Earth Changes and the Pole Shift
Indo-Australian Plate is steadily tilting! The evidence is here.
The Indo-Australian Plate is steadily tilting, which is a [1] part of the 7 of 10. Nancy has been presenting/giving us the evidence in her weekly newsletter or weekly chats.
http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/archives.htm
http://www.zetatalk.com/index/ningarch.htm
I picked out the items related to Indo-Australian Tilt from the newsletter since September, 2010 to show a part of the quotation, then 25 items obtained.
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List of the Folding Pacific items;
1) Australia Awash Again; Feb 12, 2012; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue280.htm
2) 7 of 10 Year in Review; Jan 8, 2012; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue275.htm
3) Sunda Sinks / Australia Tilts; Dec 18, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue272.htm
4) Pakistan Then and Now; Nov 20, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue268.htm
5) 7 of 10 Creep; Jul 17, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue250.htm
6) Indo-Australian Tilt; Jun 26, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue247.htm
7) Domino Plates; Jun 19, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue246.htm
8) Plates on the Move; Jun 12, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue245.htm
9) India Dropping; Mar 27, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue234.htm
10) Cracks and Crevases; Mar 13, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue232.htm
11) India Squeeze; Feb 13, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue228.htm
12) Australia Awash; Jan 30, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue226.htm
13) Burma Plate Rising; Jan 23, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue224.htm
14) Fiji Flooding; Jan 16, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue223.htm
15) Coral Sea Snapshot; Jan 16, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue223.htm
16) Plate Tilting; Jan 9, 2011; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue222.htm
17) Undulating Plate; Dec 31, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue219.htm
18) 7 of 10 Arrives!; Dec 31, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue218.htm
19) Plates Tilting; Dec 31, 2010; Dec 31, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue218.htm
20) Pakistan Admitted; Dec 25, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue217.htm
21) Greased Plates; Dec 5, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue214.htm
22) Pakistan Elevation; Nov 21, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue212.htm
23) 7 of 10 Drum Roll; Oct 24, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue208.htm
24) New Zealand Tumble; Sep 12, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue202.htm
25) Pakistan Floods; Sep 5, 2010; http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue201.htm
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1) Australia Awash Again
At the start of the 7 of 10 scenarios, the Indo-Australian Plate rose on the eastern end, allowing the Sunda Plate to slip under the curve beneath Sumatra and Java. This caused horrific flooding in eastern Australia as waters from the Coral Sea sought to seek its level, backwashing up the rivers in Australia that drain into the Coral Sea. This was reported on January 2, 2011 in Issue 218 of this newsletter, when rivers draining the coastline on Queensland above Brisbane were backwashing. And again on January 12, 2011 in Issue 222 when the floodwaters were not draining but sloshing about in a tsunami fashion. And again on January 30, 2011 in Issue 226 when the "inland sea", unable to drain toward the east, headed south to drain at Melbourne. Now the term "inland sea" has returned as the plate once again is aggressively tilting, this time pouring water into New South Wales from the Tasman Sea as well as into Queensland from the Coral Sea.
As proof that the plate is rising on the eastern end is data from buoy 55012 in the Coral Sea. When a graph is produced reflecting the entire year of 2011, one can see a steady drop in the depth of water from the buoy to the sea floor. This is the sea floor rising, the plate rising! The Zetas called the Indo-Australian Plate the "brake" holding plate adjustments elsewhere back. When this brake lifts, allowing the eastern end of the Indo-Australian Plate to lift and driving India further under the Himalayas, other plate adjustments follow. The 7 of 10 scenarios describe this domino effect. There were quakes along this brake on February 4, 2012, as noted in the IRIS chart above, and look what happened on February 6, 2012! The Sunda and Philippine plates are immediately affected. The point where the Philippine Plate is folding against Luzon Island is being hammered. And buoys are on alert from one end of the Pacific to the other - 55012 on the lifting Coral Sea, 52405 on the tilting and folding Philippine Plate, and 32401 off coast from Chile where the S American roll is in process.
2) 7 of 10 Year in Review
7 of 10 Scenario 1, the tilting of India to put the Indus Valley in Pakistan at a 10 foot elevation loss occurred the latter half of 2010, as was acknowledged by NASA by the end of 2010.
3) Sunda Sinks / Australia Tilts
The 7 of 10 scenarios have a relationship between the sinking of the Sunda Plate and the steady tilting of the Indo-Australian Plate, whereby New Zealand and the eastern part of Australia rise while India plunges under the Himalayas. This has been steadily progressing since December 23, 2010 but the sinking of the Sunda Plate had not as yet completed. However, recently the pace picked up.
As with the start of the sequence last January, Australian again has the rivers on its eastern coastline in Queensland backwashing. This is, as was the case last January, termed flooding due to rain. This was detailed in Issue 222 of this newsletter when Queensland rivers backed up, flooding saltwater inland. Then again in Issue 226 of this newsletter as the trapped water rolled around like an inland sea until it escaped at Melbourne. Once again there is scarcely any rain, but the cover-up over the 7 of 10 process forces the media to ascribe the backwash to rain.
During these same days, not by coincidence, there were 10 foot high waves swamping a cruise ship in the Bangka Straits near Jakarta, a 12 foot high tsunami along coastal Kuala Terengganu on the Malay Peninsula, flooding along coastal Padang on the southern coast of Sumatra, and an 8 foot high wave wiping out a Viet Nam village.
The Zetas described roiling seas and occasional tsunami during the sinking of the Sunda Plate, and this seems to be what is happening.
4) Pakistan Then and Now
The Zetas warned in September, 2010 that Pakistan, on the India side of the Indus River in particular, would experience a loss of 10 feet in elevation as a result of the 7 of 10 plate movements. Scenario #1 of the 7 of 10 movements is a tilting of the plate holding India, so that the Sunda Plate can slip under the curve below Sumatra and Java.
By October, 2010 horrific flooding in Pakistan had begun, getting international attention, but claimed, as usual, only due to rain. As noted in Issue 217 of this newsletter it was finally admitted that the water was not draining, had not for months. Earth Observatory, a NASA function, admitted that by comparing images from the year before, Pakistan's elevation has sunk. Period. The Zetas state this drop would be 10 feet, and this 10 foot drop was apparent. Where are we a year later? Comparing apples to apples, the chart from October 2010 and a new chart from October 2011 show that the lingering floods have gotten worse, not better.
5) 7 of 10 Creep
Where the 7 of 10 scenarios appear to be unfolding slowly, per the Zetas there are reasons for the delay. But this does not mean the overall schedule will be delayed. Where the scenarios started on time, the [1] tilting of India for a 10 foot drop in elevation in Pakistan in the latter half of 2010 and the [2] sinking of the Sunda Plate by December 23, 2010, plate undulation set in to cause a delay. Heaping water throughout the Pacific was evidence that [3] the folding of the Philippine and Mariana plates had started, and certainly [4] the S American roll had begun. But recently there was evidence that Luzon Island in the Philippines had not sunk, though being on that part of the Philippine Plate that was to plunge during the fold, it should be going under. What is going on? The Zetas explain why the 7 of 10 scenarios have been delayed, temporarily.
But there is steady plate movement, as a glance at evidence only days apart from diverse places show. The Indo-Australian Plate is sinking at India, and rising at New Zealand, which allows the Sunda Plate tongue holding Indonesia to fold and crumble, sinking below the curve under Sumatra and Java. During a few days in early July this can be seen by high tides at Mumbai, sinking at Bangledesh, and a slosh of water disbursing as far away as the coast of Oman. Mumbai, on the west coast of India, experienced unusually high tides of 5.5 meters on July 2. This was attributed to the monsoons even though there was no rain! Across the Arabian Sea on the Gulf of Oman seawater poured into Kalba. On July 9, seawalls broke in Bangladesh, pouring sea water inland and ruining drinking water reserves. These are signs of a sinking India.
Almost within days of each other, several bridges in Indonesia collapsed, as noted on the Pole Shift ning. Two were in the Banyumas district in Java, on June 27 and July 1, and a third on the island of Borneo on July 6.
On July 6 the Kermadec Islands just offshore from New Zealand sustained what the USGS termed a magnitude 7.7 quake. The buoys in the area reflected this quake and the sudden rush of water from the rising eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate.
6) Indo-Australian Tilt
The Indo-Australian Plate is predicted by the Zetas to tilt massively during the hour of the pole shift, driving India under the Himalayas and even flooding the western 2/3 of Australia.
Thus during the 7 of 10 scenarios we have seen this plate steadily tilting, where flooding and crumbling in India have occurred, and massive flooding along the eastern coast of Australia where the water between Australian and New Zealand was seeking its level, rolling down the tilt, occurred. This appeared in this newsletter starting on December 26, 2010 in Issue 217 with the flooding in Brisbane, and again on January 12, 2011 in Issue 226 when the inland sea was trying to find an outlet, with evidence that India was being pushed under the Himalayas presented on March 27, 2011 in Issue 234. During the week of June 11-18 it was obvious some tilting had occurred. The gushing of groundwater in Olpad on the west coast shows without a doubt that India is sinking, as does the inundation by sea water at Gopalpur on the east coast. These news articles appeared in a spate during the plate tilting, another indication that tilting had occurred.
Then a repeat of the flooding experienced last January along the east coast of Australia occurred. Once again, all the flooding was along the coastline, a backwash up the rivers. Most revealing were comments from a nursery owner in Port Macquarie about the sea water that had invaded his nursery. This did not come from rain.
The buoys in the Tasman Sea also indicated a temporary rise in the water level as the water between Australia and New Zealand sought to find its level, disbursing during this week.
7) Domino Plates
The 7 of 10 scenarios depict plate movement around the world. On June 12, 2011 there was plate movement worldwide, almost simultaneously and in a domino fashion, on several 7 of 10 scenarios.
The 1st scenario involved a tipping of the Indio-Australian Plate such that the border with Pakistan sinks by 10 feet. This happened during the last half of 2010.
8) Plates on the Move
The Zetas have called the plunging of the Indo-Australian Plate the brake point holding all other plate movement back. As the plate tips up at the New Zealand side, it plunges India under the Himalayas, allowing the Pacific to compress and the Sunda Plate tongue holding Indonesia to plunge under the curve of the Indo-Australian Plate. Has the India side of the plate been plunging? Bangledesh and Kuttanad on the tip of India are sinking, and in the eastern Himalayas, mountain building is taking place, heaving river bottoms and preventing drainage. Suddenly, and with scant rain, Jorhat is under water!
Moving east along the globe we find the line across the South China coastline, where the plate tongue holding Indonesia is bent down to be pushed under the curve in the Indo-Australian Plate. Ground fractures when such a bend in the rock occurs. Draw a line from where the Philippine Plate is being pushed against the coastline of China, west, and the line runs through Guangzhou and City of Guiyang! The Philippine Plate is tilting, pushing under the Philippine Islands, as part of the compression of the Pacific.
9) India Dropping
As a primary player in the plate movements predicted by the Zetas, India must continue to plunge under the Himalayas. The Indo-Australian Plate is called the brake point for all other plate movements. When it moves, a domino effect takes place, allowing sinking of the plate tongue holding Indonesia, a folding of the Philippine and Mariana plates, and further compression of the Pacific.
Recently, it was obvious further tilting of the India Plate occurred. Cracking and crumbling occurred in Sikkim in the Himalayas. Sinking and incursion of sea water occurred in Bangladesh and in Udupi on the west coast of India. A huge ground crack appeared in central India in Nanded. And a methane explosion in a mine near Quetta, Pakistan. Clearly, the plate is moving!
10) Cracks and Crevases
Just this past week, cracks and crevasses appeared in Peru, Pakistan, and the Philippines! Plates are on the move! …
In Pakistan a very long crevasse opened up in Seagi Gulistan, so long it takes 6 minutes to walk from end to end. This region of Pakistan is on the border of the plate holding India and Australia, the Indo-Australian Plate. The Indus River Valley has lost 10 feet in elevation at the start of the 7 of 10 scenarios, which began with the tipping of the Indo-Australian Plate. The video was posted on March 7, 2011.
