies have been hauled from beneath crumpled buildings in Mamuju, a city of about 110,000 in West Sulawesi province, while another eight were killed south of the area after the quake struck.

“We don’t know how many more are missing,” said Arianto from the rescue agency in Mamuju, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

“There are still people trapped beneath the rubble.”

Rescuers were searching for more than a dozen patients and staff trapped under a levelled Mamuju hospital.

“The hospital is flattened — it collapsed,” Arianto said.

Earlier Friday, rescuers said they were also trying to reach a family of eight who were under their destroyed home.

At least one hotel had partially collapsed, while the regional governor’s office also suffered extensive damage after the quake struck at 2:18 am local time Friday (1818 GMT Thursday).

A Mamuju resident said damage across the city was severe.

https://www.spacedaily.com

Research confirms increase in river flooding and droughts in U.S., Canada

Dartmouth College – January 7, 2021

The number of “extreme streamflow” events observed in river systems have increased significantly across the United States and Canada over the last century, according to a study from Dartmouth College.

In regions where water runoff from snowmelt is a main contributor to river streamflow, the study found a rise in extreme events, such as flooding.

In drought-prone regions in the western and southeastern U.S., the study found that the frequency of extreme low-flow events has also become more common, particularly during summer and fall.

The research, published in Science Advances, analyzed records dating back to 1910 to confirm the effects of recent changes in precipitation levels on river systems.

“Floods and droughts are extremely expensive and often life-threatening events,” said Evan Dethier, a postdoctoral researcher at Dartmouth and the lead author of the paper. “It’s really important that we have good estimates of how likely extreme events are to occur and whether that likelihood is changing.”

https://phys.org/news

The 4 synchronous large earthquakes off Chile (2 M6.7 and 2 M6.8) are a true WARNING sign of bigger events to come

Strange Sounds – December 28, 2020

Depending on the app you use, three or four strong earthquakes hit off Chile on December 27, 2020 at 9:39 pm UTC.

These are called synchronous quakes, each of them having a ‘s-wave’ and a ‘p-wave’ (see below for their meaning).

But because those large quakes were SYNCHRONOUS with each other, you can deny, if you want, the existence of the other 2(-3) shocks. So it’s not that they didn’t happen, it’s just that the different seismic networks removed 2(-3) of these strong jolts.

However, the truth is that those Earth tremors are SYNCHRONOUS with the molten magma moving under their epicenters. And this means that the temblors are a true WARNING sign of bigger events to come.

Yes, these quakes in sync with each other at the same epicenter give you a direct WARNING of events which will follow!

This region, adjacent to the fast-moving Nazca Plate, has high tectonic activity as shown by the four M6.7 and M6.8 synchronous seisms and the nearby epicenter of the strongest earthquake recorded in modern times, the 1960 Valdivia earthquake.

Of the world’s 36 known earthquakes with M ≥ 8.5 since the year 1500, one-third occurred in Chile.

https://strangesounds.org

Strong M6.3 earthquake hits Mindoro, Philippines

– December 25, 2020

A strong earthquake registered by PHIVOLCS as M6.3 hit Mindoro, Philippines at 23:43 UTC on December 24, 2020 (07:43 LT, December 25). The agency is reporting a depth of 109 km (67 miles). The USGS is reporting the same magnitude and depth; EMSC M6.3 at a depth of 33 km (20 miles).

The epicenter was located 1.8 km (1.1 miles) SSW of Calatagan (population 16 110), 17.7 km (11 miles) SW of Balayan (population 50 115), 24.1 km (15 miles) WSW of Calaca (population 37 443), 27.7 km (17.2 miles) S of Nasugbu (population 62 857), and 73 km (45 miles) SW of Calamba (population 316 612), Philippines.

There are about 20 200 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles).

12 000 people are estimated to have felt strong shaking, 3 775 000 moderate, and 40 465 000 light.

Phivolcs said aftershocks are expected.

The USGS issued a green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake-resistant construction. The predominant vulnerable building types are unknown/miscellaneous types and heavy wood frame construction.

Recent earthquakes in this area have caused secondary hazards such as landslides and liquefaction that might have contributed to losses.

https://watchers.news