Please Place Evidence of the 7 of 10 Plate Movements Here

Oct 23, 2016

Kojima had created small snips of Konstantin's animation of the 7 of 10 Plate Movements.

Here is the full 7 of 10 Animation by Konstantin.

This blog is the place to document ongoing earth changes related to the 7 of 10 plate movements as described by the Zetas.

ZetaTalk: 7 of 10 Sequence
written October 16, 2010

The 7 of 10 scenarios describe plate movements, and for this to occur something has to release the deadlock, the current stalemate where the plates are locked against each other. Once the deadlock is broken and the plates start moving, sliding past each other, new points where the plates are locked against each other develop, but these are weaker locks than the one at present. The current lock, as we have so often stated, is the Indo-Australian Plate which is being driven under the Himalayans. This is no small lock, as the height of the Himalayans attests. Nevertheless, the activity in this region shows this likely to be the first of the 7 of 10 scenarios to manifest. Bangladesh is sinking and the Coral Sea is rising, showing the overall tipping of the Indo-Australian Plate. Now Pakistan is sinking and not draining its floods as it should, while Jakarta on the tongue of Indonesia is also sinking rapidly, showing that the tilt that will allow Indonesia to sink has already started.

Meanwhile, S America is showing signs of a roll to the west. Explosions on islands just to the north of the S American Plate occurred recently, on Bonaire and Trinidad-Tobago, and the Andes are regularly being pummeled. There is a relationship. As the Indo-Australia Plate lifts and slides, this allows the Pacific plates to shift west, which allows S America to shift west also. This is greatly increased by the folding of the Mariana Trench and the Philippine Plate. But it is the Indo-Australian Plate that gives way to incite change in these other plates, and this is what is manifesting now to those closely following the changes. Once the folding of the Pacific has occurred, Japan has been destabilized. We are not allowed to give a time frame for any of these plate movements, but would point out that it is not until the North Island of Japan experiences its strong quakes that a tsunami causing sloshing near Victoria occurs. There are clues that the New Madrid will be next.

Where the N American continent is under great stress, it has not slipped because it is held in place on both sides. The Pacific side holds due to subduction friction along the San Andreas, and the Atlantic side holds due to the Atlantic Rift's reluctance to rip open. What changes this dynamic? When S America rolls, almost in step with the folding Pacific, it tears the Atlantic Rift on the southern side. This allows Africa freedom to move and it rolls too, dropping the Mediterranean floor above Algeria. What is holding the N American continent together has thus eased, so that when the Japan adjustments are made, there is less holding the N American continent in place than before, and the New Madrid gives way. We are also not allowed to provide the time frame between the Japan quakes and New Madrid. Other than the relationship in time between the New Madrid and the European tsunami, no time frame can be given. The sequence of events is, thus:

a tipping Indo-Australia Plate with Indonesia sinking,
a folding Pacific allowing S America to roll,
a tearing of the south Atlantic Rift allowing Africa to roll and the floor of the Mediterranean to drop,
great quakes in Japan followed by the New Madrid adjustment,
which is followed almost instantly by the tearing of the north Atlantic Rift with consequent European tsunami.

Source: http://www.zetatalk.com/index/zeta584.htm

Tipping Indo-Australia Plate with Indonesia sinking,

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-23.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-24.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-25.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-26.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-28.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-30.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-31.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-32.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-34.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-37.htm

Folding Pacific

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-33.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-38.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfx351.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-47.htm

South American Roll

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-39.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-40.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-41.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-42.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-43.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-44.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-45.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-47.htm

African Roll

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-46.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-47.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-48.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-52.htm

Japan Quakes

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-53.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-54.htm

New Madrid

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-59.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-60.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-61.htm

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-62.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-63.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-64.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-65.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-68.htm

European Tsunami

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-70.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-71.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-72.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-73.htm

http://zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-74.htm

Due to the slowing of the 7 of 10 plate movements by the Council of Worlds the impact of some of the events described above will be lessened.

The Zetas explain:

ZetaTalk: Pace Slowed

Written May 19, 2012

The effect of the thousands of humming boxes placed along fault lines and plate borders can be seen in several incidents that have occurred since the start of the 7 of 10 plate movements. The lack of tsunami during the 7 of 10 sinking of the Sunda Plate is one such example. We predicted at the start of the 7 of 10 scenarios in late 2010 that the Sunda Plate sinking would occur within 2-3 weeks, yet it dragged on through 2011. At the time we had predicted tsunami on the Sunda Plate, in general equivalent in height to the loss of elevation for a coastline. None of this occurred due to the slower pace.

The pace of mountain building in S America, where slowed, has still resulted in rumpling up and down the Andes, and stretch zone accidents likewise in lands to the east of the Andes. The shape of S America has clearly changed. Will the islands in the Caribbean be spared? At some point, as with the magnitude 7.9 quake in Acapulco on March 2, 2012 a significant adjustment will need to occur, and this will include depressing the Caribbean Plate so it tilts, sinking the islands and lands on that portion of the plate to the degree predicted. But the S American roll will likely continue to avoid the magnitude 8 quakes we originally predicted in deference to slow rumpling mountain building. The African roll was anticipated to be a silent roll in any case, so the slowed pace would not affect the outcome.

Will the slowed pace prevent the 7 of 10 scenarios for the Northern Hemisphere? Bowing of the N American continent has reached the point of pain, with breaking rock booming from coast to coast, but still there have been no significant quakes in the New Madrid area. Yet this is past due, and cannot be held back indefinitely. What has and will continue to occur for the Northern Hemisphere scenarios are silent quakes for Japan, which has already experienced drastic subduction under the north island of Hokkaido where mountain building is occurring as a rumple rather than a jolt. However, the anticipated New Madrid adjustment cannot be achieved without trauma. But this could potentially occur in steps and stages such that any European tsunami would be significantly lessened.

Source: http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10109.htm

ZetaTalk , Written March 10, 2012

What happens when the pace of plate movement is slowed? The likelihood of tsunami is definitely reduced, as can be seen in the sinking on the Sunda Plate. The sinking occurred, and is almost complete, yet the possibility of tsunami we predicted for various regions on the Sunda Plate were avoided. The height and force of a tsunami is directly related to the degree of displacement in the sea floor, and if this happens in steps rather than all at once the displacement will be less for any given step.

This bodes well for the European tsunami. If the Council of Worlds is still imposing a slower pace on the 7 of 10 plate movements, this tsunami will definitely be lessened. The tear in the North Atlantic will be slight, each time. The amount of water pouring into this void will be less, each time. And the rebound toward the UK will likewise be less, each time. But our prediction is the worst case situation, and it also reflects what the Earth changes, unabated, would produce.

But what does a slower pace do to land masses where jolting quakes are expected? Does this reduce the overall magnitude of the quakes anticipated? Large magnitude quakes result when a catch point along plate borders is highly resistant, but snapping of rock finally results. Usually there is one place, the epicenter, where this catch point resides and a long distance along the plate border where smaller quakes have prepared the border for easy movement. A point of resistance within the body of a plate, such as the New Madrid, can likewise resist and suddenly give.

There is no way to lessen the resistance at these catch points, though the tension that accompanies such points can be reduced so that the quake itself is delayed. What this means for a slower 7 of 10 pace is that large magnitude quakes will be spread apart in time, and their relationship to our predictions thus able to be camouflaged by the establishment. Where sinking (such as the Caribbean Island of Trinidad) or spreading apart (such as to the west of the Mississippi River) are to occur, these land changes will eventually arrive. But like the sinking of the Sunda Plate, a slower pace unfortunately allows the cover-up time to maneuver and develop excuses.

Source: http://www.zetatalk.com/ning/10mr2012.htm

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Stanislav

22 families displaced after land sinks in Batote, India. 22 March, 2016.

Many villages without power, DC assures all possible help

Twenty two (22) families in Batote town today abandoned their homes after the area witnessed land sinking due to heavy rainfall across the district.

Three-days of heavy rainfall resulted in total collapse of 16 houses at Sheikh Mohalla in Batote whereas four other houses were partially damaged.

The residents of these houses had luckily shifted from these structures before they collapsed.

The houses belonging to Mangtu Sheikh, Ghulam Hussain, Mohammad Naseem, Samdu Sheikh, Dilawar Mohammad, Altaf Hussain, Vishwa Nath Mattu, M Yasin, M Farooq, M Issac, M Naseem, M Shabir, Mohammad Lateef, Shakil Ahmed, Zaiba Begum and Mohammad Yousuf have been damaged beyond repair.

The houses of Roshan Lal Mattu, Nirmal Kour, M Rafiq and Mohammad Lateef have been partially damaged.

Taking stock of the situation, district administration has provided 15 tents and 75 blankets to the landslide victims, besides ordering to supply one month free ration to these families.

Owing to the ongoing sinking of land over one kilometre stretch on which the 11KV transmission line runs also has been damaged.

The damage has caused power failure in Tringla, Amar Cheshma, Ladhwal, Khotri, Barthal and Bhandera.

These places are without electricity from Saturday night.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Bashir Ahmed Dar while offering every possible help to the sufferer, asked them to hire house on rent, “which will be paid by the administration”. Source: risingkashmir.com

Mar 22, 2016
Stanislav
Vietnam

Highlights
- Since January, severe drought and saltwater intrusion has significantly affected the livelihood, food security and water supply of nearly 1.8 million people across all provinces in SouthCentral,
- Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions.
- To date, 39 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam have been impacted by drought – 12 provinces declared a State of Emergency.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, United Nations and NGOs partners are conducting a joint multi-cluster rapid assessment to inform response planning. Findings are expected to become available around 1 April.
- On 15 March, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development organized a development partners meeting on the drought situation in the south of Viet Nam where situation from three affected provinces were discussed. As an outcome of this meeting, the Government, UN and INGOs decided to carry out a multi-cluster rapid assessment to better understand the immediate needs of the affected provinces.
- 1.75 million People affected by the drought and saltwater intrusion
- 39 Number of provinces affected
- 12 Provinces in state of emergency
- 226,094 hectares productive land affected
Situation Overview

Since late 2014, a serious drought has been impacting the South Central Coast, Central Highlands and Southern regions of Vietnam. Lower than average rainfall and very high temperatures throughout 2015 further exacerbated the situation. In the first half of 2015, nine provinces were seriously affected in the South Central Coast, Central highlands and Southern Vietnam (Quang Tri, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Nghe An, Kon Tum). Among these, three provinces declared the emergency situation in June 2015 (Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Nghe An).

For the past three months, the ongoing drought, water shortage and salt intrusion have posed a significant risk to some 1.75 million people in the South-Central regions, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions of Vietnam. A total of 39 out of the 63 provinces (62 per cent) of Viet Nam have been affected and 12 provinces have declared a State of Emergency (Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang, Long An, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Ninh Thuan, Kien Giang).

As of 17 March, the upstream water level of the Mekong River is reported very low (water level on Tien River in Tan Chau was 0.31 metre; water level on Hau River in Chau Doc was 0.54 metre). It is expected that the water flow in rivers in the Central Region will continue to decrease until the end of June.

The drought is attributed to saline (salt) intrusion in the Mekong Delta affecting aquifers (underground water sources) which usually supports the domestic water demand.

Average capacity of medium and big reservoirs have also reached low capacities; some reservoirs are at 60 to 70 per cent of their full design capacity. At least four reservoirs (Da Ban, Song Bieu, Lanh Ra and Da Bac) have reached considerably low levels as of 15 March. According to national weather forecasts, there is a 90 per cent probability that effects of El Niño will continue until mid-2016.

Source: reliefweb.int
Mar 25, 2016
Stanislav

Pakistan

Pakistani villagers watch at flash flooding on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, on April 3, 2016. Mohammad Sajjad—AP. Source: time.com

Poverty and poor infrastructure greatly exacerbate the impact of floods. Source: bbc.com

Heavy pre-monsoon rains are common in the region. Source: bbc.com

Thousands stranded by floods and landslides in north-west Pakistan. 4 April, 2016

Men collect their belongings from their makeshift shop which was damaged by flood water after heavy rain on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, April 3, 2016. – Reuters photo. Source: newagebd.net

Officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province say they are consulting the military about a rescue operation

Rescuers are attempting to reach thousands of people stranded by floods and landslides in Pakistan’s north-west and parts of Kashmir after the death toll rose to 55.

Disaster management officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where 47 people have died since the downpour began on Saturday night, said they were consulting the military about a rescue operation there amid fears the death toll could still climb. “We are trying to arrange a helicopter to reach the people stuck under debris of their houses,” Latifur Rehman, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority, told AFP.

The authority said it had received reports of damage to dozens of houses but had failed to reach people stranded in three districts of the province. “We need to get bodies and the injured out from under the rubble and provide food and tents to the survivors,” Rehman said, adding that four truckloads of supplies had been sent to affected districts. Source: theguardian.com

Thailand

MWA advises residents to save water. 31 March, 2016

People in Bangkok and its vicinity should save water for household use over the next few days as raw water pumping might be temporarily suspended due to salt water intrusion.

The intrusion has reached the Sam-Lae water pumping station, the biggest tap water producer for the capital.

Narongrit Srisatidnarakul, deputy governor of the Metropolitan Waterworks Authority (MWA), said the salinity level at the Sam-Lae station in Pathum Thani was measured at 0.32 of a gramme per litre, higher than the monitoring level' of 0.25 grammes per litre.

He said it is possible the salinity will rise above 0.5 of a gramme per litre, in which case the authority will stop pumping raw water to produce tap water as the high levels of salt would damage the water production system. The saltwater enters the Chao Phraya River from the Gulf of Thailand, and ends up at the power station. Source: bangkokpost.com

As worst drought in 50 years drags on, govt looks to water conservation, Songkran limits. 29 March, 2016

THE GOVERNMENT is calling on people to lower their household water consumption by at least 20 per cent in the face of the severe drought.

Songkran revellers are also being asked to keep in mind the country's water shortage.

The Provincial Waterworks Authority (PWA), which provides tap-water services to most parts of the country, has described the drought as the "worst in half a century".

"Please save water," Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister General Chatchai Sarikalya said at a press conference yesterday, joining top executives of relevant organisations. <...>

He said saltwater intrusion had already affected sources of raw water at five PWA branches.

The authority is now trying to encourage people to save water and to find alternative sources of raw water.

The Royal Irrigation Department's director general Suthep Noipairoj said conservation would protect against a severe water shortage.

A source said the Secretariat of the Prime Minister had already set up a committee to supervise the implementation of short-term and long-term water-saving measures.

In Uttaradit's Nam Pat district, authorities are delivering 18,000 cubic metres of water a day to a local hospital to ensure it can continue normal services in the face of drought. Source: nationmultimedia.com

Vietnam

Viet Nam’s farmers suffer as El Niño contributes to widespread drought. 4 April, 2016

A Red Cross staff conducts an assessment with a household in Ben Tre province in Viet Nam. Photo credit: Viet Nam Red Cross Society By Ly Nguyen, IFRC

Since the end of 2015, unusually dry conditions and a shortage of rainfall have seriously affected Viet Nam. These conditions which are associated with El Niño, have led to severe drought in parts of the central, central highlands and southern regions of the country, including the Mekong Delta. Some water levels are at the lowest recorded in 90 years.

“In 2015, there was lower than average rainfall during the rainy season which ended two months earlier than in previous years. Water shortage has been compounded by saltwater intrusion. Salinity is four times higher than seasonal averages,” said Phan Duy Le, Vice Chairman of Quoi Dien commune in Thanh Phu district, Ben Tre province. “The consequences are very concerning. The drought and salty water have been threatening crops and agricultural production, and most importantly, access to drinking water for local people.”

Saltwater intrusion has affected fifty percent of the Mekong Delta region, reaching 70-90 kilometer inland, 20-25 kilometers further than seasonal averages.
<...>
“I have never experienced such a drought and salinity in my life,” said 65-year-old Vo Thi Hoa, who is living with her husband and two nephews in Quoi Dien. “Norrmally, safe drinking water remains available and could be stored in January. I have never bought water before but so far I have had to buy it three times”.
<...>
El Niño has been affecting a number of Southeast Asian countries since the last quarter of 2015. Viet Nam is one of the most severely affected, largely as a consequence of higher temperatures and below-average precipitation during the rainy season. 39 out of the countries 63 provinces have been affected by drought and saltwater intrusion, of which 12 provinces have declared drought and saltwater intrusion emergencies at different levels. Source: ifrc.org

Chinese dams blamed for exacerbating Southeast Asian drought. 1 April, 2016.
<...>
Much of Southeast Asia is suffering its worst drought in 20 or more years. Tens of millions of people in the region are affected by the low level of the Mekong, a rice-bowl-sustaining river system that flows into Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Fresh water is running short for hundreds of thousands of people in Vietnam and Cambodia, and reduced water for irrigation has hurt agriculture, particularly rice growing in Thailand, where land under cultivation is being cut significantly this year.

<...>
Vietnam says the saltwater intrusion into its southern Mekong Delta is unprecedented. In mid-March, it asked China to double the amount of water discharged from its Jinghong dam in Yunnan province. China agreed and the increased water flow is expected to continue until April 10. Source: salon.com

Drought in Vietnam will become 'dangerous' in April: forecast. 29 March, 2016.

Drought and saltwater intrusion in Vietnam’s southern and central regions will persist through April, according to experts.
Nguyen Dang Quang, a drought expert at the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said at a Monday forum in Hanoi that the intense El Nino phenomenon from last year will last for two more months.
Temperatures in the central and southern Vietnam in April and May will be around one degree Celsius higher than the average in recent years.
“April will be an extremely dangerous time for drought and saltwater intrusion in the regions,” Quang said, as cited by Tuoi Tre newspaper.
Experts at the conference said salinization of the Tien and Hau Rivers, the main tributaries of the Mekong River, will hit an alarmingly high level.
Nearly half of the 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of arable land in the Mekong Delta had been attacked by saltwater and hundreds of thousands of locals are suffering from water scarcity.
Economic impacts
Bui Quang Vinh, Minister of Investment and Planning, said at a government meeting last Saturday that the damage to agriculture activities may drag economic growth this year to 5.45 percent, from 6.68 percent in 2015.
A report from the Southern Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said in the southern region the mercury will rise to 39 degrees in April and early May. Source: thanhniennews.com

Bangladesh

Women’s rights undercut by water crisis in Bangladesh. 4 April, 2016

In the coastal areas of southern Bangladesh, the search for freshwater, and saltwater intrusion, stand in the way of women’s freedoms

Women are on the frontlines of climate change, both as those affected by it, and as the first responders to the crisis. This holds across the region, as women in Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh struggle to deal with the crisis of water.
<...>
NK: Does this have any effect on social relations?
CB: Yes. There is a social crisis in the area also related to the water problems. As most of women spend the early hours of the day collecting drinking water, they face problems in completing the other household chores on time. This, in turn, creates tensions and disputes within families, and often leads to domestic violence. In addition, young girls face “eve teasing” [a South Asian term for sexual harassment], as they need to travel far from their own village. Because of this harassment girls refuse to collect water and consume available saline water. Another thing is that much of the population of southern Bangladesh lives below the poverty line. Further economic loss due to salt water intrusion leads to even more hardship, especially as time spent in water collection limits time that can be spent to earn money. Due to high unemployment a number of families are planning to migrate to India or other countries, or even migrate inland.
<...>
We also have to solve governance issues. The intrusion of salt water is not only due to climate change. Shrimp cultivation has expanded haphazardly in Bangladesh. But shrimp need salt water to breed, and inland salt water ponds to breed shrimp can contaminate freshwater sources. For example, when water levels rise during the rainy season, the salt water overflows the shrimp farms and pollutes the freshwater sources. The owners of the shrimp farms tend to be rich and powerful, and thus the local communities, especially the women who are most directly affected, are unable to get redressal. If law enforcement authorities took action to protect the drinking water sources by regulating the creation of saltwater shrimp farms, or by ensuring compensation by their owners if the shrimp farms polluted freshwater sources, then this additional pressure would be removed from the women in these communities. Source: scroll.in

Apr 4, 2016
Stanislav

Fiji floods: One reported dead, one missing. 5 April, 2016

Flooding in Rakiraki, Fiji Photo: RNZI Sally Round

One person is reported dead and another missing in the widespread flooding which has hit Fiji over the past two days.

The body of a 70-year-old man was found floating in the Sabeto River this morning, FBC News reported. The broadcaster said the man was believed to have gone for an early morning swim. A 19-year-old girl, meanwhile, has been reported missing after she was washed away by strong river currents last night. More than 3500 people have moved to 79 evacuation centres in the north and west of the main island Viti Levu, as two tropical depressions continue to affect the country.

Authorities are warning people not to travel because of the risk of more heavy rain and flooding.

The town of Nadi has been under metres of floodwaters, and people throughout Fiji are bracing for more over the next 24 hours. Source: radionz.co.nz

Apr 5, 2016
Stanislav
Argentina

Macri described the floods as "an environmental catastrophe". Source: diariofe.com

Source: taringa.net

The Federal Emergency System (SIFEM) explained there is "total 9,895 evacuees and others 18,980 affected by flooding in seven provinces" (EFE). Source: diariolasamericas.co

Source: corrientesvirtual.com

21 April, 2016

30 March, 2016

21 April, 2016

30 March, 2016

25 April, 2016. Floods: the losses reach 15% of the soybean crop. Google translate

While most estimates speak of a loss of between 3 and 4 million tons of soybean, Federated Farmers Argentinos (AFA) cooperative calculated that under the waters will be much more than that: almost 9 million tons, up 15% harvest was expected. According to the report, this means that a shortage of 31,500 million pesos to producers affected by floods.

He surprised by the AFA, whose stockpiles are scattered throughout the Pampas region, with this closed on April 21, after nearly twenty days of incessant rains over the central agricultural zone of the country, which proved fatal for soybeans and other rural activities prognosis.

But technicians joined volume losses harvested the expected loss by falling commercial quality.

Thus, they concluded that soybean production would be only 50.28 million tons, about 8.76 million fewer than expected until earlier this month, before the storm. Source: ieco.clarin.com

25 April, 2016. 40,000 affected by heavy flooding in Northeast region

Floods continued to wreak havoc across multiple provinces in low-lying provinces in Argentina’s North and East yesterday, with over 40,000 people reported affected and thousands of hectares of land under water according to the Interior Ministry.
As in other recent cases of heavy flooding to hit the northeast, Entre Ríos province, sandwiched between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, was the most severely stricken, and a province-wide “state of emergency” was declared over the weekend by Governor Gustavo Bordet.
“The situation is complicated throughout the province,” Bordet said yesterday during an interview on Radio Vorterix.
Elsewhere, thousands of people were affected in other northeastern regions, including in the northern province of Chaco, which reported over 8,000 evacuees as a result of the floods.
Interior Minister Rogelio Frigerio said yesterday that “between 3.5 and 3.8 million tons” of their crops, mainly soy, had been lost as a result of the floods.
President of the local Association of Rural Workers (CARSFE) in the province for his part estimated massive losses of agricultural revenue as a result of the widespread flooding across provincial farmland.
“Some US$2.5 billion” would be lost in revenue due to the floods, he said. Source: buenosairesherald.com

23 April, 2016. Macri: "We are facing an environmental catastrophe". Source: telam.com.ar

19 April, 2016. San José de Mayo faces the worst flood of the past 60 years. Google translate
San José de Mayo faces the worst flooding since 1959, when water, as happened this weekend, exceeded the bridge entrance on Route 11 (Puente Carretero). The emergency situation was so surprising in the capital maragata many neighbors came out with nothing and places determined by the Departmental Emergency Committee to welcome the displaced -the Rural Association and the neighborhood community hall overflowed Roberto Mariano. Source: uypress.net

23 April, 2016. 100% of the dairy farms are affected Santa Fe. Google tranlsate

Floods resulting from extraordinary rains put another sword over the head of producer

The president of the Provincial Bureau of Dairying Santa Fe, Marcelo Aimaro, said that "100% of the Santa Fe dairy farms is affected by floods" due to heavy rains which in some areas exceeded 800 millimeters ( mm) in less than a month and stressed that "can not yet quantify the damage."

Aimaro stressed that "lives santafesina dairy basin saw the worst disaster in 49 years" and said that "what worries is not the present but the future because the tambero producer was already the limit."

"It is cut the chain of payments in some towns, as dairy live entire villages," he said, and stressed that "when the water goes down, there should be a committee with an engineer and a veterinarian who relieved producer for producer for see the problems they have and assist them financially. "

For his part, Minister of Santa Fe Production, Luis Contigiani, said the impact of the rains "was very aggressive" and called it "a tsunami" with "loss of animal and fall very large production in a sector already He came in crisis. " "In other cases, as in soy, where we had great expectations, the activity is on standby; no damage and prospects know what we will have, "said provincial official.

Dairy farmers claim that "is a shot of grace," the worst crisis in the history of the sector is that floods are occurring produced a logistical chaos and aggravate the finances of the activity. Source: lagaceta.com.ar

Peru

23 April, 2016. Cajamarca: About 250 meters from the road sank by geological fault. Google translate

About 250 meters from the road sank by geological fault. It happened on the road linking the north coast with Cajamarca

Sliding from a hill this morning destroyed more than 250 meters from the road linking the north coast with Cajamarca region at kilometer 130 in the province of San Pablo.

The Cave Azañero family, residing for many years a few meters away was the first to hear a loud noise. It was about 7:45 in the morning. On leaving the peasants housing witnessed a fact that so far has frightened. Part of the hill the road holding his possibly sank because of a geological fault.

The first reports of Civil Defense of Cajamarca indicate that the ground would also slipped by the existence of a puquio or also known as 'waterhole' that wet part of the hill. This area has a weak geography because the ground lost consistency over the years.

Spokesmen for Provías Cajamarca estimated that about 250 kilometers of asphalt came off and that the road will be closed for at least two months. The transition to Cajamarca flows through an alternative pathway located in the district of San Pablo. Source: elcomercio.pe

India

25 April, 2016. Assam floods affect 92,000, Arunachal district cut off

Torrential rains on the other hand have triggered off massive landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Assam

The flood situation in Assam worsened on Monday with the number of people affected in six districts rising to over 92,000, of whom 7,200 have shifted to 40 relief camps. As several tributaries of the Brahmaputra continued to flow above the danger level and inundated fresh villages, the authorities have also deployed the Army, NDRF and SDRF personnel in rescue operations.
Torrential rains on the other hand have triggered off massive landslides in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Assam, disrupting railway traffic in the Lumding-Badarpur hill section for the third consecutive day. Landslides have cut off Anjaw district in eastern Arunachal Pradesh and Mon district in Nagaland, official reports said.
The six districts that have been reeling under floods included Sivasagar, Charaideo, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Cachar, officials in the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said. In Dima Hasao district on the other hand several labourers engaged in stone quarrying were feared washed away due to flash floods in the Jatinga river. Landslides have cut off both road as well as railway links in the district. Source: indianexpress.com

Vietnam

22 April, 2016. Each year, Ca Mau sinks by 1.71 cm

Ca Mau peninsula is continuing to sink, according to research by the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation under the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam. Dr. Do Van Linh, Deputy Head of the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation, said the deepest subsidence in Ca Mau was measured 1.71 cm a year, while the average subsidence due to groundwater exploitation was about 0.35 cm a year.

There are three reasons for this situation: subsidence due to young sediment and water exploitation, and by tectonic movements. This trend will continue in the coming years.
Previously, studies of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) showed that Ca Mau is sharply subsiding. The subsidence speed measured was higher than the studies of the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation.
According to NGI, Ca Mau may suffer from serious subsidence on the surface, as the result of surface water pumping activities of 109,096 wells with the total pumped water volume of 373,000 m3 a day.
If the exploited water volume is divided for the total area of Ca Mau province (approximately 4,350 km2), the speed of subsidence is 1.9 to 2.8 cm a year. If the area of Ca Mau province is 5,300 km2 instead of 4,350 km2, the subsidence rate is 1.56 to 2.30 cm a year.
NGI's research also pointed out, in 15 years (1998-2013), ground subsidence rate would be 30-80 cm and it is predicted that in the next 25 years, the rate of subsidence will increase to 90-150 cm and 210 cm in the next 50 years. Source: english.vietnamnet.vn

Drought and Saltwater Intrusion Situation Update No. 2 (as of 14 April 2016). Source: reliefweb.int
- Since January 2016, severe drought and saltwater intrusion is significantly affecting the livelihoods, food security and water supply of nearly 2.3 million people (MARD report, 30 March) across all provinces in South-Central, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions.
- To date, 39 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam have been impacted by drought, of which 34 provinces have received some support from central Government.
- 14 provinces have declared a state of emergency.
- In April, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, United Nations and NGOs partners conducted a joint multisector rapid assessment 6 of the most affected provinces (Ben Tre, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Kien Giang) to inform response planning.
- Priority humanitarian needs are in the following areas: (a) provision of clean drinking water, (b) ensuring access to clean water sources, (c) containing rising cases of diseases, (d) addressing food shortages, and (e) addressing malnutrition.
Situation Overview

Ongoing drought, water shortage and saline intrusion are affecting some 2.3 million people (MARD report, 30 March) in the South-Central, Central Highlands and Mekong Delta regions of the country. To date, 14 provinces have declared a State of Emergency (Binh Thuan, Ben Tre, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Tra Vinh, Tien Giang, Long An, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Ninh Thuan, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu and Dak Lak).

Induced by the El Nino phenomenon, the drought in South Central Coast and Central Highland provinces has led to serious groundwater depletion in several water-scarce districts. The Mekong Delta provinces are facing saline water intrusion as a result of low water levels in the Mekong River.
In coastal areas, saltwater intrusion now reaches inland up to 90 kilometres inland in some areas, making water unfit for drinking, bathing, irrigation and livestock.

Water supply is not reaching some remote communities, commune-level clinics and schools. Increasingly this is forcing families to rely on unsafe and limited water supply from depleted and untreated ponds and rivers.

Forecast by the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (as of 8 Apr 2016)

The level of salt water intrusion in the downstream rivers of the Mekong Delta continued to increase during the past week, with highest increases recorded in Ben Tre and Tien Giang stations. Salt water intrusion levels in the downstream rivers has lessened slightly in comparison to the previous week, but levels are still higher than the annual average records in most of the hydro-met stations in the Mekong Delta.

There have been slight increases in the water levels in the wider Mekong Delta. This is likely to be due to actions by upstream countries to release additional water upstream as a result of the emergency in Viet Nam. The level in the two main stations of Mekong Delta was 0.2-0.3 meters higher than the previous week at the Sai Gon and Dinh An hydro-meteorological stations. However, water levels in the most drought affected Mekong Provinces such as Ben Tre are still significantly below seasonal averages.

Water levels in the rivers of the Central Region and Central Highlands are at a very low level at 35-60% less than the annual average records. They are particularly low in Cai and La Nga rivers where the water levels are 77-93% lower than the annual average. Drying up of the river is expected to continue in Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lac. Source: reliefweb.int

Indonesia

24 April, 2016. West Java Floods Cause Billions of Rupiah in Economic Loss: BNPB

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) reported that floods that hit a number of areas in West Java province have caused billions of rupiah in economic losses.

"The majority of floods that hit West Java have receded. The floods have left muds and billions of rupiah in financial losses,” said Head of BNPB Public Relations and Information Data Center Sutopo Purwo Nugroho in his press release in Jakarta on Sunday.

According to Sutopo, floods did not only occur in areas near the center of the rivers but also in the downstream areas.

"The floods were not only caused by rivers that overflew and the dykes that broke down in the center of the rivers but they were also caused by tides in the downstream areas," he added.

For the record, floods hit Karawang Regency on Thursday (21/4) and affected 438 households or 1,053 people in four districts. On the same day, floods also hit Bekasi city and inundated a number of densely-populated residential complexes. Still on Thursday, floods also hit the villages in Bogor Regency, namely Bojongkulur, Jatisari and Tarikolot. Source: en.tempo.co

22 April, 2016. Bekasi Floods Worst in City`s History

The flood in Bekasi City, West Java, on Thursday, April 21, 2016, caused by the overflowing of Bekasi River was the worst in the city’s history as the flow rate of the river dam reaches 780 cubic meter per second. “Bigger than the flood in 2007,” Bekasi River dam’s operator Wildan said yesterday.

Wildan said, the peak of water discharge came around 10 am when all southern regions of the dam had been inundated. Pondok Gede Permai residential complex experienced the worst with 4-meter high flood. Whereas other residential complex had an average of 1.5-meter high floods.

A number of residents admitted that the flood was the worst in the city’s history. For instance, Pondok Gede Permain residential complex had often experienced floods up to the entrance of the complex. This time, it had gone beyond it.

“Vila Nusa Indah bridge used not to be inundated; this time, it’s been hit by 1-meter high flood,” said a resident, Kelik Widiyanto.

Head of Highway and Water Management Department of Bekasi City, Tri Adhianto said the water discharge from Bogor was substantial. The water did not recede within one day, even though Bekasi River dam has been opened with the flow rate of 780 cubic meter per second. “We recommend [the goverment to announce it as] an extraordinary event,” Tri said.

Therefore flood handling could immediately be carried out, he said. For example, to restore a 20-meter long levee at a neighborhood in Jatirasa Village, Jatiasih Sub-district. “It would be difficult if we use APBD [regional budget], [the process is] too long,” Tri said.