11) India Squeeze
The squeeze is on, with the plate tongue holding Indonesia collapsing like an accordion and being pushed under the curve under Sumatra and Java, causing the countries housed on the plate tongue to sink. The Burma Plate is rising and the Indo-Australian Plate has tilted so that Pakistan has lost elevation while Sri Lanka is being flooded along its eastern coastline. The squeeze is on! What does this do to the continent of India, caught in the midst of this? Central India has developed tar pits! As noted in the press and on the Pole Shift ning recently.
Per the Zetas, it's just the squeeze.
12) Australia Awash
The undulating Indo-Australian Plate - which is tipping up along its eastern edge near Fiji and the Coral Sea, then dropping back down, then rising again - is causing the flood waters that inundated Queensland a month ago to slosh around in the outback. This is described as an "inland sea" in the press.
The buoys show the Coral Sea and the Caroline Plate just north of New Guinea are now rising again, after having dropped for several days. Even the Pacific Plate to the northeast of the Caroline Plate is rising! This would tip Australia such that water trapped inland would have no choice but to flow south. And flow south it has! The inland sea is heading toward Melbourne now, trapped in the grip of undulating plates.
13) Burma Plate Rising
The plates in Asia have been rising or falling and most often it seems they are undulating. During the compression of the Pacific, none may be more significant than the rising of the Burma Platelet. The Indo-Australian Plate tilts the curve under Sumatra and Java up and tilts its eastern edge up. The Fiji Platelet drops. The Caroline Platelet at first drops and then rises again. The Philippine Plate tips into a greater slant, stressing the edge near the Bonin Islands. Water washes over Queensland and Sri Lanka and Fiji and to some degree the Philippine Islands during this process. And of course the plate tongue holding Indonesia is steadily sinking, as evidence from all countries there show. But for the first time, we are hearing about the Burma Platelet, which is suddenly rising. A huge rock appeared above the waves.
This is significant in showing plate movement, as movement in this plate was the signature movement causing the December 26, 2004 tsunami near Ache during the massive 9.5 quake that occurred that day. If it's on the move again, this shows that pressure on the plates in the region is extreme, though the undulating plates certainly have shown this to be the case.
Per the Zetas, the first plate movement in the 7 of 10 scenarios will be the tipping of the Indo-Australian Plate. This of course started in July, 2010 when Pakistan began to flood along the Indus River with waters that never drained, as noted in Issue 217 of this newsletter. The western edge of the plate was predicted to drop by about 10 feet, with the eastern edge rising commensurately. Now Sri Lanka is dealing with horrific flooding, as noted in Issue 222 of this newsletter. The flooding is occurring only on its eastern coastline, showing that the tipping plate is pouring water there. The flooding in Queensland also shows water was pouring down from the eastern and northern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate, causing backwash up the coastal rivers in Queensland. During this process, plate undulation has presented a confusing picture, but water movement, following plate movement, is obvious. The plate has tipped.
Buoy evidence that the plate tipped can be seen in these buoy charts captured on January 15, 2011. The process is:
- a rising edge in the curve under Sumatra and Java.
- the Coral Seafloor bend relaxing and straightening out.
- a deepening sea floor near Tasmania.
It is the lift in the curve under Sumatra and Java that will allow the plate tongue holding Indonesia to slip down and under the curve. Where the Coral Seafloor had been rising rapidly just recently, as presented in Issue 223 of this newsletter on January 16, 2011, it suddenly seemed to level out. The tipping of the plate to the side apparently has relieved the weight of the New Zealand end of the plate, which was causing the Coral Sea bend in the first place. Tasmania buoys would logically register that the sea flood had been pushed down further under the waves during the tipping process, since if one side tips up, the other tips down.
14) Fiji Flooding
The bleeding edge of the plate movement has always been the Indo-Australia Plate, which is being pushed under the Himalayas at the India end, and hammered on the eastern end near New Zealand and Fiji. The eastern end has been lifting recently, since the 7 of 10 scenarios started toward the end of December, 2010. The Indo-Australian Plate has also been tilting, such that the side curving around Sumatra and Java is rising and the opposite side, where Pakistan has lost elevation along the Indus River, is dropping. The buoys clearly show this rising and tipping.
All of this affects the Fiji Islands which lie on a small platelet nudged into a notch in the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate What kind of pressure must that small platelet be under, with the great Pacific Plate pushing against it from the backside, as it crushes into the rising notch? The Zetas explain.
15) Coral Sea Snapshot
We presented this concept in Issue 219 of this newsletter on December 31, 2010. Another example has arisen and been cleverly captured by Lothar, a dedicated member of the Pole Shift ning. On January 13, 2011 at 16:16 UTC there was a 7.3 earthquake on the eastern border of the Indo-Australian Plate, at the Loyalty Islands.
And indeed, the highly sensitive Coral Sea floor, which is a thin point on the crust per the Zetas, reflected this quake. The floor of the Coral Sea has been rising and falling, because when the Indo-Australian Plate tilts its eastern edge up it is heavy, and until magma fills in underneath, the plate tends to bend at this weak point. Thus, at those times, the Coral Sea floor approaches the surface, the water less deep. But likewise when the plate adjusts with a bend elsewhere, between Australia and India, for instance, the Coral Sea can straighten out.
Lets check the moment when the Coral Sea floor reflected a plate adjustments, an undulation. Lothar drills down into the details to capture the moment. Sure enough, the red wave, showing an erratic registration on the radar measure, is just after16:16 UTC (ie GMT), the sea floor bouncing up in a reaction to the quake. If nothing else, this is proof that plate adjustments and buoy readings are two sides of the same coin. The sequence of events is:
- the sea flood begins to rise, the plate adjusting
- the 7.3 quake on the plate border
- the buoy recording the quake
If the Coral Sea floor is dropping again, we can expect the flooding in Australia to ease, as the waters will no longer be running up river in Queensland. The Zetas predict the floods in Queensland will ease as quickly as they arrived.
In a moment of honesty, an Australian mayor of one of the coastline towns gravely affected in recent days indicated to the press that they had had no rain!
16) Plate Tilting
If the coastline of Queensland is flooding, with no end in sight, due to the tipping up of the Indo-Australian Plate and subsequent flow of water seeking its level coming off the high end, is something similar happening to Sri Lanka? The Zetas predicted, as part of the 7 of 10 sequences, that the Indo-Australian Plate would tilt its eastern side up by a few feet, and drop its western side by the same amount - a 10 foot rise or fall. Pakistan already sank by several feet, its July flood waters refusing to drain, as detailed in Issue 217 of this newsletter. But there has not been any evidence of a tipping up on the eastern side until buoys 56001 and 56003 below Sumatra and Java showed a rising sea flood, as outlined in Issue 218 of this newsletter on December 31, 2010, and now the eastern coastline of Sri Lanka awash. Note that only the eastern coastline is awash, and almost without exception the areas affected are along the eastern coastline and in lowland there with access to the sea. These flood waters are also intractable, refusing to ease or drain. Water from the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate is seeking its level there, draining toward the coastline of Sri Lanka. The counts of those affected keep rising, at last count on January 10 at 750,000.
The tipping of the Indo-Australian Plate was the first in the sequence, per the Zetas, tipping to a predicted 10 foot rise along the curve under Sumatra and Java or a drop on the western side, and this appears to have happened. And Indonesia has likewise started to sink since the last week of December, 2010, per the Zetas to occur over a 2-3 week period with an accelerating pace.
Meanwhile, the flooding in Queensland, Australia likewise has not abated, and in the coastal city of Brisbane and upriver from Brisbane, has suddenly worsened. Are we to presume this flash flood is from rain? It washed away cars and people, per reports. This is a coastal city and a river outlet at Brisbane for the Brisbane River and the entire Morton Bay drainage region! Meanwhile, buoy 54401 on the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate is showing that the plate edge is being wiggled, pulled apart.
Meanwhile, the Philippines continues to deal with its own devastation, as the Philippine Plate tilts to roll water onto the Philippine Islands. This, in addition to sinking there. Buoy 52402 in the Philippine Sea shows the activity there, recording a sudden 35 foot drop in the sea level at one point, a temporary heaving of the sea floor there.
17) Undulating Plate
Issue 218 of this newsletter was compiled with data from December 28-29, but this is a rapidly changing situation. In just a day, the plates in Asia have moved, again, and there has been more evidence of sinking on the plate tongue holding Indonesia. Thus, this addendum which reflects the known situation early in the day on December 31, 2010.
The eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate holding New Zealand and Queensland appears to be almost undulating as it tilts up. The Coral Sea, which has bulged up for many months, a bending point relieving the weight of the eastern part of the plate which is rising, has suddenly flatted out! Water is rapidly deepening there, as though the sea floor has fallen. Per the Zetas the Coral Sea bulge has now relaxed, as magma flow under the lifting eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate has increased.
The portion of the Indo-Australian Plate just below Java, which must lift so that Java can slip under this curve of the Indo-Australian Plate, is rising! This is an indication that Java is indeed sliding under the curve, and being pushed down. Where these buoys were indicating a slight rise in this region just days ago, they now are showing a dramatic rise. What can this mean for Java, in the hours to come? Is the Indo-Australian Plate tilting? The western portion already dropped the predicted 10 feet or so, as detailed in Issue 217 of this newsletter, where land along the Indus River in Pakistan and in India to the east of Karachi clearly show this on satellite images.
In step with the Coral Sea changes, and the rising of the curve just below Java, are sudden changes in the Caroline Plate above New Guinea. Just three days earlier buoy 52403 showed a rapid rise in the sea floor on this little platelet, but now the depth is plunging! What's going on here?
This is yet another dramatic indication that the Indo-Australian Plate is tipping sideways, as predicted by the Zetas to be the first step in the 7 of 10 scenarios affecting the Indonesian region.
18) 7 of 10 Arrives!
Java began sinking on December 23, 2010, though this was only reported as flooding that refuses to drain. This occurred from one end of the island to the other, and primarily on the southern side of Java, which is being pulled down. By December 25, 2010 the Indo-Australian Plate began lifting on its eastern side. And by December 26, 2010 the Mariana and Philippine plates also began tilting. The buoys from the Philippine Sea to Tasmania show this, irrefutably. Queensland and the Philippine Islands suddenly had monstrous flooding due to the water draining toward the low sides of these tilting plates. Details on these issues are below, in this newsletter. Of course, as the Zetas had stated, the trend would be obvious before the scenarios started to unfold in ernest. This was outlined in Issue 208 of this newsletter on October 24, 2010, as the drumroll could be heard. Lets revisit the Zeta 7 of 10 predictions, and the predicted sequence of events, as they were outlined in Issue 207 of this newsletter on October 17, 2010.
19) Plates Tilting
The eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate is rising. One can see by the IRIS chart below that the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate is outlined in quakes, at and just east of Vanuatu where a magnitude 7.6 quake occurred on December 25, 2010. Vanuatu had 23 quakes over magnitude 5 within a 24 hour period after that, and continues to be hammered. In the days following, it was clear from the buoy alerts in the area that this eastern edge of the plate had risen!
There had been instances this past year when the Coral Sea, just east of Australia, gave buoy evidence of a rising sea bed, as noted on July 11, 2010 in Issue 193 of this newsletter. Per the Zetas, the Coral Sea bed was a weak point in the plate, and was bending under the weight of the eastern edge of the plate as this side of the plate tilted up. The Indo-Australian Plate is being tilted and driven under the Himalayas, thus eventually giving New Zealand and the eastern edge of Australia an increase in elevation. Buoys in the Coral Sea are again showing a rising sea bed, by both buoy 55012 and 55023. By December 28, 2010 this was rapidly changing!
On December 25, 2010, in step with the Vanuatu hammering, the plate edge itself rose! Buoys 51425 and 51426 east of Vanuatu, in the South Sea island regions of Fiji and Tonga which ride on the eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate, are showing a sea floor rise, and by December 28, 2010 this rise was obvious.
