Earthquakes

USGS

The latest report from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori), released Monday morning, states that 1,650 aftershocks have been registered since the magnitude-7.6 earthquake that hit the country last Wednesday.

The strongest aftershock was felt Saturday, with a magnitude of 5.6. However, it was felt only in the Central Valley.

Ovsicori seismologist Walter Jiménez said the aftershocks will continue in upcoming days, but he also stated that the magnitudes and frequencies of them will go down, ranging from 2 to 3 in magnitude.

After a series of analyses conducted in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, experts from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) reported Tuesday that another quake of equal or greater magnitude could occur in Nicoya Peninsula, but predicting when it would happen is “impossible .”

Marino Protti, Ovsicori’s lead scientist, explained that the magintude-7.6 earthquake on Sept. 5 caused a 40 percent slip and an inclination of 1.8 meters on the fault located in Nicoya.

He also said that although the quake was the “big one” experts had been expecting for Guanacaste, the fault ruptured by only 50 percent, meaning that the possibility that another earthquake of equal or greater magnitude in the area still remains.

Ovsicori’s report, released Tuesday, also stated that the earthquake triggered the activation of three faults in Aguas Zarcas (in the northern region), the Guanacaste Volcanic Area and Irazú Volcano (north of Cartago). Seismologists will continue monitoring the areas.

By Tuesday morning, the total count of aftershocks from the recent earthquake was 1,650. On Sept. 5  at 8:42 a.m., the 7.6-magnitude earthquake shook the country and was felt as far away as Nicaraguan and Panama. Its epicenter was located 20 kilometers northwest of Sámara in the Nicoya Península.

• LISS – Live Internet Seismic Server

GSN Stations

These data update automatically every 30 minutes. Last update: September 12, 2012 08:19:07 UTC

Seismograms may take several moments to load. Click on a plot to see larger image.

IU/YSS, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia

**********************************************************************************************************

Volcanic Activity

krakatau 2012 September Eruption

Published on Sep 11, 2012 by David Udbjorg

11.09.2012

Volcano Eruption

Indonesia

Sunda Strait, [Anak Krakatoa Volcano]

Volcano Eruption in Indonesia on Monday, 03 September, 2012 at 18:44 (06:44 PM) UTC.

Back

…………………………………

11.09.2012

Volcano Eruption

Nicaragua

Chinandega Department, [ San Cristobal volcano]

Volcano Eruption in Nicaragua on Saturday, 08 September, 2012 at 18:12 (06:12 PM) UTC.

Back

***********************************************************************************************************

Extreme Temperatures/ Weather

Susan Osborne

Summer 2012 was the third hottest summer on record for the contiguous United States since recordkeeping began in 1895. According to the latest statistics from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, the average temperature for the contiguous United States between June and August was over 74° Fahrenheit, which is more than 2° F above the twentieth-century average. Only the summers of 2011 and 1936 have had higher summer temperatures for the Lower 48.

These maps show patterns of temperature (above) and precipitation (below) across the United States from June through August 2012 compared to the recent long-term average (1981-2010). The summer season was warmer than average for a large portion of contiguous United States, with the Southeast and parts of the Northwest being exceptions. Sixteen states across the West, Plains, and Upper Midwest had summer temperatures among their ten warmest. Colorado and Wyoming each had their record-hottest summer, and much of the Northeast was warmer than average, with seven states from New Hampshire to Maryland having a top-ten-warmest summer.

Drier-than-average conditions prevailed across much of the central United States, from the Rocky Mountains to the Ohio Valley. Nebraska’s summer precipitation was almost 6 inches below average, and Wyoming’s precipitation was more than 2 inches below average, marking the driest summer on record for both states. Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Nebraska, and New Mexico had summer precipitation totals among their ten driest.

However, the summer was wetter than average across the West Coast, the Gulf Coast, and New England. Florida had its wettest summer on record, partially driven by Tropical Storm Debby in June and Hurricane Isaac in August. The total statewide summer precipitation was almost 9 inches above the long-term average. In addition, Louisiana and Mississippi each had one of their ten-wettest summer seasons.

The U.S. Climate Extremes Index (USCEI), an index that tracks the highest and lowest 10 percent of extremes in temperature, precipitation, drought, and tropical cyclones across the contiguous U.S. was more than one and a half times the average value during summer 2012, and marked the eighth largest USCEI value for the season. Extremes in warm daytime temperatures, warm nighttime temperatures, and extremely dry conditions covered large areas of the Nation, contributing to the above-average USCEI value.

These climate statistics and many others are part of NOAA’s National Climate Summary. The National Climatic Data Center produces these monthly climate reports as part of the suite of climate services that NOAA provides government, business, and community leaders so they can make informed decisions.

