Trio of US Quakes Includes Largest Ever Recorded in Texas

[Jolie Rouge]

By Jennifer Welsh | LiveScience.com – 23 mins ago

Over the past 48 hours, small earthquakes have rocked various parts of the United States, including the largest ever recorded in Texas by the United States Geological Survey. The quakes, in San Francisco, San Antonio and Hawaii, are unrelated, seismologists said.

No casualties have been reported after the quakes.

"We have lots of earthquakes; it's common, really nothing out of the ordinary. None of the quakes are very big," said Paul Caruso, a geophysicist at the National Earthquake Information Center. "They are totally separate faults and in no way related at all."

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit southern Texas, about 47 miles (76 kilometers) outside San Antonio, at 7:24 a.m. local time (8:24 a.m. EDT) yesterday (Oct. 20). The epicenter of the quake was close to Fashing, Texas, a natural gas and oil mining town.

Caruso said it was the largest earthquake they have ever recorded in Texas, and the quake was "very unusual" because of its size. In 1931, a large-magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit Texas, but that was before the USGS had earthquake-recording devices in the area. A USGS team is investigating the causes of yesterday's quake, which could be related to what's occurring in the ground in that area, Caruso suggests.

A 3.2 magnitude earthquake also shook Hawaii on Wednesday (Oct. 19) at 11:42 p.m. local time (5:42 a.m. EDT Oct. 20). It has been followed by multiple small quakes over the last 24 hours. Hawaii is a very active fault zone and frequently gets rocked by small earthquakes

A third set of earthquakes, the highest registering a magnitude 4.0, hit Berkeley, Calif., at 2:41 p.m. local time (5:41 p.m. EST) followed by a magnitude 3.8, at 8:16 p.m. local time (11:16 p.m. EDT).

California's coast is crisscrossed with earthquake fault lines, and it just so happens that the Bay Area quakes hit just hours after a planned statewide earthquake preparedness drill, the largest ever planned, with nearly 10 million participants. The quakes happened almost exactly 22 years after the Loma Prieta earthquake that struck during the 1989 World Series, killing 63 people and causing $10 billion in damage.

"The Earth is a very dynamic place, it's continuously changing as the continental plates move around and every day is unique," Caruso said. "Some days we have a lot of earthquakes and other days it's really quiet."

http://news.yahoo.com/trio-us-quakes-includes-largest-ever-recorded-texas-182205880.html


San Francisco jolted, as California drills Big One
AFP – 18 hrs ago

San Francisco was jolted by a 3.9-magnitude earthquake Thursday, causing jitters but no injuries on the day California carried out an annual drill for the long-feared Big One.

The temblor's epicenter was only two miles (three kilometers) away from Berkeley and the quake was felt across San Francisco and the East Bay area, reports said.

"My hands are still shaking -- my heart is just slowing down," Krys Freeman, a Web manager for Greenbiz in Oakland, told the San Francisco Chronicle minutes after the mid-afternoon quake.

The relatively minor quake -- temblors of up to magnitude 4.0 are recorded regularly in California, but usually further away from population centers -- came hours after the state carried out its annual Great California ShakeOut.

Some 8.2 million people registered to take part in the statewide drill, with building managers announcing a major quake and asking people to get under their desks.

Earthquakes are regular events in California, mostly triggered by activity along the San Andreas Fault that runs through much of the western state, the most populous in the United States.

Geologists say a quake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 percent certain of hitting California within the next 30 years. A magnitude 7.8 quake could kill 1,800 people, injure 50,000 more and damage 300,000 buildings.

A 6.7 earthquake in Los Angeles left at least 60 people dead and did an estimated $10 billion damage in 1994, while a 6.9 quake in San Francisco in 1989 claimed the lives of 67 people.

http://news.yahoo.com/san-francisco-jolted-california-drills-big-one-235810760.html

[Jolie Rouge]

7.6 earthquake hits South Pacific
AP – 5 hrs ago

NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) — A strong earthquake struck far off the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Friday, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports the magnitude-7.6 quake struck Friday at 1:57 p.m. (1757 GMT) about 541 miles (870 kilometers) south of Nuku'Alofa on Tonga. The quake struck at a depth of 24 miles (39 kilometers).

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a tsunami alert, but its report on the quake said sea level readings indicated that a tsunami was generated.

The quake hit 112 miles (180 kilometers) from New Zealand's remote, volcanic Kermadec Islands. The remote outpost is generally uninhabited aside from a weather station and a hostel for visiting New Zealand scientists and staff.

New Zealand Civil Defense officials issued but then quickly canceled a tsunami warning.

Another magnitude-7.6 earthquake struck the region in July, but the eight New Zealand staffers at the Raoul Island outpost at the northern end of the Kermadecs were unharmed.

The region lies on the "Ring of Fire" — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around the Pacific Rim. About 90 percent of the world's quakes occur in the region

http://news.yahoo.com/7-6-earthquake-hits-south-pacific-182746738.html

[Jolie Rouge]

7.2 quake causes damage, casualties in Turkey
By SELCAN HACAOGLU and SUZAN FRASER - Associated Press | AP – 24 mins ago

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Turkey Sunday, collapsing about 45 buildings according to the deputy prime minister.

Only one death was immediately confirmed, but scientists estimated that up to 1,000 people could have been killed.

The worst damage was caused to the town of Ercis, in the mountainous eastern province of Van, close to the Iranian border. The city of Van also suffered substantial damage.

"Around 10 buildings have collapsed in the city of Van and around 25 or 30 have collapsed in Ercis, including a dormitory," Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said.

Atalay said authorities had no information yet on remote villages, adding that the governor was now touring the region by helicopter to assess damage. The quake's epicenter was in the village of Tabanli.

Authorities did not provide a casualty figure but the Kandilli observatory, Turkey's main seismography center, said the quake was capable of killing many more people.

"We are estimating a death toll between 500 and 1,000," Mustafa Erdik, head of the Kandilli observatory, told a televised news conference. His estimate was based on the structure of the housing in the area and the strength of the quake.

The Turkish Red Crescent said its rescuers pulled several injured people out of the collapsed dormitory in Ercis, which sits on a geological fault line.

In Van, a bustling city with many apartment buildings, at least 50 people were treated in the courtyard of the state hospital, the state-run Anatolia news agency said.

"There are so many dead. Several buildings have collapsed. There is too much destruction," Zulfikar Arapoglu, the mayor of Ercis, told NTV television. "We need urgent aid. We need medics."

Serious damage and casualties were also reported in the district of Celebibag, near Ercis.

"There are many people under the rubble," Veysel Keser, mayor of Celebibag, told NTV. "People are in agony, we can hear their screams for help. We need urgent help."

"It's a great disaster," he said. "Many buildings have collapsed, student dormitories, hotels and gas stations have collapsed."

Some houses also collapsed in the province of Bitlis, where at least one person, an 8-year-old girl was killed, authorities said. The quake also toppled the minarets of two mosques in the nearby province of Mus, reports said.

NTV said Van's airport was damaged and planes were being diverted to neighboring cities.

Terrified residents spilled into the streets in panic as rescue workers and residents using their bare hands and shovels struggled to find people believed to be trapped under collapsed buildings, television footage showed.

Several Cabinet ministers headed to the area as authorities mobilized rescue teams across the country.

The quake had a depth of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles), which is relatively shallow and could potentially cause more damage.

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey, which is crossed by fault lines.

In 1999, about 18,000 people were killed by two powerful earthquakes that struck northwestern Turkey. Authorities blamed shoddy construction for many of the deaths.

http://news.yahoo.com/7-2-quake-causes-damage-casualties-turkey-121402471.html