According to him, by raising the status into an extraordinary event, a contingency fund of Rp30 billion could promptly be used. No later than one week after the decision of raising the status, the fund could be disbursed so that the levee restoration could be carried out. “The levee must be replaced with sheet piling; regular concrete or layer of gabions won’t last long,” he said. Source: en.tempo.co
Apr 25, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Kumamoto Earthquakes]

1) JP.JNU; Oita Nakatsue; 33.12 N, 130.88 E

2) JP.JSU; Kagoshima Suzuyama; 31.51 N, 130.45 E

3) JP.JMN; Kochi Monobe; 33.73 N, 133.88 E

http://g-ever.org

[Asis-Paciffic Region Global Earthquake and Volcanic Eruption Risk Management (G-Ever) Hubsite]

http://g-ever.org/updates/?p=214

[The M6.5 and M7.3 Kumamoto Earthquakes on April 14 and 16, 2016]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Kumamoto_earthquakes

[2016 Kumamoto earthquakes]

http://www.zetatalk.com/7of10/7of10-53.htm

[ZetaTalk: Japan Quakes]

Japan is rattled almost daily by earthquakes of magnitude 5 and 6. It is only when the magnitude is large enough to be classified as a 7 that international news even pays attention. The country has learned to live with such quakes, its infrastructure built in anticipation of earthquakes, and before the modern era, housing was built with bamboo and with very flexible construction designs that can creak and tilt but not shatter. So what would constitute large earthquakes sufficient to be a herald for the New Madrid adjustment? We are speaking here of quakes with a magnitude of 8 or higher, truly in the scale of a 9 but perhaps not called that because of the USGS coverup on quake magnitude. These quakes will rival the large quakes that Japan has historically suffered periodically, but will be characterized by sympathetic adjustments in the Pacific Ring of Fire not normally accompanying large Japan quakes. The whole region will be seen as under pressure from subducting Pacific plates and the reaction to this pressure.

How does this spate of large quakes fit in with the overall scheme of the plate movements that have been described for a movement to a 7 of 10? We are not allowed to say what will come first among the scenarios described, or whether there will be other scenarios that will occur that were not included in the holographic presentation. This presentation described plate movement, not overall impact. It did not include sinkholes or deluge or weather extremes or exploding volcanoes or quakes large enough to ravage cities. We are not allowed to provide the sequence of events, nor warn of just when a particular devastation will strike.

Japan is at the juncture of several plate boundaries. The southern islands are situated on the great Eurasian Plate, and fare the best because this plate is massive and stable. The northern islands are on a tongue of the great N American Plate, but this tongue is likewise stable although it comes under extreme stress particularly at its tip, sometimes called the Okhotsk Plate. It is the pressure from the Pacific that is the issue, as the Pacific is compressing. Likewise, the Philippine Plate is at issue, as it loses in the compression game and in essence is pushed under and lost. The Philippine Plate is tipping, rising at the Mariana Islands and diving under the tongue of the Eurasian Plate that holds Indonesia. This tongue is itself being pushed down. Imagine the domino effect of the Mariana Trench folding against the Philippine Plate, tipping this sideways to drive the western edge under the tongue holding Indonesia, which is at the same time breaking and bending to subduct under the curve of the Indo-Australian Plate.

This is a domino pressure, happening almost simultaneously. The scenario guarantees that the islands of southern Japan will be doing mountain building, particularly at the point where these plates converge at Mt. Fuji. The pressure from the compressing Pacific is applied directly on the northern islands of Japan, however, where the Pacific Plate is pushing under these islands. Thus when plate movement begins, there will first be a tipping and pushing down and under the south of Japan, and then as resistance here is eased, pressure on the northern part of Japan increases until an adjustment is made there likewise. The great quakes to afflict Japan prior to the pole shift will be thus in the south first, followed by great quakes in the northern islands of Japan with consequent tsunami heading for N America. Just when this will hit, and how much time will pass between the quakes in the south to be followed by quakes in the north, we cannot say.

The folding of the Pacific (whereby the Marian Trench folds against the Mariana Plate, which folds against and under the Philippine Plate, which folds against and under the plate tongue holding Indonesia) will of course involve Japan in the shocks. How would this not be so? The Philippine Plate is also pushing under the south island of Japan, and the point of juncture at Mount Fiji, a three-plate boundary where the Pacific and Philippine plates slide past each other, will be a focus. The south island will have jolts as the Philippine Plate tilts and pushes under it, and Mount Fiji will also receive jolts as the Pacific Plate reverberates from having the Philippine Plate scrape along its side. These quakes we would place in the magnitude of 8, though they will be downgraded to be in the range of magnitude 7. The north island shocks will be worse, as the Pacific Plate is not going to tilt the way the Philippine Plate did, thus it will ram its way under the north island. Here is where the great shocks will occur, where they will unquestionably be called of a magnitude 8 but will in truth be more akin to magnitude 9 quakes.

——————————————————

1) JP.JNU; Oita Nakatsue; 33.12 N, 130.88 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=JP.JNU

[2015/07/24 - 2016/04/23]

2) JP.JSU; Kagoshima Suzuyama; 31.51 N, 130.45 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=JP.JSU

[2015/07/24 - 2016/04/23]

3) JP.JMN; Kochi Monobe; 33.73 N, 133.88 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=JP.JMN

[2015/07/24 - 2016/04/23]

Apr 26, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Antarctica]

ER.HOO; Hoopers Shoulder, Mt Erebus Volcano Observatory Network; 77.53 S, 166.93 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=ER.HOO

[2016/04/05 - 04/29]

http://www.zetatalk.com/newsletr/issue482.htm

[The ZetaTalk Newsletter/ Issue 482, Sunday December 27, 2015]

Antarctic Moving

What do quakes outlining the Antarctic Plate say about the status of the 7 of 10 plate movements? The sequence of events during the 7 of 10 movements began when the Indo-Australian Plate tilted its eastern edge up, while plunging India under the Himalayas. The opening in the south Pacific then allowed S America to roll, falling to the west over the Nazca Plate. As the southern Atlantic rips open, the African Plate begins its roll eastward. All of this is in process.

Apr 30, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Caribbean]

1) PR.EMPR; Manati; 18.48 N, 66.26 W

2) PR.MLPR; Magueyes; 17.97 N, 67.04 W

3) PR.PDPR; Patillas, Dam; 18.02 N, 66.02 W

1) PR.EMPR; Manati

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=PR.EMPR

[2016/03/14 - 05/03]

2) PR.MLPR; Magueyes; 17.97 N, 67.04 W

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=PR.MLPR

[2014/09/19 - 2016/05/02]

[2-1) 2014/09/19 - 12/10]

[2-2) 2015/02/10 - 11/26]

[2-3) 2016/04/08 - 05/02]

3) PR.PDPR; Patillas, Dam; 18.02 N, 66.02 W

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=PR.PDPR

[2014/09/19 - 2016/05/02]

[3-1) 2014/09/19 - 11/27]

[3-2) 2015/02/27 - 11/26]

[3-3) 2016/01/01 - 05/02]

http://www.zetatalk.com/info/tinfx370.htm

[Troubled Times/ Caribbean 7 of 10]

As can be seen from plate tectonics, Central America is being pushed over the Cocos Plate. When this is done violently during the 7 of 10 roll, the crumbling we have described for these lands will occur. The small islands just to the east of Central America will participate in this crush. The Caribbean Plate will be pushed up behind them, bunched up, fracturing the rock layers so they go in all directions, up as well as down. This is an issue not so much of sinking as of unpredictability. The fate of these small islands is unpredictable. They may survive from the jumble, or disappear entirely. The hump of the S American Plate intrudes into the Caribbean, and as it moves to the west it will push the Caribbean Plate above Colombia down forcefully. The trend has already been noticed this past year along the Colombian coastline.

Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao ride on the hump, and thus will survive. The island chain along the eastern edge of the Caribbean Plate was formed when the Caribbean Plate was pushed up during expansion of the Atlantic. But this is countered by the hump of S America pushing the Caribbean Plate down, overall. Thus those islands in the chain close to S America will lose in elevation, while those islands at the top of the chain will not. From Antigua south, the islands in this chain can expect a minimum of an elevation drop of 57 feet, on average, with this being irregular throughout due to the trauma to the area. Islands just to the north of S America will be affected the most such that Barbados to Tobago may sink entirely except for the highest points, losing several hundred feet in elevation, and Trinidad will be torn apart in addition to sinking as it rides on the plate border.

A plate, being solid rock in layers, tends to move as one. Thus if the southern part is pushed down, it will tilt, the northern part lift up. The larger islands along the northern part of the Caribbean Plate could be assumed to gain elevation except that the entire Caribbean Plate is losing, overall. Thus the southern shores of these larger islands will experience some elevation loss, where beaches may emerge on the northern shores. To the extent that fracturing is occurring in the plate, as occurs for Haiti, fracturing can be expected. This will be a rough ride for all, with sloshing and clashing water and the Caribbean Plate which at first may seem to rise, then drop as the roll proceeds.

ZetaTalk ™ January 15, 2011

May 4, 2016
Kojima

* JP.JNU; Oita Nakatsue; 33.12 N, 130.88 E

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations/?zip_or_station_code=JP.JNU

[2016/04/24 - 05/09]

May 10, 2016
Stanislav

Land subsidence in central Mexico and Indonesia: Differences and Similitudes from Regional ALOS Time-series Surveys
Chaussard, Estelle¹; Wdowinski, Shimon¹; Amelung, Falk¹; Cabral-Cano, Enrique²; Abidin, Hasanuddin³; Hong, Sang-Hoon⁴
¹University of Miami, RSMAS, UNITED STATES; ²Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, MEXICO; ³Institute of Technology Bandung, INDONESIA; ⁴Korea Aerospace Research Institute, KOREA, REPUBLIC OF

Massive groundwater extraction is common both in Mexico and Indonesia and is suspected to result in well spread land subsidence. However, most surveys dedicated to land subsidence focus on one single city and thus fail to provide a comprehensive picture of the problem. Here we use InSAR SBAS time series analysis to monitor land subsidence in the entire central Mexico and western Indonesia areas. We used data from ALOS, processed over 1600 SAR images acquired between 2007-2011 and produced over 6000 interferograms. In central Mexico we identify land subsidence in twenty-one areas, including seventeen cities. Subsidence rates of 30 cm/yr are observed in Mexico City, while in the other locations typical rates of 5-10 cm/yr are noticed. In Indonesia we identified subsidence in nine areas, including six major cities, at rates up to 22 cm/yr. We use averaged velocity maps in conjunction with mapping of surface geology and identification of land use to (1) define the activities causing land subsidence, (2) identify the role of stratigraphic features (type of sediments, thickness, and faults), and (3) evaluate the temporal variability of land subsidence. In Indonesia industrial ground water extraction causes rapid land subsidence in cities, whereas outside cities agricultural water extraction is responsible for land subsidence. We do not observe any direct correlation between the distribution of subsidence and surface geology. In Indonesia land subsidence seems rather constant and its main consequence is the direct threat to highly populated coastal areas likely to end up under relative sea level within few decades. In Mexico groundwater extraction for agricultural uses is the main cause of land subsidence, followed by urban use. The subsiding areas are characterized by high velocity gradients often coinciding with existing faults, motion on these faults being driven by water extraction rather than by tectonic activity. Temporal and spatial variability is observed, likely reflecting different stages of the subsidence process. In Mexico the main consequences of land subsidence are ground failure hazards, especially threatening multiple sites of the UNESCO World Heritage list and a decrease in the water quality. Regional surveys of this type are necessary for the development of hazard mitigation plans and efficient use of ground-based monitoring. Sustainability of groundwater resources at regional scale requires the integration of InSAR with other monitoring techniques to understand the aquifer system hydraulic properties.

Click to view (below pdf)

Source pdf: seom.esa.int; rsmas.miami.edu; seom.esa.int

Cumulative land subsidence over the period 1974 – 2010 in Jakarta, Indonesia (Deltares, 2011). Source: ccop.or.th; deltares.nl

In a study of subsidence in the Mekong Delta over the period 1995–2010, Laura Erban and colleagues used well-monitoring data to estimate annual average rates of aquifer drawdown (A) and associated compaction-based subsidence at the well locations (B). These estimates corresponded closely to subsidence rates estimated from satellite imagery (C). Overall, the Mekong Delta is estimated to be subsiding at a rate of 1.6 cm per year.

Source: Erban et al. (2014). ehp.niehs.nih.gov; iopscience.iop.org

Indonesia

14 May, 2016. Indonesia port city battles to save homes from floods

Seasonal tides in Central Java province leave residents struggling to save homes from flood waters. Residents are seen in the house filled with flood waters after heavy monsoon rains in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, on May 13, 2016. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) Indonesia declares flood elevation of sea water reached 1.16 meters. ( Dhana Kencana - Anadolu Agency )

Parts of the Indonesian port city of Semarang remained underwater Saturday, after high seasonal tides flooded coastal areas of Central Java province.

For the past week, residents of Semarang say they have fought an ongoing battle to stop the water -- known locally as "the Rob" -- rising. Soaked and exhausted in the 33 degrees midday heat, they struggle with sandbags, furniture and plastic bags as their possessions become consumed.

"We've been trying everything to keep the rob out of our homes, but when the battle is so easily lost it all seems in vain," Ahmad Yusuf told Anadolu Agency by phone from his Semarang home Saturday. He added that each year the waters appear to be getting higher and higher.

With post offices, markets, and the local police station inundated with water, many people are forced to just get on with their lives and wait for the waters to pass.

Retno Widyaningsih, the head of observation and information at the country's meteorology maritime station, told Anadolu Agency on Saturday that the Rob had reached 1.16 meters (3.80 feet) in some parts of Semarang, causing traffic jams up to 15 kilometers long

He offered words of warning to those struggling against the tides "The rob for May is expected to reach its peak this week," he said. Source: aa.com.tr

Malaysia

15 May, 2016. Worst flash floods in 30 years

The flash floods on Thursday evening was the worst to hit Jalan Bangsar in 30 years. Business operators in the area scrambled to save their goods from being damaged following two hours of heavy rain. Kenny Yap, who owns a sports equipment store, said the lack of planning by the authorities resulted in Jalan Bangsar to be flooded whenever there was a downpour.

“I thought I had seen the worst but Thursday’s episode was the worst ever. We spent more than two hours cleaning up the mess. I had to even ask four of my customers to help out,” he said, adding he suffered losses amounting to RM1,000. He said he was also forced to come to work earlier yesterday to clean up the remaining mess. “It floods whenever it rains heavily and the drains are incapable of containing the heavy volume of water. Business owners have to pay a hefty price due to the incompetency of the authorities.

He also felt drains in the area were also not clogged at the time of the incident as he has seen Alam Flora workers regularly cleaning drains in the area. Source: themalaymailonline.com

14 May, 2016. KL flash floods cause traffic chaos

A picture taken by a Universiti Malaya student that went viral on social media shows students standing on higher ground after flood waters rose on Thursday. — file pic

Traffic along several major roads was temporarily paralysed on Thursday as heavy rain caused flash floods in the federal capital.

City Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (Operations) Azizan Ismail said the department received distress calls after flash floods hit Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim and Jalan Lingkungan Budi.

He said they also received reports of flash floods along Jalan Bangsar. Online social networking sites were flooded with pictures and personal accounts of flash flood victims. A Facebook user going by the name of Han Min Ng posted pictures of cars submerged in floods. He also wrote a post saying: "Oh my god! God help us! We are trapped in the car! How could this happen?" The floods are not the first to hit the Klang Valley this week. Flooding was reported in Shah Alam on Tuesday. Source: straitstimes.com

Vietnam

12 May, 2016. Large-scale landslide becomes new threat for Ca Mau

A house collapsed because of landslide.

Landslide and subsidence have occurred repeatedly on a large area in the southern most province of Ca Mau. Experts said the phenomenon was caused by drought, which has lasted for several months in southern Vietnam.

In Tran Van Thoi District alone, up to 228 cases of landslides and subsidence have been reported recently, damaging many roads.
Nguyen Dong Khoi, Chairman of Khanh Binh Dong commune in Tran Van Thoi district, said the number of landslide and subsidence cases is on the rise. This has damaged the only road to the commune center.
Such incidents have occurred very often in the districts of Tran Van Thoi, U Minh and Thoi Binh. Hundreds of roads are cracked and landslides, hindering traffic. Some irrigation works were also affected.
In the districts of Dam Doi, Nam Can and Ngoc Hien, landslides are affecting 132 households living along the river.
Nguyen Long Hoai, Head of Ca Mau Irrigation Division, said that landslide tends to expand and the local authorities told people to quickly move to safe places if they see signs of landslide and subsidence.
According to the latest research by the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation under the General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam, Ca Mau peninsula is continuing to sink.
Dr. Do Van Linh, Deputy Head of the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation, said the deepest subsidence in Ca Mau was measured 1.71 cm a year, while the average subsidence due to groundwater exploitation was about 0.35 cm a year.
There are three reasons for this situation: subsidence due to young sediment and water exploitation, and by tectonic movements. This trend will continue in the coming years.

Previously, studies of the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) showed that Ca Mau is sharply subsiding. The subsidence speed measured was higher than the studies of the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation.
According to NGI, Ca Mau may suffer from serious subsidence on the surface, as the result of surface water pumping activities of 109,096 wells with the total pumped water volume of 373,000 m3 a day.
If the exploited water volume is divided for the total area of Ca Mau province (approximately 4,350 km2), the speed of subsidence is 1.9 to 2.8 cm a year. If the area of Ca Mau province is 5,300 km2 instead of 4,350 km2, the subsidence rate is 1.56 to 2.30 cm a year.
NGI's research also pointed out, in 15 years (1998-2013), ground subsidence rate would be 30-80 cm and it is predicted that in the next 25 years, the rate of subsidence will increase to 90-150 cm and 210 cm in the next 50 years. Source: english.vietnamnet.vn

India

10 May, 2016. Sea water floods farmlands after tidal waves damage sluice gate.

Agricultural lands in villages under Mahakalapada block of Kendrapada district were inundated when tidal waves damaged a sluice gate at Barakandha late on Sunday. The saline water dashed the hopes of farmers to plough their fields on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, which marks the beginning of the sowing season, on Monday.
Sources said this is the fate of around 3,000 acres of lands in Barakandha, Bajarapur, Aakhadasahi, Paligada, Rajendranagar, Patachela, Kochila and Sarumuhi.
"There are 60 sluice gates in the seaside villages under Rajnagar and Mahakalapada blocks and these are on the verge of collapse. The authorities are doing nothing to repair or maintain them," said sarpanch of Ramanagar Bijaya Shukla.
The tidal waves have also transgressed the weak saline embankment in these seaside villages. "Owners of prawn farms damage the embankments to allow saline water into their hatcheries to breed shrimps, but no action is being taken against them," alleged Arabinda Jena of Barakanda. The villagers spend sleepless nights during high tides as they fear that the ingress of sea water into farmlands may cause massive damage to crops as well as to their lands, he added.
"The damaged sluice gate is being repaired. The other gates and embankments will be taken up soon," said executive engineer of saline embankment division Jugal Kishore Tripathy. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.co

Mexico

10 May, 2016. Dozens of families leave their homes by landslides in the Northern Division. google translate https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&a...

Tuesday morning came a new landslide in the colony Northern Division, prompting the evacuation of eight families who were housed temporarily at the premises of Kindergarten Rosaura Zapata.
A trench halved the playground of the school, where no classes are held three weeks ago by the movements.
The school principal, Hortensia Leon Medina said that since last March 8 began to be noticeable cracks in the floor area used for recreation of children.

"Ten years ago there was a cave 300 meters from here and the school was well until 8 March this year, when we noticed the cracks in the ground," he said.
The principal and other staff on campus were dedicated to monitor cracks, recording the ground subsidence progressed from 2 to 3 centimeters every day.
The 133 students of this school were gradually relocated from the authorized by the State Education System closure.

Source: lacronica.com

U.S.

9 May, 2016. As if Atlantic City didn't have enough problems, flooding will be an issue.

I’ve been going to the Jersey Shore since the 50s. My parents have lived there full-time for about 20 years. So I’m pretty familiar with how things have changed. The bottom line: IT FLOODS MORE FREQUENTLY AND MORE SEVERELY. Ask anyone who lives near the back bays in Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate, Ocean City, Sea Isle City, and more, and they’ll tell you the same thing.

In the old days, it would take an actual storm to produce flooding. It could be a strong Nor’easter or a brush with a Hurricane, but floods were not frequent. The blocking pattern last week is a perfect example of how easy it is for flooding to occur at the shore.

LESS THAN A FOOT?

In the National Weather Service discussion early last week, there was a special section on coastal flooding. Tides were going to be high regardless of any storms, simply due to the coming new moon. (Tides get higher near the full moon and new moon). There’s also a thing called “Spring Tides”, when the Earth, Sun and Moon are in a line. Their gravitational pulls reinforce each other, and the resulting high tides are even higher than others during the year. But still….

The NWS statement :

THE FRIDAY EVENING HIGH TIDE CYCLE WILL ONLY NEED A SURGE OF .7 FEET
TO RAISE THE WATER LEVEL TO MINOR (flood) THRESHOLD.

So, wait a minute! Are they saying that the “storm” only has to raise the water level by 0.7 feet to create coastal flooding? Less than ONE FOOT? Yup, they are.

SEA LEVEL RISE HAS BEEN BIGGER AROUND HERE

The sea level doesn’t rise equally across the world. It’s simple physics: warm the oceans, and sea level will rise. It’s called “thermal expansion”.

And there’s no doubt the sea level all along the East Coast has been rising in the past century. Here’s what the Atlantic City graph looks like:

New Jersey’s sea level rise is about more than the general warming of the oceans that is affecting coastlines all over the world. It’s been rising faster in our area due to “subsidence” (the land sinks a bit), plus changes in the nearby Gulf Stream (possibly related to global warming as well). It all adds up to trouble: sea level has risen about 8 inches in Atlantic City since 1970 alone (about 15 inches since 1900). That doesn’t seem like much, but look at what it’s done. It floods with a wimpy, barely-there Nor’easter! And that’s NOW; what happens in the future, as sea level continues to rise? <...>

AND THAT DOESN’T EVEN INCLUDE…..

The above scenarios are based on sea level rise based on future ocean warming and continued subsidence (sinking) of the land. Future increases in ice melt in Greenland and parts of Antarctica (already in progress) will add to the rise.

<...> Source: philly.com

3 May, 2016. In Louisiana, the U.S. has its first ‘climate-change refugees’

In this 2015 photo, brackish sea water washes over the center line of a street in Charleston, S.C. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notes that nuisance flooding - that is flooding from ordinary high tides exacerbated by sea level rise and accompanying land subsidence - has increased 400 percent in Charleston since 1960.

In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced grants totaling $1 billion in 13 states to help communities adapt to climate change, by building stronger levees, dams and drainage systems.

One of those grants, $48 million for Isle de Jean Charles, is something new: the first allocation of federal tax dollars to move an entire community struggling with the impacts of climate change. The divisions the effort has exposed and the logistical and moral dilemmas it has presented point up in microcosm the massive problems the world could face in the coming decades as it confronts a new category of displaced people who have become known as climate refugees.

“We’re going to lose all our heritage, all our culture,” lamented Chief Albert Naquin of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, the tribe to which most Isle de Jean Charles residents belong. “It’s all going to be history.” Source: politics.blog.ajc.com

3 May, 2016. A disastrous global scenario is creating refugees in the US

If you've heard doom-and-gloom stories about climate change refugees, you've probably thought of the problem as something that only affects people living in far-flung places — countries that are not the United States.

Well, you'd be wrong. Climate change — particularly sea level rise — is already creating refugees right here in the US, according to a story from The New York Times.

Take the Isle de Jean Charles, a low-lying island on the Gulf coast of Louisiana, for example. It is sinking.

While only a few dozen people call the island home, their way of life stretches back generations. And it's proving extremely difficult, and expensive, to resettle them.

The island, which was once 22,000 acres, has been reduced to only 320 acres, according to The Huffington Post.

Following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, which ravaged the coast of Louisiana in 2005 (much of which lies below sea-level), state officials devised a master plan of flood walls and levees to cope with the rising tide — costing taxpayers billions of dollars, according to The New York Times.

But Isle de Jean Charles lies outside the planned walls. With the unstoppable onslaught of climate change, the island's residents will have no choice but to relocate, as saltwater floods their homes and destroys their soil.

Out of the $1 billion dollars set aside by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to build climate-resilient infrastructure, $52 million is planned to help Isle de Jean Charles residents resettle, per The Huffington Post.

However, many islanders — who have deep ancestral ties to the island — don't want to relocate, and would rather take their chances.

"I’ve lived my whole life here, and I’m going to die here," says Hilton Chaisson, a long-time island resident told The New York Times. "We always find a way." Source: businessinsider.com

May 15, 2016
Stanislav
U.S.

Severe flooding in Louisiana. Associated USA flood around Gulf of Mexico with 7 of 10? I do not know why but I think it is a loss of height. [and from another] http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=4510 Flood waters submerged parts of southern Louisiana Tuesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding and forced hundreds of rescues. The National Weather Service estimated 12 to 18 inches of rain fell across the region, with totals reaching up to 20 inches in some areas. Among the hardest hit areas in Lafayette Parish was Carencro, where reports indicated water was as high as high as 8 feet on some roads.

Just as the bowing in the S American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking in the swath of land from Rio to Buenos Aires, the bowing in the N American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking along the eastern seaboard and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Stretched land has only so many options. It can rip open to form a crevasse or a landslide or a sinkhole, or rock layers can pull apart so that train rails zip and zag and cause derailments and bridges pull from their moorings. In this case there is an adjustment in certain places, a pulling apart, which relieves the stress.

Stretched land also almost invariably drops in elevation, because the crust is thinned. This may not be apparent on the surface if the rock layers are pulling apart deep underground or under a river bed. But the underlying rock cannot spread out and thin without some evidence of this process above. For Florida, this evidence is the increasing number of sinkholes swallowing houses. Lopsided buildings, drooping roadways, and swamps extending their borders are other such symptoms. Drainage is invariably affected, as water lingers where it formerly drained. Rains and tides thus confuse the issue, with high tides blamed for much flooding, when sinking due to stretching is the cause.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for March 17, 2012; ZetaTalk blog - THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING

17 May, 2016. New Orleans is sinking: New Nasa maps show the city and surrounding areas are dropping up to two inches a YEAR

An annual 1.6 inch drop was observed at Bonnet Carré Spillway east of Norco, which is the area's last line of protection against springtime river floods blowing over the levees. Subsidence rates around Norco, Louisiana, and the location of flood protection levees (white). Experts call this drop in evaluation 'subsidence', which when the Earth sinks as a response to geological or man-induced causes
- The study was a collaboration of multiple scientific groups and covered the period from June 2009 to July 2012
- Maps were generated with data from Nasa's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR)
- Bonnet Carré Spillway is sinking 1.6in a year, which is the area's last line of protection against springtime floods
- Other factors include withdrawal of water, oil and gas, compaction of shallow sediments, faulting, sinking of the Earth's crust from the weight of deposited sediments and ongoing vertical movement of land covered by glaciers
Using Nasa airborne radar, Scientists have generated maps that reveal New Orleans and its surrounding areas are sinking at 'highly variable rates'.
The highest rates were found upriver along the Mississippi near industrial areas and in Michoud - both experienced annual drops of up to two inches.
Although the study names multiple contributing, researchers found the major culprits behind the drop in elevation were groundwater pumping and dewatering.

Using Nasa airborne radar, Scientists generated maps that reveal New Orleans and surrounding areas are sinking at 'highly variable rates'. Although the study names multiple factors as contributors, researchers found the major culprits were groundwater pumping and dewatering. Scroll down for video Map shows ground elevation movements in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, from June 2009 to July 2012

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UCLA and the Center for GeoInformatics at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, collaborated on the study, which covered the period from June 2009 to July 2012.
Other notable sinking was found in New Orleans' Upper and Lower Ninth Ward in Metairie, where the measured ground movement could be related to water levels in the Mississippi.
In the case of New Orleans, it is mostly caused by groundwater pumping and dewatering – surface water pumping to lower the water table, which eliminates standing water and soggy ground.
Other contributing factors include withdrawal of water, oil and gas, compaction of shallow sediments, faulting, sinking of Earth's crust from the weight of deposited sediments and ongoing vertical movement of land covered by glaciers during the last ice age.
JPL scientists and lead author Cathleen Jones say the results of this research could greatly improve existing models of subsidence for the Mississippi River Delta, which could give officials the upper hand when formulating plans for future events.
'Agencies can use these data to more effectively implement actions to remediate and reverse the effects of subsidence, improving the long-term coastal resiliency and sustainability of New Orleans,' Jones said.
'The more recent land elevation change rates from this study will be used to inform flood modeling and response strategies, improving public safety.' The maps were generated with data from Nasa's Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR). This technology uses what is called interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), which compares radar images of Earth's surface over time to map surface deformation with centimeter-scale precision

Other factors contributing to sinking include withdrawal of water, oil and gas, compaction of shallow sediments, faulting, sinking of Earth's crust from the weight of deposited sediments and ongoing vertical movement of land covered by glaciers during the last ice age. The red stars represent locations where levees breached during Hurricane Katrina -- areas that will experience problems the more they sink

Surface elevation changes from all sources were also measured, in addition to human and natural, deep seated and shallow.
UAVSAR's spatial resolution makes it ideal for measuring subsidence in New Orleans, where human-produced subsidence can be large and is often localized, said researchers.
Jones said another key advantage of this study is that UAVSAR enabled better resolution of small-scale features than previous studies.
'We were able to identify single structures or clusters of structures subsiding or deforming relative to the surrounding area,' she said.
Up-to-date GPS position information for the industrial and urban areas were provided by the Center for GeoInformatics, which helped the team develop the rate of ground movement at specific locations.

In the case of New Orleans, the sinking is mostly caused by groundwater pumping and dewatering – surface water pumping to lower the water table, which eliminates standing water and soggy ground. The map shows the location of water wells active in 2012, local industry and the Bonnet Carre Spillway. The highest subsidence forms a bowl within the refinery site to the south of the river

This study isn't the first to reveal New Orleans' fate or other coastal regions that are said to be slowly sinking into the ocean. <...> Source: dailymail.co.uk

Sri Lanka

17 May, 2016. Over 225,000 people affected, 11 die in Sri Lanka floods and landslides

At least 11 people have died and over 225,000 people have been affected in Sri Lanka by floods and landslides as heavy rains lashed the country for the past three days, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) said on Tuesday.

According to the latest situation report of the DMC, 226,115 people belonging to 53,092 families have been affected by the floods and landslides while 137,606 people belonging to 29,786 families have been evacuated to 226 shelters. At least 11 people have died and another six have gone missing following a landslide occurred at Ranwala area in Kadugannawa early Tuesday morning. Another 19 persons have been injured. Landslide warnings have been issued to several districts following the inclement weather. The Disaster Management Centre has informed especially those living in the hill country areas to be on alert.

Several main roads in the country are submerged in flood restricting travel. Avissawella - Colombo old road has been closed from Hanwella area due to the overflowing of Kelani River. The Kaduwela Entrance of the Colombo outer circular road has also been closed due to floods restricting entry to the expressway. Many roads in central hills are obstructed by landslides. <...> Source: colombopage.com

Indonesia

17 May, 2016. Death Toll in North Sumatra Flash Floods Rises to 18
Deli Serdang, North Sumatra. The local Disaster Mitigation Agency, known as BPBD, confirmed that 18 bodies have been evacuated after a flash flood near Dua Warna Waterfall, a popular local tourism spot in Deli Serdang District, North Sumatra.

Deli Serdang BPBD head Darwin Surbakti said as of Monday afternoon (16/05) the team had removed at least 18 bodies from the areas near Sibolangit River stream where the flash flood occurred on Sunday. He added three other people are still missing while a joint team of police, military, BPBD, Search and Rescue (SAR), Indonesian Red Cross officers and local volunteers are slated to continue the search on Tuesday morning.

“The search will be focused to three main streams of the river in the villages of Tambunan, Derek and Ujung Deleng. Those are around three kilometers far from the waterfall,” Darwin told reporters in Deli Serdang on Monday.

During the incident at the Dua Warna Waterfall, at least 57 people survived the flash flood meanwhile 21 others announced missing. Source: jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com
May 17, 2016
Stanislav

Sri Lanka

19 May, 2016

19 May, 2014

Notwithstanding the adverse flying conditions, a Bell 412 helicopter was deployed from the SLAF base in Ratmalana to carry out a recce mission in Aranayake, Kegalle District, around 11:00 a.m. today. Pictured here is an aerial view of the landslide affected area, which till now has reported at least 18 deaths. Image courtesy Sri Lanka Air Force. Source: roar.lk

Aerial view of flooding in Kelaniya. Image courtesy Sri Lanka Air Force. Source: roar.lk

Source: globalkashmir.net

Photo: Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. Source: floodlist.com

Roads in Kelaniya submerged due to flooding. Image courtesy Sri Lanka Air Force. Source: roar.lk

The Disaster Management Centre requested those living around the Kelani River to evacuate, as the water levels were steadily rising. Image courtesy Sri Lanka Air Force. Source: roar.lk

19 May, 2016. Red Cross responds as floods and landslides affect half a million people in Sri Lanka

Source: colombotelegraph.com

Since the beginning of the week large areas of Sri Lanka have been deluged by torrential rains caused by a slow moving tropical depression in the Bay of Bengal which has brought Flash floods and landslides to 22 of the countries 26 districts.