Is the entire eastern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate rising? Yes! A quick check to see what is occurring south of New Zealand, or above NW Australia, shows this to be the case! And rather suddenly! And rapidly since December 26, 2010 it would seem.
If a plate tilts, will water drain down toward the low end of the plate? Yes! And this in fact happened along the Queensland coastline, quite evident by December 29, 2010. Note that the excessive flooding is all along rivers draining into the seas to the east along the Queensland coastline. Just where the draining water from a tilted plate would be trapped and backwash up the rivers!
By December 28, 2010 yet more signs of plates rising in this region occurred. Just north of New Guinea, on the little Caroline Plate sandwiched beneath the Philippine Plate and above the northern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate, buoy 52403 showed the sea floor rapidly rising.
If this plate and the Indo-Australian Plate are rising, due to pressure from the compressing Pacific, what is happening north of this location where we expect the Mariana Plate to fold against the Pacific Plate, rising the eastern edge of both these plates. Well, these plates are rising, along their eastern edges! Again, this rise has been sudden, only since December 26, 2010, as these graphs captured on December 28, 2010 show. The biggest rise, as might be expected, is on the eastern edge of the Mariana Plate. The plates are folding!
And sure enough, the water draining from the rising Philippine Sea on the eastern side of the Philippine Plate inundated the eastern side of the Philippine islands! The 7 of 10 sequences have begun, have arrived, with much more to follow, shortly!
20) Pakistan Admitted
The flood waters that beset Pakistan in July, 2010 have not receded completely, and there is at last an admission that they are not going to recede. In other words, Pakistan, on the western border of the plate holding India, has sunk, just as the Zetas predicted.
This issue was presented in this newsletter on Issue 201 on September 5, 2010 when the flood waters were slow to recede. And in Issue 212 on November 21, 2010 when they were shown to be lingering even months after the July floods. But now, there can be no denying the situation. Earth Observatory, a NASA function, admits that by comparing images from the year before, Pakistan's elevation has sunk. Period. The Zetas state this drop would be 10 feet, and this 10 foot drop is apparent.
We are aware that Pakistan has lost elevation, and Thailand at Bangkok likewise cannot get their flood waters to drain, and Jakarta has been sinking, with land and road along their drainage canals collapsing. But Vietnam has also been experiencing sinking, as evidenced by an epidemic of sinkholes.
21) Greased Plates
… The entire region encompassing the curve and eastern edge of the Indo-Australia Plate, including New Zealand, is likewise outlined in quakes. It is no surprise that repeated methane explosions in the Pike River mine have occurred, starting on November 19, 2010 when earthquakes started hammering the region along the eastern border of the Indo-Australia Plate.
This accident was considered the worst New Zealand mining accident within the past 100 years. This plate is lifting and tilting in preparation for the 7 of 10 scenario in Indonesia. …
22) Pakistan Elevation
Since the floods in Pakistan in July, 2010 we have been closely following its recovery, as noted in Issue 201 of this newsletter. Per the Zetas, during the 7 of 10 steps, India will tilt so that the western part of the plate holding India drops up to 10-12 feet, and the eastern part rises a commensurate degree. Has Pakistan lost that elevation?
It is clear that this part of Pakistan will not be draining, as it has permanently lost elevation!
23) 7 of 10 Drum Roll
The Zetas have predicted that the 7 of 10 scenarios will start by the end of 2010, with at least one of them, and possibly more, playing out by that date. They have also given the sinking of the tongue holding Indonesia as the first scenario, accompanied by a slight tilting of the Indo-Australian Plate, which they describe as the brake point during global plate movements. When the Indo-Australian Plate moves, it allows other plates to likewise move, in a domino fashion. So what are the signs that this part of the globe is about to have plate movement? First, the already volcanically active Indonesia region has become more active. …
… Meanwhile, the plate holding India and Australia continues to tilt. The flooding in Pakistan, along the Indus River (which is the western edge of the plate) is not draining, as noted in Issue 201 of this newsletter. Now two months after the flooding, this is still the case! As the Zetas state, the Indus River valley has lost elevation.
Per Earth Observatory photos, an inland lake developed just west of the Indus River. The cover-up excuse for this appearance of a huge inland lake is that "apparently" the Indus River waters had become trapped behind levees at the Mancchar Lake. But on September 20, 2010 this lake at the end of the supposedly trapped waters was expected to be drained of floodwaters in 35 days, by October 25. Yet no draining has occurred, but instead the flooding in Manchhar Lake has increased! The land there has been dropping in elevation.
There are more signs that the plate housing India is on the move. Above the Indus River valley, up where the plate housing India abuts the Himalayas, the village of Jalandhar began shaking and did not stop shaking for two weeks.
The shaking was reported on October 6, and the October 7 IRIS chart indeed shows this area getting significant quakes.
Moving east along the upper border of the plate housing India, we find the village of Mamit sinking 20 feet, requiring most the village to be evacuated.
The entire Indo-Australia Plate seems to be loosened up and on the move. By October 18, 2010 the entire eastern half of the Indo-Australian Plate was outlined with quakes on IRIS. Clearly, the brake point is giving, and the plate is on the move!
24) New Zealand Tumble
A recent New Zealand quake apparently surprised geologists who stated the quake happened on a fault line that had been unknown, previously. The fault line pulled land apart by 11 feet, and in some cases raised or dropped land on either side.
The Zetas had earlier mentioned that the south island would not be pulled under the Australian Plate, as mankind was unaware of all the fault lines and the dominant action in the area. South island would remain in tact, per the Zetas.
And the Zetas ask, does the result of this quake not resemble snow that has tumbled to the side of a snow plow in an irregular manner?
25) Pakistan Floods
A series of events seem to indicate that the predicted tilting of the Indo-Australia Plate has started. This was one of the precursor events allowing the tongue of the Eurasian Plate holding Indonesia to sink, as presented in the holographic vision received last November, 2009.
Per the Zetas, during the sinking of the tongue holding Indonesia, the Indo-Australia Plate must tilt.
That said, what evidence is there that the tongue is starting to drop, or that the Indo-Australian Plate is starting to tilt? First, a series of very deep quakes at the tip of the tongue.
In step with the deep quake activity, a Sumatra volcano that had not erupted in 400 years became active. Sumatra is on the edge of the tongue.
All this certainly indicates activity in deep rock at the end of the tongue, but what about the other side of the Indo-Australia Plate? Does all that flooding in Pakistan of late have something to do with a sinking edge? The Indus River is on the edge of the Indo-Australia Plate where it is being pushed under the Himalayas. Note the escalating concern as the magnitude of the flooding surpasses expectations.
There is no question that Pakistan had heavy rain, but is all the flooding due to rain, or is part of the problem a drop in sea level. Per the Zetas, the Indo-Australian Plate has started to tilt!
Of course, the clams offshore from Karachi knew something was up when they started trying to leave their home and climbing up the beach last July! And on the other side of the Indo-Australian Plate, mollusks were reacting in a similar manner.
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See also;
* Folding Pacific is ongoing! The evidence is here.
* S American Roll is on going! The evidence is here.
* Sunda Plate sinking is almost complete! The evidence is here.
Howard
More activity at buoy 56001:
Apr 4, 2012
bill
Entire West Coast beach disappears
An entire beach at Punakaiki on the South Island's West Coast has disappeared in under a year, with the loss of 30,000 cubic metres of sand.
West Coast Regional Council rivers and drainage engineer Wayne Moen said the beach immediately north of the blowholes, had dropped 2.5m.
"I've never seen it happen like that before. The whole beach has basically disappeared."
King tides over the weekend threw rocks over the seawall, flooded a motel and demolished a fence.
Mr Moen said the latest results of regular cross-sections taken of the beach showed that 30,000 cubic metres of sand had gone.
He said the seawall had sustained damage in the past couple of months, and repairs were under way before the king tides hit at the weekend. The sea had cut into the wall and some of the rock had slipped, but the structure of the wall had not been compromised.
Punakaiki resident John Lightfoot said southerly storms were needed to replenish the beach.
It could still be walked at low tide, but it was a lot lower than usual.
Earlier this year, property owners on the south side of the township feared that rapidly advancing erosion was threatening their properties
Apr 26, 2012
bill
Gorge bridges likely to be seriously damaged
The Transport Agency says it fears the damage to bridges in the Manawatu Gorge is likely to be serious.
State Highway Three through the gorge has been closed for nine months by a landslip.
The agency says soil has been removed from the slip at the rate of 3000 cubic metres per day and the last debris should be gone within two weeks.
Engineers expect to be able to fully assess bridge damage next week, but they say preliminary checks indicate a possible significant collapse along one section of a bridge at the Woodville end of the slip.
NZTA says it will have a better idea of when the road will be reopened after further inspections.
May 5, 2012
bill
Maui pipeline leak caused by landslide - report
A landslide has been blamed for the failure of the Maui gas pipeline, which saw widespread disruption in the North Island last October.
Thousands of companies in the upper North Island were told to stop using gas after the leak was discovered in the pipeline on a farm near White Cliffs, north of New Plymouth.
The pipeline's owner, Maui Development Limited, has just released a report into the leak says it failed "due to a sudden overload caused by landslide movement."
The section of pipe at fault has since been stabilised by embedding it in loose, granular material which will allow for earth movements. The company has also increased drainage in the area and will monitor the situation.
Chairman of Maui Development Limited, Rob Jager, said the pipeline crosses a range of difficult geological areas.
"The reality is that in a country like New Zealand, the risk natural land movement poses to infrastructure like gas pipelines can be mitigated, but not eliminated entirely.
"Given its importance to the New Zealand economy, we are focused on learning everything we can from the incident so that best practice in pipeline management continues."
The company said before this outage the pipeline had operated without major incident for 30 years, and is expected to have a total lifespan of 80 years.
May 14, 2012
bill
UNDERWATER VOLCANO ERUPTS IN PULSES
Green water seen by the researchers aboard the Sonne that indicated volcanic venting from the Monowai seamount. Click to enlarge this image.
Watts, et al., Nature Geoscience
THE GIST
When the crew aboard the research vessel Sonne set out on a cruise last spring, they were expecting a routine mapping expedition in the South Pacific. But they were in for a big surprise.
They ended up witnessing one of the fastest episodes of volcano growth ever documented on Earth. The Monowai seamount, an underwater volcano located north of New Zealand, erupted during the expedition and added about 300 million cubic feet (9 million cubic meters) of rock to its summit — a volume equal to 3,500 Olympic-size swimming pools — in just five days.
ANALYSIS: Volcanoes Slide Silently To Their Death
"A lot of luck was attached to this find," said Anthony Watts, a geologist at the University of Oxford who led the study.
His team's findings indicate that submarine volcanoes, some of the Earth's most mysterious features, may shrink and swell in dramatic pulses of activity.
Rotten eggs and compelling clues
As they surveyed the seafloor near Monowai seamount, which lies at the intersection of the Pacific and Indo-Australian tectonic plates at the Tonga-Kermadec subduction zone, Watts and other scientists aboard the ship noticed yellow-green water and gas bubbles rising above the volcano.
PHOTOS: Seafloor Erupts New Baby Canary
"As the ship was leaving the area, we went through a patch of discolored water with a very strong smell, like rotten eggs," Watts told OurAmazingPlanet. "We suspected that maybe the volcano was venting gases, but we didn't know that it was about to erupt."
A week later, while surveying another area, Watts got some compelling information. A seismic station in the Cook Islands had detected an intense five-day swarm of seismic activity and traced it to an eruption at Monowai seamount. Watts and the ship returned to find that parts of the volcano had collapsed and grown in dramatic fashion.
Using advanced bathymetry tools, the scientists saw that a large section of the volcano's flank had collapsed — a volume equal to about 630 Olympic-size swimming pools. The peak of the volcano, however, had grown by 236 feet (72 meters), adding 3,500 swimming pools' worth of volume to the summit.