***********************************************************************************************************

Storms / Flooding

Active tropical storm system(s)
Name of storm system	Location	Formed	Last update	Last category	Course	Wind Speed	Gust	Wave	Source	Details
Sanba (17W)	Pacific Ocean	11.09.2012	12.09.2012	Typhoon II	310 °	130 km/h	157 km/h	4.57 m	JTWC

 Tropical Storm data

Nadine (AL14)

Atlantic Ocean

11.09.2012

12.09.2012

Tropical Depression

300 °

93 km/h

111 km/h

3.96 m

NOAA NHC

Tropical Storm data

……………………………

Tropical storm Leslie hammers Newfoundland

Tropical storm Leslie arrived in Newfoundland, Canada, Tuesday morning. Tropical storm Leslie brought heavy rains and hurricane-force wind gusts up to 81 m.p.h.

By Staff, Associated Press

The Canadian Hurricane Centre says the center of Tropical Storm Leslie has made landfall in Fortune, Newfoundland.

Meteorologist Bob Robichaud says the potent storm touched down at about 8:30 a.m. AST (7:30 a.m. EST, 1130 GMT) as it continued to barrel north-northeast.

He says a swath of the province from Fortune, on the Burin Peninsula, all the way east to St. John’s on the Avalon Peninsula was getting pounded with stiff winds and heavy rains.

Winds were still building, with the St. John’s airport recording hurricane-force gusts of up to 81 mph (131 kph), while waves were reaching 10 yards (meters) at an offshore buoy.

There were widespread power outages in St. John’s and communities along the southeastern coast of the Avalon Peninsula.

Heavy rains also drenched province’s western portion.

Rains ravage Sindh, leaving up to 58 dead

Commuters wade through rainwater at Clock Tower Road during the downpour in Sukkur. PHOTO: PPI

Almost all cities and towns are submerged in a mixture of rain and sewage, while the drainage system has collapsed. Much of the region experienced blackouts for over 30 hours till the filing of this report.

According to the Met office, Sukkur, Rohri and other nearby areas received 178 mm of rain till Monday morning, while 441 mm of rain has been recorded in Jacobabad – the highest in a century. Reports from different parts of upper Sindh reveal that hundreds of katcha houses have collapsed in different areas, due to which at least 58 people have been killed while hundreds are reportedly injured.

The most affected area is Kandhkot, the district headquarters of Kashmore, where 24 persons have been killed. Some 15 people were killed in Shikarpur, two in Khairpur, five in Sukkur, five in Ghotki and other areas and four in Jacobabad. Three people have died in Larkana, while 5,000 houses were damaged in Shikarpur. In Lakhi Ghulam Shah, boats are being used for transport due to the high level of flooding.

Archaeological site at risk

Meanwhile, the archaeological site of Moen Jo Daro is also under threat, as recent rainfall has partially damaged its stupa, while rainwater has been accumulating in different areas of the historical site, including the Great Bath.

Culture Department Additional Secretary Ashfaq Mussavi said that although they have access to generators and heavy machinery, they’re avoiding their use as they could damage the walls of the site. He added that more than 30 officials are draining out the water to prevent further damage.

Damage to agriculture

The devastating rains have also caused extensive damage to the agriculture sector throughout upper Sindh. Standing crops in Jacobabad, Kashmore, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Larkana and other areas which comprise the rice cultivating belt have been destroyed. The crisis has been exacerbated since the crops were grown unseasonally late – farmers had earlier halted cultivation in protest over an acute shortage of water. In Sukkur, Khairpur and Ghotki districts, standing crops of paddy, cotton and sugarcane have been destroyed by the rains.

In the wake of devastating rains throughout upper Sindh, all the canals of the Guddu and Sukkur barrages have been shut to prevent breaches.

While the casualties in lower Sindh remained low, the damage to infrastructure was substantial. Torrential rain continued in Badin district on Monday, damaging mud houses and ravaging crops on thousands of acres, creating panic near to the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD). According to official reports, Badin received 51 mm of rain. Deputy Commissioner Kazim Hussain Jatoi said that the LBOD was being monitored, adding that no relief camp had been established so far.

Jatoi said the main crops affected were cotton, rice, chillies and vegetables. Mithan Mallah, the district president of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, alleged that the government did not inform fishermen about heavy rains in the region. “We rescued 250 fishermen and around 150 are still at the sea,” he told the Daily Sindh Express.

An eight-year-old boy Kazim Ali Shah died when the wall of his house collapsed in Allah Bachayo Bhatti village late Sunday night.

Authorities claim that dozens of machines have been fixed on the banks of the LBOD but only one pumping machine was seen when the Daily Sindh Express visited the drain on Monday.

Extensive damage was also reported in Naukot and Umerkot.

On the directives of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, the Provincial Minister for Rehabilitation Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra, along with Secretary Rehabilitation/Director General of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi, called an emergency meeting on Monday at the PDMA office. Shujra called on all affected district administrations to declare a rain emergency in their districts and mobilise all the available resources to provide relief to the victims.

