Tag: earthquake

Sinkhole drains lake near St-Louis, Missouri – Major Memphis bridge cracked – Is the New Madrid waking up?

Strange Sounds – May 13, 2021

Lone Elk Park in St. Louis County has a leaky lake — and an SUV-sized sinkhole that opened up there in recent days has drained about a third of it.

St. Louis County Parks Director Tom Ott said he got word Friday that the lake had dropped about 3 feet, and then enough water drained away over the weekend to reveal the sinkhole.

This isn’t the first time this has happened at the manmade lake, called the Lone Elk Reservoir, said Ott. In 2016, a similar sinkhole about 4 to 5 feet across appeared in the vicinity of the new one. Then, they had someone inspect it and had concrete slurry poured into the hole to patch it.

The county will get a hydraulic engineer to look at the sinkhole, and will send someone with a drone to take pictures of it. They’ll also add signage along the shoreline to warn people to keep away.

Ott wonders if a small-magnitude earthquake reported near Eureka on April 20 shook anything loose.

He said that in the early 1990s the lake was always full, but in the past 20 years it hasn’t held water the way it should. “We’ve had people look at it — they couldn’t tell where it was leaking,” he said.

Meanwhile, all lanes on the Hernando Desoto Bridge were closed Tuesday until further notice after an inspection found a crack that requires investigation.

Memphis Police said the bridge is being inspected, and it is unknown when the I-40 bridge will reopen. It could be closed for month…

Right now, drivers can use the Interstate 55 bridge to cross the Mississippi River.

Now, if you add to this giant sinkhole, the shutdown of the I-40 bridge in downtown Memphis due to infrastructure damage and the hacked (?) pipeline… Are these more signs of the overdue New Madrid earthquake?

https://strangesounds.org

California on seismic alert: Two shallow M4.6 and M4.4 earthquakes hit off Eureka within seconds – Precursors of the Big One?

Strange Sounds – April 2, 2021

Today morning, two shallow earthquakes (M4.6 and M4.4) hit off the coast of northern California at a depth of 8km and 19km, respectively.The pair of quakes struck 17 seconds apart of each other (8:21:18 and 8:21:35 AM UTC).Some weak or light shaking was probably felt in the Eureka and Fortuna areas.

The third M2.5 quake in the area hit 1 hour after the first two…

Meanwhile, I am sure geologists closely monitor the seismicity along the west coast…

These earthquakes could indeed be precursors of the next Cascadia Megathrust Earthquake or California Big One…

Indeed, the tremors occurred near the Mendecino Triple Junction, an area where the Cascadia Subduction Zone meets with the San Andreas Fault.

Moreover, if you look at the map from PSNS below, additional quakes rattled the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregonian coast and on Victoria Island in Canada, as well.

An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest.

The question isn’t if but when. And keep in mind: The next full-margin rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone will spell the worst natural disaster in the history of the continent.

https://strangesounds.org

Powerful quake hits off New Zealand, prompting evacuations

Nick Perry – March 4, 2021

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — One of the biggest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history forced thousands of people in New Zealand to evacuate and triggered tsunami warnings across the world Friday, but it did not appear to cause injuries or major damage because it struck in remote ocean.

The magnitude 8.1 quake was the largest in a series of tremors that hit the region over several hours, including two earlier quakes that registered magnitude 7.4 and magnitude 7.3.

The earthquakes triggered warning systems and caused traffic jams and some chaos in New Zealand as people scrambled to get to higher ground, but their remoteness meant they did not appear to pose a widespread threat to lives or infrastructure.

The largest quake struck about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) off the coast of New Zealand. One of the earlier quakes hit much closer to New Zealand and awoke many people as they felt a long, rumbling shaking.

“Hope everyone is ok out there,” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wrote on Facebook during the night.

After the largest quake, civil defense authorities in New Zealand told people in some coastal areas to immediately get to higher ground. They said a damaging tsunami was possible, and waves could reach up to 3 meters (10 feet).

Emergency Management Minister Kiri Allan told reporters that people had followed the advisory.

https://abcnews.go.com

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

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

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

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

Major solar flare triggers 3 strong earthquakes in Alaska (M6.3), Argentina (M6.3), Russia (M6.4)

Strange Sounds – December 1, 2020

Well, if you look back at data from the past two days, there is a clear correlation between the proton density sent from the sun and the occurrence of large earthquakes (M > 5.6), with a time shift of 1-2 day(s).

The biggest solar flare in more than 3 years occured on Nov. 29th, triggering widespread radio shortwave outages and hurling a huge CME in space.

Luckily, the small sunspot that erupted wasn’t facing Earth during its explosive event. But still, particles from the solar eruption may have triggered a series of 4 strong earthquakes that hit across the world within less than 12 hours between Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st.

M6.4 Russia – Nov. 30th, 22:54:34 (UTC)

The first earthquake of the series is a very deep M6.4 quake that hit 88 km SSE of Sovetskaya Gavan’, Russia.

The offshore quake epicenter was situated at a depth of 587km (364.7 miles) and no tsunami was created.

M6.3 Argentina – Nov. 30th, 22:54:59 (UTC)

Just 20 seconds after the first strong quake of the series, another big blast rattled 76 km WSW of San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina.

Although very deep (147.8 km or 91.8 miles), the quake was reported by at least 16 people, most reporting very small shaking.

It is worthwhile to report that a M5.9 earthquake (so a big one too!) hit about the same region on Sunday, Nov. 29th at 1:40 p.m. local time – the same day than the solar eruption.

M6.3 Alaska – Dec. 1st, 16:22:40 (UTC)

Finally a M6.3 earthquake hit offshore, 38 km (23.6 miles) ESE of Nikolski, Alaska at a depth of 23 km (14.3 miles).

Eight reports of shaking have already been published on the USGS homepage.

https://strangesounds.org