The new material was most likely magma that had erupted and hardened the week before, Watts said, but the cause of the collapse is less clear. The hydrothermal venting they'd noticed during their first visit (the source of the discolored water and rotten egg smell) could have weakened rocks in the volcano's flank, or magma moving around inside the volcano could have made the flank collapse, Watts said.
A pulsating seamount
The rapid changes at Monowai suggest that the volcano grows and collapses in dramatic pulses. (10 Wild Volcano Facts)
To account for Monowai's growth between 2007 (the last time Monowai's height was measured) and 2011, the volcano would have needed 10 to 13 events like the one Watts' team documented. That's about 2.5 large, quick eruptions each year, with relatively long pauses between each eruption, Watts said.
"It's quiet most of the time, then punctuated by these violent eruptions, so in that sense it's pulsating," he said. "It may not be regular, but we've got some idea now how frequently they occur."
Submarine volcanoes like Monowai are much more difficult to study than volcanoes on land, which can be monitored with techniques that can't penetrate ocean waters. Because so little is known about submarine volcanoes, it's unclear whether others also grow in rapid pulses, or whether Monowai marches to its own beat, Watts said.
"Terrestrial volcanologists get very excited when they see differences of 10 or 20 centimeters," he said. "What we've seen here is on a scale that has rarely — if ever — been repeated."
The team's findings were published online May 13 in the journal Nature Geoscience.
May 15, 2012
bill
Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake shook Papua New Guinea on Wednesday morning, the US Geological survey reported. The quake struck 29 miles west of Kimbe town on the island of New Britain.
The impact on the surrounding area was not clear, although were no immediate reports of injuries and no tsunami warning was issued.
The quake hit the remote region just before 11:00 a.m. local time, striking at a depth of 95 miles, 318 miles northeast of the capital Port Moresby, which is on the main island.
Papua New Guinea is regularly hit by earthquakes due to its proximity to the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire," a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
In 1998, a fatal 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the north coast of Papua New Guinea leaving 2,183 dead.
NewsCore contributed to this report.
May 16, 2012
bill
17 Aftershocks registered in NZ over the weekend
We're being reminded the aftershock sequence is petering out in Canterbury - despite a number of jolts over the weekend.
A 4.8 magnitude quake hit at 5.06pm last night, it was 8km deep and felt as far away as Timaru and the West Coast.
That was the biggest aftershock since January 15 and followed a 4.1 magnitude quake at 9.35am yesterday morning.
Geonet duty seisemologist Caroline Little says with a total of 17 aftershocks, the weekend was certainly more seismically active than Canterbury's been recently, but overall the quakes are settling down in both frequency and magnitude.
There have been seven small aftershocks since midnight as well - the largest measuring 3.5, it hit at 2.36am.
May 20, 2012
bill
Large earthquake rocks Christchurch
Christchurch has been rocked by a large earthquake.
The quake stuck at 2.44pm. It was a magnitude 5.2 and centred 11 kilometres deep, 10 kilometres east of Christchurch, near Bottle Lake Forest.
Newstalk ZB's Brian Ashby says it lasted for about 12 or 14 seconds.
"Didn't hear this one coming, all of a sudden it was there bang, and the house really rolled, this was a real rattler, I'm watching TV in my bedroom and it moved close to falling off the edge of the dresser."
Newstalk ZB's Mike Yardley says the epicentre appears to have been somewhere between Marshlands Road and Bottle Lake Forest.
"Fingers crossed, there won't be any liquefaction from this, but certainly I would imagine in the east of Christchurch there will be broken crockery and some of those nuisance cases of damage, maybe a few roof tiles dislodged, which will cause weather proofing issues in winter. but yeah certainly a tickle up this afternoon."
AUDIO: Brian Ashby and Mike Yardley describe the quake
Newstalk ZB caller Pat is in Fendalton and told Danny Watson it was ghastly.
"It went for quite a while, it was jarring, and then it sort of rocked it's way through."
Debris has fallen from already quake damaged buildings in central Christchurch.
The central city red zone cordon in has been evacuated with a string of aftershocks being recorded.
An Earthquake Recovery Authority spokeswoman says it's standard practice in shakes as large as this to shut the central city down, while staff go in and assess any damage.
But she says given it's Friday afternoon and it takes assessors some time to get into the zone, the call's been made to shut it down for the rest of the day.
APNZ reports that up to 1000 rebuild workers and demolition contractors have been told to leave the danger zone.
The strong earthquake that hit this afternoon was also felt in Timaru.
The City Council says it's received no reports of damage so far.
St John says fortunately it's had no reports of injury following this afternoon's 5.2 magnitude quake.
Orion says the power has stayed on.
May 25, 2012
bill
Sikkim landslides wipe out seven- Rain, unfriendly terrain and more...
Rolep, June 7: Seven persons, three of them children, were killed when landslides struck a village in East Sikkim after a spate of rain lashed the area last night. Four members of a family were also among those wiped out in the early morning strikes.
The unfriendly weather and terrain — the village is at a height of 3,500ft — coupled with at least other 10 landslides on the Rongli-Rolep road hampered rescue operations. The first group of SSB jawans from Rhenock, 12km away, arrived nearly four hours after the three mudslides hit Rolep village.
Four injured persons, including two children, were brought to the state hospital in Gangtok, 85km away in the evening.
The first landslide at Rolep was around 4.30am followed by two more, and in half an hour six houses were swept away. Only one house was a concrete structure while the others were made of wood.
Sixteen-year-old Amrita Rai and her brother Sunant, 7, survived the landslide which claimed their parents and two siblings. They were as Purman Rai, 62, his wife, Manmaya, 50, and their two children, Tika Devi Rai, 12, and Susan Rai, 9.
“My brother and I were sleeping on the same bed and when the mud came rolling down, the bed overturned and the walls of our house breached open and we were flung out. But our parents and sister and brother were buried,” said Amrita. Sunant was admitted to a hospital in Gangtok.
The other deceased are Mahendra Prasad Rai, 40, Nihang Rai, 12, and Chandrakumari Rai, 32.
Padmalal Rai said he saw his wife Chandrakumari being swallowed by a huge mass of mud. A rumbling noise woke him up at 4am. “We immediately sensed that it was a landslide. My wife told me to get out our eight-year-old son Biswadeep. I started walking to the road just above the house with our son. She was following when suddenly the black mud swept her away along with the house. It was still dark and when the sun rose we could not find her,” Padmalal said. Chandrakumari’s body was recovered around 6pm
Nihang Rai was sleeping in the house of his teacher, Raju Pariyar, when he was killed. “The boy had been staying with me and around 4.30am, I heard a loud noise coming from above. It was getting louder every second. I opened the door and as soon as I stepped outside I saw a dark mass swiftly descending on me. I did not have the slightest opportunity to save the boy. As I ran, the house disappeared,” Raju said.
The first rescue team arrived in the village around 8.30am. The commandant of the 46th Battalion of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Anil Kumar Sharma, said 50 jawans were deployed along with the Sikkim police to clear the road and go to the village. “Our camp at Rhenock is 12km from Rolep and we had to pick our way carefully, clearing debris as we went, to cross the 10 landslides to reach the village. The last landslide was one kilometre from the village,” he said.
The subdivisional police officer of Rongli, Karma G. Bhutia, said the water and power lines had been snapped. “We will begin restoring the water supply to the village tomorrow with the help of polythene pipes, that is our priority,” he said.
The bodies of the victims were handed over to their relatives after post-mortems conducted by doctors from the health centre in Rongli at a local school in Rolep, Bhutia added.
Jun 8, 2012
Chris Harris
Freak wave smashes into surf club:
HE'S lived on the coast for years but Yamba Surf Life Saving Club (YSLSC) caretaker Mark Gillespie said he'd never experienced anything like the "terrifying" freak wave which smashed into the club house on Wednesday night.
A king tide combined with a huge swell created massive seas and the YSLSC, which usually sits about 30 metres above the high water mark, had the surf lapping at its doors for most of the evening.
Mr Gillespie, who lives at the club, said when the king tide was approaching, he went downstairs about 8.30pm to open the roller doors to the club's boatshed.
It was standard procedure when the water was high, to minimise structural damage to the club.
"After that I thought, 'okay I've got half an hour until the actual high tide hits, so I'll duck upstairs and make myself a coffee'," he said.
But when he walked on to the club's veranda, he saw a huge wave quickly approaching.
"It sounded like a huge rumbling train then a massive bang, it just shook the whole place - it was pretty frightening actually."
Mr Gillespie said the spray and white water from the freak wave soaked him on the balcony, which is four metres above the ground.
YSLSC president Al Schofield said the wave - apart from making a "hell of a mess" - caused structural damage to several walls, broke glass sliding doors and washed away some equipment.
"We've lost some fuel cells, covers off motors and a few (rescue) boards are missing as well," Mr Schofield said.
Mr Gillespie said a lot more equipment would be missing if it wasn't for the quick thinking of an unknown young man.
"There was a young guy out taking night shots over near the pool and he saw the wave hit the building.
"He came running over to help me stop some of the equipment being washed away," Mr Gillespie said.
Jun 8, 2012
Chris Harris
Erosion hits our beaches
BEACHES along the North Coast are showing the damaging effects of the east coast low which struck with force on Wednesday night and yesterday morning.
The weather system brought big waves and coincided with king tides.
Main Beach at Evans Head was one of the hardest hit, with the ocean carving out a 2-3m embankment near the surf club.
The beach has suffered in recent months - it was also battered by heavy seas in December last year.
Several walkways leading to Lennox Head's Seven Mile Beaches were ripped away by the large swell yesterday.
Lennox Head Landcare's Malcolm Milner did a quick inspection of some beaches.
"Sharpes Beach seems to be badly eroded," he said.
"Seven Mile Beach has been cut back another metre or so - there are tracks which have collapsed and drop-offs.
"The beaches had started to recover after the last big tides.
"But the sand will come back - it always comes and goes.
"It really shows how important our dunes area, and that's why we do Landcare along the beaches and that's why the dunes are fenced off."
Byron Shire Council has also warned residents and visitors to take care on the beaches this week because of the heavy swells and king tides.
Executive manager of community infrastructure, Phil Holloway, urged people to take notice of any beach signage as it may not be safe to swim.
Jun 8, 2012
bill
Landslides cut-off NH-37
Normal vehicular movement along Imphal-Jiribam section of NH-37 (former NH-53) has been disturbed Friday due to landslides at various places along the stretch of the highway in Tamenglong district.
Hundreds of loaded trucks leaving Jiribam for Imphal were stranded at various places before reaching Nung Dolan, around 100 km from Jiribam towards Imphal even as empty trucks leaving Imphal Friday morning made U-turn from the way after they were informed about the landslide at police check points, reports received here said.
Jun 17, 2012
bill
Landslides snap essentials supply to Manipur
Supply of essentials to Manipur has been hit, as massive landslides on the 220-km Imphal-Jiribam National Highway have disrupted traffic. Thousands of buses, trucks and private vehicles have been stranded since Saturday morning.
Official reports said huge boulders rolled down mountains at 15 places, including New Keiphundai, Nung Dollan and Maku. Employees of the Border Roads Organisation have been working around the clock to clear the debris.
Jun 17, 2012
bill
Mysterious flood in river cuts off 13 villages
MANALI: Besides the eight Israeli nationals who are stranded in Pin valley of Lahaul-Spitidistrict of Himachal since June 5, the rising level of water in Kiri river has also put 2,500 residents of thirteen villages in trouble.
Stranded in their own treacherous valley, villagers had been seeking help for over a week as their ration and other commodities have almost depleted. Power supply and telephone connectivity to the valley has snapped and some confused and helpless villagers have already made failed attempts to cross the flooded stream, putting their lives in danger.
About 2 km stretch of the connecting road has disappeared and all retaining walls across the stream have completely collapsed. Residents of Mud, Guling, Sagnam, Khar and other affected villages are requesting government to drop ration, LPG, kerosene and other facilities by air.