Source: colombotelegraph.com

An estimated 500,000 people have been directly affected with some places experiencing up to 300 mm of rainfall. According to the governments Disaster Management Centre, 43 people have been killed and close to 307,000 people displaced by the flooding. They are now being housed at 594 temporary camps across Sri Lanka.

Landslide in Aranayake

K. D. Piyasena lived in the village of Sirpura situated in Aranayake district secretariat, approximately 140kms away from the capital Colombo in the hills of Kegalle district. Piiyasena lived in a modest house with his wife and three sons. He earned a small income from selling lottery tickets. Every day, his elder son who worked in a bank would buy 100 tickets for Piyasena to sell in the town.

“I got a call from my son on Tuesday evening asking me to come home. It wasn’t anything urgent, he just told me it was raining and I should come home,” said Piyasena. “When I got home, there was a massive pile of dirt. I was confused. I didn’t know where I was. I honestly thought that I had taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in this pile of dirt”. Source: ifrc.org

May 19, 2016
Stanislav

Are Houston’s Sinking Suburbs Suffering Worse Flooding?

Top map shows worse subsidence in blue since the 1990s. Bottom map shows it moving northeast in 2011.

23 May, 2016.

After the flooding last month in Houston, a local geologist noticed something that looked suspicious: some of the areas of Houston hit hardest were also areas where the land is sinking. The sinking is called “subsidence”. But there’s a debate over whether it’s actually making flooding worse.

What made last month’s flooding, especially in north Harris County, so bad?
Simple: a whole lot of rain says Mike Talbott, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District.
“It has a lot to do with this phenomenal rainfall … people don’t want to talk about the rainfall,” Talbott tells News 88.7.
But people are talking about how other factors, besides the massive rainfall, may have made things worse. And one those people is a professor of geology at the University of Houston, Shuhab Khan.
“It’s making it worse,” says Khan.
What Professor Khan believes is making flooding worse in certain neighborhoods is a geological condition Houston and many cities suffer from and have for decades: subsidence. It’s where many acres of ground sink.
Historically in Harris County, subsidence has been worse in areas where over the decades, groundwater and oil and gas have been sucked out from under the ground, causing the land to sink by fractions of an inch a year, in some places by feet over many years.

Pink shows areas of major flooding April 18th

Could it be that today, the ground that homes are built on is sinking in different places than it did decades ago and thus, could this make flooding worse in places where people say, “It never flooded like this before.”
When Professor Khan looked at maps showing where last month’s flooding damaged the most homes, those maps looked eerily similar to ones he’d drawn as part of a study two years ago, maps showing where subsidence was happening in Harris County.
“Those are the areas that are areas that are subsiding very rapidly. North and northwest. It used to be Jersey Village. (Now) it’s moving northeastwards, north and northeast these days. But it is the same area where the flooding was,” Khan tells News 88.7.
Khan says one subsidence zone is drifting northeast towards the Woodlands and seems to be affected by fault lines that traverse the area. Khan is not saying that subsidence alone is why there’s flooding.
“Of course there would be flooding. But maybe not huge,” says Khan.
At the Flood Control District, Mike Talbott does not agree.
“It’s not subsidence,” Talbott told us. “It didn’t have any role in this event, it really was about the rainfall. This was phenomenal rainfall that caused some phenomenal flooding. “
Talbott doesn’t deny subsidence exists. He says the county has been studying it for decades.
“Thirty years ago we got ahead of the curve and went ahead and did a major joint study with a bunch of agencies to understand the phenomenon,” says Talbott.
Talbott says from those studies they learned that where subsidence is occurring in Houston’s northern suburbs, it’s not like a bowl where if your house is at the bottom you’ll be flooded worse.
Instead, he says the sinkage occurs over such a wide area of many square miles that it does not significantly change the depth of the flooding, nor he says will it slow down the flow of creeks in those areas.
“Cypress Creek, the subsidence actually is along the creek, the headwaters subsided nearly the same rate as mouth of the stream so the floodplains would move with the land. You wouldn’t have a change in the flow carrying capacity of the system,” Talbott tells News 88.7.
Put another way, Talbott is saying that even though the northwest suburbs may have sunk a few feet, they’ll still drain just as fast. He says that’s because those suburbs are still about a hundred feet higher than where the water is headed, which is the Houston Ship Channel near downtown.
“The stream just wouldn’t recognize that slight of a change in its slope to really affect the flooding in those areas. It’s a very weak relationship between subsidence and flooding for this region,” Talbott says.
It is a complicated geological occurrence that has a long history of debate, a debate renewed when homes flood and people want to know why. Source: houstonpublicmedia.org

Severe flooding in Louisiana. Associated USA flood around Gulf of Mexico with 7 of 10? I do not know why but I think it is a loss of height. [and from another] http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=4510 Flood waters submerged parts of southern Louisiana Tuesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding and forced hundreds of rescues. The National Weather Service estimated 12 to 18 inches of rain fell across the region, with totals reaching up to 20 inches in some areas. Among the hardest hit areas in Lafayette Parish was Carencro, where reports indicated water was as high as high as 8 feet on some roads.

Just as the bowing in the S American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking in the swath of land from Rio to Buenos Aires, the bowing in the N American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking along the eastern seaboard and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Stretched land has only so many options. It can rip open to form a crevasse or a landslide or a sinkhole, or rock layers can pull apart so that train rails zip and zag and cause derailments and bridges pull from their moorings. In this case there is an adjustment in certain places, a pulling apart, which relieves the stress.

Stretched land also almost invariably drops in elevation, because the crust is thinned. This may not be apparent on the surface if the rock layers are pulling apart deep underground or under a river bed. But the underlying rock cannot spread out and thin without some evidence of this process above. For Florida, this evidence is the increasing number of sinkholes swallowing houses. Lopsided buildings, drooping roadways, and swamps extending their borders are other such symptoms. Drainage is invariably affected, as water lingers where it formerly drained. Rains and tides thus confuse the issue, with high tides blamed for much flooding, when sinking due to stretching is the cause.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for March 17, 2012; ZetaTalk blog - THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING

May 23, 2016
Stanislav

30 May, 2016

13 May, 2016

Six dead after record-setting floods in Texas, Kansas

(Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP). Sixth Street is impassible due to rising flood waters from the Brazos River Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Rosenberg, Texas. Source: wnem.com

Leo Hernandez talks about the water level in Spring Creek, in the Northwood Pines subdivision, Saturday, May 28, 2016, in Spring, Texas. The water level in the creek rose after this week's torrential rains and is expected to crest sometime in the evening. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT Jon Shapley. gazettenet.com

30 May, 2016.

Six people have died in flood-related incidents in southeast Texas after the region was inundated with rain, authorities said. Four were killed in Washington County, about 75 miles west of Houston, an area hammered with 17 inches of rain Thursday. One was killed in Travis County and another died in Kendall County.

Although the rain stopped Friday night, the area remains choked with floodwaters.
In some areas last week, rushing floodwaters quickly enveloped people in their homes and left drivers trapped in their cars. Rescue boats had to pluck people stranded waist-deep in water over the weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued several warnings for Texas, telling people not to drive cars through flooded areas and to be careful near riverbanks.
<...>
Texas hit hard this year
Southeast Texas has been pounded with horrific weather lately, with two 500-year flood events in two months.
"Basically, it's a 1-in-500 chance of it happening in any year," said CNN Meteorologist Taylor Ward. "Happening twice in a single year is very bad luck."
The Houston area experienced its wettest April on record last month, with almost 14 inches of rain. The storm killed at least eight people in Texas and flooded 1,000 homes. The previous record was almost 11 inches in April 1976. Source: edition.cnn.com

Groundwater Pumping On Gulf Coast Leads To Subsidence

22 December, 2013. Unlike the rest of the state, the Texas Gulf Coast has been working for decades to reduce dependency on groundwater because pumping has caused the land to sink.

<...> A century of intense groundwater pumping in the fast-growing Houston metropolitan area has collapsed the layers of the Gulf Coast Aquifer, causing the land above to sink. The only solution is to stop pumping, a strategy that some areas are resisting.
The geological phenomenon, unique to this part of Texas because of the makeup of the aquifer’s clay layers, is known as subsidence. Areas in and around Houston have sunk as much as 10 feet in the past 100 years, causing floods, cracking pavement and even moving geologic faults that could lead to infrastructure damage.
“It’s an upfront and personal issue when you’re on the coast and you see land loss,” said Mike Turco, who heads the subsidence districts responsible for addressing the problem in Harris, Galveston and Fort Bend counties. “You have oil barracks that are out in Galveston Bay now.”
Subsidence has long been a concern in Harris and Galveston counties, which are nearer to the Gulf and more prone to flooding. Spurred by state lawmakers in the 1970s, the counties have worked to reduce their groundwater dependency to 25 percent from more than 50 percent. That number will continue to fall as they increase their reliance on rivers like the Trinity and San Jacinto, as well as planned reservoirs.
Neighboring Fort Bend County, on the other hand, which still relies on the Gulf Coast Aquifer for 60 percent of its water, is farther inland, and the effects of subsidence can be less tangible.
“There are perception issues,” Turco said. Whether subsidence means anything to someone depends on where they are standing, he said. “If you’re standing next to the river, it could be a big deal.”
In Fort Bend County, unlike Houston, “there isn’t a ship channel to walk to,” he said.
Now that the county is starting to grow, in part because of the expansion of nearby Houston, studies by the subsidence districts estimate that if nothing is done, parts of Fort Bend County will sink about five feet in the next four decades. The impact could be lessened to just two feet under recent regulations that ask certain areas to convert 60 percent of their groundwater supplies by 2025.
Not everyone agrees with the approach. Some towns dislike the rules that force them to find alternative water supplies. They are worried about the high cost of conversion and unsure whether their own land is actually sinking.
“Typically, subsidence is equated to growth,” said Terri Vela, the city manager for Richmond, which is about 30 miles west of Houston. “And Richmond proper has not seen that growth. I don’t even know that we have subsidence today in Richmond.”
Vela pointed out that subsidence in the county has affected some areas more than others. For instance, the land has sunk nearly a foot in 15 years just a few miles to the east of Richmond, in booming Sugar Land. But in Richmond itself, the ground has lowered less than three inches — although the Fort Bend subsidence district warns that could change if its outlying areas continue to grow as they have in recent years.
Alternative water supplies have been difficult to find, Vela said. About five years ago, Richmond and a neighboring town, Rosenberg, secured a long-term contract to take water from the Brazos River, with plans to build a water treatment plant. But then the area was hit by drought, and the river’s flows were at their lowest in 2009. Towns were then besieged with requests from industrial and other water users to buy the newly acquired water.
The overwhelming demand for Brazos River water led the towns to question whether it would really be available. “Is this a long-term, sustainable water source?” Vela said. “Everyone else has put their straws in before we’ve gotten to it.”
Recently, a company called Electro Purification approached the towns with a different solution: The company would drill wells on the other side of the Fort Bend County line. In other words, they would continue pumping groundwater from the same clay-based aquifer but outside the jurisdiction of the subsidence districts.
The proposal drew outrage, with residents submitting hundreds of public comments questioning its effect on water levels in the aquifer and on subsidence.
According to studies by the Fort Bend district, the wells could cause the ground to sink an additional two feet in some parts of the county and potentially cause sinking in nearby counties. But those numbers have been disputed.
<...> Source: houstonpublicmedia.org

Geologists find parts of Northwest Houston, Texas sinking rapidly

28 September, 2010. A large section of northwestern Harris County -- particularly the Jersey Village area -- is sinking rapidly, according to a University of Houston (UH) geologist who has analyzed GPS data measuring ground elevation in the Houston area.

Some points in Jersey Village are subsiding by up to 5.5 centimeters (about 2 inches) a year, said Shuhab Khan, an associate professor of geology at UH. Khan, along with UH geology professor Kevin Burke and former Ph.D. student and UH alumnus Richard Engelkemeir, studied a decade's worth of detailed GPS data measuring the elevation of various points throughout the Houston area. They recently published their findings in the journal Tectonophysics, an international medium for the publication of research in the fields of geotectonics, geology and physics of the Earth's crust and interior.

"A sprawling area of northwestern Harris County is gradually subsiding, but the points in Jersey Village are sinking fastest," Khan said. "The area is roughly 30 kilometers by 30 kilometers, which is the equivalent of about 18 miles by 18 miles."

The raw data was obtained from the Houston-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District. Khan's study processed and analyzed GPS data from more than two dozen measurement points throughout the county, covering 1995 to 2005. Extrapolating data from six measurement stations, Khan roughly marks the boundaries of the vast subsiding area. At three of those measurement spots, centered around Jersey Village, the sinking was particularly fast.

"Because GPS can pinpoint location with millimeter precision, it is an excellent tool to measure even the most subtle changes over time in the ground," Khan said. "The most likely reason for the sinking of Jersey Village is the withdrawal of water from deep beneath the surface. While groundwater withdrawal has ceased in most of the Houston area, it continues in the northwestern part of the county that has seen a rapid growth in population."

The fate of the Brownwood neighborhood near Baytown illustrates the potential consequences of rapid subsidence, Khan said. When the residential subdivision was first developed in the 1930s, ground elevation was about 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) above sea level. Forty years later, the neighborhood stood just half a meter above sea level and was subject to frequent flooding. In 1983, Hurricane Alicia destroyed the subdivision, and the area became the Baytown Nature Center. The sinking of Brownwood was attributed to the massive groundwater withdrawal by the petrochemical plants along the Houston Ship Channel.

The research team hopes the new data that pinpoint precisely where and how quickly the ground is moving can aid the region's builders and city planners to mitigate the damage cau

sed by the ongoing subsidence northwest of Houston.

Khan's analysis also showed some gradual rising southeast of Houston along the coast. The coastal area has several vast salt domes deep beneath the surface. Since salt has a lower density than common crustal rocks, it rises and pushes up the ground. He said that further study also might link salt dome activity along the coast to the surface movements occurring elsewhere in the region.

Khan's previous work on the region's elevation has already garnered widespread attention from local media, homeowners and builders. Geologists had long known about the existence of faults in southeast Texas, but Khan and Engelkemeir produced a comprehensive map in 2008 pinpointing the precise locations of some 300 faults traversing the Houston area.

The research team stressed these local fault lines are not the kinds that wreak havoc in earthquake-prone California, but they can move up to an inch per year. Such movement over several years can cause serious damage to buildings and streets that straddle a fault line.

Source: University of Houston. "Geologists find parts of Northwest Houston, Texas sinking rapidly." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 September 2010 a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100928122604.htm>" target="_blank">www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100928122604.htm>;. sciencedaily.com

May 30, 2016
Kojima

[2016/05/24 - 05/30]

1) US.TPNV: Topopah Spring, Nevada, USA; 36.95 N, 116.25 W

2) US.HWUT: Hardware Ranch, Cache County, Utah, USA; 41.61 N, 111.57 W

3) US.MVCO: Mesa Verde, Colorado, USA; 37.20 N, 108.49 W

4) IU.WVT: Waverly, Tennessee, USA; 36.13 N, 87.83 W

5) US.BINY: Binghamton, New York, USA; 42.20 N, 75.99 W

6) US.LBNH: Lisbon, New Hampshire, USA; 44.24 N, 71.93 W

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

1) US.TPNV [2016/05/29 -]

2) US.HWUT [2016//05/28 -]

3) US.MVCO [2016/05/25 -]

4) IU.WVT [2016/05/26 -]

5) US.BINY [2016/05/24 -]

6) US.LBNH [2016/05/26 -]

May 31, 2016
Stanislav

Texas' Brazos River surges to century high, Houston braces for floods

Floodwaters from the Brazos River inundate a residential area. Brandon Wade / AP. Source: theatlantic.com

1 June, 2016. The Brazos River in Texas surged to its highest in more than a century in an area outside of Houston on Wednesday after floods killed at least six people, damaged hundreds of buildings and turned roads into lakes over the past week.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood watch for large parts of the state, includes sections near Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. Storms lasting until the weekend could send even more rivers over their banks, it said.

The NWS reported the Brazos River, which winds over 840 miles across Texas, reached levels not seen since 1913 about 30 miles (50 kms) southwest of Houston, the fourth most populous city in the United States.

Houston has activated its emergency operations center as forecasters warned of heavy rains and flooding. Emergency shelters were opened in the Houston area.

Flooding around Houston in April left eight people dead and damaged some 1,500 homes.

In the most recent floods, hundreds of people across the state have fled their homes.

"It's scary, we have never had anything like this before," said Mary Hernandez of Richmond in metropolitan Houston, where evacuations were underway. <...> Source: reuters.com

Record floods hit US state of Texas again

Flooding is shocking residents in southeast Texas. (Source: KTRK/CBS). Source: kctv5.com

1 June, 2016. Two years after rivers ran dry in southeastern Texas, deadly flood waters have reached record levels, with more rain yet to come.

Days of heavy rain have brought another round of severe floods to parts of the US state of Texas. Residents across the southeast of the state are braced for yet more flooding with the rain set to continue for a few more days. Large areas across many communities to the southwest of Houston are under water. Mandatory evacuations have been put into place and at least nine people have died in the worst floods in more than 100 years. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the swollen Brazos River reached its highest level on record on Tuesday when it touched 16.5 metres in Richmond, Fort Bend County, Texas.

This is almost 1.2 metres above the previous record set in 1994, when the region suffered major flood damage. Only two years ago, the river had run dry in places because of a severe drought.

Charles Roeseler, NWS meteorologist, said the river is yet to crest and is expected to slowly rise even more. About 120 rescues have been carried out in Fort Bend County alone. Source: aljazeera.com

From below post:

Are Houston’s Sinking Suburbs Suffering Worse Flooding?

Top map shows worse subsidence in blue since the 1990s. Bottom map shows it moving northeast in 2011.

23 May, 2016.

After the flooding last month in Houston, a local geologist noticed something that looked suspicious: some of the areas of Houston hit hardest were also areas where the land is sinking. The sinking is called “subsidence”. But there’s a debate over whether it’s actually making flooding worse.

What made last month’s flooding, especially in north Harris County, so bad?
Simple: a whole lot of rain says Mike Talbott, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District.
“It has a lot to do with this phenomenal rainfall … people don’t want to talk about the rainfall,” Talbott tells News 88.7.
But people are talking about how other factors, besides the massive rainfall, may have made things worse. And one those people is a professor of geology at the University of Houston, Shuhab Khan.
“It’s making it worse,” says Khan.
What Professor Khan believes is making flooding worse in certain neighborhoods is a geological condition Houston and many cities suffer from and have for decades: subsidence. It’s where many acres of ground sink.
Historically in Harris County, subsidence has been worse in areas where over the decades, groundwater and oil and gas have been sucked out from under the ground, causing the land to sink by fractions of an inch a year, in some places by feet over many years.

Pink shows areas of major flooding April 18th

Could it be that today, the ground that homes are built on is sinking in different places than it did decades ago and thus, could this make flooding worse in places where people say, “It never flooded like this before.”
When Professor Khan looked at maps showing where last month’s flooding damaged the most homes, those maps looked eerily similar to ones he’d drawn as part of a study two years ago, maps showing where subsidence was happening in Harris County.
“Those are the areas that are areas that are subsiding very rapidly. North and northwest. It used to be Jersey Village. (Now) it’s moving northeastwards, north and northeast these days. But it is the same area where the flooding was,” Khan tells News 88.7.
Khan says one subsidence zone is drifting northeast towards the Woodlands and seems to be affected by fault lines that traverse the area. Khan is not saying that subsidence alone is why there’s flooding.
“Of course there would be flooding. But maybe not huge,” says Khan.
At the Flood Control District, Mike Talbott does not agree.
“It’s not subsidence,” Talbott told us. “It didn’t have any role in this event, it really was about the rainfall. This was phenomenal rainfall that caused some phenomenal flooding. “
Talbott doesn’t deny subsidence exists. He says the county has been studying it for decades.
“Thirty years ago we got ahead of the curve and went ahead and did a major joint study with a bunch of agencies to understand the phenomenon,” says Talbott.
Talbott says from those studies they learned that where subsidence is occurring in Houston’s northern suburbs, it’s not like a bowl where if your house is at the bottom you’ll be flooded worse.
Instead, he says the sinkage occurs over such a wide area of many square miles that it does not significantly change the depth of the flooding, nor he says will it slow down the flow of creeks in those areas.
“Cypress Creek, the subsidence actually is along the creek, the headwaters subsided nearly the same rate as mouth of the stream so the floodplains would move with the land. You wouldn’t have a change in the flow carrying capacity of the system,” Talbott tells News 88.7.
Put another way, Talbott is saying that even though the northwest suburbs may have sunk a few feet, they’ll still drain just as fast. He says that’s because those suburbs are still about a hundred feet higher than where the water is headed, which is the Houston Ship Channel near downtown.
“The stream just wouldn’t recognize that slight of a change in its slope to really affect the flooding in those areas. It’s a very weak relationship between subsidence and flooding for this region,” Talbott says.
It is a complicated geological occurrence that has a long history of debate, a debate renewed when homes flood and people want to know why. Source: houstonpublicmedia.org

Severe flooding in Louisiana. Associated USA flood around Gulf of Mexico with 7 of 10? I do not know why but I think it is a loss of height. [and from another] http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=4510 Flood waters submerged parts of southern Louisiana Tuesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding and forced hundreds of rescues. The National Weather Service estimated 12 to 18 inches of rain fell across the region, with totals reaching up to 20 inches in some areas. Among the hardest hit areas in Lafayette Parish was Carencro, where reports indicated water was as high as high as 8 feet on some roads.

Just as the bowing in the S American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking in the swath of land from Rio to Buenos Aires, the bowing in the N American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking along the eastern seaboard and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Stretched land has only so many options. It can rip open to form a crevasse or a landslide or a sinkhole, or rock layers can pull apart so that train rails zip and zag and cause derailments and bridges pull from their moorings. In this case there is an adjustment in certain places, a pulling apart, which relieves the stress.

Stretched land also almost invariably drops in elevation, because the crust is thinned. This may not be apparent on the surface if the rock layers are pulling apart deep underground or under a river bed. But the underlying rock cannot spread out and thin without some evidence of this process above. For Florida, this evidence is the increasing number of sinkholes swallowing houses. Lopsided buildings, drooping roadways, and swamps extending their borders are other such symptoms. Drainage is invariably affected, as water lingers where it formerly drained. Rains and tides thus confuse the issue, with high tides blamed for much flooding, when sinking due to stretching is the cause.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for March 17, 2012; ZetaTalk blog - THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING

Jun 1, 2016
Stanislav

For years, the Houston area has been losing ground

Caption: A map created using data from the United States Geological Survey shows how far Harris County has dropped in elevation since the 1920s. Though most of the region to the east has stabilized, areas to the west continue to subside at an significant rate, according to the agency. Remove the map to see which areas of Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery County are experiencing decreasing aquifer levels.

28 May, 2016. Houston is sinking - and has been for decades.

As torrential rains have pounded the city in consecutive years, leading to repeated, heavy and deadly flooding, this inconvenient fact contributes to the region's misery. Parts of Harris County have dropped between 10 and 12 feet since the 1920s, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

State and local officials have made various efforts over the past 40 years to stabilize the ground, but some areas continue to sink - by as much as 2 inches per year.

Spring Branch, where Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 meet, has dropped 4 feet since 1975. Jersey Village, along Route 290 and to the west of Beltway 8, is almost 2 feet lower than it was in 1996. And Greater Greenspoint, where Interstate 45 intersects with Beltway 8, has given up about 2 feet in the last decade alone, according to USGS data.

"When you lose that much, it makes an area prone to floods when they weren't historically," said Mark Kasmarek, a hydrogeologist for more than 30 years with the USGS.

There is little mystery to why this is happening: The developing region draws an excessive amount of groundwater to keep itself quenched. Over the last century, aquifers here have lost between 300 and 400 feet, leaving the land to collapse. The science behind this phenomenon is called subsidence.

Houston sits in one of the nation's largest subsidence bowls, so-called because of the crater effect that happens when the ground caves.

A USGS map of Harris County shows the city's bowl containing many smaller bowls, some with 8- to 9-foot drops in elevation. Many of these areas are in places known to flood, like the Heights, Montrose, downtown and near the East End.

Rainfall collects and pools in the bowls, instead of seeping through the land, Kasmarek said. Residents have seen it up close in Meyerland, a 6,000-acre neighborhood in southwest Houston that lost about a foot and a half over a 13-year period in the 1980s and early 1990. Cracked foundations, uneven sidewalks and shifted floorboards are often telltale signs of subsidence, residents said.

Shifts in elevation do more than alter topography, said John Blount, a Harris County engineer. They also ruin the efficiency of a city's drainage system. Blount saw a recent example of this when he and a crew were repairing a section of Kirby Drive.

Source: texaslandscape.org; Kasmarek, Mark. 2013. Hydrogeology and Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Land-Surface Subsidence in the Northern Part of the Gulf Coast Aquifer System, Texas, 1891-2009. Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5154, Version 1.1, December 2013. U.S. Geological Survey. Figure 32, p. 47.

"We noticed that drainage lines weren't at the grade they should've been, and they weren't allowing water to drain as quickly as they should," he said. "It's because the ground wasn't at the same level anymore."

Over the years, Texas lawmakers enacted bills to create subsidence or water conservation districts in counties that include Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery and Galveston. The goal was to keep the region elevated by developing ways to reduce groundwater consumption.

The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District, created in 1975, was the first of these districts. Since its creation, subsidence rates have slowed greatly. Instead of losing a foot every 10 years, many areas saw that rate cut by a little more than two-thirds.

However, development has outpaced controls in other parts of the region, where groundwater continues to be pumped to meet demands.

Aquifer levels are declining in northwestern Harris County, Fort Bend County and Montgomery County, a preliminary report released this month by the Harris-Galveston Subsidence District concluded.

Long-term fixes - like drawing from surface water and creating new reservoirs - are still on paper.

Of the 50 major public water suppliers in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties required to submit audits to the state, at least 30 draw all of their water from the ground - delivering more than 14 billion gallons a year, according to the most recent data.

The other suppliers use a combination of ground and surface water.

The United States Geological Survey monitors subsidence throughout the region using devices known as extensometers. The chart shows how far select areas though the region have subsidenced since 1974.

Privately owned wells also draw from the aquifers.

"Telling homeowners they can't take free water from a well on their property is like telling Texans they can't drive a truck," Kasmarek said. "Many people close their eyes to it and don't believe in (subsidence)."

It's important to educate the public, he said, because once the damage is done, it can't be easily corrected. Even after switching to surface water, the ground will continue to sink for several years, Kasmarek said. It takes time for the aquifers to adjust. "It doesn't happen overnight," he said.

The Harris-Galveston Subsidence District estimates that northwest Harris County will sink another 11/2 feet by 2030 even after surface water conversion takes place. To understand subsidence, think about what's beneath the ground - layers of sand, gravel and clay. Water flows through those layers.

But when the water is removed for drinking or agricultural use, the layers smash together and the ground sinks. It's a process that would occur naturally, Kasmarek said, but at a glacier's pace. Development exacerbates the collapse.

"Houston is one of the best examples in the U.S., but it's a national and global problem," he said. Arizona, California and Louisiana have struggled with subsidence. Elevation drops, coastlines disappear and parts of cities flood that historically haven't

Data shows that several areas of northwestern Houston is subsidence about 2 inches per year. That doesn't seem like much, but consider Addicks, a neighborhood in northwest Harris County. The community has sunk two inches per year since 1974 and now sits 4 feet lower than it once did. Change the chart by clinking the button below the map to view subsidence in Baytown. The area managed to stabilize it's sinking in the 1980s and 1990s, but has the area's subsidence rates have recently begun to tick upward.'t.

India and Japan also have worked to fight subsidence by placing water restrictions on groundwater withdrawals. Houston was the first place where subsidence was studied in the United States, according to Kasmarek. Because of the region's relatively flat, featureless topography, the effects of subsidence were quickly noticed. <...> Source: houstonchronicle.com

28 May, 2016. Click to view

Historic floods in Texas force more inmates from prisons

Source: twitter.com

3 June, 2016. A third Texas prison near the Brazos River in southeast Texas was evacuated Friday because of historic flooding.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice began moving about 1,700 inmates from the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon. That’s about 30 miles south of Houston.

The inmates will be bused to other prisons in East Texas that have room.

About 2,600 inmates at two nearby prisons in Brazoria County, the Terrell, and Stringfellow Units were moved out Sunday (May 29).

Additional food and water have been delivered to the prisons receiving the displaced inmates. Source: wgno.com

Is Houston America's Flood Capital?

19 April, 2016. The April 18, 2016 flood event is just the latest chapter in Houston's soggy saga.

An estimated 140 billion gallons of water rained over the Cypress Creek, Spring Creek, and Adicks watersheds in just 14 hours ending at 10 a.m. CT, April 18, 2016, according to Jeff Lindner, meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District. Freeways, homes and buildings were flooded, trapping vehicles and triggering gridlock.

"This is the worst flooding across Harris County since Tropical Storm Allison (2001) based on the spatial coverage of 10-15 inch rainfall amounts," said Lindner in an email.

If you're unlucky, you may have dealt with major flooding perhaps once or twice in your life. But Houstonians, even transplants who have only spent a few years in southeast Texas, likely have experienced flooding multiple times —sometimes in the same year.

One could make a strong argument that Houston is the nation's flash flood capital.

Four to Five Times A Year

According to NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, there were 96 days with at least one report of flooding or flash flooding in Harris County from 1996 through 2015. This equates to an average of 4-5 days of flooding each year over that time period.

Of course, not all of these flood events are as severe as April 2016, Memorial Day 2015, or Allison in 2001. The fact that flooding happens with such regularity most years in an area just slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island is quite impressive. Source: weather.com

Jun 4, 2016
Stanislav

‘Nuisance flooding’ exceeds trends, breaks records in the United States: NOAA

8 June, 2016. ‘Nuisance flooding’ exceeded trends and broke records, especially in the southern United States and Gulf Coast, possibly due to a strong El Niño compounding already rising sea levels, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Wednesday.

Nuisance tidal flooding during 2015 generally exceeded historical averages in the United States. Photo: NOAA.

The frequency of nuisance tidal flooding in many U.S. cities increased as predicted for the 2015 meteorological year, from May 2015 to April 2016, according to a report issued by NOAA titled 2015 State of U.S. “Nuisance” Tidal Flooding.

Wilmington, N.C. saw an all-time high of 90 days of nuisance flooding, nearly one quarter of the year. Other cities with record numbers of flooding days included Charleston, S.C.; Port Isabel, TX; and Mayport, Virginia Key, Key West, and Fernandina Beach, FL. Some cities in the Mid-Atlantic and West Coast also experienced greater tidal flooding frequencies above normal trends, including Norfolk, VA; Baltimore, MD; and San Francisco and La Jolla, CA.

“On average for the nation, nuisance tidal flooding during 2015 generally exceeded historical averages,” the report said. “In many locations, the 2015 increase even exceeded the increasing rate suggested by trends in recent decades.”

Nuisance flooding, which causes such public inconveniences as frequent road closures, overwhelmed storm drains and compromised infrastructure, now occurs with high tides in many locations due to climate-related sea level rise, land subsidence and the loss of natural barriers, NOAA said in a statement.

The 2015 outlook indicated that mid-Atlantic and West Coast communities could experience an increase over the trend in the number of nuisance flooding days due to likely higher sea levels during El Niño, which increases the reach of storm surges and high tides.

“Sea level rise is continuing and flooding impacts are happening now,” said William Sweet, an oceanographer with NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. “The upward trend in nuisance flooding is an ongoing issue. Last year we broke several records, and trends show that we’ll likely continue to do so in the future. Coastal communities should expect a new normal in nuisance tidal flooding and prepare for potential impacts.”

The 2015 State of U.S. Nuisance Tidal Flooding report highlights nuisance flood during the 2015 meteorological year and compares it to the outlook at 28 NOAA tide stations around the U.S., which have collected data for more than 50 years. It also provides a new outlook for the 2016 meteorological year, taking into account the La Niña conditions anticipated to develop in the coming months. La Niña typically has less effect on tidal flood frequencies compared to El Niño, however the nuisance flooding trend is still increasing, the statement said.

The outlook for 2016 shows that the cities with the highest frequency of nuisance flooding will likely be:

Annapolis, MD, with 47 days;
Wilmington, N.C., with 42 days;
Washington, D.C., with 30 days;
Charleston, S.C., with 27 days; and
Atlantic City and Sandy Hook, N.J., with 26 days
Along the California coast, less than 10 days are expected at La Jolla and San Francisco, a decrease from 13 and 20 days observed in 2015, respectively.

