With 'big one' coming, quake alert system launches in Oregon
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2019, file photo, a mobile phone customer looks at an earthquake warning application on an iPhone in Los Angeles. An earthquake early warning system operated by the U.S. Geological Survey has been activated in Oregon on the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)SALEM, Ore. – People in Oregon will be better prepared for earthquakes — particularly important in the Pacific Northwest because experts say “the big one" is coming — as an early warning system launched Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a devastating quake and tsunami in Japan. California already has the system, while Washington state will join in May to complete coverage of the West Coast. “When a Cascadia event happens, the critical seconds of notice ShakeAlert warnings provide will save lives and reduce damage to important lifeline systems,” Oregon Gov.
Little damage from huge Pacific quake; tsunami threat passes
People gather on high ground in Whangarei, New Zealand, as a tsunami warning is issued Friday, March 5, 2021. Small tsunami waves were seen, but little damage was apparent hours later. The tsunami threat caused traffic jams and some chaos in New Zealand as people scrambled to get to higher ground. Smaller waves were measured elsewhere in the South Pacific. In 2011, a magnitude 6.3 quake hit the city of Christchurch, killing 185 people and destroying much of its downtown.
Lava spatters, flows inside crater of Hawaii volcano
This Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, photo released by the U.S. Geological Survey shows continuing eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. Geological Survey via AP)HONOLULU – Lava spattered and flowed over the weekend inside the crater of a Hawaii volcano that began erupting in December. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the lava is confined to the summit crater of Kilauea, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Sunday. Vents on the northwest side of the crater spattered Saturday while erupting lava flowed through crusted-over channels into a lava lake that has formed in the crater. A small island of cooler, solidified lava floated in the lava lake, rising about 20 feet (6 meters) above the surface, scientists said.
Hawaii volcano gushes lava from vents in summit crater
Lava is rising more than 3 feet per hour in the deep crater of a Hawaii volcano that began erupting over the weekend. The U.S. Geological Survey says Kilauea volcano within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island was gushing molten rock from at least two vents inside its summit crater. Kilauea volcano began spurting lava Sunday after two years of relative silence. About 700 homes were destroyed when lava surged through volcanic vents in a residential neighborhood during the last year of that episode. The lava bursting out of the ground during the latest eruption is contained within Halemaumau, a massive crater within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Lava lake forms as Hawaii volcano erupts after 2-year break
A plume rises near active fissures in the crater of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on Monday, Dec. 21, 2020. A spokeswoman for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park says the volcanic activity is a risk to people in the park Monday and that caution is needed. Geological Survey via AP)HONOLULU – Lava was rising more than 3 feet (1 meter) per hour in the deep crater of a Hawaii volcano that began erupting over the weekend after a two-year break, scientists said Tuesday. Kilauea volcano within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island was gushing molten rock from at least two vents inside its summit crater, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a lava lake in its crater for the last decade of that eruption.
Volcano erupts on Hawaii's Big Island, draws crowds to park
In this photo provided by the National Park Service, people watch an eruption from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano on the Big Island on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020. In the first hours of the eruption, lava mixed rapidly with water in the summit's crater lake to create steam. The water was the first ever recorded in the summit crater of Kilauea volcano. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said in a telephone interview that the volcanic activity is a risk to people in the park and that caution is needed. Last night's eruption was contained to the summit caldera within the national park.
Quake toll rises to 116 in Turkey; rescuers finish searches
Mourner cover the grave of Fidan Gezgin, killed at her house when it collapsed during the Oct. 30 earthquake, during the funeral procession in Izmir, Turkey, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)ANKARA – The death toll in last week’s Aegean Sea earthquake rose to 116 on Wednesday as rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir finished searching buildings that collapsed in the quake. All but two of the victims were killed in Izmir, Turkey’s third-largest city. In Izmir, the quake reduced buildings to rubble or saw floors pancake in on themselves. Turkey has a mix of older buildings and new buildings make of cheap or illegal construction that do not withstand earthquakes well.
Turkish rescuers pull girl from rubble 4 days after quake
Rescuers in the Turkish coastal city pulled Gezgin out alive from the rubble, some four days (91 hours) after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece. (Turkish Gendarmerie via AP)IZMIR – Rescuers in the Turkish city of Izmir pulled a young girl out alive from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building Tuesday, four days after a strong earthquake hit Turkey and Greece and as hopes of reaching survivors began to fade. After she was pulled from the rubble, little Ayda called out for her mother, in video of the rescue broadcast on television. Her rescue came a day after another 3-year-old girl and a 14-year-old girl were also pulled out alive from collapsed buildings in Izmir, Turkey's third-largest city. Officials said 138 quake survivors were still hospitalized, and three of them were in serious condition.
Winds kick up century old volcanic ash in Alaska
Strong southerly winds picked up loose ash from a 1912 volcanic eruption, sending an ash cloud about 4,000 feet into the sky. Strong southerly winds picked up loose ash from a 1912 volcanic eruption, sending an ash cloud about 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) into the sky on Monday. The Novarupta eruption was the most powerful of the 20th century and ranks among the largest in recorded history. Cloudy skies obscured satellite imagery on Monday, but a pilot flying at about 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) first reported the ash cloud, Wallace said. “We know that what’s getting kicked up isn’t just glacial dust, mineral dust that you can see pretty much everywhere else in Alaska,” Wallace said.
Earthquake strikes New Jersey, shaking reported across state
A photograph taken by a drone shows the neighborhood above the earthquake epicenter at Poets Corner and Kozloski Road in Freehold Township, N.J., on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck the area early Wednesday morning. The U.S. Geological Survey says it hit at about 2 a.m. and was centered 3 miles deep. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck in East Freehold, New Jersey, early Wednesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The USGS said the earthquake happened about 2 a.m. and was centered 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) south, southeast of the center of East Freehold, about 3 miles deep.
Scientist studying nitrogen inadvertently finds microplastics in rainwater
A research chemist with the U.S. Geological Survey made a surprising discovery while studying nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park. (KMGH)Lakewood (KMGH) - A research chemist with the U.S. Geological Survey made a surprising discovery while studying nitrogen deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park. Greg Wetherbee accidentally discovered microplastics pollution in rainwater samples taken at 10,000 feet. The chemist told Denver7 that rainwater samples are sent to a lab and that the water is filtered. Using microplastics as "tracers"Wetherbee said he can use the microplastics as a "tracer" to help him with the actual focus of his study, nitrogen deposition.