"We have ration stock for some more days, but most of people have finished their available LPG and kerosene oil," said Tenzin Gyatso, a resident of Mud village, over phone. Residents are surprised to see non-stop flow of water and debris which they claim had never been witnessed for decades. "It is surprising how black water mixed with black debris had been oozing out of mountains without rain for last 11 days. It is impossible for glaciers to melt so fast," he added.
150 people who were working close to the stream, which was already in spate, had a narrow escape on Thursday when water level increased suddenly and washed away huge chunks of land. The flooded stream witnessed a sudden rise in level again on Friday. As the government failed to airlift tourists, a team of local administration, police and rescue volunteers who visited the spot could not find the exact source of flood water. Now the administration has planned to drop ration and medicines to villages on Saturday.
"The stream is again in flood and it looks impossible to cross it until the water level reduces and debris becomes hard enough to walk upon. We have planned to drop ration at affected areas on Saturday," said Kaza sub-divisional magistrate Hemis Negi.
Lahaul-Spiti MLA Ram Lal Markandeya said he has asked general administration department to arrange for a helicopter to airlift the stranded tourists. "We need to carry out a recce of the place and I've demanded a team of geological experts to check what is the reason behind unstoppableflow of water from the mountain top," he said.
While other stranded tourists managed to walk over the jammed debris few days ago, 8 tourists who are staying at a guest house in Guling village are still waiting for relief from the other side. After flood washed away the temporary rescue ropeway erected over the stream, administration and police have been helplessly gazing at the other side of the stream.
Meanwhile, after Himachal government failed to airlift the stranded tourists, agencies in Israel have been contacting people in Spiti seeking help to obtain permit to land their own helicopter. "A health insurance company from Israel is planning to fly to Spiti with their helicopters. They are seeking my help in this regard and I have conveyed their message to the administration," said Tenzin Gyatso, a resident of Mud village.
Jun 17, 2012
bill
8 Vehicles Plunge into Canal in Bangladesh due to bridge collapse
Eight vehicles plunged into a canal in northern Bangladesh Friday evening as a bridge collapsed, killing a passenger and injuring 10 others, local media reported.
The accident involving at least five trucks and a mini bus occurred at Companyganj upazila in Sylhet, some 241 km northeast of capital Dhaka, at about 9 p.m. (local time), causing suspension of traffic on the road, local news agency UNB reported.
Police and fire brigade have rushed to the spot and seven people have been rescued.
The cause of the bridge collapse is still unknown.
Jun 17, 2012
Andrey Eroshin
Pakistan: more than 30,000 people have been displaced by breach in Rohri Canal
More than 25 villages, in New Saeedabad taluka of Matiari district – including almost the whole union council of Bhale Dino Kaka submerged – causing between 30,000 and 40,000 people to lose their homes.
The Rohri Canal emerges from Sukkur Barrage and travels around 150 miles before entering the Matiari district.
A crack in the canal at RD-724, near Bakhar Jamali village, developed at around 7:30 pm on Sunday evening. It widened to over 200 feet in only a few hours and water gushed out towards the villages. The canal had around 13,000 cusecs of water before the breach.
http://tribune.com.pk/story/378786/more-than-30000-people-have-been...
Jun 17, 2012
bill
Destruction‚ deaths as rains lash Bajura
BAJURA: Rain-triggered floods and landslides left behind a trail of death and devastation in Bajura today, killing three people, destroying infrastructure and displacing at least 40 families.
The Bajura district police office identified the dead as Khiru Budha (15) of Toli VDC, Bal Bahadur Sarki (65) of Barhabisa VDC-2 and Chandra Rokaya (9) of Pandusain-5. Pushpa Budha (12) of Toli, who was with Khiru when a landslide struck, has sustained injuries.
Bal Bahadur died when a swollen river swept him away. Landslides caused due to rains lashing the district since Friday have damaged schools, houses and farmlands in a number of VDCs, including Brahmhatola, Toli, Chhatara, Gudukhati and Kuldevmandau.
In Kuldevmandau-5, landslides have displaced two families, while incessant rains have caused the collapse of a school building and a hostel.
Fearing landslides, 14 Dalit families based in Barhabisa-5, Juwani, and 25 based in Brahmatola-4, Bajedi, have left the places in search of safer places.
Hundreds of houses are at the risk of landslide in Gumlagaun of Atichaur, Ammakot of Brahmatola, Saunegaun of Jagannath, Kalapani of Kailashmandau, Pata of Jugada and Nimani of Kuldevmandau.
With rains damaging different sections of the Sanfe-Martadi road, vehicular movement has been affected. Floods have swept away embankments along Barjugad and Budiganga rivers along the road stretch.
Chief District Officer Basudev Ghimire said a police team has been sent to assess the damage. The District Natural Disaster Rescue Committee informed that 16 of 27 VDCs in the district are at high risk of landslide.
Flooding in Pipaldali had displaced 41 families and claimed five people a month ago. According to Nardip Bad, a local, many Pipaladli flood victims have been living out in the open, while some have taken shelter in school buildings
Jun 24, 2012
bill
Floods, landslides claim 91 in Bangladesh
Landslides and floods caused by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 91 people in southern Bangladesh and many more were missing.
Officials said the landslides occurred mainly in remote villages with poor roads, making rescue work more difficult.
At least 37 died in Cox's Bazar, 33 in neighbouring Bandarban and another 21 in Chittagong, mostly in a series of landslides, the Disaster Management Ministry said. It said soldiers were joining the search for the missing.
Three days of torrential rain in the region of small hills and forests dislodged huge chunks of earth which buried flimsy huts where families were sleeping late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Many homeless people live at the foot of the hills or close to them despite warnings from authorities.
Many of the dead were women and children, officials said. In Bandarban an 11-year-old boy was the only member of his family to survive because he was away when mud buried his hut. His parents and three siblings perished.
"I could survive because I was visiting a relative," said the boy, Rafiqul Islam.
"The rain had kept me from returning home."
Monsoon floods are common in Bangladesh, a delta nation of 160 million people.
Volunteers using loudspeakers warned people about the danger of landslides during the rains, said Jaynul Bari, a government administrator in Cox's Bazar. The floods inundated dozens of villages and were disrupting communications in the region.
Flood waters covered many roads and washed away a railway bridge, snapping road and rail links between Dhaka and the three districts. An airport in Chittagong was closed after floodwaters swamped its runway, but reopened Wednesday after the rains stopped, officials said.
The government said relief workers were distributing rice and water to hundreds of displaced people.
Jun 27, 2012
bill
6-metre long bridge collapse at Bhatiari
Trains from Dhaka and Sylhet will now stop at Sitakunda Chittagong Railway Station to offload passengers for next 15 days, until the railway authority completes the restoration of collapsed railway bridge at Bhatiari in Chittagong.
Rail communications between Dhaka-Chittagong and Chittagong-Sylhet were snapped due to a 6-metre long bridge collapse at Bhatiari on Tuesday night following torrential rains.
Communications and Railways Minister Obaidul Quader flew to the area Wednesday afternoon to see the people’s sufferings caused by the railway bridge collapse.
After visiting the area in the afternoon, the minister asked the railway officials to restore the two major routes in 15 days.
He asked the railway authority to use Sitakunda Railway Station as terminal instead of Chittagong Railway Station during the repair work.
All trains from Dhaka and Sylhet will stop at Sitakunda station from where passengers will go to Chittagong on either private or public transports.
Similarly, those who are willing to visit Dhaka and Sylhet on trains from Chittagong will have to come to Sitakunda to get on board.
The distance between Chittagong railway terminal and Sitakunda is about 30 kilometres.
Though direct train services on the routes were cut off, the railway authority is continuing train services up to Bhatiari.
Meanwhile, engineers of Bangladesh railway and Bangladesh Army have been trying to repair the bridge.
“We are trying to repair one of the two rail lines by putting rolled steel joists. If we can fix the line, we will conduct a trial to see whether it can afford a train,” general manager of railway’s east zone Tofazzal Hossain told The Daily Star from the spot.
He, however, said they would not take any risk.
Jun 27, 2012
bill
Big Alpine Fault quake may be 'in near future'
The Alpine Fault.
A multi-layered pancake of silt and peat by a Fiordland river has provided the clearest evidence yet of how often the South Island's slumbering Alpine Fault generates massive earthquakes.
GNS Science and University of Nevada-Reno scientists have found that the southern part of the 800-kilometre-long fault, which runs along the western edge of the Southern Alps from Marlborough to Milford Sound, causes quakes of about magnitude 8 every 330 years on average.
Dating leaves and seeds from a river terrace at Hokuri Creek near Lake McKerrow in far northwestern Southland, just north of Milford Sound, revealed 24 Alpine Fault quakes between 6000BC and the present.
Other research has found the most recent was in 1717, meaning the next may be only 30 or 40 years away, based on averages.
Professor Richard Norris, from the geology department at Otago University, said the Alpine Fault had the highest level of probability for rupture of any fault in New Zealand.
"Westland obviously is at high risk, with widespread damage likely and roads, bridges and other transport links likely to be badly affected (as well as the tourist trade)," he said.
The fault crossed the main West Coast highway in many places, and with an estimated 8m displacement would completely destroy it.
"Intensities further east in places like Queenstown, Te Anau, Wanaka and Mt Cook will be high enough to cause landslips and do damage," Norris said.
"Further east in the major cities of Christchurch and Dunedin, the intensities will be lower but the duration of shaking could still be sufficient to damage poorly constructed buildings ... and possibly cause some liquefaction."
Places such as Nelson, Wellington and Invercargill could also expect to feel some shaking.
Project leader Kelvin Berryman, of GNS Science, said "a major earthquake in the near future would not be a surprise".
"Equally, it could be up to 100 years away. The bottom line is, if not in our lifetimes then increasingly likely in our children's or our grandchildren's."
The findings, published today in the Science journal, were new and internationally significant, he said.
The site had provided one of the world's best records of regular fault rupture.
"Prior to this project, the ages of only the last four Alpine Fault earthquakes were well-known,'' Berryman said.
"Long records with more than 20 earthquakes have been obtained from other faults around the world, such as the San Andreas Fault in California, but they are very rare.
"The Alpine Fault is perhaps only the fifth such long record and it has revealed the most regular rupture behaviour yet reported."
Jun 28, 2012
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10 killed in Nepal landslides
PTI | Jun 29, 2012, 05.43PM IST
Seven people were killed, including three from a single family, when a house collapsed due to landslide at Tanahun district in western Nepalearly this morning, home ministry officials said.
Those killed in the landslide in Tanahun include four women and three girls aged between 2 and 8 years, district police said, adding they died when the wall of their house collapsed due to the landslide.
In a separate incident, three persons, including a child, were killed at Baglung district when their house was swept away by the landslide. Two others are still missing.
Jun 30, 2012
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Raging floods sweep more than 2,000 villages in northeast India, ki...
Young Indian children use a raft, made of banana plants, to wade through flood waters at Burhaburhi village, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) east of Guahati, India, Friday, June 29, 2012. Raging floodwaters fed by monsoon rains have inundated more than 2,000 villages in northeast India, killing at least 27 people and leaving hundreds of thousands more marooned Friday. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
GAUHATI, India - Raging floodwaters fed by monsoon rains have inundated more than 2,000 villages in northeast India, sweeping away homes and leaving hundreds of thousands of people marooned Friday. At least 27 people were killed, but the toll was expected to rise.
The Indian air force was delivering food packages to people huddled on patches of dry land along with cattle and wild elephants. Rescuers were dropped by helicopter into affected areas to help the stranded, but pouring rain was complicating operations.
About 1 million people have had to evacuate their homes as the floods from the swollen Brahmaputra River — one of Asia's largest — swamped 2,084 villages across most of Assam state, officials said.
Assam's flooded capital of Gauhati was hit by mudslides that buried three people. Many of the city's 2 million residents were negotiating the submerged streets in rubber dinghies and small wooden boats. Most businesses were closed.
Officials have counted 27 people dead so far, but the toll is expected to be much higher as unconfirmed casualty reports mount. Many of the victims so far have drowned, including five people whose boat capsized amid choppy waves.