Nuisance flooding is increasing along U.S. coasts due to sea level rise, the statement said, with the extent of such flooding depending on multiple factors, including topography and land cover. The study defines nuisance flooding as a daily rise in water level above minor flooding thresholds set locally by NOAA weather forecasters and emergency managers for coastal areas prone to flooding. Source: canadianunderwriter.ca

El Niño, rising sea spur record 'clear-sky' flooding in 7 cities

8 June, 2016 El Niño and rising sea levels linked to global warming spurred a record number of days of "nuisance flooding" last year in seven coastal U.S. cities, according to a federal report.

Wilmington, N.C., recorded an all-time high of 90 days, or one-quarter of the year, partly underwater from the "clear-sky" flooding, which isn't caused by heavy rain from a storm, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in the report released Wednesday.

Charleston, S.C., also topped its record with 38 days and Key West, Fla., with 14 days.

William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer, said the historically high waters aren't anything new. "Last year we broke several records, and trends show that we'll likely continue to do so in the future," he said.

Nuisance flooding leads to road closures, overwhelmed storm drains and damaged property. It occurs with high tides in many locations due mainly to climate-related sea-level rise.

The loss of natural barriers and land subsidence — a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth's surface due to underground movement of soil, rock and other materials — also contribute.

Heat-trapping greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels causes glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica to melt. Warmer water takes up more space that cooler water or ice, causing sea levels to rise as a result.

Since 1880, the ocean has risen nearly 8 inches worldwide, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, but it doesn't do so evenly. In the past 100 years, it's climbed about a foot or more in some U.S. cities.

Flooding increased on all three U.S. coasts between 300% and 925% since the 1960s, with the biggest increases in the Mid-Atlantic. This year, NOAA predicts cities such as Annapolis, Md., Wilmington, N.C., and Washington, D.C., will see the most days with nuisance flooding Source: usatoday.com

Cedar Key residents see worst flooding in a decade

6 June, 2016. High tides surged over seawalls and swallowed the streets of this Gulf Coast beach town Monday, shuttering businesses and sending tourists flocking inland as Tropical Storm Colin coursed toward land.

The stormy afternoon seas caused flooding that residents of the 700-person island oasis said they had not witnessed in over a decade. Though the streets were starting to drain by early evening, locals were anticipating another storm surge overnight with the next incoming tide.

By 2:30 p.m., storm waters had seeped into the Market at Cedar Key, the town’s only grocery store. The standing pool in the parking lot outside was knee-deep. Business owners waded out of their storefronts as police patrolled the town, checking on residents and setting up “Road Under Water” barriers where necessary.

Denise and Andy Bariteau, who own an auto shop next door to the market, said they were expecting over a foot of flooding. The cost of damage, they guessed, “is going to be a lot.”

In the day leading up to the storm, the Bariteaus moved quickly to remove everything from the floor of their shop, to take items off the bottom shelves, and to tow all the vehicles to a church parking lot that sits on higher ground a few blocks away. Other vehicles were not rescued in time: The local postal delivery woman’s car, known to locals as “Miss Anne’s Jeep," was bumper deep in floodwater across the street from the auto shop. Source: ocala.com

High tide brings flooding to Holmes Beach

6 June, 2016. High tide hit Florida's west coast Monday afternoon, and, as expected, Tropical Storm Colin's winds and waves pushed water into many coastal communities.

As the rain began to let up, the wind picked up on Anna Maria Island.

"It is the worst we have seen in a couple of years," said Caleb Helmer.

Caleb Helmer and his friends rushed to fill sandbags.

"We haven't had too many storms in the last couple of years," he said. Helmer doesn't recall filling too many bags during his lifetime of being an island guy.

"We have a high tide out here today that's flooding everything today," he said.

As Tropical Storm Colin moved toward Florida, heavy rains caused flooding on Holmes Beach.

"I think we are a little late to the draw but if you get out there early it doesn't come inside your house and ruin all of your stuff," he said. Source: fox13news.com

Severe flooding in Louisiana. Associated USA flood around Gulf of Mexico with 7 of 10? I do not know why but I think it is a loss of height. [and from another] http://www.disasternews.net/news/article.php?articleid=4510 Flood waters submerged parts of southern Louisiana Tuesday after heavy rains caused flash flooding and forced hundreds of rescues. The National Weather Service estimated 12 to 18 inches of rain fell across the region, with totals reaching up to 20 inches in some areas. Among the hardest hit areas in Lafayette Parish was Carencro, where reports indicated water was as high as high as 8 feet on some roads.

Just as the bowing in the S American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking in the swath of land from Rio to Buenos Aires, the bowing in the N American Plate has produced stretching and consequent sinking along the eastern seaboard and land bordering the Gulf of Mexico. Stretched land has only so many options. It can rip open to form a crevasse or a landslide or a sinkhole, or rock layers can pull apart so that train rails zip and zag and cause derailments and bridges pull from their moorings. In this case there is an adjustment in certain places, a pulling apart, which relieves the stress.

Stretched land also almost invariably drops in elevation, because the crust is thinned. This may not be apparent on the surface if the rock layers are pulling apart deep underground or under a river bed. But the underlying rock cannot spread out and thin without some evidence of this process above. For Florida, this evidence is the increasing number of sinkholes swallowing houses. Lopsided buildings, drooping roadways, and swamps extending their borders are other such symptoms. Drainage is invariably affected, as water lingers where it formerly drained. Rains and tides thus confuse the issue, with high tides blamed for much flooding, when sinking due to stretching is the cause.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for March 17, 2012

THE STRETCH ZONE, THAT SINKING FEELING Blog

As the seas rise, a slow-motion disaster gnaws at America’s shores

Source: reuters.com

4 September, 2014. Part 1: A Reuters analysis finds that flooding is increasing along much of the nation’s coastline, forcing many communities into costly, controversial struggles with a relentless foe.

Tidal waters worldwide have climbed an average of 8 inches (20 cm) over the past century, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment. The two main causes are the volume of water added to oceans from glacial melt and the expansion of that water from rising sea temperatures.

In many places, including much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, an additional factor makes the problem worse: The land is sinking. This process, known as subsidence, is due in part to inexorable geological shifts. But another major cause is the extraction of water from underground reservoirs for industrial and public water supplies. As aquifers are drained, the land above them drops, a process that can be slowed by reducing withdrawals.

WATER EVERYWHERE (from left): Seepage of seawater into coastal marshes is believed to cause ghost forests like these on Assateague Island, Virginia. “Nuisance flooding” inundated the historic City Dock in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, several times this spring. NASA has had to invest tens of millions of dollars into seawalls and replenished beaches to protect launch pads and other infrastructure at its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque; Mary F. Calvert; Kevin Lamarque

The coastal flooding is often minor. Its cumulative consequences are not. As flooding increases in both height and frequency, it exacts a toll in closed businesses, repeated repairs, and investment in protection. In effect, higher seas make the same level of storm and even the same high tides more damaging than they used to be.

In Charleston, a six-lane highway floods when high tides prevent storm water from draining into the Atlantic, making it difficult for half the town’s 120,000 residents to get to three hospitals and police headquarters. The city has more than $200 million in flood-control projects under way.

In Annapolis, home to the U.S. Naval Academy, half a foot of water flooded the colonial district, a National Historic Landmark, at high tide on Chesapeake Bay during rainstorms on April 30, May 1, May 16 and Aug. 12. Shopkeepers blocked doorways with wood boards and trash cans; people slipped off shoes to wade to work in bare feet.

Tropical storm flooding has worsened, too, because the water starts rising from a higher platform, a recent study found.

<...>

When Tropical Storm Nicole struck Maryland in 2010, it was no stronger than storms in 1928 and 1951 that were “non-events,” said the study’s author, David Kriebel, a Naval Academy ocean and coastal engineer. Nicole, by contrast, swamped downtown Annapolis and the Naval Academy. “It’s partly due to ground subsidence,” Kriebel said. “Meanwhile, there’s been a worldwide rise in sea level over that period.”

In tidal Virginia, where the tide gauge with the fastest rate of sea level rise on the Atlantic Coast is located, a heavy rainfall at high tide increasingly floods roads and strands drivers in Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

Coastal flooding already has shut down Norfolk’s $318 million light rail system several times since it opened in 2011. Mayor Paul Fraim said he needs $1 billion for flood gates, higher roads and better drains to protect the city’s heavily developed shoreline.

Source: Reuters.com - Interactive graphics

<...>

The latest wave of explosive seaside growth has occurred in the four decades since the state enacted laws to temper coastal development, protect the beaches that are Florida’s most treasured natural resource, and curb the rising costs of damage from tropical storms. During that time, the need to protect the coastline has only intensified.

As Reuters detailed in the first installment of this series, rising sea levels are not just a future threat: They are already here, a documented fact. The oceans have risen about eight inches on average over the past century worldwide. The rise is two to three times greater in spots along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean because of subsidence, a process whereby natural geological movements and extraction of underground stores of water, oil and gas cause the ground to sink.

Higher water levels compound the effects of storms and regular flooding, hastening erosion. Hurricanes slam into Florida more than anywhere else in the nation; more than a dozen of them have resulted in major disaster declarations since 1990.

Yet, as Huckabee’s example in Walton County shows, the law has done little to discourage growth in harm’s way. Out of 3,302 applications for permits to build residential structures on Florida’s 825 miles of beaches since Jan. 1, 2000, just 114 have been denied, a Reuters analysis of state records shows.

<...>

Even without storms, rising seas are chewing away at the island’s unprotected beaches at a rate of two to 11 feet a year. The tide gauge at the city’s Pier 21 has shown a rise in relative sea level of 25 inches since 1908 – the largest increase over the past century at any of the scores of gauges monitored by NOAA.

About one-third of that rise was from oceans rising globally as water warms and polar ice melts. The remaining two-thirds resulted from land sinking due to subsidence, which happens when the removal of underground water, oil and gas causes the land to pancake.

Galveston Island is far from the only thing at stake. Between it and the mainland is Galveston Bay, connected to Houston by the 50-mile Houston Ship Channel, home to one of the world’s busiest ports. The entire area, once marshy wetlands, is lined with suburbs and at least $100 billion in oil refineries, chemical plants and related infrastructure. Metro Houston accounts for about 26 percent of U.S. gasoline production, 42 percent of base chemicals production, and 60 percent of jet fuel output.

A 25-foot storm surge pushing into the bay and up the ship channel would cause “economic catastrophe” to the nation and poison the bay in “the worst environmental disaster in United States history,” according to Rice University’s Severe Storm Prediction, Education, and Evacuation from Disasters Center. The Ike surge was just shy of that scenario.

<...>

Around the world, the biggest increases were in Asia, reflecting the greater impact in that region of subsidence, the process by which geological forces and the extraction of groundwater cause the land to sink. Near Bangkok, Thailand, a tide gauge showed an increase of nearly 3 feet since 1959. In Manila, the Philippines, the sea level rose about 2.7 feet.

As the rising waters take a worsening toll, European governments and local authorities are forced to ask: What’s our coastline worth? And can we afford to defend it all?

<...>

Flooding from overflowing rivers and canals in the area is at least an annual event that forces Rahmawati and the rest of the kampong to evacuate to public buildings nearby. High-water marks from the last big flood, in 2013, are still visible on the walls of the kampong.

“WORST SINKING CITY”

Jakarta is sinking because of a phenomenon called subsidence. This happens when extraction of groundwater causes layers of rock and sediment to slowly pancake on top of each other.

The problem is particularly acute in Jakarta because most of its millions of residents suck water through wells that tap shallow underground aquifers. Wells also provide about a third of the needs of business and industry, according to city data.

“It’s like Swiss Cheese underneath,” the World Bank’s Fook said. “Groundwater extraction is unparalleled for a city of this size. People are digging deeper and deeper, and the ground is collapsing.”

The effect is worsened by the sheer weight of Jakarta’s urban sprawl. Economic development in recent decades has transformed the city’s traditional low-rise silhouette into a thickening forest of high-rise towers. The weight of all those buildings crushes the porous ground underneath.

Previous articles in this series have focused on rising seas, which are climbing as the warming atmosphere causes water to expand and polar ice to melt. Ocean levels have increased an average of 8 inches globally in the past century, according to the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

But in many places – from metro Houston, Texas, and cities on the U.S. East Coast to the megacities of Southeast Asia – the impact of subsidence, due mainly to groundwater extraction, has been greater. Manila is sinking at a rate of around 3.5 inches a year. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is subsiding 3 inches a year, and Bangkok around an inch.

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Source: reuters.com

Jun 9, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[African Roll and Mediterranean Drop]

* IU.PAB: San Pablo, Spain; 39.54 N, 4.35 W

[2016/06/01 - 06/16]

* OX.CIMO: Cimolais; 46.31 N, 12.44 E

[2016/06/04 - 06/14]

* MN.IDI: Anogia, Greece; 35.29 N, 24.89 E

[2016/06/02 - 06/15]

Jun 18, 2016
Stanislav

U.S.

New analysis reveals large-scale motion around San Andreas Fault System

Uplift (red) and subsidence (blue) around the San Andreas Fault System based on GPS data (top) confirms motion predicted by previous models (bottom). Credit: Howell et al., 2016.

An array of GPS instruments near the San Andreas Fault System in Southern California detects constant motion of Earth's crust—sometimes large, sudden motion during an earthquake and often subtle, creeping motion. By carefully analyzing the data recorded by the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory's GPS array researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM), University of Washington and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) discovered nearly 125 mile-wide "lobes" of uplift and subsidence—a few millimeters of motion each year—straddling the fault system. This large scale motion was previously predicted in models but until now had not been documented.

The GPS array records vertical and horizontal motion of Earth's surface. Vertical motion is affected by many factors including tectonic motion of the crust, pumping of groundwater, local surface geology, and precipitation. The challenge faced by Samuel Howell, doctoral candidate at the UHM School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and lead author of the study, and co-authors was to discern the broad, regional tectonic motion from the shorter-scale, local motion.
To tease out such motions, the team used a comprehensive statistical technique to extract from the GPS data a pattern of large-scale, smoothly varying vertical motions of the local crust.
"While the San Andreas GPS data has been publicly available for more than a decade, the vertical component of the measurements had largely been ignored in tectonic investigations because of difficulties in interpreting the noisy data. Using this technique, we were able to break down the noisy signals to isolate a simple vertical motion pattern that curiously straddled the San Andreas fault," said Howell.
The pattern resulting from their data analysis was similar in magnitude and direction to motions predicted by previously published earthquake cycle model results led by co-authors Bridget Smith-Konter, associate professor at UHM SOEST, and David Sandwell, professor at SIO.
"We were surprised and thrilled when this statistical method produced a coherent velocity field similar to the one predicted by our physical earthquake cycle models," said Smith-Konter. "The powerful combination of a priori model predictions and a unique analysis of vertical GPS data led us to confirm that the buildup of century-long earthquake cycle forces within the crust are a dominant source of the observed vertical motion signal."
The new findings, published today in Nature Geoscience, indicate that researchers can use GPS vertical motion measurements to better understand the structure and behavior of faults, even in times of earthquake quiescence, when no major ruptures have occurred for several decades to centuries. As scientists patiently monitor the San Andreas Fault System for indications of the next big earthquake, these results will help constrain seismic hazard estimates and may allow for a more prudent mapping of the large-scale motion resulting from the next significant rupture of the San Andreas. Source: phys.org

21 June, 2016. The Big One: 'Large scale motion' detected along San Andreas fault

Large scale motion has been detected along the San Andreas Fault line, thanks to new analysis of existing data that could help predict ‘The Big One’ in the future.

Previously uninterpreted data showing vertical movement of the fault’s crust detected several millimeters of uplift and subsidence in surface areas as large as 125 miles.

While these hotspots were predicted in models before, this is the first time scientists were able to block out white noise and other diluting factors such as precipitation and local surface geology.

Published in the Nature Geosciences journal, researcher Samuel Howell said they were able to use the new modeling technique to “break down the noisy signals to isolate a simple vertical motion pattern that curiously straddled the San Andreas fault.”

The San Andreas Fault is the tectonic boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates and runs close to major cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco as well as nuclear power plants

‘The Big One’ is expected to produce a game-changing earthquake within the next 30 years causing massive devastation to California.

Federal, state, and military officials have been working on contingency plans for the looming disaster, which could see 14,000 dead and 30,000 injured, according to AP.

A 2005 study published in the journal Nature found the fault had reached a sufficient level of stress for an earthquake of a magnitude greater than 7.0, with the risk concentrated on the area of the fault near Los Angeles.

According to the new research, scientists will be able to study and understand the behavior of faults, even when dormant, using the vertical readings in the hope of predicting activity.

Emergency services will also benefit from more accurate seismic hazard estimates, predicting where on the surface movement is more likely to occur when ‘The Big One’ eventually strikes.

San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake of magnitude 7.8 left more than half of the city’s residents homeless and killed between 700 and 3,000 people. Source: rt.com

Thailand

Heavy floods hit parts of Bangkok

21 June, 2016. Flooding blocked streets, closed schools and created enormous traffic jams in Bangkok on Tuesday morning.

Persistent overnight rain and poor sewer maintenance combined to "affect" 30 roads, many of which were impassable, said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

A Bangkok Post staffer caught in the rain-soaked traffic jams said the floods tripled her normal 45-minute morning commute to the office.

The worst flooding was in the city's low-lying Lat Phrao area. At least four schools cancelled all classes for Tuesday.

Lat Phrao Road itself was still submerged, with traffic barely moving, at 7.40am. A section of Ratchadaphisek Road was flooded immediately above the MRT - although the subway continued services without interruption.

A widespread storm dumped rain on Bangkok all night. The Meteorological Department forecast daily rain and thunderstorms for the rest of the week.

After the rain eased up Tuesday morning, Bangkok Governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra was on the street studying maps of the flooded areas. (Photo via FB/Sukhumghand.P)

The governor gave an overview his Facebook page (Sukhumbhand.P), most of which had been previously published by other agencies. He refuses to use the word "flood", insisting it is "water waiting to be drained".

He requested that the public avoid major roads including Ratchadapisek, Navamin, Ngam Wong Wan, Lat Phrao, Phahon Yothin, Phetchakasem and Pracha Suk.

Facebook users piled criticism on the governor's page, complaining that many areas flooded on Tuesday were not normally inundated. There were many complaints alleging that City Hall had not properly cleaned the city's drainage and sewer lines.

An image taken from Ratchada - Lat Phrao intersection where the MRT's Lat Phrao station is located, at 8.10am. (Photo by Jiraporn Leelasiriworanon)

Source: bangkokpost.com

Philippines

15 June, 2016. MGB discovers 88 sinkholes in Guimaras

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-6 has found over 88 sinkholes in the municipality of Buenavista, Guimaras.

In a press briefing held Wednesday at the MGB-6 office here, MGB Regional Director Leo Van Juguan said the preliminary report of the detailed Karst subsidence assessment that was conducted from September 2 to October 7, 2015, found 88 sinkholes and 85 caves in 17 barangays in the town of Buenavista.

Sinkholes are ground depressions or openings formed when the underlying soluble rocks are dissolved, resulting in voids underground which can weaken the support for the overlying surface.

According to MGB-6, the karst subsistence assessment found the presence of sinkholes in the following barangays: Agsanayan, Dagsaan, Daragan, Getulio, Mabini, Montpiller, Navalas, New Poblacion, Salvacion, San Isidro, San Miguel, San Pedro, San Roque, Tacay, Taminla, Tastasan, and Zaldivar.

Subsidence due to sinkhole collapse is one of the most dangerous geohazard because of its extreme unpredictability.

This information can be used by local government planners and individual landowners to make decisions on where to build dwellings and other structures.

In the Philippines, subsidence hazard in karst terrain have not been given much attention in the past until the strong earthquakes in Negros Oriental in 2012 and Bohol in 2013 exposed the numerous sinkholes in these areas.

These phenomena were proven destructive and have affected built-up communities, roads, schools, administrative buildings, and agricultural farmlands.

The recognition of the devastating damage that can result from this hazard and the presence of extensive karst areas in the country prompted MGB of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to include karst subsidence assessment in the National Geohazards Mapping and Assessment Program. Source: news.pia.gov.ph

Jun 21, 2016
Stanislav

Indonesia floods in dry season past week

21 June, 2016. Kendal Flood, 10 414 Flooded Home Google translate

Kendal floods due to rains with high intensity from Saturday night to Sunday, according to data from the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Kendal resulted in 36 Villages Flooded (7 subdistricts). No less than 10 414 residents inundated house and three houses collapsed and roads were damaged.

Until Monday (06/20/2016) night some homes still flooded, even Road pantura Village Lebondalem and ketapan also still flooded that vehicles must still slowly.

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo while visiting some of the flooded areas said to Kendal to watch out for is the post-flood damaged roads, the article northern coastal road is the main route ahead especially during homecoming.

"Central Java is being stricken by the disaster, to Kendal especially northern coastal road and also alternatives that will pass the travelers must be corrected immediately after the flood," said Ganjar. While it was to help the flood affected victims of Governors instructed the district through a government-BPBDs to provide assistance.

Acting Head of the Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Kendal Kendal Slamet said that the Government would prepare food for the flood affected victims who still survive in the settlement. At least thousands of cooked rice and food parcels will be distributed to the affected area. Assistance provided consists of two sorts. Namely the food ready to eat and food or groceries for victims banjir.Kabupaten. "We've set up a public kitchen and will process and distribute the cooked rice to the victims affected by buttresses," said Slamet. (Ung). Source: krjogja.com

20 June, 2016. Death toll from Indonesia floods, landslides rises to 43, disaster agency says

Source: centerberita.com

The death toll from landslides and flooding in Indonesia has risen to 43 after hundreds of homes were engulfed by surging torrents of mud and rock.

Rescuers were searching through wrecked houses and mounds of earth for 19 villagers still missing after days of rain triggered the landslips and flash floods on mountainous Java island over the weekend.

They were using excavators to hunt for survivors in more accessible areas, and in more remote places were digging through debris with their bare hands and shovels.

Disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said 43 people were confirmed dead, 19 were missing and 14 had suffered injuries.

Hundreds of homes were badly damaged, with some completely flattened.

He said a La Nina weather system, which typically causes unseasonably heavy rains, could have contributed to the flooding. Java, which should be entering the dry season, has been hit by torrential downpours in recent weeks.

"This June there's still heavy rainfall which is causing floods and landslides," Mr Nugroho said, warning La Nina was set to strengthen in the coming months, increasing the risk of disasters.

Indonesia and other parts of Asia had been affected by a strong El Nino, which brings drought and sizzling temperatures.

La Nina often follows an El Nino phenomenon. Mr Nugroho also blamed inadequate preparations, saying his agency had warned local authorities that heavy rains were coming but it was not clear if they had taken action. Evacuation centres, equipped with temporary shelters and kitchens, have been set up near the disaster zones. Source: abc.net.au

21 June, 2016. Purworejo Declares State of Emergency After Floods, Landslides Kill 47

The Purworejo district administration has declared a one-month state of emergency after floods and landslides destroyed homes and killed at least 47 people in the area last weekend.

Flash floods and landslides occurred in 16 Central Java districts on Saturday (18/06), with the highest number of victims recorded in Purworejo—where 40 people are confirmed dead, ten injured and seven still missing, according to the latest data from the local Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD).

"Purworejo District Head Agus Bastian has declared a 30-day state of emergency from June 19 to July 18," National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said on Monday.

The landslides on Saturday buried 41 homes, severely damaged 19 others and slightly damaged three bridges, according to BPBD data.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) yesterday issued an early warning for more severe weathers between Monday and Wednesday.

Torrential rains and strong winds are expected in Jakarta, Depok, Bogor, Bekasi and Tangerang, as well as in Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java, the BMKG said. Source: jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com

21 June, 2016. Floods and landslides threaten travelers. Google translate

Along with advances in agricultural technology and market expansion, fruits can now be enjoyed without having to follow the season. So did the flood, the world within the framework of the 'old' appears only in December or January when the rainy season reaches the bud. Now, in the middle of the period commonly become Paired drought, rain and flooding dodged habits.

After the city of Padang and Padang Pariaman Regency suffered flooding and landslides in the middle of last week - thousands of homes submerged up to 140 cm - 16 districts / cities in Central Java into the emergency list. Because the heavy rains in Central Java on Saturday (06/18/2016) morning to evening has triggered floods and landslides.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) noted areas that include Purworejo, Banjarnegara, Kendal, Sragen, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Sukoharjo, Kebumen, Wonosobo, Pemalang, Klaten, Magelang, Wonogiri, Cilacap, Karanganyar and Solo. Until June 20, the death toll has reached 47 with 15 others still missing.

The nature of the symptoms according to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) occurs due to La Nina conditions, ie when the sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean has decreased. "The effect is global, not just in Indonesia," said Fachri Radjab, Head of BMKG Weather Information Service, told BBC Indonesia (20/6).

Such circumstances bring Indonesia to the "wet dry season" in the year ahead with levels of precipitation 15 percent above normal. Fachri, reported by BBC Indonesia, said that the condition of the said "virtually always occur every month." However, he added, "because of La Nina, (rain) became more intense. ''

Placed in the context of today, namely Ramadan, all that weather conditions will certainly affect the annual tradition that occurs every Problems always carries himself. Especially in Java, with two choices of main route known as lane north and southbound lanes.

On Sunday (19/6), in Kendal occurs congestion of vehicles from the west (Jakarta) to tens of kilometers from floods, precisely on Jalan Ketapang. Reported by Reuters, the queue of vehicles that dominated the truck was forced to walk slowly, but more often a stop for several minutes while through floodwaters at some point. Floods with a height of about 50 cm of water that caused the overflow of water from the River Blorong, after heavy rain which flushed Kendal starting on Saturday (18/6) afternoon until midnight.

Congestion is getting worse because many motorists pushed the vehicle that crashed after attempting wading.

In addition, the overflow of the tide (rob), is also a threat. If you follow the predictions of BMKG, the tidal flood with the highest level is expected to fall on the 6th July. The area that became the focus of attention in this matter is Semarang.

According to CNN news Indonesia, several bridges in the path of the North Coast of Central Java reported flood had swallowed. However, water does not damage the bridge. You see, when water flooded, no trucks or large vehicles that cross it. One of the bridges in question is a bridge Sipait in Pekalongan, Central Java.

From the southern part of Central Java, heavy rains triggered flash floods in the village and village Jatiroto Purbowangi, Kebumen, on Saturday (18/6). In addition, the rain sparked landslides in Gumelem Kulon village, Banjarnegara on the same day. The slide is also up to the road.

Not only impact to the village and highways, flooding also disrupt train travel. Reported Viva, flooding in Kebumen was soaking the railroad between Ijo - Gombong next Ijo tunnel. High water reaches 20 cm. Source: beritagar.id

20 June, 2016. Jamin Basuki Minister Flow Homecoming Pantura Uninterruptible Flood. Google translate

Source: semarang.bisnis.com

Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuljono ensure the route of Java's north coast will not be disrupted by the tidal flood in Semarang, Central Java. Efforts to tackle flooding already done so certainly would not disrupt the Lebaran.

"It's been dealt with and are important northern coastal road and national lines in Semarang will not be affected by flooding," said Basuki in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, on Monday (20/6).

Basuki admitted precautions taken today are temporary and will not last long. But at least such a move would make the activity Lebaran this year is not compromised.

There are two temporary precautionary measure which is now done in the northern coastal road first installation of temporary levees and water pumps.

For water pumps, Basuki said, there are 10 stations set up at several points along the north coast. Including in some terminals are reportedly inundated by sea water.

"In the Terboyo bus terminal fitted with a pump," said Basuki.

According to information issued by the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG), the tidal flood will engulf the region still pantura at least until early July 2016, or adjacent to the celebration of Idul Fitri 1437 H. Therefore Basuki asked his men to quickly complete the work of anticipation the tidal flooding.

"Hopefully, this week completed because the BMKG predicted peak rob it on the 6th of July. But with the pump may be resolved," said Basuki.

Sea level in parts of Indonesia recently experienced positive anomalies by 15-20 centimeters. Subtropical high pressure center in southwest Australia also raised the main propagation (swell). Three rob it caused flooding and tidal waves occur in some coastal areas of Indonesia.

According to data from the National Agency for Disaster Management Command Post (BNPB) there are 23 counties or cities in Java were attacked by the tidal flood and tidal waves.

The region is Kulon Progo, Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran, Cilacap, Pekalongan, Purworejo, Wonogiri, Semarang, Pacitan, Banyuwangi, Jember, Terri, Malang, Tulungagung, Lumajang, Gresik, Tuban, Surabaya, Pemekasan, Probolinggo, and Jakarta.

According to the Head of Data Information and Public Relations Indonesia BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a tidal wave and tidal flood caused economic losses of billions of rupiah. (Sur) Source: cnnindonesia.com

21 June, 2016. Awash Flood had Rob, Bridge Pantura No Damage Google translate

Source: news.detik.com

Several bridges in Central Java North Coast Line reportedly were flooded rob. But no time to damage the bridge so no need to be repaired. Homecoming is not expected to be disrupted.

Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Hadimuljono Basuki said, one of the bridges that had submerged is Sipait Bridge in Pekalongan, Central Java.

Bridges do not get damaged because not crossed by a truck when submerged. According to him, another story if submerged when no trucks or large vehicles passing.

"So if the regular submerged yes no problem, but we'll see you later," said Basuki in the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Jakarta, Monday (20/6).

Basuki also ensures flow forth in this main line will not be disturbed. Some emergency dike and pump prepared in anticipation of flooding rob again.

Sea level in parts of Indonesia recently experienced positive anomalies by 15-20 centimeters. Subtropical high pressure center in southwest Australia also raised the main propagation (swell). Three rob it caused flooding and tidal waves occur in some coastal areas of Indonesia.

According to data from the National Agency for Disaster Management Command Post (BNPB) there are 23 counties or cities in Java were attacked by the tidal flood and tidal waves.

The region is Kulon Progo, Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran, Cilacap, Pekalongan, Purworejo, Wonogiri, Semarang, Pacitan, Banyuwangi, Jember, Terri, Malang, Tulungagung, Lumajang, Gresik, Tuban, Surabaya, Pemekasan, Probolinggo, and Jakarta.

According to the Head of Data Information and Public Relations Indonesia BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a tidal wave and tidal flood caused economic losses of billions of rupiah. (Sur) Source: cnnindonesia.com

Jun 21, 2016
Stanislav

7 June, 2016. Hundreds House in Padang Awash Flood Rob. Google translate

Hundreds of homes in the city of Padang, West Sumatra, submerged tidal flood or flooding caused by high tides on Tuesday, June 7, 2016. The water level reached 50 meters.

Head of Emergency and Logistics Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) of Padang Nasrul Sugana said tidal flood soak up some areas in the city of Padang, like Gates, Rivers Brames 36 homes, Berok Nipah 15 homes, Sweet Water Beach 20 houses, neighborhood Ulak Karang 41 homes and Pasir area Jambak 10 houses.

"There are four houses were severely damaged in the Gates," said Nasrul when dihubungiTempo, Tuesday, June 7, 2016. According to him, the average flood soak rob the house about one to two hours, depending on the wind and waves. Source: m.tempo.co

9 June, 2016. Tidal flood struck the coast Binuangeun Lebak. Google translate

Flood illustration Rob Di Terri Residents see the atmosphere of the tidal flood that hit the tourist area of the coast of Prigi, Trenggalek, East Java, on Wednesday (08/06/2016). (FOTO ANTARA / Destyan Sujarwoko)

Floods hit coastal rob Binuangeun, Wanasalam subdistrict, Lebak, Banten, so that local fishermen not to fish.

"We appeal to the fishermen should not go to sea because of tidal flooding by the tidal wave," said Head of Fish Landing Base (PPI) Binuangeun, Lebak Akhmad Hadi Rangkasbitung when contacted on Thursday. During this time, the tidal flood was not created puddles that befall coastal neighborhoods.

Floodwaters rob estimated to reach 30 meters from the beach. Therefore, it has asked the residents who live near the coast in order to increase alertness. Source: antaranews.com

9 June, 2016. Land subsidence in Jakarta perparah tidal flood. Google translate

A few days ago, flooded with sea water flood - commonly referred to rob - hit several places in Indonesia. In the record of National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), puddle visited Belawan, Medan; Bali; North Jakarta; Singkil and Meulaboh, Aceh; Probolinggo; Blanaan, Subang; Pekalongan; Gresik; and Cilacap.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) estimates that similar conditions are still going to happen until today (9/6), particularly in the region south of Java, Papua southern and western Sumatra.

According to the Head of Data Information and Public Relations BNPB, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, special events not just now. "This cycle of tide usual. However, there is wind pressure is making waves became higher than ever before," he said.

Statement Sutopo get support from BMKG Yogyakarta Special Region through its coordinator, Joko Budiono, as read on the page Okezone, Thursday (9/6). According to him, "easterlies wind speed sizable" increase the wave height in the waters of the southern ocean.

Information according to Joko, easterlies wind speeds ranging from 18-36 kilometers per hour "because of the pressure difference" can enlarge the difference.

Such conditions are created for the said wind formed because the air pressure difference is quite significant in west Australia which high pressure and west Sumatra low pressure. Thus, the corresponding wind speed depends on the level of pressure.

What about the coast of Jakarta and Semarang is located north of Java?

Sutopo stated rob in the north coast of Java due to the influence of topography and sea level rise. Tidal flood in North Jakarta due to embankment in Marina Beach, Village Penjaringan, unable to withstand the force of the tide.