The Sindh CM also cancelled leave grants for commissioners, deputy commissioners, revenue officers and officials, doctors and staff of hospitals and other essential services.

WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HAMEED SOOMRO IN BADIN, IMAM DINO RANTO IN SAJAWAL, GM WALHARI IN UMERKOT AND SAGAR LASHARI IN NAUKOT

Published in The Express Tribune

Flooding in Pakistan kills at least 78 people in three days

A state of emergency has been declared in the Dera Ghazi Khan district

At least 78 people have died in floods in in Pakistan in the last three days, officials say.

They say that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and Pakistani-administered Kashmir are the worst hit regions, accounting for more than 60 deaths.

Hundreds of tents have been sent to these areas as part of relief efforts.

Officials say many people continue to live in low-lying areas prone to flash floods, despite warnings to relocate. More rain is due in the next two days.

The heavy monsoon rain – which began falling last week – had destroyed more than 1,600 houses while damaging a further 5,000, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) spokesman Irshad Bhatti said.

He said that most of the casualties were caused by houses collapsing and people being caught in rapidly rising water.

Police told the AFP news agency that an Afghan refugee family of eight – including two women and six children – were all killed in the north-western district of Swabi when the roof of their mud house collapsed on Sunday night.

Officials say that a state of emergency has been declared in the Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts of Punjab province, where troops have joined rescue work.

Weather forecasters say that most of the rain expected over the next two days will fall in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan provinces.

Questions

The BBC’s Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad says that while the number of people affected is far lower than the previous two years, in Punjab canals have burst their banks and low-lying areas of Sindh province are under water. In Balochistan, communication links have been severed.

In November 2011 at least five million people were affected by flooding in Sindh, which also killed livestock and destroyed crops, homes and infrastructure as the country struggled to recover from record downpours in 2010.

About eight million people in total were affected in 2011 and an estimated 20 million the year before. There was also large scale structural damage.

Our correspondent says that questions have already been asked about what the disaster management authorities have done in the last 12 months to prevent flooding.

Until recently, areas in southern Pakistan were still under water from last year’s monsoon rains, with locals complaining that even the basic work of clearing debris from drainage channels had not been done.

************************************************************************************************************

Solar Activity

2MIN News Sept 11. 2012

Published on Sep 11, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers

TODAY’S LINKS
Summer Weather Records: http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2012/summer-2012-recap
Pakistan Flood: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19545784
Jupiter Impact: http://www.universetoday.com/97294/viewing-alert-jupiter-may-have-been-impact…
Occupy Hong Kong: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-11/hsbc-says-court-to-evict-hong-kong-o…

REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]

HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]

SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos – as seen from earth]

SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT – as seen from earth]

Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI – as seen from the side]

SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it… trust me]

SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]

iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]

NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/

US Wind Map: http://hint.fm/wind/

NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/

NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/Default.php

RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]

GOES Xray: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sxi/goes15/index.html

JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php

Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can’t figure out what this one is for?]

BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]

TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]

GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]

RAIN RECORDS: http://www.cocorahs.org/ViewData/ListIntensePrecipReports.aspx

EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…

PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…

HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker

INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]

NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/

PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]

QUAKES LIST FULL: http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/seismologist.php

************************************************************************************************************

Space

Jupiter Impact 10 Sept. 2012 11:35 UT

*************************************************************************************************************

Mysterious Smells

A strong sulphuric odor first noticed throughout Riverside County on Sunday night hung in the air today, but authorities were at a loss to explain it.

(Flickr/Phil Konstantin)

“It’s not something originating here in the city,” Riverside Public Utilities Chief Deputy Director Steve Badgett told City News Service. “It hit me when I went out to get my paper this morning 45 miles away.”

The rotten-egg odor wafted into Riverside around 10 p.m. Sunday and was reported in Murrieta, Indio, Calimesa and other locations, as well.

Officials at the Eastern Municipal Water District, which services customers from Moreno Valley to Temecula, said the stench was not connected to any of the district’s operations.

The EMWD directed further inquiries to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, but calls to the agency were not immediately returned.

Badgett said there were indications the source of the smell might be the Salton Sea, but there was no confirmation.

“We had that storm system dragging everything up from the desert yesterday, so who knows?” he said. “The weather pattern is high humidity and no air movement above us.”

Rotten smell reeks havoc across Southern California

A massive fish die-off in the Salton Sea is the prime suspect in a rotten smell that swept the region, but experts can’t recall a bad odor ever traveling so far.

*************************************************************************************************************

 Hazmat

HAZMAT in Czech Republic on Tuesday, 11 September, 2012 at 14:15 (02:15 PM) UTC.

*************************************************************************************************************

[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes ‘FAIR USE’ of any such copyrighted material.]