Telephone lines were knocked out and some train services were cancelled after their tracks were swamped by mud. As the floods soaked the Kaziranga game reserve east of Gauhati, motorists reported seeing a one-horned rhino fleeing along a busy highway.
"We never thought the situation would turn this grim when the monsoon-fed rivers swelled a week ago," said Nilomoni Sen Deka, an Assam government minister.
Residents of Majuli — an 800-square-kilometre (310-square-mile) island in the middle of the Brahmaputra River — watched helplessly as the swirling, grey waters swallowed 50 villages and swept away their homes.
"We are left with only the clothes we are wearing," said 60-year-old Puniram Hazarika, one of about 75,000 island residents now camping in makeshift shelters of bamboo sticks and plastic tarps on top of a mud embankment soaked by rain.
Ratna Payeng, who was sheltering with her three small children in the camps, said she was praying for the rains to stop.
"If they don't, our land will become unfit for cultivation and everything will be lost," Payeng said.
Nearby, a herd of 70 endangered Asiatic elephants, which usually avoid humans, were grouped together, Majuli island wildlife official Atul Das said. "The jumbos have not caused any harm, but we are keeping a close watch," he said.
In neighbouring Nepal, landslides also triggered by monsoon rains killed at least eight people Thursday night and left two others missing.
Jun 30, 2012
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Waves batter Wellington's south coast
LATEST: High seas continue to pummell Wellington's South Coast today after 8-metre waves covered roads with kelp, rocks and debris overnight.
A boat reported taking on water in strong winds and high seas at the entrance to Wellington Harbour about 9.40am.
Police communications Inspector Ken Climo said the boat called for help about 800m off shore.
The police launch was sent to the scene and was escorting the boat back to Seaview, Mr Climo said.
The boat was no longer taking on water, he said.
Interislander spokeswoman Candice Johanson said the 6.30am cargo-only Aratere crossing from Wellington to Picton was cancelled due to the high swells, and this affected the 10.30am return ferry.
All passengers from the cancelled crossing were transferred onto the 1pm crossing this afternoon, she said. No other services were affected.
Council spokesman Richard MacLean said in a statement this morning drivers should avoid South Coast roads, especially in Owhiro Bay and Island Bay where kelp, rocks and other debris has been washed up.
Moa Point Rd at the southern end of the Wellington Airport runway was closed overnight. Council contractors worked to clear the road this morning and it re-opened just before 9am.
MetService forecaster William Nepe said last night waves up to 8m, and often reaching 5m, had been hitting the South Coast between 11pm and midnight.
The large waves were caused by a big swell coming from the sea between Wellington and Chatham Is and mixing with strong winds in the same south-westerly direction.
Jun 30, 2012
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A TSUNAMI-like swell overnight brought down 20 metres of a concrete retaining wall at the inner harbour and sent waves surging across Kaiti Beach road and the city’s boat ramp.
Swells of up to eight metres were recorded in the bay, the biggest recorded in eight years.
Boats were damaged at the marina and a 20 to 25-metre hole can be seen in the river retaining wall opposite Marina View after concrete pillars pounded by the swell broke and fell into the water.
Niwa principal scientist Rob Bell said the long waves were surging for several minutes at a time — behaviour similar to tsunami waves.
“Long surging waves are basically a disturbance.
“That disturbance could be an earthquake, underwater avalanche or in this case a weather system, which is sending long-period swells of about 18 seconds.
Mr Bell said normally swells were around 10 to 12 seconds.
The low-pressure system to the south east of New Zealand had flicked a very strong south-west flow up the whole east coast, he said.
“Even in Wellington some of the beaches are closed.”
Large swells and long surges combined with Gisborne’s high tide at 12.44am brought the highest reading recorded in eight years on Eastland Port’s recently- installed swell monitoring equipment in the harbour basin.
Sector general manager logistics Andrew Gaddum said last night’s recording was so big, they were checking with their forecasters in Taranaki as to whether the equipment was reading correctly.
“But given the damage we sustained and eye-witness reports, it seems plausible,” he said.
Larger packets of waves, called infragravity waves, were recorded at 1.8 metres in height.
To put this in perspective, Mr Gaddum said generally the port would not have a ship alongside in anything bigger than 0.15m.
Down the coast, Mahia resident Bill Shortt said the waves looked like mountains.
“It’s a massive sea — she’s a beauty. It’s coming up from the deep south and comes straight into the bay. If it’s big up in Gisborne, it’ll be bigger here — we really cop it.
“You wouldn’t want to go fishing today.”
Mr Shortt keeps his own weather station at home and it is reporting a south-west swell of seven metres before it will ease later today.
“That’s 23 feet in the air.
“They don’t get much bigger than that.”
Eastland Group Ltd chief executive Matt Todd said port employees were going out in the pilot boat this morning to make a full assessment of the damage to the river retaining wall.
“From there we will develop a plan to effect repairs,” he said.
Large swells from Cook Strait have closed Moa Point Road, at the southern end of Wellington Airport this morning.
Wellington City Council said the waves brought boulders, rocks and other debris on to the road.
Jun 30, 2012
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The Indo/Australian Plate tilting- New Zealand: The recent high tides have been horrendous. We've lost another 10 feet off the waterfront
http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/new-zealand-the-recent-hig...
Jun 30, 2012
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Earthquake: Tremor shakes flood-hit Assam
Guwahati, Jul 1: Mild tremor shook several parts of Assam including Guwahati on Sunday, Jul 1. However, no casualties and damages have been reported yet.
The epicentre of the earthquake has been located at Majuli island in upper Assam. The tremor scattered from North to South in the state.
The exact intensity of the tremor is yet to be reported as Indian Meteorological Centre in Shillong has not revealed the details yet.
Assam has already been hit by massive flood. Death toll mounted to 61 while almost 20 lakh people were affected due to the pathetic condition caused by flood.
768 relief camps were set up. Official sources earlier had informed, "There is a slight improvement of the situation with the respite from downpour for continuous four days and the rivers, including Brahmaputra showed a receding trend."
Meanwhile, reports surfaced saying that mild tremors were also felt in different parts of Manipur around 9:45 am on Sunday.
Jul 2, 2012
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7-magnitude quake hits NZ's North Island
A large earthquake has rocked New Zealand's North Island on Tuesday night but no damage has been reported.
The long, rumbling quake was upgraded to magnitude-7 soon after it struck off the west coast at 10.36pm.
It was centred 60km southwest of Opunake in Taranaki at depth of 230km, GNS Science said.
It was followed by a smaller aftershock.
There was no tsunami warning issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
A Fire Service central communications spokesman told AAP there were a number of calls but no reports of damage.
Police also received no reports of damage, and a central police spokesman said there was no spike in calls.
The quake was felt hundreds of kilometres away in the Bay of Plenty and Christchurch. It sparked a lot of comment on Twitter, but no one reported serious damage or injury.
The quake hit nearly 17 months after Christchurch's February 22 disaster which killed 185 people.
Jul 3, 2012
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7.0 earthquake felt in Wellington
Train lines across Wellington had to be inspected through the night after a 7.0-magnitude quake hit the lower North Island.
Track inspections were completed before the morning trains began on all but the Kapiti line, which was not given clearance until 6am.
There were minor delays for early morning Kapiti commuters and taxis were provided.
Inspections of train lines are routine after an earthquake.
AMP NZ office chief executive Scot Pritchard said a small water leak had occurred at the AXA Centre overnight on The Terrace which had stopped lifts.
He said it was unclear whether the issue was quake related but expected lifts to be back up and running over the next few hours.
The quake hit at 10.36pm. GeoNet reported it was centred 230km deep and was 170km northwest of Wellington.
It was a long, rolling quake felt throughout the lower North Island and upper South Island.
The earthquake registered 7.0 on the Richter scale - slightly smaller than the 7.1 in Canterbury in September 2010.
Some people were reported to have moved to higher ground on the Horowhenua coast, but a Civil Defence spokesman said the risk of a tsunami was low as the quake struck so deep.
The first quake was followed nine minutes later by a 4.6 shake at the same depth, 70km south of Opunake.
GNS Science duty seismologist Lara Bland said the 7.0 quake was the largest to strike the Taranaki Bight area for the past 100 to 120 years.
It was related to the subduction zone where the Pacific tectonic plate was being driven under the Australian plate, she said.
The quake probably happened on the Pacific plate, which dipped down deeply, she said, occurring because the plate was hard and brittle.
That was also partly why it had been felt so widely, as the energy travelled "efficiently" back up the plate to the surface.
It was a good-sized shake but the depth and distance offshore limited its impact, Bland said.
While large quakes in the area weren't unheard of, "they aren't often that big," she said.
Magnitude-6.0 quakes had occurred in the area over the years.
GNS would try to image the behaviour of the fault, but given the lack of damage or injuries it would probably not look much more deeply into the quake.
Partly that was because many scientists were still tied up working on the Canterbury quakes.
Marea Faigan, from near Inglewood, in Taranaki, said she had never felt anything like it in her life. "It just kept going and going," she said. "The cupboards were rattling and I grabbed hold of the door frame to steady myself."
Thousands jolted by 'very large, very deep' quake
Falling televisions and objects toppling off shelves appears to be the extent of the damage caused by last night's widely-felt deep 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
More than 4000 people reported that they had felt the quake on the GeoNet website, with around 600 of those posting that the quake was of a "strong" intensity.
However, the majority of the public postings fell into the "observed category," with people grading the quake as being a moderate vibration or jolt.
Jul 4, 2012
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Landslides reported on mountain
All is calm beneath Mt Taranaki despite the region's big quake shaking the country on Tuesday night.
Most of New Zealand felt the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck 60km south of Opunake, 230km deep at 10.36pm and was followed by a 4.6 aftershock nine minutes later.
While next to no damage was reported, seismologists yesterday said it was the biggest quake in Taranaki in the past 100 to 120 years.
The EQC had received about 50 claims by lunchtime yesterday, although it was unknown how many, if any, were from Taranaki.
Geological and Nuclear Sciences senior volcano geophysicist Steven Sherburn said the big shake was not linked to volcanic activity on Mt Taranaki or to any quakes in Christchurch.
But he said seismic monitors on the mountain picked up abnormal activity thought to be a landslide or rockfall yesterday morning that could be related to the quake.
Jul 5, 2012
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Landslides cut off road communication in Tirap district
ITANAGAR: Landslides triggered by torrential rain has snapped surface communication in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh for the past several days, official sources said here today.Road communication between the district headquarters Khonsa and Lazu, an administrative post situated on Myanmar border, about 40 km from Khonsa, has remained cut off for the last three days following torrential rain-triggered massive landslides at Pongkong village along Khonsa-Lazu road, the sources said.
The entire hillock, on which the Khonsa-Lazu road is located, has caved in and sliding continuously. The Border Road Task Force (BRTF) personnel are working round the clock to restore normal traffic but the unrelenting rain is hampering restoration work, they said.
There is an acute shortage of essential commodities at Lazu and its peripheries due to the road blockade. Entire Lazu circle depends on Khonsa for the daily requirements like rice, atta, sugar, salt and other essential items.
Circle Officer (CO) N L Naam visited the landslide-hit zone, 14 km off Lazu today to assess the extent of damage.
The CO also apprised the local MLA and Parliamentary Secretary for Department of Tirap and Changlang (DoTC) Yumsen Matey about the grim situation, sources said.PTI | Jul 4, 2012, 05.59PM IST
Jul 5, 2012
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Landslide hits Uttarakhand, 1 dead, 4 injured
New Delhi: The Rishikesh-Kedarnath and the Rishikesh-Badrinath highways were shut on Thursday morning following a landslide in Pirahi in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand.
A hotel was said to be damaged, one person died and four were reportedly injured in the massive landslide that was accompanied by a cloudburst in the Sehkot area of Chamoli.
Many houses were said to be damaged in the cloudburst. However, there were no reports of casualties.