In the written statement, said Sutopo rob in the north coast of Java, particularly in North Jakarta and Semarang, occur because of the location which is naturally lower than sea level the highest tide.

In addition, the thrifty, Jakarta will face an increasingly serious threat rob future. Because the land subsidence in Jakarta has been difficult to control. From the measurement results of 1925-2010, sea levels Jakarta always go up every year with an average rise of 0.5 centimeters per year.

Meanwhile, the rate of land subsidence in Jakarta reaches 5 cm to 12 cm per year at some point during the last three decades. The condition that causes the accumulation of sea levels that inundate Jakarta so higher ground.

Research ITB held in the range of 1982 - 2010 showed that the land subsidence spread in many parts of Jakarta. The decline has varied between 1 to 15 cm per year.

In fact, in some locations, there is a decrease 20-28 cm per year. Region Pluit, became one of the areas experiencing land subsidence is large enough. Over the past three decades, some areas of land in Pluit decreased 1.8 meters to 3 meters.

Sutopo further argued that the land subsidence due to groundwater exploitation uncontrolled make North Jakarta more prone to rob.

The decline was not something that was natural, but more due to the utilization of ground water that exceeds the capacity and supportability. Groundwater triggered massive aquifer flat ground. Land was ambles.

In the case of high waves, BMKG predicted that some areas will still experience this condition. With a height of about 2.5 - 4 meters, the area that will be affected include Sabang waters - Banda Aceh, West Water to West Simeulue Islands Mentawai Islands.

In addition, the possibility also occurred in the territorial waters of Bengkulu and Enggano, Bodies of Water West Lampung, southern part of the Sunda Strait, the waters south of Java, Bali southern waters to the south of East Nusa Tenggara. Source: beritagar.id

Jun 21, 2016
Stanislav

Indonesia unseasonal floods past month

Tidal flood flood the village Kalibuntu Probolinggo district, East Java district Kraksaan 06/07/2016. No casualties JIW. Source: twitter.com

A pilgrim crossing the inundation of seawater or tidal submerging the tomb in Kampung Tambakrejo, North Semarang, June 2, 2016. Due to the high abrasion so coastline jutting into fishing villages and soak tombs in the region. TEMPO / Budi Purwanto. Source: m.tempo.co

Rob or flood tide that reached its peak in mid-June is getting soaking the residential area on the north coast of Java. As high as 60 cm rob submerging Tambakrejo region, Gayamsari District, Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday (06/14/2016). Tambakrejo is the most northern village situated in the city of Semarang, and is often hit by rob. Source: photo.sindonews.com

Rob Floods Soak House Fishermen in Belawan. Source: konfrontasi.com

BMKG CILACAP Remind Flood Rob Still Happen Again Tomorrow. Source: reonkpost.com

Floods soak rob a dozen homes in the district of Malang, MTV - Miski. Source: jatim.metrotvnews.com

The atmosphere of the floods that hit the area of Housing Pantai Mutiara, Jakarta, Saturday (4/6). The high tide caused levees in Jalan Mutiara 1, Pluit, Penjaringan, about 50 meters long collapsed. (Liputan6.com/Gempur M Surya). Source: photo.liputan6.com

Residents use a motor vehicle to break through the flood tide in the village of Ujong Blang, Lhokseumawe, Aceh, Wednesday (25/5). A number of huts and roads inundated shore tide that swept the coastal areas Ujong Blang beach, Lhokseumawe. Source: elshinta.com

Tidal flood in Talbot Village, Earth Sane, Bandar Lampung, Wednesday (08/06/2016). There were 233 homes affected by floods. LAMPUNG POST / ASRUL MALIK. Source: lampost.co

Coastal Flood Rob lunge Jumiang Pamekasan. Source: rri.co.id

Flooding in the area of housing in Padang. (Desrian eristha). 21/06. Source: hariansinggalang.co.id

A number of areas hit by high waves and tidal flood. 10 June, 2016.(Google translate) Source: cnnindonesia.com

9 June, 2016. Flood Rob and Tidal Wave Landa 24 Cities in Java, hundreds of Damaged Buildings. Google translate

Based on preliminary data compiled by the Post's National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reports Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), there are 24 districts / cities experiencing tidal flooding and tidal waves.

"According to the BMKG predicted that high waves and the tide rose on Wednesday (08/06/2016), the incidence of tidal flooding and tidal waves had happened in several regions in Indonesia," said Head of Data Information and Public Relations BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho through a written statement Thursday (06/09/2016).

The area experiencing tidal flooding and tidal waves that are Kulon Progo, Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran and Cilacap.

Additionally, Pekalongan, Purworejo, Wonogiri, Semarang, Pacitan, Banyuwangi, Jember, Terri, Malang, Tulungagung, Lumajang, Gresik, Tuban, Surabaya, Pemekasan, Probolinggo, and Jakarta.

According to Sutopo, the coastal areas in the south of Java suffered a more severe impact by the tidal wave and tidal flood. Hundreds of buildings, including houses, gazebo, stalls, beach embankments, and building on the beach were damaged.

Even in Lumajang there were 300 souls of children and women displaced. Similarly, in Pekalongan, a total of 891 community mental refuge at 11 evacuation point. Around 5,937 houses were flooded in the district rob Tirto, Wiradesa, Wonokerto and Siwalan. Severe damage area is the south coast of Yogyakarta.

About 15 coastal tourist area in Yogyakarta was damaged due to exposure to waves as high as 5-7 meters. The shore excursions are Trisik Beach, Bugel, Glagah, Congot, Drini, Sadranan, Ngandong, Sundak, Somendang, Round Rice, Pok Tunggal, Gesing, During, and Watu Watu New Beetle in Gunung Kidul, Bantul and Kulon Progo.

In the coastal tourist area in Gunung Kidul there are 101 damaged gazebo, 21 stalls broken, damaged three buildings and several talud SAR. While in Kulon Progo damage include 54 stalls, seven boats, 5 shrimp and some tourist buildings. While in Bantul damage include 30 stalls, boat and post. The same thing happened in Karangrejo Beach and Beach Boom in Banyuwangi in East Java, where 73 houses destroyed by the waves.

"There were no casualties in the incident. It is estimated that the economic losses reached billions of rupiah" said Sutopo.

Sutopo said the cause of the high wave phenomenon is the influence of astronomical occurrence of earth, moon and sun are in one straight line, resulting in rising sea levels.

This coincides with a high positive anomalies in sea level by 15-20 cm. In addition due to two things is also reinforced by the raised square propagation of subtropical high pressure center in southwest Australia.

It is estimated that high waves and tidal flooding is still potentially up to several days ahead.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) has predicted up to a day ahead (10/06/2016) tingggi wave from 2.50 to 4.0 m potentially in the Andaman Sea, waters north and west of Aceh, Simeulue Islands waters west, until Mentawai Islands, Bengkulu waters, the Indian Ocean west Aceh to Bengkulu, southern Bali Strait, waters south of Sumbawa until Bodies Sumba. While the 4-6 m high waves in the waters potentially Enggano, Bodies western Lampung, southern part of the Sunda Strait, waters south of Java to Lombok, the Indian Ocean south of Bengkulu to NTT. "People are encouraged to remain vigilant. Fishermen should not go to sea when high waves," said Sutopo.

"People who conduct activities on the beach should always be vigilant and careful. Travellers on the beach also have to be careful. Follow the restrictions and all the existing rules," he said. Source: nasional.kompas.com

9 June, 2016. Rob Flood and Coastal Tidal Wave Hit the Java-Bali. Google translate

Rob Flood and Coastal Tidal Wave Hit Java-BaliSeorang BPBDs officials warned residents to leave immediately rob the house flooded in the village of Tegal Kamulyan, South Cilacap, Cilacap, Central Java, on Thursday (9/6). Hundreds of homes were flooded rob Cilacap district by the tidal wave as high as 5 meters, to destroy the embankment 500 meters long waves. (FOTO ANTARA / Idhad Zakaria / ama / 16)

Earth, moon and sun are in one straight line (spring tide). Sea level in parts of Indonesia experienced positive anomalies by 15-20 centimeters. Subtropical high pressure center in southwest Australia also raised the main propagation (swell). Three rob it caused flooding and tidal waves occur in some coastal areas of Indonesia.

According to data from the National Agency for Disaster Management Command Post (BNPB) there are 23 counties or cities in Java were attacked by the tidal flood and tidal waves.

The region is Kulon Progo, Gunung Kidul, Bantul, Tasikmalaya, Pangandaran, Cilacap, Pekalongan, Purworejo, Wonogiri, Semarang, Pacitan, Banyuwangi, Jember, Terri, Malang, Tulungagung, Lumajang, Gresik, Tuban, Surabaya, Pemekasan, Probolinggo, and Jakarta.

According to the Head of Data Information and Public Relations Indonesia BNPB Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a tidal wave and tidal flood caused economic losses of billions of rupiah. Fortunately, the incident claimed no casualties.

"In the southern coastal areas of Java, hundreds of buildings, including houses, gazebo, stalls, beach embankments, and building on the coast were damaged," said Sutopo in a written statement on Thursday (9/6).

According to data BNPB, 300 lives of children and women in Lumajang evacuate. A total of 891 community mental refuge at 11 evacuation point in Kabupate Pekalongan. In Sub Tirto, Wiradesa, Wonokerto, and Siwalan approximately 5,937 units of houses were flooded rob.

Not only that, 15 coastal tourist area on the south coast of Yogyakarta also suffered damage from sea waves as high as five to seven meters.

In the coastal tourist area in Gunung Kidul gazebo there were 101, 21 stalls, three SAR building, and several embankments were damaged. Then, in Kulon Progo, damage include 54 stalls, seven boats, 5 shrimp and some tourist buildings. In Bantul damage include 30 stalls, a boat, and post.

To that end, BNPB appealed to the coastal communities of Indonesia to always be vigilant, careful and follow all the rules.

Deputy Meteorology Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) Yunus S Swarinoto said high waves and tidal flooding on the south coast of Java Island as a result of the positive anomalies sea level reinforced swell from the southwest Australia. Meanwhile, high waves and tidal flooding on the north coast of Java caused by spring tide and positive anomalies sea level. Source: cnnindonesia.com

6 June, 2016. Again, Rob Floods Soak Singkil. Google translate

Roads in the area of Ujung Onions, Singkil, Aceh Singkil, on Tuesday (12/15/2015) can not be crossed by vehicles due to flooding

Not to be lost due to trauma tidal flood submergence at the end of last month, a similar disaster back in whack society Singkil District of North and Singkil, Aceh Singkil. The latest report said the flooding due to the sea tides soak hundreds of houses with a height of about 30 cm.
Monitoring the foyer, Sunday (5/6), sea water flooded Gosong community settlements in the West Lake, some Ketapang Indah, District of North Singkil. Also soak area Sarok Island, Market, Kilangan, and the village of Ujung. In addition to homes, the highway at some point in the region is also submerged.
Approaching midday yesterday, puddles on the highway receded. But the house adjacent to the sea is still awash with reaching a height of 30 cm. Source: aceh.tribunnews.com

9 June, 2016. BMKG: Rob Due to tides Maximum Flood. Google translate

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) asserts, sea water flooding (flood rob) that hit a point on the north coast of Java caused the region were able to anticipate the maximum tide.

The low ground than sea levels caused tidal flood was inevitable. The maximum tide (spring tide) occur due to the phenomenon of the new moon and the full moon. At that time, the position of the earth, moon and sun lie in a straight line.

According to the Head of Sub-Division of Information BMKG, Harry Tirto Djatmiko, based on Hydro-Oceanographic Office data, tides due to the new moon will end on 10th June. Meanwhile, on June 17 to 23 next, the maximum tide occur because that is the course of the full moon phase. Source: nasional.republika.co.id

10 June, 2016. High Kian Rob Flood. Google translate

Residents wade in floodwaters rob Somandeng coastal areas, Gunung Kidul, DI Yogyakarta, Thursday (9/6).

Tidal flood still soak some coastal areas of Indonesia until Thursday (9/6). The phenomenon of sea level rise is called longer and higher on the year.

In the southern part of Malang Regency, tidal phenomena occurred since Friday (3/6) and is predicted to recede on Tuesday (7/6). However, until Thursday (9/6), some areas remain flooded rob.

A similar phenomenon occurs not only on the southern coast of Malang. BMKG forecaster Maritime Tanjung Perak Surabaya Eko Prasetyo explained, until Thursday (9/6), Rob is still reported in the north and south coast of Java. "Rob actually happened almost complete, but the most severe in the south," Eko said when contacted by Reuters yesterday. Lumajang, Banyuwangi, and Tulungagung are some areas that are still flooded rob.

Lodging on the south coast, Eko said that the tidal phenomenon more special. Therefore, sea water tides due to the moon's gravity coincided with the phenomenon of high waves. "Scientifically this condition is a result of the maximum tide phenomenon and is driven by the high waves," he explains.

Also soak the tidal flood six villages in the district of Medan Belawan, Medan, from Thursday (2/6). The water level varies from 30 centimeters to one meter and has reached the residence.

Head of Emergency BPBDs Medan Nilwan say as many as 3,200 houses were submerged. According to him, the tidal flood the periodic nature. However, this time, in addition to higher, BPBDs also estimate the tidal flood will be longer than usual.

On the Gulf coast of Lampung, the residents also began hauling household furniture to higher ground due to the tidal flood never subsided. Until Thursday (9/6), still tidal flood inundated hundreds of homes in Talbot Village, Bandar Lampung.

Some residents remain at home despite the tidal flood into the house. According to Sarwan, one resident Talbot, the tidal flood was originally always happens every year. However, this year tidal flood increasingly being felt and old.

Usman, a resident of the other Talbot, also confirmed the incident this year longer and the water that flooded higher. Head of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Maritim Lampung Sugiono said, factors that would trigger rising sea levels that inundate coastal areas due to the establishment of settlements and the impact of reclamation.

In Jakarta, the tidal flood hit area of ??Muara Baru, North Jakarta. Water and high waves caused the sea dike burst and water flooded the housing residents. Information Head of Regional Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) Surya Putra Jakarta, Bambang said, the tidal flood was indeed included six-monthly cycle. "Indeed, in this six-month cycle has entered the highest," he told Reuters yesterday.

He mentions that the highest water levels on the coast of North Jakarta so far is on the verge of 247 centimeters. If there are waves, he believes water waves will be higher, potentially more catastrophic.

Head of Data Information and Public Relations of National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, losses due to tidal flooding and high waves later estimated at billions of rupiah.

He continued, due to the flood tide or rob still will occur along the sea coast of the Indian Ocean, especially around the south of Java, southern Papua, Sumatra and west. "Jakarta is facing a very serious rob.

"The threat rob will be increased in the future. This was due to land subsidence in Jakarta uncontrollably," he said. rep: Christiyaningsih, Issha Harruma, Mursalin Yasland, Rizky Suryarandika, Hasanul Rizqa, ed: Fitriyan Zamzami. Source: republika.co.id

6 June, 2016. Flood Rob lunge Beach in Bali, this causes. Google translate

If you are on vacation to the island of Bali, beware if was visiting the beach. The reason, some of the beaches in Bali experiencing flood conditions tides or tidal flooding.

One of the beaches in Bali, which was flooded tide or rob above average was the Kuta Beach in Badung.

Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG) Region III Denpasar, I Wayan Suardana said, the island of Bali entered a period of drought.

"Sign the dry winds are relatively firmer. Three days into the future relative increase high wave conditions. Actually, the wind is not too strong, but the waves increases, primarily on the waterfront," said Suardana when contacted Liputan6.com, Sunday, June 5, 2016.

Nevertheless, these conditions do not occur evenly on the beach in Bali. "Uneven, conditions that only occur in the region of South Karangasem, Gianyar, Sanur and Kuta," he said.

In addition due to drought conditions, according Suardana, pair of sea water caused a parallel position of the sun, moon and earth in one line maximum. It causes the water in the earth's surface is increasing in some parts. This condition causes the attractive force moon and earth.

"For the astronomical high tide due to frequent periodic basis. For the weather factor due to the influence of wind speed, long the wind blows (including the persistence of the wind direction), fetch, as well as the influence of winds from other regions (swell)," he explained.

Currently, he continues, in general is already dominant wind blowing from the east-southeast, plus the low pressure center (L) in the Indian Ocean which caused a wave of constructive value or rise.

He explained that the main increase in wave height have occurred from the end of May 2016. As for the case of high waves around Kuta Beach is a combination of the effect of high waves in the waters south of Bali with the astronomical high tide due.

"For now entered a period of months off or new moon, in which the position of the moon, earth and sun line that led to a rising tide is very high," says Suardana.

"By listing tidal 2016 high tide with significant values ??may still occur until the date of June 10, 2016, mainly in the morning and afternoon with a height range at 2.3 to 2.7 meters," said Suardana about the cause tidal flooding on a number of beaches in Bali. Source: regional.liputan6.com

10 June, 2016. Pantura Semarang Still Awash Flood Rob. Google translate

Flooding due to sea waves tide was still soaking the northern coastal road Kaligawe Semarang, Central Java. Hundreds of vehicles stuck in traffic due to queue when crossing genamgan flood as high as 70 centimeters.

"The most severe is the next two weeks. Rob always arrive starting at 10:00 pm and later reflux approximately 22:00 pm. The streets were full of puddles," said Suyoto, residents Genuk, Semarang to Okezone, Friday (06/10/2016).

According to him, roads flooded rob long enough until the start Genuk Kaligawe. As flood elevation varies from 30 to 70 centimeters. As a result, a number of wheeled vehicles especially reckless passing directly strike. Source: news.okezone.com

Jun 21, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[African Roll and Mediterranean Drop]

GE.EIL: GEOFON Station Eilat, Israel; 29.67 N, 34.95 E

[2016/06/01 - 06/22]

IU.ANTO: Ankara, Turkey; 39.87 N, 32.79 E

[2016/06/17 - 06/21]

Jun 23, 2016
Stanislav
'Clock is ticking' for megaquake in Missouri that could cause 'all hell to break loose' across Middle America

The New Madrid Seismic Zone is 150 miles long, and experts say a quake would impact seven states - Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
- The New Madrid Seismic Zone is 150 miles long
- Experts say a quake would impact seven states - Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi
While San Andreas and Cascadia are well known for their potential to cause a megaquakes, researchers have warned a little known fault in the midwest is also long overdue a tremor.
The New Madrid Seismic Zone is 150 miles long, and experts say a quake would impact seven states - Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
They claim 'all hell would break loose,' with 715,000 buildings damaged and 2.6m people left without power.

The Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois released a report in 2009, which suggested the effects of a force seven or stronger quake from the fault line.
Amr Elnashai, the study's lead author, wrote 'All hell will break loose.'
The 150-mile (240 km) long fault system, which extends into five states, stretches southward from Cairo, Illinois; through Hayti, Caruthersville and New Madrid in Missouri; through Blytheville into Marked Tree in Arkansas.
It also covers a part of West Tennessee, near Reelfoot Lake, extending southeast into Dyersburg. It is southwest of the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone.
Most of the seismicity is located between 3 and 15 miles (4.8 and 24.1 km) beneath the Earth's surface, researchers believe.
The area has not seen significant earthquakes for more than 200 years.
In the winter of 1811 and 1812 there were three earthquakes of magnitude 7 - as high as 7.7 - and a series of aftershocks across the American Midwest.
- WHERE IS IT?The 150-mile (240 km) long fault system, which extends into five states, stretches southward from Cairo, Illinois; through Hayti, Caruthersville and New Madrid in Missouri; through Blytheville into Marked Tree in Arkansas.It also covers a part of West Tennessee, near Reelfoot Lake, extending southeast into Dyersburg. It is southwest of the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone.Most of the seismicity is located between 3 and 15 miles (4.8 and 24.1 km) beneath the Earth's surface.
The results were catastrophic, with the course of the Mississippi being diverted, chasms ripping open, and volcanoes of sand and water bursting through the ground.
According to the Central US Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), earthquakes in the central or eastern United States effect much larger areas than earthquakes of similar magnitude in the western United States.
For example, the San Francisco, California, earthquake of 1906 (magnitude 7.8) was felt 350 miles away in the middle of Nevada, whereas the New Madrid earthquake of December 1811 rang church bells in Boston, Massachusetts, 1,000 miles away.
Differences in geology east and west of the Rocky Mountains cause this strong contrast.
Scientists now estimate that the probability of a magnitude 6.0 or larger earthquake occurring in this seismic zone within any 50 year period is 25% to 40%, and say such an earthquake could hit the Mississippi Valley at any time.
- HOW BAD COULD IT BE?
- Most of the seismicity is located between 3 and 15 miles (4.8 and 24.1 km) beneath the Earth's surface, researchers believeThe Mid-America Earthquake Center at the University of Illinois released a report in 2009, which suggested the effects of a force seven or stronger quake from the fault line.Amr Elnashai, the study's lead author, wrote 'All hell will break loose.'Nearly 715,000 buildings are damaged in the eight-state study region.About 42,000 search and rescue personnel working in 1,500 teams are required to respond to the earthquakes.Damage to critical infrastructure (essential facilities, transportation, and utility lifelines) is substantial in the 140 impacted counties near the rupture zone, including 3,500 damaged bridges and nearly 425,000 breaks and leaks to both local and interstate pipelines.Approximately 2.6 million households are without power after the earthquake. Nearly 86,000 injuries and fatalities result from damage to infrastructure.Nearly 130 hospitals are damaged and most are located in the impacted counties near the rupture zone.There is extensive damage and substantial travel delays in both Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri, thus hampering search and rescue as well as evacuation.Moreover roughly 15 major bridges are unusable.Three days after the earthquake, 7.2 million people are still displaced and 2 million people seek temporary shelter.Direct economic losses for the eight states total nearly $300 billion, while indirect losses may be at least twice this amount.
James Wilkinson, director of the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium (CUSEC), told The Atlantic the greatest threat might come from the Mississippi River newly unleashed from its engineered prison of levees.
'The thing that, to me, makes the river scary is how much industry we have along it: there's power plants, there's chemical plants, there's ports,' he said.
'And the river might change course altogether.'
'So if the levees are already jeopardised either by overtopping or saturation, where the water's been there for quite a while, and then you get a shake to it?
'You know, the river's just gonna take the path of least resistance. And who knows whether that's right through these communities.
'In a massive earthquake we could lose a good part of Western Kentucky, we could lose a good part of Arkansas or southern Missouri.'
'The clock's ticking.'
But not all seismologists agree.
Seth Stein, based in Evanston, Illinois, has researched the fault line for 30 years, and told The Atlantic the warnings were 'dangerous nonsense'.
He set up GPS receivers along the fault line and found the land was moving two millimetres a year, if at all, meaning there is next to no strain within it.
In 1999, FEMA identified four hazards in the United States that, were they consummated in all their destructive wonder, would be worthy of the title 'catastrophic.'
They were: a major earthquake hitting Los Angeles, a major hurricane hitting Miami, a major hurricane hitting New Orleans (check), and a giant earthquake hitting the Central US.

the New Madrid earthquake of December 1811 rang church bells in Boston, Massachusetts, 1,000 miles away.
- THE SAN ANDREAS FAULT The San Andreas system in Northern California consists of five major branches with an overall length of about 1,25O miles. Experts say there is a 99 percent chance of a magnitude-6.7 earthquake or larger in the next 30 years in California because of the number of fault lines in the region. The San Andreas Fault that forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate is the biggest.
A recent study found due to the San Andreas Fault System, the Earth's crust is constantly moving.
It's been thought that large-scale motion has gradually been occurring in the crust that straddles this fault system – now, a new study using GPS data has revealed 'lobes' of movement nearly 125 miles wide.
While the vertical component of GPS data has typically been ignored in tectonic studies on the fault, the researchers say these findings indicate it can be used to improve understanding of how these structures behave.
The crust surrounding the San Andreas Fault in Southern California is moving a few millimetres every year in wide lobes of uplift and subsidence, according to the study.
To differentiate between regional tectonic movement and shorter-scale, local motion, researchers from the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM), the University of Washington, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) analysed data from the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory's array of GPS instruments.
The instruments are able to detect both vertical and horizontal motions of the crust, whether it be subtle creeping, or large, sudden movements from earthquakes.
Using a comprehensive statistical technique, the researchers discovered a pattern of large-scale vertical motions of the local crust from the data.
This type of movement is influenced by tectonic motion, local surface geology, precipitation, and even groundwater pumping.
- PLANS FOR THE 'BIG ONE' Federal, state and military officials have been working together to draft plans to be followed when the 'Big One' happens. These contingency plans reflect deep anxiety about the potential gravity of the looming disaster: upward of 14,000 people dead in the worst-case scenarios, 30,000 injured, thousands left homeless and the region's economy setback for years, if not decades. Julian Lozos, an assistant geophysics professor at California State University, claimed there is a strong chance this quake will coincide with one along the adjacent San Jacinto fault line, which runs through more heavily-populated cities. Both fault lines are shown above Julian Lozos, an assistant geophysics professor at California State University, claimed there is a strong chance this quake will coincide with one along the adjacent San Jacinto fault line, which runs through more heavily-populated cities. Both fault lines are shown above As a response, what planners envision is a deployment of civilian and military personnel and equipment that would eclipse the response to any natural disaster that has occurred so far in the US. There would be waves of cargo planes, helicopters and ships, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers, emergency officials, mortuary teams, police officers, firefighters, engineers, medical personnel and other specialists. The response will be orders of magnitude larger than Hurricane Katrina or Super Storm Sandy,' said Lt. Col. Clayton Braun of the Washington State Army National Guard.
While the San Andreas GPS data has been publicly available for more than a decade, the vertical component of the measurements had largely been ignored in tectonic investigations because of difficulties in interpreting the noise data,' said Samuel Howell, doctoral candidate at the UHM School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and lead author of the study.
This aerial view shows aportion of the San Andreas fault in California Sierra Madre Mountains, midway between Bakersfield and Santa Barbara. Using a comprehensive statistical technique, researchers discovered a pattern of large-scale vertical motions of the local crust from the data

'Using this technique, we were able to break down the noisy signals to isolate a simple vertical motion pattern that curiously straddled the San Andreas Fault.'
Previous models have predicted such large-scale motion, and the researchers say the new analysis has found a pattern of similar magnitude and direction.
This new understanding will help to create seismic hazard estimates as scientists look out for signs of the next big earthquake from the San Andreas Fault.
- THREAT OF 'THE BIG ONE'The 'Big One' is a hypothetical earthquake of magnitude 8 or greater that is expected to happen along the San Andreas fault. Such a quake is expected to produce devastation to human civilization within about 50-100 miles of the quake zone, especially in urban areas like Palm Springs, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
And, they say it will allow for more precise mapping of the large-scale motion that comes from the next significant rupture.
'We were surprised and thrilled when this statistical method produced a coherent velocity field similar to the one predicted by our physical earthquake cycle models,' said Bridget Smith-Konter, associate professor at UHM SOEST and co-author on the study.
'The powerful combination of a priori model predictions and a unique analysis of vertical GPS data led us to confirm that the build-up of century-long earthquake cycle forces within the crust are a dominant source of the observed vertical motion signal.' Source: dailymail.co.uk
Jun 24, 2016
Stanislav

China’s sinking feeling: Soil under Beijing gradually collapsing - study

Source: mdpi.com; rt.com

24 June, 2016. Aside from its unsightly industrial pollution problem, China’s government has another potentially serious issue on its hands - the capital Beijing is reportedly in danger of becoming a massive sinkhole.

A study of the movements beneath Beijing carried out by Chinese academics and a Spanish engineer has revealed that in some parts of the sprawling city soil is falling away at a rate of between 8-11cm per year.

The city center appears to be the worst affected area, with the gradual displacement taking place below many of Beijing’s densely populated residential districts. Carried out using satellite radar technology, the study compared images of the region’s landscape between 2003 and 2011.

Researchers involved in the study say that because of the “overexploitation” or overuse of groundwater, Beijing has been “suffering from land subsidence since 1935.” They are currently assessing the potential threat to buildings and roadways from the earth subsidence. According to the United States Geological Survey, the phenomenon - a sudden sinking of the Earth’s surface - is a growing global problem, exacerbated by human interference involving practices such as drainage of the soil and underground mining.

“We are currently carrying out a detailed analysis of the impacts of subsidence on critical infrastructure in the Beijing Plain,” study authors Chen Mi and Li Xiaojuan told the Guardian.

Chinese media company Sina estimates Beijing uses 3.5 billion cubic meters of water per year, with a significant increase required to sustain it in the future.

China is currently undertaking a $62bn project to divert the equivalent of more than 17 million Olympic sized swimming pools of water (44 billion cubic meters) per year from the Yangtze River to the urbanised north of the country.

The South North Water Transfer Project utilises canals to bring water to “drought-prone”or parched areas in the north, according to a website affiliated to the Chinese government. Source: rt.com

Beijing has fallen: China's capital sinking by 11cm a year, satellite study warns

24 June, 2016. China’s capital is known for its horrendous smog and occasional sandstorms. Yet one of its major environmental threats lies underground: Beijing is sinking.

Excessive pumping of groundwater is causing the geology under the city to collapse, according to a new study using satellite imagery that reveals parts of Beijing – particularly its central business district – are subsiding each year by as much as 11 centimetres, or more than four inches.

The authors of the study warn that continued subsidence poses a safety threat to the city of more than 2o million, with “a strong impact on train operations” one of the predictions.

The study on Beijing’s subsidence has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Remote Sensing and is based on InSAR, a type of radar that monitors land elevation changes. It was written by a team of seven researchers, including three who explained their findings to the Guardian: Chinese academics Chen Mi and Li Xiaojuan, and Spanish engineer Roberto Tomas.

“We are currently carrying out a detailed analysis of the impacts of subsidence on critical infrastructure (eg high-speed railways) in the Beijing plain,” they said in an email to the Guardian. “Hopefully a paper summarising our findings will come out later this year.”

Beijing sits in a dry plain where groundwater has accumulated over millennia. As wells are drilled and the water table drops, the underlying soil compacts, much like a dried-out sponge.

The study finds that the entire city is sinking but the subsidence is most pronounced in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, which has boomed since 1990 with skyscrapers, ringroads and other development. The researchers say the uneven nature of the subsidence in some areas poses risks to buildings and other infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of water wells are thought to exist in and around Beijing, many of them used in farming and landscaping. The state has regulatory power over installation of wells but is inconsistent in applying it, according to one leading Chinese environmentalist.

“There are some rules but the enforcement is doubtful,” said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs in Beijing. Ma said he wasn’t surprised subsidence was relatively high in the Chaoyang district given its rapid growth of recent decades. He expected it to keep moving east as the city sprawled in that direction.

In 2015 China inaugurated a mega-engineering project aimed at mitigating Beijing’s water crisis. The state completed construction of the South-North Water Diversion, a £48bn, 2,400km network of canals and tunnels, designed to divert 44.8bn cubic metres of water to the capital.

Even before the canal began delivering water, Beijing was easing up on some groundwater pumping. In January of 2015 the Chaoyang district announced plans to phase out 367 water wells, reducing the use of 10m cubic meters of underground water.

Experts say it is still too early to know if the canal’s water deliveries will help recharge the aquifer and slow Beijing’s rate of subsidence. In the meantime concerns about impacts to buildings and rail systems continue. To prevent derailments a 2015 study recommended that China ban new water wells near completed high-speed rail lines [PDF].

Other cities around the world are experiencing subsidence caused by excessive water pumping or other factors. Mexico City is sinking by up to 28cm a year and Jakarta is subsiding at a similar rate. Bangkok is dropping annually by as much as 12cm, similar to Beijing, according to the Remote Sensing researcher Source: theguardian.com

Jun 24, 2016
Stanislav

Africa Roll

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Experts raise alarm over impending earthquake

29 June, 2016. Drillers warn on unregulated activities of practitioners

Experts have warned of an impending damaging earthquake in the South-West region and other parts of the country in the next four years, precisely before year 2020.

In the same vein, the Association of Water-well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP) has warned that lack of regulation guiding the abstraction of underground water will induce earthquake and sea water intrusion in the country.

The borehole drillers association said the manner by which people drill underground water without proper regulation and adherence to standard practice in many parts of the country would in a matter of time induce earthquake and sea water intrusion, which could make drinking water difficult to get.

AWDROP National President, Mr. Michael Ale, stated this during a state of nation, water press conference, a quarterly update on the state of water resources in Nigeria meant to educate and sensitise people on the current status of water resources, vis a vis its development, management and issues relating to its institutional arrangement and investment.

According to Ale, AWDROP lamented the many failed borehole projects executed by past governments without proper management procedure for community ownership and sustainability.

He said many of such borehole projects did not last more than a year after commissioning because they were not designed to meet with the current standards and adaptive nature of the needs of the beneficiary community.

While calling on the Federal Government to urgently address the warning on impending earth tremor in Saki, Oyo State, it also observed the indiscriminate drilling practice persistence and the industry being turned into an all comers affairs.

He promised the readiness of the association to partner with state government on rejuvenating and revitalising abandoned borehole projects across the country.

Meanwhile, experts have also warned against some damaging earthquakes that they predicted may affect some parts of the country if the right proactive strategies are not adopted towards preventing the impending disasters.

This warning was contained in a report by Dr. Adepelumi Adekunle Abraham of the Department of Geology, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State after an earth-moving tremor occurred at Shaki town, in the Shaki West Local Government, Oyo State.

Adepelumi, a geologist, who was also instrumental to a similar research after a similar tremor occurred in Abeokuta, Ogun State in September 11, 2009, suggested at the time that the risk of the quake in South-West region was 2.8 per cent in his new report.

Adepelumi’s reports stated, among others: “After the earth tremor of 2009 in southwestern Nigeria that was felt in several towns and villages in Oyo, Osun and Ogun states, a detailed short-term probabilistic earthquake prediction was carried out by our team, our findings indicate the probability of earthquake occurrence in the study area between the year 2009 and 2028 increased from 2.8 per cent to 91.1 per cent.” Source: guardian.ng

Oyo residents flee as 'earthquake' hits more communities

3 July, 2016. Several residents have abandoned their homes in panic following reported earth tremors at Koomi, Medina, Balako, Salam Salam as well as , Dauru-Salam communities in Saki, Oyo State.

NigerianEye gathered that residents fled the communities out of fear of the likelihood of earthquake as the noise being heard from beneath the earth surface was frightening.

Shakiru Adelabu, a furniture maker based in Balako, one of the affected communities, said the noise didn’t start recently, it has been on the increase in the past days. He added that the persistent noise from below the earth surface had led to the departure of a good number of people from Balako and Medina, where the tremor is most noticeable.

“We have been hearing the frightening sound for a while now but it became louder during the week and lot of people decided to relocate out of fear. Some people came from the city to take their people away and they told us it could be an earthquake coming. This made more people to pack their things. The tremor is really frightening and nothing has been done to stop it,” he said.

The Deputy Speaker of Oyo State who is an indigene of one of the communities in the area, Hon. Musa Abdulwasiu, raised an alarm during the week, calling on the state and federal agencies to help profer solution to the tremor. While assuring the people that help will come, he appealed to relevant authorities to act fast to forestal possible dangers.

“ I have been to the affected areas with very senior members of the Geology Department from University of Ibadan. They hinted that there is likelihood of heavy movement of rocks in the water channel beneath the ground in those affected areas. They also advised that evacuation of residents of affected areas is the only solution to tremor and possible earthquake after establishing degree of tremor. Honestly, they told us that no one could ascertain for now the degree of the tremor and whether it will lead to earthquake or not,” he said.

But the Oyo State Government has assured residents that efforts were on to avert environmental hazards. Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Chief Isaac Ishola gave the assurance while monitoring the areas affected by an earth tremor in Saki-West Local Government area. He explained that the visit was on-the-spot assessment to ascertain the earth tremor that occurred in some parts of the town and to proffer solutions to forestall the occurrence of natural disaster in the area.

He noted that findings by experts indicated that the earth tremor was a fore-shake, which was not capable of causing the earthquake. Ishola said the state government would liaise with the Federal Government to procure the seismic machine needed to check the gravity of tremor.

But in spite of the assurances, more communities are being deserted in the area as residents of neighboring communities, out of fear, are also leaving their abode to seek safer accommodations farther away from the tremor.

Consequently, communities like Afote, Oba Abimbola, Oke Suna, Ahere Oloke, Aroje and Elegede are daily losing their residents to the ongoing exodus. Spaeking to The Nation about the growing migration, Hon. Jamiu Abdulrasheed, a retired teacher resident in Aroje, said the migration is largely caused by unconfirmed reports that some of the experts who visited the place advised the government to evacuate the people because of a looming danger.

“We are hearing different types of reports. People are spreading a rumor that some of the experts who visited the place advised the government to evacuate the people because of a looming danger. That is why people are running away. But I learnt that our own communities here are not affected. Anyway, I will wait until relevant agencies come here to tell me to move my family,” he said. Source: nigerianeye.com

Nigeria: Earthquake Alert - Govt, States Urged On Redemptive Measures

28 June, 2016. The Nigerian Association of Water-Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners (AWDROP) has called on the Federal Government to take measures that could reduce the effects of the earthquake that has been predicted for Shaki, Oyo State.

Researchers from the Department of Geology, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, led by Dr Adepelumi Adekunle Abraham, had submitted in its report titled 'Preliminary Assessment of Earth Tremor Occurrence in Shaki Area, Shaki West Local Government, Oyo State, indicating an impending 'damaging earthquake' in the next four years.

AWDROP, at a press conference addressed by its National President, Mr. Michael Ale, lamented that lack of Underground Water Abstraction Regulation in Nigeria could easily induce earthquake and sea water intrusion, "hence the need for government to ensure strict compliance in the implementation of code of practice in borehole drilling" in the country.

Ale said his Association had been informed of the salt water intrusion affecting underground water usage and subsidence along the land-ocean boundaries in shoreline areas like Lagos, Port-Harcourt, Warri, Bayelsa and Cross River State and advised the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu, to create an integrated groundwater management modelling tools to improve sustainable management efforts and optimize resources utilization. Source: allafrica.com

Jul 4, 2016
Stanislav

U.S.

Lassen Peak Is Sinking, and Volcanologists Don’t Know Why

The area of subsidence in the Lassen Volcanic Center (blue) identifying by InSAR data analysis. The larger triangle is Lassen Peak, the smaller triangle is Reading Peak. The box delineates the Lassen Volcanic National Park. WALKER AND OTHERS (2016), JOURNAL OF VOLCANOLOGY AND GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH

29 June, 2016. MOST PEOPLE TEND to think of the Earth’s surface as a static thing. It is solid and persistent … however, that is far from the truth. Images from earthquakes show how land can be broken and buckled with ease during one of these massive seismic events, but the surface can deform in even more subtle ways.

Take the Lassen Volcanic Center (a place near and dear to me). It last erupted in 1915, when Lassen Peak had its small but historically significant blast. After 100+ years, you might not expect that much is currently changing in the area. But data presented in a new paper by Amy Parker and others in the Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research shows that since the mid-1990s, the whole area has sunk!

The team examined satellite data from 1992 to 2010 and found that an area 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles) across centered near Reading Peak (see below; just southeast of Lassen Peak) has been sinking at a rate of ~10 millimeters (~0.4 inches) per year. So, over that span the Lassen Peak area has subsided ~18 centimeters (~7 inches).

That measurement wouldn’t be possible without using satellites to detect very minute changes in the Earth’s surface over years to decades—in this case, with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, more commonly known as InSAR. This method uses precise measurements of the Earth’s surface performed by satellites that were captured some time apart and then compares them, looking for where the data (land surface elevation) no longer matches, producing interference in the images. Then these interferences are converted into values of up and down based on the extent of interference. Considering InSAR uses microwaves to determine the elevation, things like cloud cover and night don’t matter when the measurements are being taken. The only trick is you need to have the satellite pass over the same place multiple times to be able to compare the images.

InSAR is advantageous because it can not only measure small changes on the elevation of the Earth’s surface, down to centimeter scale, but also because it can look at large geographic areas. The method can survey wide areas impacted by motion on a fault during an earthquake to see how the land surface has moved. It can examine entire volcanic arcs (or large stretches of them) to see which volcanoes might be showing signs of changes. Of course, our data set is limited due to the coverage of the satellites that can do these measurements (there aren’t many) and the fact that InSAR hasn’t been employed for more than a few decades.

Lassen Peak in northern California. The area around the active Cascade volcano has been sinking since the early 1990s.ERIK KLEMETTI. Source: wired.com

Now, how long has this sinking been happening at the Lassen Volcanic Center? Parker and others looked at land-based geodetic data collected by leveling for the last 70 years and found no measurable evidence for subsidence prior to the early 1990s. Now, it could have been subsiding at a very low rate that wasn’t measured, although the total across that span should have been noticed if it was sinking. So, it seems that this sinking is a (geologically) recent event in the Lassen area.

When you have geophysical data such as this, one thing you want to do is try to model the shape of the area causing the changing of the Earth’s surface. In this case, Parker and others estimate that the source causing the sinking is a singular point (or centered around a point) that is ~8.3 kilometers (5.2 miles) beneath the volcanic center. It isn’t directly under Lassen Peak, but offset to the southeast under some of the more hydrothermally active areas in the Lassen Peak area. It is at a depth that is roughly the same as where we think magma is being stored underneath the Lassen Volcanic Center, so that gives us that first clue to why the area is sinking.

Trying to identify why Lassen Peak and vicinity is sinking is a little tricky. As I just alluded, the most likely culprit is cooling and crystallizing of magma after the 1914-17 eruptions of Lassen Peak. As magma cools, it loses volume, so any new magma that trigger the eruption over 100 years ago may be slowly losing volume.

This can’t alone account for the sinking, especially the timing as it appears to have started over 70 years after the eruption ended. You might expect that the sinking would have happened soon after the eruption ended (because you’ve expelled all that volume of magma and volcanic gas). However, as I mentioned above, Walker and others think that this sinking started only in the early 1990s. So, what else could be helping the subsidence beyond potential cooling of magma?

You can also change the flow of hydrothermal fluids (water heated by magma at depth) underneath the area to prompt subsidence. There is some loose correlation between the times of greater subsidence between 2004-07 and more earthquakes within the area of the hydrothermal system, so there could be connection there. There is even the chance that the M7.3 Landers earthquake in 1992, centered about 840 kilometers (520 miles) away, might have started the ball rolling as that earthquake seems to have triggered a M3.5 earthquake at Lassen within 13 minutes. However, these events are still correlations rather than causations without further study.

That being said, some of the sinking might not be related to the magmatism at the Lassen Volcanic Center at all. Local faults related to the Basin and Range province, where North America is stretching, are causing a deepening basin around the Lassen Volcanic Center and the warmer nature of the crust in the area (thanks to Lassen and friends) might mean this area is susceptible to more sinking compared to cooler areas. Medicine Lake in northern California is one of the other volcanoes in the Cascades that is also sinking. Studies there point the finger at tectonic forces along with cooling of a magma body at depth, so this combination might be a common occurrence in the Cascades.

Now, if you read this and think “huh, sounds like geologists don’t know much about why a volcano subsides”, you’d be right. Although dozens of volcanoes worldwide are subsiding (based on InSAR and other observations), for most we don’t have a good grasp on exactly why. Some have had recent eruptions, others haven’t erupted for millennia. Careful GPS surveys of these volcanoes (in cahoots with InSAR data) are needed to figure out all the vertical and horizontal pieces involved in the subsidence. Maybe then we can parse out each piece—magmatic, tectonic, hydrothermal—and then use these data to tell us about how volcanoes are behaving between eruptions and whether these changes can give us hints as to what might be next Source: wired.com

Sinking Atlantic Coastline Meets Rapidly Rising Seas

Rates of land subsidence, according to new study.
Credit: Karegar et al., "Subsidence along the Atlantic Coast of North America: Insights from GPS and late Holocene relative sea level data," GRL, 2016.

The 5,000 North Carolinians who call Hyde County home live in a region several hundred miles long where coastal residents are coping with severe changes that few other Americans have yet to endure.

Geological changes along the East Coast are causing land to sink along the seaboard. That’s exacerbating the flood-inducing effects of sea level rise, which has been occurring faster in the western Atlantic Ocean than elsewhere in recent years.

New research using GPS and prehistoric data has shown that nearly the entire coast is affected, from Massachusetts to Florida and parts of Maine.

Land subsidence and sea level rise are worsening flooding in Annapolis, Md., and elsewhere along the East Coast

The study, published this month in Geophysical Research Letters, outlines a hot spot from Delaware and Maryland into northern North Carolina where the effects of groundwater pumping are compounding the sinking effects of natural processes. Problems associated with sea level rise in that hot spot have been — in some places — three times as severe as elsewhere.

“The citizens of Hyde County have dealt with flooding issues since the incorporation of Hyde County in 1712,” said Kris Noble, the county’s planning and economic development director. “It’s just one of the things we deal with.”

On average, climate change is causing seas to rise globally by more than an inch per decade. That rate is increasing as rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap more heat, melting ice and expanding ocean waters. Seas are projected to rise by several feet this century — perhaps twice that much if the collapse of parts of the Antarctic ice sheet worsens.

Ocean circulation changes linked to global warming and other factors have been causing seas to rise much faster than that along the sinking mid-Atlantic coastline — more than 3.5 inches per decade from 2002 to 2014 north of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, a recent study showed.

The relatively fast rate of rise in sea levels along the East Coast may have been a blip — for now. The rate of rise recorded so far this century may become the norm during the decades ahead. “Undoubtedly, these are the rates we’re heading towards,” said Simon Engelhart, a University of Rhode Island geoscientist.

Engelhart drew on data from prehistoric studies and worked with two University of South Florida, Tampa scientists to combine it with more modern GPS data to pinpoint the rates at which parts of the Eastern seaboard have been sinking.

Their study revealed that Hyde County — a sprawling but sparsely populated farming and wilderness municipality north of the Pamlico River — is among the region’s fastest-sinking areas, subsiding at a little more than an inch per decade.

Taken together, that suggests the sea has been rising along the county’s shorelines recently at a pace greater than 4.5 inches per decade — a globally extraordinary rate. Similar effects are playing out in places that include Sandy Hook in New Jersey and Norfolk in Virginia, the analysis shows.

Gloucester Point, Va., which is home to the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, was also found to be sinking at a similar rate. Scientists there have been “noticing impacts,” said Carl Hershner, a wetlands expert who has worked at the institute since 1971. “Flooding in our boat basin is one piece of evidence.”

An inventory of wetlands and shorelines is being developed by the institute that may help reveal the impacts of subsidence and sea level rise locally. “There’s rather compelling evidence of marshes losing area,” Hershner said.

The main cause of East Coast subsidence is natural — the providential loss of an ice sheet. Some 15,000 years ago, toward the end of an ice age, the Laurentide Ice Sheet stretched over most of Canada and down to modern-day New England and the Midwest. Its heavy ice compressed the earth beneath it, causing surrounding land to curl upward.

Since the ice sheet melted, the land beneath it has been springing back up. Like a see-saw, that’s causing areas south of the former ice sheet to sink back down, including Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina.

The data suggests that some land in coastal Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, on the other hand, is rising slightly, although not quickly enough to keep up with the global rate of sea level rise.

The study shows that subsidence is occurring twice as fast now than in centuries past in a hot spot from Fredericksburg, Va. south to Charleston, which the scientists mostly blame on groundwater pumping.

“If you draw down your aquifer, the land above the aquifer kind of collapses,” said Timothy Dixon, a University of South Florida professor who helped produce the study. “If that happens to be on the coast, that can also increase your flood potential.”

In areas south of Virginia, groundwater levels appear to have been recovering this decade as well pumping has been reduced, slowing the subsidence problem. Virginia says it’s working on the problem.

“In most places, you wouldn’t notice it; it wouldn’t matter,” said Jack Eggleston, a U.S. Geological Survey scientists who has researched the effects of groundwater pumping on the region’s topography. “But in terms of practical effects and practical problems, it does matter when you’re right on the shoreline.”

The compounding problems of land subsidence and sea-level rise have been pronounced in states where legislatures led by conservative majorities have been reluctant to discuss sea level rise and have been dismissive of the science behind climate change.

The Tar Heel State’s legislature drew criticism from climate scientists and others in 2012 over a new law that barred state officials from basing regulations on sea-level rise projections until mid-2016.

“There’s a strong level of denial about the existence of the problem,” said Pricey Harrison, a Democrat in the North Carolina assembly who opposed the bill. “You can’t talk about climate change, you can’t talk about sustainability if you want any legislation to move.”

To help win support for the bill from Democrats, it was amended to require the state to refine sea level rise projections that were first published in 2010. After lawmakers approved the legislation, then-Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat, allowed it to become law without her signature.

The refined sea level rise projections were finalized and published by an independent science panel last month, warning of heavy impacts on coastal communities.

The science panel report concluded that tides could rise by 6 to 11 inches over 30 years in northern parts of the state if greenhouse gas pollution rates continue, or an inch less than that if they’re substantially reined in. The estimate included projections for land subsidence and rising seas. In the state’s southeast, the panel projected a rise of 4 to 9 inches.

Even without future warming, high tide flooding is already getting worse along the East and Gulf coasts, where subsidence and erosion are rife. The problems become most plainly clear during king tides.

“We can have up to 4-foot tides,” said Christine Voss, a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ecologist involved with a project that’s documenting the effects of king tides. “People are noticing that these flooding events are occurring more frequently, and perhaps with greater depth of inundation.”

Although the state is barred from basing any regulations on the new projections before the summer, the estimates are available for counties and local cities, which are not directly affected by the 2012 law.

During the decades ahead, those local planners will be grappling with the profound global crisis of sea-level rise — along with natural and human-caused factors that intensify its damages.

By late century, global sea level rise could be so rapid as to make the local effects of subsidence seem trivial, particularly if current pollution levels continue, which recent research has shown could trigger runaway melting in Antarctica.

“Rates of local subsidence may be important now,” said Andrew Ashton, a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist who researches changes in coastal environments. “But they’d be swamped by sea level rise for most projections by mid-century.”

The challenges that lie ahead threaten to swamp towns, farms and wilderness areas, and to do so more quickly along the Eastern seaboard than in other regions.

For most of the coastline, adapting to the rapid changes ahead may require expensive projects — private and public works that construct or improve coastline defenses, such as seawalls, marshes and oyster beds, or that relocate homes and infrastructure out of harm’s way.

For some communities, that will mean confronting problems that had nary been imagined. For others, it may involve finding news ways to cope with old threats.

“We’re very active and very conscious about our water and where it pumps to, where it drains to,” said Noble, of Hyde County. “It’s just a way of life here.” Source: climatecentral.org

Letter writer: Land subsidence also playing a role in sea-level rise

Letters and columns in The Capital raised alarms about increased "nuisance flooding" in Annapolis due to global warming. But global warming is not the only factor in flooding.

A column (May 15) mentioned subsidence as a factor, but didn't indicate its magnitude. "Chesapeake Bay Land Subsidence and Sea Level Change, An Evaluation of Past and Present Trends and Future Outlook," a 2010 report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, examines changes for relative sea level and absolute sea level (relative to the approximate center of the earth).

It said satellite data showed "the rate of global sea level change is not uniform (or even positive everywhere) but varies from one region of the world's oceans to another." In some regions, land areas are subsiding, while in others they are undergoing uplift. The report goes on to say that subsidence is due to a number of factors, such as withdrawal of ground water.

A table in the report documents measurements of relative water level, 1928-1999, at five stations in the Chesapeake Bay, including Annapolis. It also lists rates of vertical land movement as measured by GPS, 2001-2005, with large subsidence rates at four of the stations.

The estimated relative sea level mean for Annapolis was about 3.53 millimeters a year; the estimated mean subsidence was about 3.05 mm/year. So the net effect was that the absolute sea level rate of increase was only about 0.48 mm/year. The report draws the general conclusion that "about 53 percent of the relative sea level rise measured at bay water level stations is, on average, due to local subsidence."

This effect is not just local. The U.S. Geological Survey indicates that subsidence has affected much of the land along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Source: capitalgazette.com

Vietnam

Mekong Delta faces worsening land subsidence

A road subsides in Inter-provincial Road 965 in U Minh Thuong district, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

The Mekong Delta region has been facing worsening land subsidence, which has been compounded by the prolonged drought in the region this year.

At the Mekong Delta Forum 2016 recently held in HCM City, economic experts said the region has been experiencing major impacts from climate change and human activity, including land subsidence from three to five centemetres each year.
The increasingly serious land sinkage and landslides in the region are most clearly seen in the southernmost province of Ca Mau. Landslides have taking place at 87 canals for a total length of 18 kilometres and cracks have appeared on around 1,000 kilometres of roads that are in a high danger of subsidence.
In Kien Giang, Ca Mau’s neighbouring province, a buffer zone in Minh Thuan and An Minh Bac communes in U Minh Thuong district has 49 houses destroyed by land sinking, and 11 others developing cracks and facing collapse.
Landslides happened at 11 points with a total length of 350m on provincial road 965. Another eight points face landslide risks.
In order to figure out the reason behind the land sinkage and landslides, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development dispatched a team to the region.
According to the initial assessment from the team, drought already weakened land that suffers pressure from construction and traffic is the main reason behind widespread land-sinking and landslide.
According to the Mekong River Commission, hydroelectricity dams in the upper stream of the Mekong River keeping most of alluvium with an estimate of 65.5 billion cu.m of sediment by 2030 is also a reason leading land loss.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Tran, former deputy chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee for External Relations and senior expert of the Council for National Science and Technology Policy, said the impact of dams to sediment in the Mekong River is tremendous and once all dams go into operation, from one-third to half of the total sediment running down to the Mekong River basin will be retained and that will lead to changes in the topography of the river, river-bed, river-bottom and estuary, and land sinking.
The overexploitation of underground water is the other reason contributing to land sinking and landslide.
According to Nguyen Van Tranh, Deputy Director of the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, up to 90 percent of people in Ca Mau are exploiting underground water for daily and production use.
At the Mekong Delta Forum 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked regional provinces to have the dyke and reservoir planning in a safe and convenient for agriculture and production manner while taking measures to restore coastal mangrove forests. Source: english.vietnamnet.vn

Jul 4, 2016
Stanislav

One of worst floods hit Penang's Teluk Bahang

18 July, 2016. Teluk Bahang came under knee-deep of water after a continuous downpour from 1pm Monday in one of the worst floodings in years. State Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said lightning storms and strong winds were reported.

“Flood waters rose up to 0.3 meters. “The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Drainage and Irrigation Department (JPS) are already in the area to provide assistance and clean up after the flood recedes,” he said. Bernama reports that Teluk Bahang area was been hit by one of the worst flash floods in years due to the heavy rains. The water level in some areas had reached above the knee and some cars had been stuck in the flood.

Locals expressed their worries as some areas had never experienced such a bad flash flood before.

One of the locals met who lived near the Teluk Awak river, Iskandar Hassan, 43, said that the water had risen quite fast and many vehicals had been stranded and water had entered several houses.

"If the rain continues, I am afraid that this will continue to happen throughout the rainy season," he said.

Teluk Bahang assemblyman Datuk Shah Headan Ayoob Hussain Shah when contacted by Bernama said his main worry was that the flash flood was being triggered by the hill clearings.

Chow when contacted said that heavy rainfall up to 190mm had been recorded in Teluk Bahang Dam and high tide had caused the Teluk Awak river to overflow its banks. The flooded areas are along Jalan Hassan Abas and the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) and Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) personnel had been sent to the flooded locations to assist the people. Chow also said that so far the flood had been recorded at 12 inches in certain places and might be higher in some other places as heavy rain was expected to last till late evening. Source: thestar.com.my

Flash floods hit Penang area, including airport

Penang International Airport was hit by flood waters on Monday (Jul 18), after a heavy downpour caused water to seep into the arrivals hall, according to local media reports. Flights in and out of the airport remained operational.

Penang's Teluk Bahang area was hit by one of the worst flash floods in years due to heavy rainfall since Monday morning. The water level in some areas had reached above knee level and some cars were stuck in the flood. Source: channelnewsasia.com

Jul 18, 2016
SongStar101
Wonder if other countries will follow suit?

Australia is going up in the world: Official coordinates will change to reflect how the country moved 5ft north in 22 years

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3718237/Australia-go...
- Australia's tectonic plate moves faster than any other on the planet
- This makes the country shift north by 2.7 inches (5cm) each year
- Since the last time the coordinates were updated in 1994, it moved 5 feet
- Next year, coordinates will change to reflect where it will be in 2020
The Australian plate is the fastest continental plate on the planet, moving northwards and slightly to the east by about 2.7 inches (7cm) each year.

Because of this movement, the continent has shifted by five feet (4.9 metres) over the past 22 years, making the country's co-ordinates slighty out of sync.

To fix this, Australia is going to adjust its official latitude and longitude, putting the majority of the country back into alignment with the world's GPS systems.

The Australian plate is the fastest continental plate on the planet, moving northwards and slightly to the east by about 2.7 inches (7cm) each year. Because of this movement, the continent has shifted by five feet (4.9 metres) over the past 22 years

WHY IS AUSTRALIA MOVING?

The movement of the Earth's tectonic plates makes land slide and causes a build up of tension.

The Australian plate is the fastest continental plate on the planet, moving northwards and slightly to the east by about 2.7 inches (7 centimetres) each year.

This tension drags the entire landmass of Australia closer to the equator year after year.

Even though the movement is fractional, only 2.7 inches (7 centimetres) each year, a build up over 22 years means each point in the country is not actually where our GPS systems think it is.

The movement of the Earth's tectonic plates makes land slide and causes a build up of tension.

This tension drags the entire landmass of Australia closer to the equator year after year.

Even though the movement is fractional, only 2.7 inches (7 centimetres) each year, a build up over 22 years means each point in the country is not actually where our GPS systems think it is.

Digital maps know where a country is supposed to be based on detailed coordinates supplied by the government.

Maps like Google Maps use satellites orbiting the globe to determine where users are, and use these coordinates to match their position to a point on a map.

Australia's local coordinate system, the Geocentric Datum of Australia (GDA), was last updated in 1994 and officials said it will be out by six feet (1.8 metres) by 2020 unless it is corrected.
Aug 2, 2016
Stanislav

At least three dead in 'unprecedented and historic' Louisiana flooding

Source: columbian.com

14 August, 2016. At least five people died and 20,000 people had to be rescued from their homes and cars as "unprecedented and historic" flooding swamped Louisiana.

In some areas residents waded through snake-infested waters to reach dry ground.

The slow moving storm brought up to 10 inches of rain in parts of the state on Friday. John Bel Edwards, Louisiana governor, declared a state of emergency, calling the flooding "unprecedented."

"We have record levels of flooding along rivers and creeks," he told reporters during a news conference, urging residents who have been advised to evacuate to leave their homes. The National Weather Service reported Saturday afternoon that the storming had "resulted in catastrophic flash flooding across Louisiana," and was continuing to produce very heavy rainfall.

The threat of heavy rain would expand westward with "at least a slight risk of flash flooding tonight over a large area from the southern plains to the mid-Mississippi/Ohio valleys and even the Northeast," the National Weather Service said. Showers and thunderstorms would continue into Sunday and Monday, it predicted.

Numerous rivers in southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi were overflowing their banks. Alabama was also struggling with heavy rainfall. The floods killed at least three people on Friday, media reported. Among them, a man in the Louisiana town of Zachary, near the capital Baton Rouge, drowned trying to escape flood waters, local television station WAFB reported.

"We were walking out and he slipped and fell," his roommate Vernon Drummond told the station. "He went under the water. We tried to save him, but we couldn't."
In Baker, just north of Baton Rouge, 60 people were sleeping at a makeshift Red Cross shelter.

Shanita Angrum, 32, said she and her six-year-old daughter had been trapped in their home.

She told the Associated Press: "Snakes were everywhere. The whole time I was just praying for God to make sure me and my family were OK." Source: telegraph.co.uk

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2016/08/15/five-dead-2000...

Aug 14, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Atlantic Rips]

II.ASCN; Butt Crater, Ascension Island; 7.93 S, 14.36 W

The ground motion pattern changed on 2016/08/13.

See also Atlantic Rips: Ground motion of three stations along the Atlantic Rift; Iceland, Azores, and Ascension Island

[2016/0810 -08/14]

Aug 15, 2016
Stanislav

Louisiana’s 1,000-year floods inundated 80,000 homes and businesses

16 August, 2016. 4 trillion gallons of water. 20,000 rescues. Worst Louisiana flooding since Katrina.

It is difficult to know where to begin with the historic flooding in Louisiana during the past week. There is the sheer volume of water itself—based on rainfall accumulations, an estimated 4 trillion gallons of rain fell across southern Louisiana from the middle of Thursday through Saturday morning. That is roughly the same amount of water discharged by the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico over the course of 80 days.

Source: waterwatch.usgs.gov

The rains hit hardest just to the east of Baton Rouge in Livingston Parish, which straddles Interstate 12 and is home to about 130,000 people. Some state officials have estimated that as many as 70 percent of the homes and businesses in this parish—more than 30,000 homes—were flooded. Across the state, officials say as many as 80,000 structures may have flooded. Some 20,000 people had to be rescued from flooded homes and vehicles. Very early damage estimates pegged the storm at $1 billion to $2 billion. At least seven people have died.

Area roadways were also hit extremely hard. The state's Department of Transportation and Development estimates that 30 state roads were washed out, and thousands of miles of state roads were under water as water levels rose on Sunday. Some 1,400 bridges will need to be inspected, as well. From Saturday through Monday large chunks of Interstate 10 and 12, which cross the southern tier of Louisiana, were closed due to floodwaters. As of Tuesday morning, parts of Interstate 10 remained closed due to flooding.

What was it?

No major US hurricanes in 11 years. Odds of that? 1-in-2,300.
So what caused this mess? It was an almost-tropical storm. For much of last week, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center watched a low-pressure system in the northeastern corner of the Gulf of Mexico, which eventually moved inland and slowly tracked westward over Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and then Louisiana, where it eventually stalled out late last week over the southern part of the state. It had a warm core, like the low-pressure center of a tropical storm. However, by the time the storm looked most tropical on satellite, it had moved over land, and it lacked the surface wind speeds of 39mph or greater characteristic of a tropical storm. As The Weather Channel's hurricane specialist Greg Postel described the system, "It wasn't a tropical cyclone, but it was a cyclone that was tropical."

Perhaps because it was not named, and with the ongoing presidential election and unfolding drama at the Summer Olympics, the Louisiana storm did not garner a great amount of attention from the greater US public this weekend. But in scope it was easily the worst flooding disaster to hit Louisiana in more than a decade, since Hurricane Katrina crashed through the flood barriers in New Orleans.

During the three-day period from Thursday through Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service, several locations in south-central Louisiana received in excess of 24 inches of rain. A handful of rivers, including the Amite and Tickfaw waterways, crested well above historical high water marks. The measured rain totals over Livingston and some of the surrounding parishes in southeastern Louisiana were the equivalent of a 1,000-year flooding event. "The observed rainfall totals were quite significant and rare," the Lower Mississippi River Forecast Center stated.

The role of climate change

Such storms are not unprecedented. A similar event unfolded in June 2001, when Tropical Storm Allison (which barely met the criteria for a named storm) developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved inland over the Houston metro area. Six-day rainfall totals for the storm across most of Harris County were 20 to 40 inches, with about half of that coming during a single night and causing catastrophic flooding. Damages were estimated at $5 billion in the densely populated urban area—by far the costliest tropical storm ever to hit the United States.

It is a valid question to ask whether climate change plays a role in these kinds of inland flooding events. Areas of Louisiana and Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico and its rich source of tropical moisture, are already prone to heavy flooding. However, warmer temperatures can help to fuel storms, because warmer air is capable of containing more water vapor than cooler air, and therefore more moisture becomes available to fuel storms over time. This summer's much-above-average temperatures in July and August for the southern United States may therefore have exacerbated some of the flooding in Louisiana. Source: arstechnica.com

Aug 17, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Tipping Indo-Australia Plate]

AU.KMBL: Kambalda, Western Australia; 31.37 S, 121.88 E

[2016/08/04 - 09/12]

Sep 13, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Atlantic Rips]

II.SACV: Santiago Island, Cape Verde; 14.97 N, 23.61 W

[2016/09/03 - 09/12]

Sep 13, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[Tipping Indo-Australia Plate]

II.NIL; Nilore, Pakistan; 33.65 N, 73.27 E

[2016/09/06 - 09/28]

Sep 29, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[South American Roll]

IU.OTAV; Otavalo, Ecuador; 0.24 N, 78.45 W

[2016/09/15 -09/28]

Sep 29, 2016
Kojima

* Monitoring of Ground Motion in REV

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/index.html

http://rev.seis.sc.edu/stations.html

[African Roll and Mediterranean Drop]

GE.EIL: GEOFON Station Eilat, Israel; 29.67 N, 34.95 E

[2016/09/26 - 09/28]

See also a comment by me on June 23 - Station GE.EIL; REV chart [2016/06/01 -06/22]

Sep 29, 2016
SongStar101

Hundreds of deep-sea vents found spewing methane off US coast

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2109698-hundreds-of-deep-sea-v...

Methane is gushing forth from hundreds of newly-discovered deep-sea vents all along the US’s western seaboard.

“It appears that the entire coast off Washington, Oregon and California is a giant methane seep,” says Robert Ballard, founder and director of the Ocean Exploration Trust in Connecticut.

In all, 500 new seeps were discovered by submersibles operated from the trust’s ship, Nautilus (see video below). The discovery will be presented this week in New York at the National Ocean Exploration Forum.

However, there’s still work to be done to pin down the exact composition of the bubbles coming from the seeps. “Members of our group are analysing the samples taken in June for a wide range of gases,” says Robert Embley, chief scientist on the Nautilus.

Embley says that previous samples from similar sites were mostly methane, but methane hydrate – made from water and methane – can form too.

Methane has the potential to accelerate global warming because it traps heat 40 times as effectively as carbon dioxide. Knowing how much is gushing out of the seeps and what amount makes it into the atmosphere should enable estimates of their impact on global warming in the future.

“The first step to finding out is getting a baseline of what’s coming out of the seafloor at present,” says Embley.