Jul 5, 2012
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Indian army rescues 400 tourists from massive landslide in Ladakh
The Army on Sunday said its troops rescued about 400 domestic and foreign tourists from 18,000 feet (5,475 m)-high Tangtse-Chang La (pass) in Ladakh hit by massive landslide on Saturday.
The Jammu and Kashmir police has, meanwhile, said that due to a landslide the road between Tangtse and Leh was washed away at Choltak and that it and the district administration rescued all the stranded passengers travelling in 87 vehicles to Leh and also some more vehicles on way to Leh from Chushul via Tsaga.
Defence sources said that landslide struck the mountain road in east of Leh at 10.45 am, blocking about 250 metres stretch. About 150 vehicles with 400 tourists onboard were stranded along the road and their lives threatened in view of the possibility of occurring of more landslides.
"Army troops deployed in the area immediately swung into action and provided assistance to the stranded tourists by evacuating them to safe places and to their camp in Tangtse, where they were served food and beverages and provided warm clothing and medical assistance," defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Rajesh Kalia said.
He added that quick reaction medical teams administered oxygen besides providing first-aid to the tourists who were suffering from high altitude sickness. One seriously ill tourist was evacuated to Leh, the main town of Ladakh, in an Army ambulance. Majority of the tourists have since relocated to Leh safely, reports said.
The spokesperson further said that efforts by the Army and Border Road Organisation (BRO) to expeditiously clear the road block were underway. "Army units are on 'stand by' to assist any stranded tourists. The road is likely to be opened by Sunday afternoon," he said.
This was the second such incident in past one week when the Army had to step in to rescue tourists caught in seemingly dangerous situations in Ladakh.
Jul 11, 2012
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6.2 magnitude earthquake felt in Islamabad, nearby cities
Earthquake also felt in Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Abbottabad and Sargodha.
ISLAMABAD: A 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
The tremors were felt for 35 seconds around 7:01pm. The epicentre is reported to be in the Hindu Kush region.
The United States Geological Survey, which records earthquakes all over the world reported that an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 struck with its epicentre 121 kilometres north west of Chitral.
The department recorded a second earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale roughly an hour later with its epicentre eight km south east of the first earthquake.
The earthquake was felt in the capital Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Sargodha, Chitral and Haripur.
Panic gripped the affected areas with people seen rushing for safety and reciting verses from the Holy Quran.
Express News reported that people in Islamabad were feeling aftershocks at regular intervals. The intensity of one of the aftershocks was reported at 5.1 on the Richter scale.
NDTV reported that the earthquake had been felt as far as India.
Earlier on Wednesday, the USGS reported that there had been two more earthquakes minutes apart with magnitudes of 4.2 and with epicentres 70 km and 55 km north of Khaplu in the Himalaya region of Pakistan.
A 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan in October 2005 killed 74,000 people and displaced 3.5 million.
Jul 12, 2012
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Landslide hits Myagdi‚ 29 families displaced
MYAGDI: Twenty-nine families in Myagdi’s northern Doba and Bhurungtatopani VDCs have been displaced by the landslide following incessant rainfall on Friday.
More than 114 houses are also learnt to be facing landslide risk, sources said.
Landslide from the hill above the settlement and flood in local Gharilla River swept away nine houses of the two VDCs. After the incident, the families have been living in tents on the river bank. They have been relying on noodles and beaten rice since then. Similarly, Bhurungtatopani’s Deu Bahadur Garbuja, Gopal Purja, Tham Bahadur Nepali have been taking shelter at their kin’s places in a nearby bazaar.
A rescue team led by Chief District Office Krishna Prasad Gyawali along with Nepali Army, Police and Armed Police Force carried out the rescue work. On its part, the Red Cross distributed clothes and food to victims, but according to victims the relief items were not sufficient.
Meanwhile, VDC secretary Dhirgha Prasad Gautam admitted that they could not offer help to the victims as they were budget less during the last days of the fiscal year 2011/2012.
Families of Chetra Bahadur Garbuja, Khum Bahadur Garbuja, Begh Bahadur Garbuja, Tama Bahadur Armaja and many others of Doba-9 were also displaced after the landslide.
Similarly, two families in Dowa-6, five in Dowa-2 and one in Dowa-5 have been displaced, said secretary Gautam.
“Those whose houses were swept away have been living in tents while others are safe in their relatives’ houses,” he said, adding, “Some 20 families have returned to their own homes.”
Locals surmised that property worth millions were destroyed by the landslide and the accurate details are yet to come. A motorable bridge, suspension bridge, two water mills and one rice mill were swept away in the landslide.
Landslide has also completely destroyed the Sunari Primary School, while Kailash Secondary School and Doba Sub-health post buildings were cracked. “We are collecting details of the destruction and will ask the administration for relief,” said VDC secretary.
Red Cross Officer Dhananjaya Kumar Shrestha said they have distributed six tents, 12 blankets, six set pots, six buckets and clothes as relief on Friday.
Jul 16, 2012
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Landslide cuts families off from Levin
CUT OFF: More than 20 families have been left stranded following a landslide on a remote road near Levin.
More than 20 families have been left stranded following a landslide on a remote road near Levin.
A Horowhenua District Council spokesman said between 20 and 30 families on Gladstone Rd, between Levin and the Tararua Ranges, were "affected" by the overnight slip.
A large amount of rock slipped onto the road, and after a path was cleared for residents to get home, more debris fell, completely cutting off the residents.
"It is expected to take three to four days to clear the material," said Civil Defence controller Tony Thomas.
Alternative routes are being explored but none were considered accessible by anything other than four-wheel drive.
Thomas said council staff were visiting properties to assess resident's welfare needs and that phone lines were open and they were unaware of any residents in danger.
"We have been able to call a lot of people in the area but if there is anyone we haven't managed to get hold of they can call us on 366 0999 to let us know if there is anything we can do to assist them."
The Horowhenua District Council Emergency Operations Centre has been activated, and the council is encouraging people to stay away from the area.
Jul 18, 2012
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6.6 magnitude earthquake hits Papua New Guinea but not tsumani warn...
AN earthquake measuring 6.6 in magnitude has struck off Papua New Guinea, the US Geological Survey says, but no tsunami warning has been issued.
The quake hit the remote New Ireland region at 6.04am on Sunday at a depth of 66 kilometres, 124 kilometres from Rabaul, New Britain, and 843 kilometres from the capital Port Moresby.
A giant tsunami in 1998 killed more than 2000 people near Aitape, on the country's northwest coast.
Jul 29, 2012
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Moderate earthquake of 5.8 shakes central Myanmar near Indian borde...
YANGON, Myanmar - A moderate earthquake has shaken central Myanmar near the Indian border.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake had a magnitude of 5.7 and struck at a depth of 68.4 kilometres (42.5 miles). Myanmar's meteorological and seismic agency put the magnitude at 5.8.
An official from the Myanmar agency says no casualties or damage have been reported. The quake occurred Sunday at 8:51 a.m. local time.
The official says the quake's epicenter was about 215 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city. He says it was felt in Hakha, the capital of northwestern Chin state. He spoke anonymously because he wasn't authorized to release information.
The area affected is not densely populated. It falls within an earthquake belt where tremors are fairly common but usually not destructive.
Jul 29, 2012
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6.7-magnitude earthquake strikes the Indian Ocean off Mauritius
By BNO News
PORT MATHURIN, MAURITIUS (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck the Indian Ocean far off Rodrigues island in Mauritius on Thursday morning, seismologists said, but causing no damage or casualties. It was the strongest earthquake to hit the region in recent history.
The 6.7-magnitude earthquake at 9:33 a.m. local time (0533 GMT) was centered about 387 kilometers (240 miles) northeast of Port Mathurin, the main village on Rodrigues island in Mauritius. It struck about 9.8 kilometers (6.1 miles) deep, making it a very shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The USGS, which initially measured the strength of the earthquake at 5.8 on the Richter scale, said the epicenter of the earthquake was centered too far from Rodrigues island to have been felt there. This was confirmed by residents and officials on the island who said they did not feel tremors.
Neither the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center nor the Mauritius Meteorological Service issued a tsunami warning.
Thursday's earthquake was the largest earthquake to hit the region since at least August 2010, when a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck 320 kilometers (199 miles) northeast of Rodrigues island. There is no record of any other significant earthquakes in the region in recent years.
Jul 29, 2012
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6.5-magnitude earthquake destroys houses in the Solomon Islands
HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS (BNO NEWS) -- A strong earthquake struck the main island of the Solomon Islands on late Wednesday evening, destroying an unknown number of houses and causing injuries, seismologists and local officials said on Thursday. No tsunami warning was issued.
The 6.5-magnitude earthquake at 10:20 p.m. local time (1120 GMT) was centered about 39 kilometers (24 miles) southwest of Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. It struck about 22.9 kilometers (14.2 miles) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Emergency management officials in Honiara said they have received reports that a number of houses in settlements near the epicenter were destroyed and damaged, injuring at least one person. But the extent of the damage in the remote area was not immediately clear, and officials were still working to determine if there were other victims.
The USGS estimated that some 137,000 people on Guadalcanal island may have felt moderate to strong shaking, while 348,000 others may have felt light shaking. The tremors caused scores of people to run out of their homes and flee inland or to higher ground in fear of a tsunami, which was not generated.
Both the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) and the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center (JATWC) said there was no threat of a tsunami and did not issue a warning. "A destructive tsunami was not generated based on earthquake and historical tsunami data," PTWC said in a bulletin.
The Solomon Islands are on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions also occur frequently in the region.
The Solomon Islands arc as a whole experiences a very high level of earthquake activity, and many tremors of magnitude 7 and larger have been recorded since the early decades of the twentieth century.
On April 2, 2007, a massive 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck close to the New Georgia Islands of the Solomon Islands. It unleashed a regional tsunami, killing 52 people and destroying more than 300 homes, schools and a hospital at Sasamunga. Two people were killed as a result of landslides, which were triggered by the earthquake.
Jul 29, 2012
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Indonesia Earthquake: 6.4 Magnitude Quake Hits West Coast of Sumatra
According to the US Geological Survey, the quake, at a depth of 13.6 miles (22km), struck around 7:30am local time, some 21 miles northwest of Sinabang, capital of Simeulue – a small, remote island off Sumatra’s west coast.
The Borneo Post notes that residents of Sinabang, which has a population of about 80,000, reported violent shaking that was felt for about a minute and had caused an electricity blackout.
National Disaster Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said that the individual who perished during the temblor died of shock while fleeing from his home on the island.
He added there were no other immediate reports of significant damage or other casualties directly related to the earthquake and that there was little chance of a tsunami.
Yahoo!7 News has more on the recent Indonesia earthquake in the video below:
Jul 29, 2012
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earthquake hits Meghalaya, Assam and some other north-east states
An earthquake of moderate intensity shook Meghalaya, Assam and some other north-east states on Sunday but there was no report of any casualty or damage to property.
The quake, which had a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale, hit the region at around 7:51 AM and the epicentre was located 70 km underneath the earth’s crust in Myanmar, officials at the Seismological Survey of India said.
The officials said the quake was of “moderate” intensity and all major towns in the region felt the tremor.
Earlier this month, tremor having a magnitude of 5.4 and 5.5 on the Richter Scale hit the region with their epicentres located in Phek and Nagaland region of Nagaland respectively.
Today’s tremor was also felt in Itanagar, Guwahati, Agartala besides Kohima and Imphal.
Police said there was no report of any casualty or damage to property in Meghalaya.
Jul 30, 2012
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6.3-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea: USGS
SYDNEY, Aug 2, 2012 (AFP) - - A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said.
The quake hit the remote New Ireland region at 7:56 pm local time (0956 GMT) at a depth of 70 kilometres (43 miles), 128 kilometres from Rabaul, New Britain, and 850 kilometres from the capital Port Moresby.
Strong earthquakes are common in impoverished PNG, which sits on the so-called "Pacific Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.
A giant tsunami in 1998 killed more than 2,000 people near Aitape, on the country's northwest coast.