The team thinks it is likely that they will find yet more seeps on the seafloor off the eastern US. “We hope there will be opportunities for more mapping in the next couple of field seasons to get a more complete baseline of sites,” says Embley.

Oct 20, 2016
SongStar101

Massive and Mysterious Ice Fall in Tibet (Largest/Fastest Glacier movement ever recorded)

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=88677&src=twi...

On July 17, 2016, a huge stream of ice and rock tumbled down a narrow valley in the Aru Range of Tibet. When the ice stopped moving, it had spread a pile of debris that was up to 30 meters (98 feet) thick across 10 square kilometers (4 square miles). Nine people, 350 sheep, and 110 yaks in the remote village of Dungru were killed during the avalanche.

The massive debris field makes this one of the largest ice avalanches ever recorded. The only event of a comparable size was a 2002 avalanche from Kolka Glacier in in the Caucasus , explained Andreas Kääb, a glaciologist at the University of Oslo.

A multispectral imager on the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellite captured an image of the debris field on July 21, 2016. The Operational Land Imager, a similar instrument on Landsat 8, acquired an image on June 24, 2016, that shows the same area before the avalanche.

The cause of the avalanche is unclear. “This is new territory scientifically,” said Kääb. “It is unknown why an entire glacier tongue would shear off like this. We would not have thought this was even possible before Kolka happened.”

Kääb’s preliminary analysis of satellite imagery indicates that the glacier showed signs of change weeks before the avalanche happened. Normally, such signs would be clues the glacier might be in the process of surging, but surging glaciers typically flow at a fairly slow rate rather than collapsing violently in an avalanche.

After inspecting the satellite imagery, University of Arizona glaciologist Jeffrey Kargel agreed that a surging glacier could not be the cause. “The form is completely wrong,” he said. “It must be a high-energy mass flow. Maybe liquid water lubrication at the base played some role,” he said.

Tian Lide, a glaciologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, described the avalanche as “baffling” because the area where the ice collapse began is rather flat. “My team failed to reach the upper part of the glacier for safety reasons,” he said in an email, “but we will go the upper part [later] to see if we can find some more hints about what caused the glacier disaster.”

Google Maps

Oct 20, 2016
Stanislav

Philippines

This handout photo taken on August 8, 2012 and released by the Department of National Defense (DND) shows an aerial shot of floodings around Malabon town, suburban Manila. More than a million people in and around the Philippine capital battled deadly floods August 8, as more monsoon rain fell, with neck-deep waters trapping both slum dwellers and the wealthy on rooftops. AFP PHOTO/DND. Source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Results of DInSAR and InSAR time series analysis by using ENVISAT/ASAR, ALOS/PALSAR and TerraSAR-X data.

Deguchi, T. (2014, October). Deformation monitoring in the metro Manila using ALOS/PALSAR. In SPIE Remote Sensing (pp. 924315-924315). International Society for Optics and Photonics. a-a-r-s.org

Profile of surface displacement in line of sight

Source: Deguchi, T. (2014, October). Deformation monitoring in the metro Manila using ALOS/PALSAR. In SPIE Remote Sensing (pp. 924315-924315). International Society for Optics and Photonics. a-a-r-s.org

Taiwan

Land subsidence occurs in municipalities and counties throughout Taiwan, including Taipei and Yilan in the north, and Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi, and Pingdong in Central and Southern Taiwan as shown on Map. Maximal subsidence ranges from 1.2 m to 3.2 m, affecting an area of 2000 km2. The most severely affected areas are located in Yunlin County. Their effects include dike failures, seawater encroachment in coastal aquifers, coastal inundation, and salinity intrusion.

Distribution of land subsidence in Taiwan from 1972 to 2012 (adapted from the Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan).

Source: Hsu, W. C., Chang, H. C., Chang, K. T., Lin, E. K., Liu, J. K., & Liou, Y. A. (2015). Observing Land Subsidence and Revealing the Factors That Influence It Using a Multi-Sensor Approach in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Remote Sensing, 7(6), 8202-8223. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

Cumulative land subsidence obtained by leveling data in Yunlin County from 1992 to 2013. The figure shows various time spans of cumulative land subsidence from (a–g): (a) 1992–1999; (b) 1992–2003; (c) 1992–2005; (d) 1992–2007; (e) 1992–2009; (f) 1992–2011; (g) 1992–2013.

Source: Hsu, W. C., Chang, H. C., Chang, K. T., Lin, E. K., Liu, J. K., & Liou, Y. A. (2015). Observing Land Subsidence and Revealing the Factors That Influence It Using a Multi-Sensor Approach in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Remote Sensing, 7(6), 8202-8223. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

(a) SAR mean LOS velocity map from 2007 to 2010; (b) raster map interpolated from (a)

Source: Hsu, W. C., Chang, H. C., Chang, K. T., Lin, E. K., Liu, J. K., & Liou, Y. A. (2015). Observing Land Subsidence and Revealing the Factors That Influence It Using a Multi-Sensor Approach in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Remote Sensing, 7(6), 8202-8223. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

Taiwan Continuous GPS Data Analysis and a Study on Earthquake Precursor Detection (PI: Yu, Shui-Beih) Source: earth.sinica.edu.tw

Cumulative subsidence derive from leveling over 1992–2013.

Source: Hung, W. C., Wang, C., Hwang, C., Chen, Y. A., Chiu, H. C., & Lin, S. H. (2015). Multiple sensors applied to monitorland subsidence in Central Taiwan.Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 372, 385-391. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

(a) Distributions of continuous GPS stations in CRAF (b) Vertical displacement rate from GPS over April 2010–April 2011

Source: Hung, W. C., Wang, C., Hwang, C., Chen, Y. A., Chiu, H. C., & Lin, S. H. (2015). Multiple sensors applied to monitorland subsidence in Central Taiwan.Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 372, 385-391. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

Vertical displacement rate from TCPINSAR over 2007–2011.

Source: Hung, W. C., Wang, C., Hwang, C., Chen, Y. A., Chiu, H. C., & Lin, S. H. (2015). Multiple sensors applied to monitorland subsidence in Central Taiwan.Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 372, 385-391. CC Attribution 3.0 License.

Vietnam

Maximum rate of hydraulic head decline (i.e., drawdown) among aquifers, interpolated from monitoring well data. Well locations are labeled alphabetically. (B). Compaction-based subsidence rates, interpolated from calculations at well locations. Subsidence is a function of both head decline and clay thickness. Dashed lines are interpreted outside of area of data coverage. (C). InSAR-based line of sight rates of land subsidence. Data © JAXA, METI 2011. All rates in panels A–C are annual averages over the period 2006–10.

Source: Erban, L. E., Gorelick, S. M., & Zebker, H. A. (2014). Groundwater extraction, land subsidence, and sea-level rise in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Environmental Research Letters, 9(8), 084010.

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Source: en.wikipedia.org

(A) Averaged 2007 – 2009 LOS velocity map of nearly full Hanoi area, overlaying the topographic map of Hanoi.

(B) LOS deforming map of urban districts near the Red River and West Lake (Tay Ho).

(C) Land subsidence map of western Tu Liem and Eastern Hoai Duc, PS X and Y are two reference points to measure temporal evolution in Section 3.

(D) Land subsidence map of Ha Dong and southern Thanh Xuan.

(E) Land subsidence map of Hoang Mai.

(F) Land subsidence map of Luong Son.

(G) Ground deformation map of My Duc.

This study has presented the short-term ground deformation of nearly-full area of Hanoi, mapped by an ALOS PALSAR stack between 2007 and 2009. By using advanced InSAR time series technique, various subsidence areas were located and discussed, especially new subsidence region that has never been studied before in Luong Son and My Duc districts. For those deforming area in the center of the city, the results show great agreements with previous studies, confirming the subsidence rate of surrounding urban area including Hoang Mai, Ha Dong and Tu Liem is at high level (over 40 mm/year). Temporal evolution analysis was also performed to confirm the consistent of the results.

Le, S. T., & Chang, C. P. (2015, October). Surface deformation assessments in Hanoi, Vietnam using ALOS PALSAR interferometry. In Proceedings of the 36th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2015), Manila, Philippines (pp. 19-23).

North Vietnam

(A) Map of South East Asia fault zone; (B) Tectonic structures and fault zones in northern Vietnam (modified after Zuchiewicz et al., 2013). Song stands for river, FZ: fault zone.

The coverage and the average displacement velocities of the RRFZ from the boundary between Vietnam and China (Lao Cai) to the area nearby Ha Noi (Phu Tho), overlaying northern Vietnam topography map. Dark brown lines represent Red and Chay river fault.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(A) Averaged surface deformation map of RRFZ in Lao Cai area. The dark lines present faults system. LOS velocity ranged from -60 to 60 mm per year. (B) Averaged surface deformation map of RRFZ near Yen Bai city. (C) Averaged surface deformation map of RRFZ near Viet Tri city

Nguyen, Xuan Thi; Chang, Chung-Pai (2015) MAPPING SURFACE DEFORMATION IN RED RIVER FAULT ZONE USING SPACEBORNE SAR INTERFEROMETRY In Proceedings of the 36th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2015), Manila, Philippines

The vertical displacement history from 2006 to 2010. Positive velocities (blue colors) represent uplift; negative velocities (red colors) represent subsidence. The background is the average backscatter ALOS PALSAR data.

The average velocity trend from 2006 to 2010. Positive velocities (blue colors) represent movement uplift; negative velocities (red colors) represent movement subsidence.

Minh, D. H. T., Van Trung, L., & Toan, T. L. (2015). Mapping ground subsidence phenomena in Ho Chi Minh City through the radar interferometry technique using ALOS PALSAR data. Remote Sensing, 7(7), 8543-8562. Source: mdpi.com

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Averaged vertical subsidence velocity in urban region of Hanoi issued from InSAR processing for the period February 2007–February 2011

Dang, V. K., Doubre, C., Weber, C., Gourmelen, N., & Masson, F. (2014). Recent land subsidence caused by the rapid urban development in the Hanoi region (Vietnam) using ALOS InSAR data. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci, 14, 657-674. CC Attribution 3.0 License. nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net

Each year, Ca Mau sinks by 1.71 cm

Dr. Do Van Linh, Deputy Head of the Southern Region Geological Mapping Federation, said the deepest subsidence in Ca Mau was measured 1.71 cm a year, while the average subsidence due to groundwater exploitation was about 0.35 cm a year.

There are three reasons for this situation: subsidence due to young sediment and water exploitation, and by tectonic movements. This trend will continue in the coming years.

If the exploited water volume is divided for the total area of Ca Mau province (approximately 4,350 km2), the speed of subsidence is 1.9 to 2.8 cm a year. If the area of Ca Mau province is 5,300 km2 instead of 4,350 km2, the subsidence rate is 1.56 to 2.30 cm a year. Source: talkvietnam.com

Flooded Saigon - what are the causes?

26 September, 2016. <...> Many sunken areas have subsided as the silt foundation was suppressed by millions of tons of reinforced concrete, brick, mortar, and stone. In Thao Dien, District 2, in the 10 years from 1997 to 2007, subsidence was recorded of about 5cm - 7cm per year in some locations. Since then, flooding caused by high tides has occurred in the city’s low-lying areas. Source: english.vietnamnet.vn

Thailand

Study area

"The application of the technique on 10 Radarsat-1 satellite images covering the eastern coast of the inner Gulf of Thailand reveal fast subsidence in many areas, particularly at Golf course, Mueang Chon buri, Laem Chabang deep-sea port and Cape Sa-Mae-Saan."

Aobpaet A; Trisirisatayawong I; Hooper A (2011) Coastal zone deformation over eastern inner Gulf of Thailand using multi-temporal InSAR method, 32nd Asian Conference on Remote Sensing 2011, ACRS 2011, 1, pp.120-125. a-a-r-s.org

Bangkok

Source: bangkokpost.com

Australia

The Perth metropolitan region is subsiding, research suggests

Source: travelieu.com

21 October, 2015. Curtin University research indicates that large parts of the Perth Basin are subsiding due to groundwater extraction, which could make parts of Perth more vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels.

Professor Will Featherstone and Dr Mick Filmer, from Curtin’s Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR) and the WA School of Mines Department of Spatial Sciences, completed the research as part of Australian Research Council grants issued to study subsidence in the Perth Basin, its effect on heights and how it impacts sea level change recorded by tide gauges. news.curtin.edu.au

Scientist warns Perth basin is subsiding

17 October, 2007. One of Australia's leading scientists says the subsidence of the Perth basin could have long term consequences for building and the supply of services to the city. Source: abc.net

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

Bangladesh

BanD-AID: Mitigating Bangladesh Delta Coastal Vulnerability Due to Sea-level Ruse, & Integrated Naturak & Social Framework
C.K.Shum (1), Craug Jenkins (1), Monowar Hossain 8, Zahir Khan 8, Jurgen Kusche 2, R.Ahmed 3, V.Ballu 4, A.Bernzen 5, B.Braun 5, S.Calmant 6, J.Chen 1, J. Guo, F. Hossain, M Kuhn, F.Papa, P.Valty, L.Testut, K.H. Tseng, and the rest of the Belmont Forum BanD-AID Project Team belmontforum.org

Rates of subsidence recorded from the literature for the GBM delta and parts of the interior of the basin

Source: S. Brown , R.J. Nicholls (2015) Subsidence and human influences in mega deltas: The case of the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna; (Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom; Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, United Kingdom) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.124 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). eprints.soton.ac.uk

The DELTAS project will work toward a science-based GBM-customized integrative modeling framework which will be implement, in collaboration with regional experts, to assess delta vulnerability to current and future conditions and guide sustainable management and policy. At the heart of the GBM sustainability lies the question of how patterns of flooding and sediment aggradation offset delta sinking due to rising sea level and subsidence. This is a first order question to sustainability of the landscape, regardless of land use and management decisions. For the GBM delta specifically, the immense population and associated pressures on natural resources brings to the forefront the question of how environmental changes are affecting the socio-ecosystem services in coastal Bangladesh. The integrated assessment of these circumstances will aim to reveal whether there are management alternatives that will more effectively sustain ecosystem services, and populations and their livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh. Source: delta.umn.edu

Floods: Holding back the tide
With the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta sinking, the race is on to protect millions of people from future flooding.

Sources: Satellite: Ref. 1; Temples: M. H. Sarker; GPS: M. Steckler; Tide: Ref. 2; Kilns: Ref. 3; Salt: Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2009; Schiermeier, Q. (2014). Holding back the tide. Nature, 508(164166), 5. nature.com

In the wake of Cyclone Aila in 2009, swollen seas washed over the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. The storm surge breached the embankments surrounding a small island that was home to 10,000 families, turning the land into a muddy hell. The deluge of salty water washed out fields, homes, roads and markets just as people had begun to recover from the damage caused 18 months before by Cyclone Sidr. Many migrated to nearby cities. And thousands more took shelter on what remained of the embankments, where lack of sanitation and privacy would soon spur disease and crime.
When Steven Goodbred, an Earth and environmental researcher at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, came across this site during a field trip in 2011, he and his students were shocked to find the land still badly flooded and thousands of families living in tents and ramshackle huts. The broken embankments had been poorly repaired and the homesteads that they were supposed to protect remained uninhabitable. “It looked as desolate as the Moon — mud everywhere,” says Goodbred. “I'd never seen anything like it.” He made it his mission to determine how the embankments around the island, called Polder 32 after the Dutch word for land protected by dikes, had been eroded and undermined enough for a relatively small storm to wreak such havoc.
<...> That only adds to bigger problems in the Ganges–Brahmaputra delta, which is sinking so rapidly that the local, relative sea level may be rising by up to 2 centimetres each year. And Bangladesh's population of more than 150 million people is projected to grow by a further 50 million by 2050, putting more people in harm's way.
<...>
For subsidence rates in Bangladesh, he says, “depending on how and where you measure, you might get 15 different values”.
Things are dramatically different between the west and east sides of the delta, for example. Over the past several centuries, geological forces and erosion have shifted the lower stretch of the Ganges steadily to the east, leaving the western parts of the delta especially starved of sediment. That makes the southwest particularly vulnerable to both seawater flooding and intrusion of salt into groundwater, which can make the water unfit to drink.
<..>
Syvitski's work with satellite data1 suggests that the delta is sinking below sea level by between 8 and 18 millimetres per year. But those numbers need to be checked against ground-based measurements — which are now on the way. Michael Steckler, a geologist at Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York, has been installing a network of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to monitor subsidence since 2003. He currently maintains around 20 sites, including one established on Polder 32 last year. So far, the results suggest subsidence rates of some 9 millimetres per year in the southwest, and just 2–4 in the southeast. But the sites are still few and far between, and there are not many in the most vulnerable locations.
<...> Tide-gauge records from three locations in the southwest suggest a mean rate of relative sea-level rise of about 5 millimetres per year over the past 30 years, but some local spots have experienced an average annual high-water-level increase of 15–20 millimetres.

Source: Schiermeier, Q. (2014). Holding back the tide. Nature, 508(164166), 5. nature.com

‘Sunderbans sea level rising at an ‘alarming’ rate’

31 March, 2015. The sea level in the Sundarbans is rising at an “alarming” level, endangering the habitation, said a World Bank report.

The report stated that the sea level could witness an estimated 3 to 8 mm rise per year and mainly attributed it to land subsidence caused by various natural and anthropogenic processes, NDTV reports on its online site.

The report, titled “Building Resilience for Sustainable Development of the Sunderbans - Strategy Report” said, “Parts of the coast in the south were rising because of uplift which illustrates that impacts were not homogeneous and differ according to varying geological processes.” Source: en.prothom-alo.com

Malaysia

Vertical land motion trend colour map derived from GPS data over Peninsular Malaysia and, Sabah and Sarawak. Units are in mm/yr. 1999-2011

Source: Jebur, M. N., Pradhan, B., & Tehrany, M. S. (2014). Detection of vertical slope movement in highly vegetated tropical area of Gunung pass landslide, Malaysia, using L-band InSAR technique. Geosciences Journal, 18(1), 61-68. researchgate.net

Indonesia

.How accurate a guide are the current elevation maps provided by Google and GPS? If they reflect land that lies on solid rock, on a plate that will remain level and not tilt, accurate enough. But as we have explained, Java and Sumatra are land that is rubble, scrapped up as the plate tongue has been pushed down in the past. It is an illusion of solid land when rubble can jumble and toss. The placement of Jakarta in the past involved some logic, as tests were made to determine if the rock beneath could sustain buildings. But sinking is occurring there, not admitted in the press. At some point the airport will become unusable. In addition to the issue of solid rock vs jumble, there is the issue of the accordion folding of the plate tongue. Some parts will rise, others sink, and this will not be an even process nor even predictable. Thus Google will not be a certain guide to what lands will sink or stay above the waves.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for January 22, 2011

Yellow, red area sinking. Yellow areas 4-2 cm/year sinking

Chaussard, E., Amelung, F., Abidin, H., & Hong, S. H. (2013). Sinking cities in Indonesia: ALOS PALSAR detects rapid subsidence due to groundwater and gas extraction. Remote Sensing of Environment, 128, 150 161. estellechaussard.com

[1] 8 June, 2016. Hundreds of Houses in Probolinggo Awash Flood Rob. Source: news.merahputih.com

[2] 9 December, 2012. Anticipate Flood Rob. Source: jumbojade17.blogspot.ru

[3] 31 May, 2013. Rob seawater flooding in the port of Semarang. Source: twitter.com

[4] 7 June, 2016. Tidal flood in the Port of Muara Baru Source: foto.okezone.com

[5] 8 September, 2015. Flood Rob Still a Major Problems in Semarang Source: 100rcsemarang.org

[6] 20 June, 2016. semarang.bisnis.com

Land subsidence magnitudes as derived by GPS surveys from 1998 to 2014 (Wibowo, 2014).

Abidin, H. Z., Andreas, H., Gumilar, I., & Wibowo, I. R. R. (2015). On correlation between urban development, land subsidence and flooding phenomena in Jakarta. Proceedings of IAHS, 370, 15-20. CC Attribution 3.0 License

Impacts of land subsidence on flooding phenomena.

Abidin, H. Z., Andreas, H., Gumilar, I., & Wibowo, I. R. R. (2015). On correlation between urban development, land subsidence and flooding phenomena in Jakarta. Proceedings of IAHS, 370, 15-20. CC Attribution 3.0 License

Source: slideshare.net

Source: slideshare.net

Source: slideshare.net

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav
Netherlands parts sinking

1 June 2016. For a low-lying, densely populated country like the Netherlands, monitoring subsidence is critical. Until recently, tiny displacements in the ground beneath our feet couldn’t be mapped nationally but, thanks to the Sentinel-1 mission, this is now possible.

Focusing on the Netherlands and Denmark, scientists have been using radar images from the Sentinel-1A satellite to pinpoint where the ground is stable, where it is rising and where it is sinking – and, importantly, by exactly how much. Images from November 2014 to April 2016 and 2.5 million measurement points were used to compile the map above, which shows subsidence and uplift in the northeast of the Netherlands. Most of these measurements were made around buildings and constructions such as dikes.

Remarkably, these measurements are accurate to a few millimetres. However, within a couple of years this accuracy will improve further, approaching 1 mm/year over the entire country.

Vulnerable shores

<...> The map at the top shows that some areas, particularly along the western shore of the Ijsselmeer, along the lower causeway that crosses this manmade lake, and some areas close to Groningen in the east, are sinking by as much as 20 mm a year. <...>.

Subsidence in Denmark

Understanding land deformation is important for investing in renovations. Source: esa.int

Spain parts sinking

The Valley of Guadalentin in Lorca, the deepest in Europe according to research in collaboration with the University of Alicante

Image from: Boni, R., Herrera, G., Meisina, C., Notti, D., Bejar-Pizarro, M., Zucca, F., ... & Fernandez-Merodo, J. A. (2015). Application of multi-sensor advanced DInSAR analysis to severe land subsidence recognition: Alto Guadalentin Basin (Spain).Proceedings of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences, 372, 45. CC Attribution 3.0 License. digital.csic.es

Guadalentin slumps at 100 milimeters per year, raising the risk of economic impact, flooding and infrastructure of the area. <...>

Researcher Roberto Tomas Jover, from the University of Alicante Polytechnic School Department of Civil Engineering warns on the risk for Spain of this land subsidence. <...>

The lifting off the ground, however, leads to other problems. Tomas Jover explains that a ground settlement over 2.5 centimetres is already a problem; another one is the fact of this settlements being irregular>> with the consequent height deviation from one facade to the other on the same building. The aforementioned study analyses the recovery of groundwater that has occurred since 2008 and then determines the cause of the land deformation.

The researcher cites the case of the church of Santa Justa and Rufina in Orihuela as an example, which had to be underpinned>> due to this problem of subsidence.

The research group with Tomas Jover as the main researchers are studying the land subsidence or progressive surface collapse in medium and lower basins of the Segura river. There are many regions affected by land subsidence in Spain, especially in southern and southeastern regions, where water demand is higher that water resources and, therefore, water shortfall is supplied with groundwater. In all cases studied, the most alarming is the Guadalentin valley in Lorca where the largest land subsidence in Europe occurs due to water extraction. In 2015, Tomas Jover and his reserach team have published the article Twenty-year advanced DInSAR analysis of severe land subsidence: the Alto Guadalentin Basin (Spain) case study on the scientific journal Engineering Geology, and they are now working on a Spanish Ministry project on this. Murcia is next with registered values up to 7 millimetres a year <...>

Other case studies being developed by this multidisciplinary team are Orihuela, with values registered of 5 millimeters per year; north of Madrid, where subsidence occurs during periods of extraction, which is almost fully recovered when pumping ceases; and parts of Barcelona, such as El Valles and Santa Perpetua de Mogoda, with maximum rates of 6-10 millimeters per year. Also, this UA expert stresses that they are collaborating with international reserach groups in Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle (as a result of this collaboration the Beijing work was drafted), Federico II di Napoli, Florencia, Padova, Liverpool, etc., and a good number of national reserach works (Granada, UPV, UPC, UPM, Zaragoza, CSIC, Oviedo, etc.)>>. Source: web.ua.es

Greece parts sinking

Example of wide-area mapping of terrain deformations over mainland Greece. This GPS-calibrated deformation map covers 65 000 sq km – approximately half of the country’s territory. This map was created using 10 individual ERS-1/2 stacks, each stack being a time series of 58 to 76 SAR images acquired from 1992 to 2003 for a total of 671 images. © ZKI/DLR. esa.int

© ZKI/DLR esa.int

In one of its first trials, the WAP identified over a million persistent scatterers over half of Greece’s mainland. In rural areas, there was an average of 10 scatterers per sq km, while urban areas, like Athens, saw up to 200 scatterers per sq km.

Using about 360 gigabytes of raw radar data from the ERS-1 and -2 satellites, the WAP mapped terrain deformation over more than ten years, finding that some areas are sinking by about 10 mm per year.

High subsidence was detected in Athens, Larissa and around the Gulf of Corinth among other places. Both subsidence and uplift were detected in and around the city of Thessaloniki. Source: esa.int

Dead sea sinkholes

Source: haaretz.com

Yemen

[courtesy of J.M. Sholan]

Sana’a Basin Subsidence
- High coherence in the Sana’a city allows us to derive a detailed land deformation evolution from November 2003 to December 2008.
- The subsidence rate within the Sana’a city was approximately 1 cm/year in the radar line-of-sight (LOS) direction between 2003 and 2008.
- The main subsidence was found in the center and southern parts of the city, while deformation in the northern part is less obvious.
- The subsidence rate here was much faster than within the city: it exceeded 14 cm/year. The local water wells have been drying up according to the well data.
- Time evolution of surface deformation and a series of profiles and points reveal spatially and temporally variable aquifer compaction
Mabar Basin Subsidence
- The subsidence rate exceeded 30 cm/year in the agricultural area north of the town of Mabar during 2007 – 2011 according to ALOS PALSAR L-band data.
- The southern part of the Mabar basin also experienced high subsidence rates, although somewhat lower than to the north – 5 cm/year.
- The seasonal fluctuations of ground deformation show that the subsidence rate in summer is faster than in winter.
Two smaller agricultural basins to the west of the Mabar basin experienced subsidence with rates of about 37 cm/year according to ALOS PALSAR amplitude range offset calculations and difference between SRTM and Tandem-X DEMs.

Two smaller agricultural basins to the west of the Mabar basin experienced subsidence with rates of about 37 cm/year according to ALOS PALSAR amplitude range offset calculations and difference between SRTM and Tandem-X DEMs

Abdullin, A., Xu, W., Kosmicki, M., & Jonsson, S. (2015, April). Rapid groundwater-related land subsidence in Yemen observed by multi-temporal InSAR. In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (Vol. 17, p. 13844). presentations.copernicus.org

UAE

Mountains in Masafi 'rise by 4 cm'

The Masafi earthquake on March 10 last year might have caused the mountains of east Ras Al Khaimah to uplift by up to four centimetres, according to geoscientists.
Studies conducted by scientists from the Petroleum Institute in Abu Dhabi and the Japan Oil Development Company showed that the Masafi earthquake had caused the Musandam mountain area of east Ras Al Khaimah to uplift by up to four centimetres while the Musandam peninsula in the Khasab area went down by up to three centimetres, said Dr Karl Berteussen, acting director of Petroleum Geosciences Engineering at the Petroleum Institute. Source: gulfnews.com

South America Roll

Chilean earthquake moved entire city 10 feet west, shifted other parts of South America

8 March, 2010.

The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil. These preliminary measurements, done by researchers including geophysicists on the ground in Chile, paint a much clearer picture of the power behind this temblor, believed to be the fifth-most-powerful since instruments have been available to measure seismic shifts. unavco.org

This is the preliminary solution obtained by Project CAP (Central and Southern Andes GPS Project) for the coseismic displacement field associated with the recent M 8.8 Maule earthquake in south-central Chile. Peak measured displacement is 3.04 m near the city of Concepcion, Chile. Significant displacements are evident as far east as Buenos Aires, Argentina (2-4 cm) and as far north as the Chilean border with Peru.

The massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the west coast of Chile last month moved the entire city of Concepcion at least 10 feet to the west, and shifted other parts of South America as far apart as the Falkland Islands and Fortaleza, Brazil.

These preliminary measurements, produced from data gathered by researchers from four universities and several agencies, including geophysicists on the ground in Chile, paint a much clearer picture of the power behind this temblor, believed to be the fifth-most-powerful since instruments have been available to measure seismic shifts.

Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and across the continent from the quake's epicenter, moved about 1 inch to the west. And Chile's capital, Santiago, moved about 11 inches to the west-southwest. The cities of Valparaiso and Mendoza, Argentina, northeast of Concepcion, also moved significantly.

The quake's epicenter was in a region of South America that's part of the so-called "ring of fire," an area of major seismic stresses which encircles the Pacific Ocean. All along this line, the tectonic plates on which the continents move press against each other at fault zones.

The February Chilean quake occurred where the Nazca tectonic plate was squeezed under, or "subducted," below the adjacent South American plate. Quakes routinely relieve pent-up geologic pressures in these convergence zones. Source: sciencedaily.com

Venezuela, Bogota

Bogota lose 80 cm, Source: sideshow.jpl.nasa.go
Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

China

As noted in our explanation of the Hangzhou UFO sighting, which was seen from the airport at Hangzhou and down along the China coastline all the way to the Vietnam Sea, this coastline can anticipate participating in the 7 of 10 sinking of the plate tongue holding Indonesia. This is what is emerging. As we pointed out at that time, these regions were being warned about tsunami and a suddenly rising sea level as the plate tongue holding Indonesia is bent and pulled down. Note the path of the quakes you delineated, and they are along this path that was warned. This area of China is also subject to being bent, as the crust is not as thick as further inland, and as is known is having horrific sinkhole problems.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for January 22, 2011

Land subsidence hits 50 cities

21 February, 2012. More than 50 cities in China have wide-spread land subsidence, China Central Television (CCTV) reported Monday.
As large as 79,000 square kilometers of land has dropped more than 200 millimeters, Zhang Zuozhen, vice-president of China Geological Environmental Monitoring Institute, told CCTV.
The subsidence mainly occurs at the Yangtze River Delta, North China and plain areas covering North China's Shanxi province and Northwest China's Shaanxi province, he said.
<...>
In Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, more than 1,000 wells have been sealed after 150 square kilometers of land dropped more than 200 millimeters since 1959.
Shanghai, located at the Yangtze River Delta is recharging underground water through 121 wells with more than 60,000 tons every day. Source: chinadaily.com.cn

Beijing has fallen: China's capital sinking by 11cm a year, satellite study warns

Chen, M.; Tomas, R.; Li, Z.; Motagh, M.; Li, T.; Hu, L.; Gong, H.; Li, X.; Yu, J.; Gong, X. Imaging Land Subsidence Induced by Groundwater Extraction in Beijing (China) Using Satellite Radar Interferometry. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 468. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). mdpi.com

China’s capital is known for its horrendous smog and occasional sandstorms. Yet one of its major environmental threats lies underground: Beijing is sinking.

Excessive pumping of groundwater is causing the geology under the city to collapse, according to a new study using satellite imagery that reveals parts of Beijing – particularly its central business district – are subsiding each year by as much as 11 centimetres, or more than four inches.

The authors of the study warn that continued subsidence poses a safety threat to the city of more than 2o million, with “a strong impact on train operations” one of the predictions. Source: theguardian.com

Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China

Vertical displacement rates derived from ENVISAT (Jul 2002–Oct 2010) where croplands constitute greater than 50% of land use in the NCP.

Radar altimetry also reveals time-varying subsidence in the North China Plain consistent with the declines of groundwater storage and existing water infrastructure detected by the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, with rates reaching 20 cm yr^1 and cumulative subsidence as much as 155 cm.

The cropland cover is from Global Land Cover (GLC)-SHARE38, beta-release 1.0. Red symbols represent Beijing, Tianjin, Jinan and Shijiazhuang and empty circles represent other major cities. Rates with standard error greater than 5.00?cm yr?1 or with a signal-to-noise ratio <1.50 were rejected. Along-track locations without rates are over foothills, such as eastern Shandong Province. Two regions of major cropland subsidence (greater than 2?cm yr?1) are within the red-lined polygons. Letters A-D show the locations of TP-EN-J2 time series of height changes in Figs S11–14, with the cumulative subsidence values given. GMT36 V5.1.3 is used to plot Fig. 6 (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/).

Vertical displacement rates in the croplands of the North China Plain from (a) TP (Aug 1992 – Jun 2002) and (b) J2 (Jun 2008 – Aug 2014). The cropland cover (shaded areas) is from Global Land Cover (GLC)-SHARE38, beta-release 1.0. GMT36 V5.1.3 (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/) is used to plot the land cover, ground tracks and all the features

Hwang, C., Yang, Y., Kao, R., Han, J., Shum, C. K., Galloway, D. L., ... & Li, F. (2016). Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China. Scientific Reports, 6. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ nature.com

Linear deformation trends along line of sight (LOS) direction. Three major subsiding centers are located in A: Wangqingtuo Town, B: Dongguguang Town, C: Shengfang Town, D: Nanhe Town. (a) Linear deformation trend of TSX using PS analysis. The colorbar ranges from ?90 to ?10 mm/year; (b) Linear deformation trend of ALOS-PALSAR using the QPS technique. The colorbar ranges from ?190 to ?10 mm/year.