Aug 3, 2012
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Sand erosion threat to prime Gold Coast tourist beaches
Beach erosion on Surfers Paradise Beach. Picture: David Clark Source: Gold Coast Bulletin
GOLDEN sands, blue skies and azure seas: Which one of these idyllic Australian ingredients is rapidly disappearing from Gold Coast beaches?
It's not hard to tell, at a glance. The queues of sand-filled trucks leaving their tyremarks in what remains of the pristine sand are something of a give-away.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reports sand cliffs up to 6m high have left ugly scars on some of the city's most popular beaches including Palm Beach, Nobby Beach, Main Beach and the big tourism drawcard - Surfers Paradise Beach.
Experts warn it will only take a few big summer storms to completely obliterate the city's most vital economic asset.
Surfers Paradise Beach undergoes some beach erosion work by Gold Coast City Council. Picture: David Clark
Emergency sand replenishment is under way but coastal experts warn it won't be nearly enough to save the beaches from ruin.
Griffith Centre for Coastal Management research manager Dr Darrell Strauss said 10 million cubic metres of extra sand needed to be dumped of Coast beaches urgently to help build a buffer against the constant barrage of damaging waves.
He said conditions were unusual for this time of year and warned the coastline could be completely obliterated during summer storms if beaches weren't adequately replenished.
Sand Erosion at Palm Beach. Palm Beach locals Joshua Morris, 9, and his brother Lachlan, 12, looking over the damage done by a king tide. Picture: Mike Batterham
The last time one of the city's beaches was significantly replenished was 12 years ago when one million cubic metres of sand was dumped on Surfers Paradise.
The last of that sand is disappearing.
"The beach would be able to withstand storms and heavy seas if it had a nice healthy dune system like at The Spit but we've got development right on top of the dunes and it just doesn't have the ability to give and take," said Dr Strauss.
Surfers Paradise Beach undergoes some beach erosion work by Gold Coast City Council staff after king tides took away more sand Picture: David Clark
"We are looking at a beach that has been managed and is reaching a stage where more nourishment is now required.
"If we could build up the beaches with 10 million cubic metres of sand, that would accommodate these large-scale erosion events, but it was deemed cost prohibitive.
"It is time to go forward and renourish beaches; I'd like to hear it at least being discussed."
Sand erosion on Surfers Paradise Beach. Picture:: David Clark
The Gold Coast loses about 500,000 cubic metres of sand north every year through longshore drift - the natural movement of sand along the coastline.
The Tweed River Sand Bypass system pumps that amount back into the Coast ever year but it does not account for the huge volumes lost during storms, which can strip up to 10 million cubic metres of sand.
Southern Gold Coast beaches have plentiful sand but headlands and coastal engineering structures including rockwalls and groynes, interrupt the northward flow to replenish beaches from Palm Beach to Main Beach.
Gold Coast City Council replace sand on Surfers Paradise Beach. Picture: David Clark
Gold Coast City Council engineering director Warren Day said the council invested between $2.5 million and $3 million to replenish sand stocks every year but dumping 10 million cubic metres of sand was unrealistic.
Based on current sand dredging figures, it could cost up to $80 million to cover Gold Coast beaches with that volume of sand although Coastal Watch estimates suggest it could be a more reasonable $10 million.
"If you just said let's put 10 million cubic metres of sand on the beaches, the first question I would ask is 'where are you going to get it from?'," said Mr Day.
Palm Beach local Nikki Dee looking over the erosion from a king tide. Picture: Mike Batterham
"Just sticking the sand in is only a temporary solution.
"The council certainly recognises the importance of beaches to the community and the local economy."
If the Gold Coast is blessed with calmer conditions over the next four months sand stocks should build up but it is unlikely it will be enough to withstand the summer storm season.
Aug 3, 2012
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Magma bubbles higher in Mt Tongariro
Tests have revealed that magma is bubbling higher than usual in Mount Tongariro, which means further eruptions are more likely.
A series of samples have been tested since the volcano's Te Mari crater erupted on Monday night, but the latest results give the greatest insight.
"We're now convinced that the likelihood of this just being a one-off has decreased," GNS vulcanologist Nico Fournier said.
"But it doesn't mean it's just about to blow and go pear-shape."
The results detected sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide in the steam plume, which indicated that magma was closer to the surface than it usually was, Fournier said.
It was unclear how high the magma was - it could be anything from metres to kilometres, Fournier said.
If a magmatic eruption did occur then it wouldn't necessarily be significant, he said. It could result in a lava flow or it could lead to a series of explosions.
"It doesn't mean it could be a massive eruption, it could be passive," Fournier said.
It was also likely that Monday night's eruption could be followed by a series of steam eruptions, or no activity at all, Fournier said.
Civil Defence, along with a number of other organisations including the Department of Conservation, would continue to monitor the volcano's activity.
There was no new advice or warnings that stemmed from the latest development, a Civil Defence spokesman said.
There was about 2100 tonnes of sulphur dioxide being emitted from the volcano per day.
That was above average and the highest suplhur dioxide emission rate for any New Zealand volcano, however it wasn't unexpected considering the amount of steam and gas which was being emitted, a GNS spokesperson said.
Further visual observations were being undertaken today.
Scientists would also be obtaining gas and water samples from the nearby Ketetahi hot springs and some of the rocks which were ejected from the crater and which damaged the Ketetahi hut.
The volcano was still ejecting steam and gas this morning while tremors continued to shake the earth below it, Fournier said.
Meanwhile, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake in the Bay of Plenty this morning has had no impact on White Island, which erupted on Tuesday night.
It was the first eruption in 12 years for the country's most active and largest cone.
White Island tended to have volcanic episodes which lasted a few months to a few years, so this could just be the start of more to come, Rosenberg said.
The Te Mari crater last erupted in 1897.
Aug 10, 2012
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NZDF Locates 7500sq Miles of Pumice from Underwater Volcano
Aug 11, 2012
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Lahar reported on Tongariro
Staff at Taupo District Council are investigating reports of a lahar streaming from Mount Tongariro.
They're assisting GNS - with heavy rain expected to push debris from Monday night's eruption down the mountain.
Head of the volcanology department at GNS Science, Jill Jolly, says State Highway 46 has been closed as a precaution.
"It might be that it's too early to call it lahar, and they're going to make observations and let us know exactly what has been seen."
Ms Jolly says it's something which would be expected after an eruption, but it's not related to volcanic activity.
Aug 13, 2012
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Council still perplexed by mystery humming in New Zealand
News of mysterious humming sounds in Wellington has prompted a nationwide response to determine its cause.
The Wellington City Council has received nearly 30 reports of the low pitched sound over the past few days but say they have no idea what's causing it.
Council spokesman Richard Maclean says the council has been contacted by people from Mosgiel to Auckland advising them on what the noise might be.
"People saying that they have heard the humming in Wellington, they've shifted to Auckland, they can still hear humming in Auckland."
Mr Maclean says the council will continue to investigate the sound if it causes further concerns.
Oct 10, 2012
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huge landslide in Milford Sound South Island of New Zealand
Days needed to clear Milford Sound landslide
A huge landslide blocking the only road to and from Milford Sound will take days to clear.
Debris from the slip is covering a stretch of around 200 metres of the road between Falls Creek and Monkey Creek.
Some boulders are reckoned to weigh as much as 200 tonnes, and geotechnical experts are assessing the situation before work to clear the slip begins.
The Transport Agency closed the road on Friday because of the weather, and only a few dozen people were stranded.
Oct 14, 2012
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Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Jolts Tokoroa, New Zealand
Tokoroa, New Zealand – As if the world has not shaken enough. New Zealand falls victim to Friday’s onslaught of earthquakes throughout the globe. A strong Magnitude 6.3 earthquake jolts residents of Tokoroa, New Zealand. The quake hit 19km SE of Tokoroa.
On December 22nd of last year a series of strong earthquakes struck the New Zealand city of Christchurch. It too was on a Friday although it is Saturday presently in that country.
Last years quake rattled buildings, sending goods tumbling from shelves and prompting terrified holiday shoppers to flee into the streets. There was no tsunami alert issued and the city appeared to have been spared major damage.
Again speaking of last year’s tremor, the first 5.8-magnitude quake struck on a Friday afternoon, 16 miles (26 kilometers) north of Christchurch and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) deep, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Minutes later, a 5.3-magnitude aftershock hit. About an hour after that, the city was shaken by another 5.8-magnitude temblor, the U.S.G.S. said, though New Zealand’s geological agency GNS Science recorded that aftershock as a magnitude-6.0. Both aftershocks were less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) deep.
New Zealand is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is geologically active.
No damage has been reported as the seismic event just occurred 10 minutes ago. As soon as we have word of news from that area in the world we will provide an immediate report.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1...
A strong earthquake has hit the southern half of the North Island on Saturday morning with items reported falling off shelves.
The magnitude 5.8 earthquake went on for at least 30 seconds and was located 25 km south-east of Tokoroa at a depth of 196km.
The quake struck at 7.19am.
GNS Science said it was a "decent subduction zone quake" which means it was deep and felt widely, though it is often not felt where it happened.
GeoNet said it was the strongest in a swarm of 24 tremors in the North Island over a seven-hour period.
Caz Milligan wrote on Twitter there was significant shaking in Pohangina Valley.
"No damage, however items fell off shelves," she wrote.
In Hawke's Bay the quake rattled houses and it was felt as far away as Wellington.
Sandra wrote on Twitter: "TV wobbled. House creaked. Photos on dresser shook. Cat was not perturbed and wanted breakfast. So much for animal senses."
Sara Knox tweeted that the quake shook her awake in Wellington.
"Hope Mt Tongariro didn't feel it and get ideas ..."
Jerome Gilchrist tweeted that the earthquake was "scary".
"I live in Titahi bay that's ages away from each other and it was a 5.8 ugh it woke me up."
Dec 8, 2012
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New Waihi sinkhole mystery
Drilling is restarting in Waihi East again today in a bid to discover what caused damaging land settlement at five properties in the area in November.
But property owners remained tight-lipped on the issue while they worked towards a solution with Hauraki District Council and Newmont Waihi Gold (NWG), which has an underground mine nearby and plans to mine the Correnso ore body beneath the residential area.
While there is no record of any underground mine workings under the affected area, the council drilled down to see if the cause of the event could have been a sinkhole into an old mine similar to a one that engulfed a residential section and its house in 2001.
They found that no voids existed below the area and that a sinkhole could "largely be discounted", but the true cause remained a mystery.
NWG sent a letter to residents on Christmas Eve to say a drilling rig would be reaming the same drill hole from today for up to three weeks to help the investigation.
The global mining giant has also offered to relocate all affected residents at no cost and to purchase the affected properties at the pre-event market value and to meet the costs of the sale.
At least one person has already sold.
But NWG had not admitted liability, Waihi East Ratepayers Group spokesman Terry Podmore said.
Podmore has seen the damage to two properties and says NWG's offer was to keep residents safe, "so there is a concern there".
He said the foundations of one property were cracked and the exterior weatherboards had buckled outwards as if the house was settling in the middle.
The ground had dropped in places along a strip of land that was easily visible, Podmore said.
He said there were three possible causes:
- subdivision fill that was put in more than 30 years ago had settled but that was "unlikely".
- dewatering in NWG's existing underground mine had left a cavity underneath.
- NWG's drilling in February.
"Contractors drilled a hole directly behind No 43 Gladstone Rd. And they drilled down to the top of the ore body. The suggestion is that as they were drilling down they went through what's called a void or cavity. What they've done is created a situation where the water around those houses is actually going down that drill hole into the void."
Podmore said NWG had done the right thing by putting those homeowners at ease now rather than waiting to prove who was at fault.
"I think it's safe to say the rest of the community around those houses are concerned about the potential for this sort of thing to happen in the future and they'll be waiting with interest to see what the outcome of the investigations are."
A working party consisting of representatives from the district council, the Waikato Regional Council and NWG will be formed to undertake further investigations into the probable causes of the settlement in the New Year.
Jan 10, 2013