Luo, Q.; Perissin, D.; Zhang, Y.; Jia, Y. L- and X-Band Multi-Temporal InSAR Analysis of Tianjin Subsidence. Remote Sens.2014, 6, 7933-7951. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0). mdpi.com

Mean velocity of the Linfen–Yuncheng basin derived from the InSAR time series.

Yang, C.-S.; Zhang, Q.; Xu, Q.; Zhao, C.-Y.; Peng, J.-B.; Ji, L.-Y. Complex Deformation Monitoring over the Linfen–Yuncheng Basin (China) with Time Series InSAR Technology. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 284. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). mdpi.com

Linear subsidence rate over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2012 to 2014 observed by time series RADARSAT-2 images.

Zhang, Y.; Wu, H.; Kang, Y.; Zhu, C. Ground Subsidence in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region from 1992 to 2014 Revealed by Multiple SAR Stacks. Remote Sens. 2016, 8, 675. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). mdpi.com

Petar Marinkovic and Yngvar Larsen, (2016). Subsidence of Beijing (China) mapped by Copernicus Sentinel-1 time series interferometry. Zenodo, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5767. insarap.org

Sinking North China Plain threatens development

2 November, 2011. Land subsidence, or the downward shift of land, in the North China Plain is not a new problem. Since the 1950s, constant land subsidence has occurred across nearly 70,000 square kilometers there, with some places sinking 3.18 meters and at an annual rate of more than 100 millimeters

Beijing, Tianjin, Tanggu and Cangzhou are the most affected areas – Cangzhou has sunk about 2.4 meters since the 1970s, said Wu Aimin of the Chinese Academy of Geological Environment Monitoring.

<...> As land subsidence increases, so will the economic losses.

In Beijing, the land is sinking at a maximum rate of 137 millimeters a year in economic and cultural boom areas such as Haidian and Chaoyang districts, said Yang Yan, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, in an article.

The impact of land subsidence on buildings, roads and infrastructure in Beijing has become increasingly apparent. Since 2000, one third of Beijing's water pipeline damage was caused by land subsidence. Underground pipelines face the biggest challenge because land subsidence causes the pipelines to bend, deform or even break, while causing gas pipelines to fracture or roads to collapse.

Beijing's subway lines 10 and 13, as well as the Daxing and Yizhuang lines, all run across or near the subsidence area. Land subsidence constitutes to be a potential threat to railroad track. In 2005, a hole 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep formed 20 to 30 meters from a subway station. And in 2009, settlement of 1.85 centimeters near Xidan station affected nearly 40 square kilometers of road surface on Chang'an Avenue. <...> Source: china.org.cn

Subsidence brings down Yangtze River Delta

Shanghai has sunk by nearly 3 metres over the last 80 years, causing damage worth 14.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion), according to a report.
The report also shows that 16 provinces and regions in China, and 46 major cities also suffer from subsidence.
<...>

The report shows that south of the Yangtze River, the land has sunk by an average of more than 20 centimetres over an area of almost 10,000 square kilometres.

The most serious ground subsidence occurs in the urban districts of Shanghai Municipality and Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. Subsidence here can reach 2.63 metres.

Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou have lost 2.575 billion yuan (US$310 million) because of subsidence that affects both urban and rural areas.

It causes damage to buildings and problems such as floods on farmland. Source: in.china-embassy.org

Canada earthquakes increase

Figure 1. Alberta earthquake locations from 1985 through 2011, 2013, and 2014. Events prior to 2006 were obtained from Earthquakes Canada.

Figure 2. The total number of earthquakes in Alberta per year from 1965 to present is shown as green histogram bars; earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 2.5 ML are shown with red. The blue line shows the number of seismic stations available for analyzing Alberta earthquakes for a given year.

Figure 3. Earthquake locations that occurred up to 2010, showing the Rocky Mountain House and Brazeau River Clusters.

Source: ags.aer.ca

With the advent of hydraulic fracturing in western Canada, the number of reported earthquakes has jumped in northern B.C. and Alberta. Source: thetyee.ca

Japan uplift

Land rising out of the sea in Hokkaido Japan - rose 50 feet (over 1,000 feet long)

25 April, 2015. A massive sudden (1 day) collapse and rise of land has occurred along the coast of Hokkaido Japan.

Major global earthquake activity is taking place, and serious crustal movement is obviously underway in the region around North Japan.

The new land began rising from the sea yesterday morning (April 24, 2015) with just a 1 meter rise (3 feet), then began rising rapidly, the event is still ongoing as of April 25th into 26th 2015. At the same time of the land rising, the area around the rise began to subside.

One area displacing the other.

The new land mass has now risen over 50 feet above the water (near 1,000 feet long), and near 10 meters wide (30 feet)! Not ‘small’ by any means, and a very rare occurrence to top it off. Source: dutchsinse.com

Atlantic stretch and Medditterean sinking

England

During each Pole Shift, each passage with consequent crustal shift, the UK experiences sinking on its western side. Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and even England will experience drastic sinking during this pending passage. That this has happened in the past can be seen by looking under the waves, and seeing ocean bottom that has recently been land, below. England will not only be pulled down, on its western side, it is also obviously being torn in two at the River Humber. The establishment will come up with an excuse, as they always do, for the Earth changes in process, no matter how absurd their excuses become. The Eurasian Plate is being pulled apart, while the Atlantic is spreading apart. Rock layers get torn apart in this process, so the loose ground shifts as the base upon which it lies gives way. This process will continue and accelerate.

ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for February 16, 2013

Estimate of the vertical land motion across the UK derived from a GNSS solution provided by the NERC British Isles continuous GNSS Facility (BIGF). Dots indicate the positions of the GNSS stations that contributed to the solution. The map of vertical land motion is an interpolation from the estimates at these sites.

Tamisiea ME, Hughes CW, Williams SDP, Bingley RM. 2014 Sea level: measuring the bounding surfaces of the ocean. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 372: 20130336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2013.0336. rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

Mexico stretch zone

Land subsidence in central Mexico detected by ALOS InSAR time-series

Yellow, red ares sinking

Averaged 2006-2011 LOS velocity map of central Mexico, from ALOS InSAR time series analysis. Insets: zoom into the 21 subsiding areas, black diamonds

Similarly in central Mexico, massive groundwater extraction result in land subsidence. We identify land subsidence in 21 areas, including 17 cities. Linear subsidence rates of 30 cm/yr are observed in Mexico City, while in the other locations rates of 5-10 cm/yr are detected.
In Mexico the limits of the subsiding areas are typically characterized by high velocity gradients often coinciding with existing faults, motion on these faults being driven by water extraction rather than by tectonic activity.
Land subsidence directly threaten the protection of multiple sites of the UNESCO World Heritage list and indirectly threaten people lives due to the decrease in the water quality. The integration of InSAR with other monitoring techniques is necessary to mitigate ground failure hazards and improve sustainability of groundwater resources at regional scales.

Chaussard, E., Wdowinski, S., Cabral-Cano, E., & Amelung, F. (2014). Land subsidence in central Mexico detected by ALOS InSAR time-series. Remote sensing of environment, 140, 94-106. estellechaussard.com

Why This City of 21 Million People Is Sinking 3 Feet Every Year

5 March, 2016. Mexico City is sinking. Home to 21 million people, who consume nearly 287 billion gallons of water each year, the city has sunk more than 32 feet in the last 60 years because 70 percent of the water people rely on is extracted from the aquifer below the city.

"There's no fixing it," journalist Andrea Noel told producer Alan Sanchez in the video below from Fusion. "Once land is subsided, it's subsided."

The water table is sinking at a rate of 1 meter (3.2 feet) per year. As the city population grows and water demand increases, the problem will only get worse.

"It needs to be stopped because it's too late to be remedied," Noel said. "The city needs to find a way to figure out their water problem. They really need to look into alternatives like collecting rainwater, which makes so much sense in a city like this, which gets so much rainfall every year." Source: ecowatch.com

Mexico city sinking cm/month

Source: esa.int

World

Ring Of Fire Tectonic Plate Is Cooling - And Shrinking

27 August, 2014. The tectonic plate that dominates the Pacific "Ring of Fire" is not as rigid as most assume, and it's getting less fiery. according to researchers at Rice University and the University of Nevada.

Rice geophysicist Richard Gordon and Corne Kreemer, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, have determined that cooling of the lithosphere -- the outermost layer of Earth -- makes some sections of the Pacific plate contract horizontally at faster rates than others and cause the plate to deform. <...>

A map produced by scientists at the University of Nevada, Reno, and Rice University shows predicted velocities for sectors of the Pacific tectonic plate relative to points near the Pacific-Antarctic ridge, which lies in the South Pacific ocean. The researchers show the Pacific plate is contracting as younger sections of the lithosphere cool. Credit: Corne Kreemer and Richard Gordon

The researchers saw hints of deformation in a metric called plate circuit closure, which describes the relative motions where at least three plates meet. If the plates were rigid, their angular velocities at the triple junction would have a sum of zero. But where the Pacific, Nazca and Cocos plates meet west of the Galapagos Islands, the nonclosure velocity is 14 millimeters a year, enough to suggest that all three plates are deforming.

"When we did our first global model in 1990, we said to ourselves that maybe when we get new data, this issue will go away," Gordon said. "But when we updated our model a few years ago, all the places that didn't have plate circuit closure 20 years ago still didn't have it."

There had to be a reason, and it began to become clear when Gordon and his colleagues looked beneath the seafloor. "It's long been understood that the ocean floor increases in depth with age due to cooling and thermal contraction. But if something cools, it doesn't just cool in one direction. It's going to be at least approximately isotropic. It should shrink the same in all directions, not just vertically," he said. Source: science20.com

As the seas rise, a slow-motion disaster gnaws at America’s shores

4 September, 2014. <...>

In many places, including much of the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, an additional factor makes the problem worse: The land is sinking. This process, known as subsidence, is due in part to inexorable geological shifts

<...> The rise is two to three times greater in spots along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean because of subsidence, a process whereby natural geological movements and extraction of underground stores of water, oil and gas cause the ground to sink.

<...> About one-third of that rise was from oceans rising globally as water warms and polar ice melts. The remaining two-thirds resulted from land sinking due to subsidence, which happens when the removal of underground water, oil and gas causes the land to pancake.

<...> Around the world, the biggest increases were in Asia, reflecting the greater impact in that region of subsidence, the process by which geological forces and the extraction of groundwater cause the land to sink

<...> Source: reuters.com

The quiet sinking of the world's deltas

More than 500 million people live in the world's river deltas, yet new research shows that these population magnets are under increased pressure from human activity.

<...>
He might well be forced to do that. Deltas – some of the most densely populated areas in the world – are sinking and becoming harder to live on. In Ca Mau, groundwater exploitation and deforestation have eroded the coastline by between 100 and 1400 metres over the past 13 years, according to a recent satellite-based study by Norway’s Geotechnical Institute (NGI) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The land surface has fallen by up to 70 centimetres in places, they found.

Many of the world’s deltas are subsiding by 10 cm or so a year – far faster than the 3 mm or so annual rise in sea levels – causing the sea to swallow up dozens of metres of land each year. In the past decade, 85% of the world’s major river deltas experienced severe flooding, killing hundreds of thousands of people. Source: futureearth.org

India

The data taken directly from the plot graphic, as it's long to process data!

India has already moved to Northeast around 1,2 metres since 1994 (960^2+800^2=c^2)

Source: geodesy.unr.edu

Source: unavco.org

Source: serc.carleton.edu

Ganga inundates Sangam

25 June, 2011. <...> Similarly, Jayant Kumar Pati another associate professor of the department said that plate tectonics owing to the fallout by the construction of Tehri Dam. "Our observations show that the course of Ganga is shifting towards the north side of Allahabad i.e. towards the Jhunsi side. As a direct implication, it is more unlikely that the annual phenomena of the inundation of the temple would cease to occur. But things do not remain constant, as far as level of water in any given river in concerned and if it has inundated the temple, there is no reason to get surprised," added Pati.

Sharing his view on the issue, Prof S S Ojha of the department of Geography, AU had also said that because of the Plate Tectonic theory, the western part of India is in the on the rise, while the eastern part (lying towards Bay of Bengal), is getting submerged. As an impact, the gradient of rivers flowing in west-east direction will become steep and vice-versa. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

US to help Bangladesh study earthquake risks

9 December, 2011. <...> Previous studies by Steckler’s team have shown that the region was the site of major temblors and shifts in plates that caused major Himalayan rivers — Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna — to shift course suddenly, inundating vast areas.

Rock movements have caused some areas of Bangladesh to sink faster than the others, affecting river course. "If a river is close to switching, then the uplift and subsidence caused by earthquakes may cause it to shift," Steckler said. Source: scidev.net

South Asia landslides 'on the rise'

Earthquakes are one cause of landslips, but there are many others
Most South Asian countries are witnessing an increasing trend in landslides in recent years and scientists say extreme rainfall patterns, seismicity, and uncontrolled human activities are to blame.

Authorities have said the number of people killed and displaced and properties destroyed by the disaster are also on the upward trend.
Landslides are common in the region, particularly in the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya foothills, during monsoon that lasts for around four months until September. But, authorities say their frequency and intensity are on the rise.
"There has been an increase in the events of landslides in the region in recent years," says Mriganka Ghattak, a specialist in geological disasters with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC's) Disaster Management Centre in Delhi.
"We have noticed the rise particularly in northern parts of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some areas of Bangladesh," said Ghattak.
"Broadly the main affected areas are in the Hindu-Kush-Himalaya (HKH) region where the geological conditions are quite dynamic."
According to the centre, of the total landslides that happened across the globe in 2009, nearly 60% was in South Asia where around 280 people died because of the disaster that year. Source: bbc.com

Himalayan 'drop after Nepal quake'

8 May, 2014. The height of a swathe of the Himalayas has dropped by around one metre as a result of the devastating Nepal earthquake, scientists say.
But they add that the drop will roughly be balanced by slow uplift due to tectonic activity.
And they have yet to analyse satellite images of the region in which the most famous Himalayan peak - Everest - is located.

Source: earthobservatory.nasa.gov

However, there continues to be debate over exactly how tall Everest is.

"The primary stretch that had its height dropped is a 80-100km stretch of the Langtang Himal (to the northwest of the capital, Kathmandu)," said Richard Briggs, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
The Langtang range is the region where many locals and trekkers are still missing, presumed dead, after the avalanches and landslides that were triggered by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on 25 April.
Scientists believe the height of a handful of other Himalayan peaks, including the Ganesh Himal to the west of the Langtang range, may also have dropped.
The satellite images they have analysed so far have focused on central Nepal, which was the hardest hit by the quake. Everest is to the east of this main shaking zone.
Scientists say whether or not the world's highest peak saw a change in its height by few centimetres will have to be further confirmed by ground survey and GPS or an airborne mission.
"But what we see in the data that we evaluated further away from the plate boundary, to the north of the capital Kathmandu, is a clearly identifiable region with subsidence of up to 1.5m," says Christian Minet, a geologist with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which processed the Nepal earthquake data sent by the Sentinel-1a satellite. Source: bbc.com

45% of India's coastline facing erosion

12 August, 2015. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands face the most erosion, with close to 89% of the shoreline eaten away by the Bay of Bengal

As much as 45% of India’s 8,414-km long coastline is facing erosion, according to a new study based on satellite data over 15 years, published in the Indian Academy of Science’s journal Current Science.

The study–the most detailed thus far–also reports that close to 19% of the coastline is stable and about 36% is showing accretion, or expansion. The Indian coast has lost a net area of about 73 sq km.

Scientists from Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad and Central Water Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, compared satellite images from two time periods–1989-91 and 2004-06–to measure the changes to India’s coastline. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands face the most erosion, with close to 89% of the shoreline eaten away by the Bay of Bengal.

Source: business-standard.com

Land subsidence confirmed

18 November, 2012. A spell of heavy rain that followed the Neelam cyclone which resulted in heavy damage to agriculture fields, particularly paddy, has confirmed that exploitation of natural gas has caused land subsidence in the Krishna and Godavari deltas, says a former professor of geology of Andhra University and member of Movement for People Centred Development G. Krishna Rao.
<...>
Coastal area is getting water logged even with a rainfall of 5 cm to 10 cm and for several days. Severity of this situation will increase in the next few years as the land is sinking, Prof. Krishna Rao warned.

Sea water is encroaching on the deltas with further sinking of the land and they would turn into wet lands, a stage preceding complete submergence into sea. Source: thehindu.com

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

Chesapeake Bay

Source: Land Subsidence and Relative Sea-Level Rise in the Southern Chesapeake Bay Region (By Jack Eggleston and Jason Pope) pubs.usgs.gov

Land subsidence can also increase flooding in areas away from the coast. Low-lying areas, such as the Blackwater River Basin (fig. 2), can be subject to increased flooding as the land sinks. Locations along the Blackwater River in the city of Franklin and the counties of Isle of Wight and Southampton have experienced large floods in recent years (fig. 5; Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2002). Land subsidence may be altering the topographic gradient that drives the flow of the river and possibly contributing to the flooding.

Source: Land Subsidence and Relative Sea-Level Rise in the Southern Chesapeake Bay Region (By Jack Eggleston and Jason Pope) pubs.usgs.gov

Gulf of Mexico sinking

Top maps show vertical and horizontal velocity vectors in (a) southeastern Louisiana and (b) Houston. Bottom plots show vertical positional time series of subsiding stations in (c) southeastern Louisiana (> 1.5 mm yr?1) and (d) Houston-Galveston (>4.5 mm yr?1). The reference frame is SGOMRF.

Source: Yu, J., & Wang, G. (2016). GPS-derived ground deformation (2005–2014) within the Gulf of Mexico region referred to a stable Gulf of Mexico reference frame. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci, 16, 1583-1602. nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net CC Attribution 3.0 License

Vertical velocity vectors of 148 CGPS stations (> 4 years) in the Gulf of Mexico region. green dots represent the 13 reference stations. The blue vectors represent the average velocities referred to SGOMRF.

Source: Yu, J., & Wang, G. (2016). GPS-derived ground deformation (2005–2014) within the Gulf of Mexico region referred to a stable Gulf of Mexico reference frame. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci, 16, 1583-1602. nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net CC Attribution 3.0 License

Locations of three CGPS stations and cities within the greater Houston area. Black and blue velocity vectors represent horizontal and vertical velocities with respect to SGOMRF, respectively. Red lines are growth faults and yellow dots are salt domes (Garrity and Soller, 2009). Contours lines are subsidence rate from 2005 to 2012 (Kearns et al., 2015)

Source: Yu, J., & Wang, G. (2016). GPS-derived ground deformation (2005–2014) within the Gulf of Mexico region referred to a stable Gulf of Mexico reference frame. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci, 16, 1583-1602. nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net  CC Attribution 3.0 License

Houston-Galveston area, Texas

Map showing contours of the average subsidence rate (mm/year) during the time span from 2006 to 2012. The contours are derived from subsidence observed from 72 GPS stations and 13 borehole extensometers. The red lines represent the locations of about 150 principle faults mapped by USGS in the Houston area using airborne LIDAR data collected after tropical storm Allison in 2001

Source: Yu, J., Wang, G., Kearns, T. J., & Yang, L. (2014). Is there deep-seated subsidence in the Houston-Galveston area?. International Journal of Geophysics,2014. Source: researchgate.net  This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Recent horizontal and vertical ground deformation velocity vectors in the Houston-Galveston area derived from extensometer and GPS observations (2006–2012). The horizontal velocity vectors have been transformed to the stable Houston reference frame (SHRF). The red lines represent the locations of about 150 principle faults mapped by USGS in the Houston area using airborne LIDAR data collected after tropical storm Allison in 2001.

Source: Yu, J., Wang, G., Kearns, T. J., & Yang, L. (2014). Is there deep-seated subsidence in the Houston-Galveston area?. International Journal of Geophysics, 2014. researchgate.net  This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

[1] Yu, J., Wang, G., Kearns, T. J., & Yang, L. (2014). Is there deep-seated subsidence in the Houston-Galveston area?. International Journal of Geophysics,2014. Source: researchgate.net  This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

New Orleans is sinking faster than previously thought

Source: eos.org

When a city already sits below sea level, any additional sinking is cause for concern, says the Weather Channel. This is especially true of New Orleans, a major U.S. port with the largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana.
Scientists have known for some time that the "big easy" is sinking, but a new study has found that New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area is losing elevation at a faster rate than previously thought, says the Weather Channel.
The sinking is a process called subsidence, and with the use of satellite mapping, it was found that different areas of the city are sinking at varying rates, some as much as two inches or more a year due to a combination of natural geologic and human-induced processes Source: digitaljournal.com

Making sense of senseless sea level scares in Norfolk Virginia – 60% of the rise is from subsidence, the remainder from landfill settling (show PSMSL)

Source: wattsupwiththat.com

No solid ground

19 February, 2015. In the Raton Basin on the Colorado-New Mexico border, the U.S. Geological Survey has found evidence of subsidence in satellite images that is connected to underground water or gas withdrawal. The area had experience induced seismicity — increased seismic activity that was caused by wastewater injection in the area — and had begun to study surface deformation that followed a magnitude 5.3 earthquake that occurred there in 2011, which U.S. Geological Survey research had determined was induced.

In the satellite images used to study the ground surface deformation — which was occurring in the range of 5 mm to 10 mm per year — researchers could also see substantial ground subsidence that was likely tied to extraction of natural gas, says William Barnhart, a former research geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey and lead author of a study on the area that was recently released in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Source: boulderweekly.com

‘Nuisance flooding’ exceeds trends, breaks records in the United States: NOAA

8 June, 2016. Source: canadianunderwriter.ca

West US some sinking areas

San Joaquin Valley is sinking

28 October, 2015. Land all over the San Joaquin Valley is sinking. In some spots, the elevation has dropped more than two stories - mainly through the pumping of water from underground aquifers.

The sinking, or subsidence, occurs at different rates in different places. In some places, sinking has reached a rate of a foot a year. Source: yourcentralvalley.com

2 inches a month: California sinking faster than ever, infrastructure in danger

20 August, 2015. The rate at which land across vast areas of California are sinking due to overconsumption of groundwater is higher than ever, with some places subsiding two inches a month, a new NASA report says. It comes as the state’s farmers pump water faster amid the historic drought.

While California has been sinking for decades, the current rate is among the highest ever measured around the world. The alarming findings of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab are based on satellite and aerial photos and measurements of land subsidence in the state.

An area near Corcoran, in the Tulare basin, sank 13 inches in one recent eight-month period, according to the study conducted for the State Department of Water Resources. A stretch near the California Aqueduct, a key leg of the state canal and pipeline system that brings freshwater from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, sank 8 inches in just four months last year.

The problem is not limited to the San Joaquin Valley, the most arid part of the Central Valley of California. Land near Arbuckle in Colusa County sank five inches during the last half of 2014, the NASA report said.

Heavy pumping of groundwater causes clay between water pockets to collapse and ground to sink. This may damage critical infrastructure and also makes it harder for groundwater reservoirs to replenish. It may also hinder water from flowing through its natural underground pathways.

“Roads can be broken by fissures, pipelines have been exhumed, and the slope of the land can be altered, changing drainage patterns,” the NASA report warns.

Groundwater consumption remains at a historic high amid the drought, while its levels are dropping to record lows of up to 100 feet below previous measurements, says Mark Cowin, head of the California Department of Water Resources. Source: rt.com

GNSS (green points)-derived vertical displacement rates (negative of subsidence rates) in the Central Valley (includes the San Joaquin and southern portion of the Sacramento Valleys inside the boundary in purple), California, (Sec. S1, SI).

The planned California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) is red alternating with white line. GMT36 V5.1.3 is used to plot Fig. 1 (http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu/). Overlapped are TOPEX/POSEIDON (red line) and ENVISAT (orange line) satellite ground tracks (labeled as satellite abbreviation-pass number), where vertical displacement rates at a 1-km interval are derived from the two altimeters (see Fig. 3). The topography is from the digital elevation model of SRTM15_PLUS37.

Near Hanford, California, subsidence rates reach 18cm yr1 with a cumulative subsidence of 206cm, which potentially could adversely affect operations of the planned California High-Speed Rail.

Hwang, C., Yang, Y., Kao, R., Han, J., Shum, C. K., Galloway, D. L., ... & Li, F. (2016). Time-varying land subsidence detected by radar altimetry: California, Taiwan and north China. Scientific Reports, 6. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. nature.com

GPS data:

Blewitt, G., C. Kreemer, W.C. Hammond, J. Gazeaux, 2016, MIDAS robust trend estimator for accurate GPS station velocities without step detection, accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research, doi: 10.1002/2015JB012552. geodesy.unr.edu; data

Subsidence area in Arizona data. Source: azwater.gov; Cracks, earth fissures in Arizona data. Source: azgs.az.gov

Is the recent sinkhole in Mexico City an effect of the stretch zone? I assume that it is based on reports on its size and appearance. [and from another] Massive Sinkhole Opens in Mexico City [July 9] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19682106/ Even in a city where historic buildings regularly lean, crack, collapse or sink below sidewalk level due to excessive water extraction and unstable soil, the 45-foot-deep sinkhole - which measures about 15 yards in diameter - came as a shock.

We have mentioned that N America is being bowed and pulled on a diagonal, and at some point large quakes along the New Madrid will occur. Mexico is being pulled to the West, while New England is being pulled to the East. In addition, the West Coast is being pulled into a bow near the Southern California area, which will create cracks in the Arizona area. The recent sinkhole in Mexico is only more evidence of this.

ZetaTalk: GodlikeProduction Live written July 14, 2007

ASU study: Parts of metro Phoenix area are sinking

12 August, 2015. Ground elevation levels in Apache Junction are seeing the fastest drop, followed by Sun City West, Peoria and the north Valley, ASU researchers say.

Scientists at ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration say ground-elevation levels in Apache Junction are seeing the fastest drop. Sun City West, Peoria and the north Valley are also descending.

<...> State officials have been aware of what’s called “land subsidence” — where the earth collapses and drops —for years. The Arizona Department of Water Resources is working with NASA to collect radar data to compliment the department’s data and maps on where land has subsided. The department has been collecting and processing data since 2002 to monitor land subsidence, which is occurring over 2,800 square miles in Arizona. The department says land subsidence has been happening in Arizona since the early 1900s with parts of Maricopa and Pinal Counties subsiding more than 18 feet since then. In Arizona, land subsidence in so-called geographical basin areas like the Valley is usually due to a lowered water table, according to the department.

But not all areas of the Valley are sinking, the ASU study found. Parts of Scottsdale, Chandler and Mesa have risen by as much as half a centimeter. ASU scientists say they did not observe a change in most of the city of Phoenix.

<...>

But even with the reduced groundwater pumping — and subsequent increase in the groundwater level — research published in 2005 and 2011 found the ground continued sinking and cracking in parts of the Phoenix metro area and other locations, including Tucson, Casa Grande and Eloy.

<...> The ground sinking is not unique to the Valley. It’s also occurring in southwestern Arizona and agricultural valleys in California.

Land subsidance also has been identified in Denver, Colo., the New Jersey coast, Savannah, Ga., and New Mexico’s Albuquerque Basin. The U.S. Geological Survey has identified more than 17,000 square miles of land subsidence in 45 states, an area equivalent to the size of New Hampshire and Vermont combined.

<...> Source: azcentral.com

New fault near San Diego (ZetaTalk)

Should california expect much in the way of volcanic activity. I live near Mammoth Mountain,and am very worried it could errupt due to the influences of PX.

We have chimed in with Scallion on suspecting that a rip will occur from San Diego up toward Yellowstone, as there is a fault line there. Why would this rip, in a manner that would disrupt Mammoth? As we have stated in detailing the Earth Torque, wherein New England is pulled toward the East and Mexico toward the West, pulling the N American continent in a diagonal, fault lines will not be stressed in their traditional ways, but in new ways, during the coming months. New Madrid is an example. East of the Mississippi, going up, West of the Mississippi, going down. In a similar manner, the fault line from San Diego to Mammoth, and on up toward Yellowstone, will find the land South going West, with Mexico, and North staying with the land above this fault. Thus, should such rupture take place, in stages, evacuate Mammoth Lake!

ZetaTalk: GodlikeProduction Live written Sep 9, 2006

Baja earthquake. An unknown fault

20 November, 2011. After the El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake, scientists compared ascending (left) and descending (right) tracks from Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite images from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite to map how the land surface changed. The rupture did not occur on any of the region’s three main faults, indicated by red lines. When scientists looked at where the most earthquake displacement happened, they discovered a previously unknown fault in Mexico’s Cucapah Mountains, indicated by the blue shaded area. (Courtesy M. Wei and D. Sandwell)

Immediately after the El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake, scientists set out to find the fault that may have caused it. They suspected that the earthquake originated on one of two faults, the Cerro Prieto Fault or the Laguna Salida Fault, because the earthquake was centered between the two.
<...>
The resulting InSAR maps helped field scientists searching for the fault to navigate the rugged mountain terrain. “Field geologists took the InSAR maps and knew exactly where to go in the field to measure the fault lines,” said Sandwell. As Mexican researchers followed the fault lines and examined the freshly fractured landscape, they realized they were tracing neither of the suspected faults. They had discovered an entirely new one.

This new fault, named the Indiviso Fault after the nearby Mexican town of El Indiviso, provides scientists a piece of California’s tectonic puzzle. “The fault that caused the El Mayor-Cucapah earthquake was not where anyone expected a fault,” Sandwell said. “The faults that have the high slip rates are where you’d expect all the big earthquakes. But that’s not where we’ve had the big earthquakes over the last forty years. That’s sort of scary,” Sandwell said.

Geologists measure the surface rupture caused by the El Indiviso Fault, which shifted the land surface as much as 1.2 meters (4 feet) in this location. (Courtesy C. Crosby)

Source: earthdata.nasa.gov

New analysis reveals large-scale motion around San Andreas Fault System

20 June, 2016. An array of GPS instruments near the San Andreas Fault System in Southern California detects constant motion of Earth's crust—sometimes large, sudden motion during an earthquake and often subtle, creeping motion. By carefully analyzing the data recorded by the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory's GPS array researchers from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM), University of Washington and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) discovered nearly 125 mile-wide "lobes" of uplift and subsidence—a few millimeters of motion each year—straddling the fault system. This large scale motion was previously predicted in models but until now had not been documented. Source: phys.org

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

Southeastern US sinking

[1] 25 May, 2015, Texas Flooding Called The Worst Ever By Governor. Source: huffingtonpost.com

[2] 29 May, 2015. Latest on flooding: Texas rain brings no major new problems - Article Photos. Source: newsok.com

[3] 1 June, 2016. Record floods hit US state of Texas again. Source: aljazeera.com

[4] 15 March, 2016. Texas governor visits communities engulfed by floods - Article Photos Source: newsok.com

[5] 27 June, 2016. West Virginia flood was ‘one in a thousand year event' Source: washingtonpost.com

[6] 25 June, 2016. Death Toll Rises to 24 in Devastating West Virginia Floods Source: nbcnews.com

[7] 28 December, 2015. Historic and unseasonable flooding overwhelms Central U.S., Mississippi River. Source: washingtonpost.com

[8] 30 December, 2015. Record Floods Affect Millions in the Midwest Source: nytimes.com

[9] 31 December, 2015. Shocking aerial photographs show devastation caused by historic Mississippi flooding that has killed at least 20 - and officials warn there are more deaths to come Source: dailymail.co.uk

[10] 5 October, 2015. Historic, 1,000-year flood ‘like nothing South Carolina has ever seen’ Source: postandcourier.com

[11] 6 October, 2015. Fourteen dead as South Carolina gripped by historic flooding Source: reuters.com

[12] 1 August, 2016. Deadly Maryland flood a '1-in-1,000' year event. Source: wtsp.com

[13] 30 July, 2016. Video and photos: Horrific flooding in ‘ruined’ Ellicott City, Md. Source: washingtonpost.com

[14] 24 January, 2016. Mid-Atlantic coastline flooded by blizzard’s storm surge. ‘This is worse than Sandy.’ Source: washingtonpost.com

[15] 10 March, 2016. Historic flooding leaves parts of Louisiana under water. Source: cbsnews.com

[16] 16 March, 2016. Floods in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma Leave 4 Dead, 2 Missing and 1000s of Homes Damaged Source: floodlist.com

[17] 16 August, 2016. Louisiana’s 1,000-year floods inundated 80,000 homes and businesses. Worst Louisiana flooding since Katrina. Source: varstechnica.com

[18] 17 August, 2016. Louisiana Flooding: Scope of Deadly Disaster as Told by the Numbers. Source: nbcnews.com

Coastal floods in US

[1] 2 October, 2015. Source: twitter.com

[2] 4 October, 2015. Six dead and hundreds stranded as dams break and cause 300 road collisions in ONE DAY during 1,000-year record rainfall across the Carolinas Source: dailymail.co.uk

[3] 10 June, 2015. Weekend Storm Soaks, Batters Coast Source: coastalreview.org

[4] 6 June, 2016. Tropical Storm Colin leaves flooded streets in Tampa Bay Source: tampabay.com

[5] 29 October, 2015. Your photos of Tybee Island flooding — and some heavy reading Source: politics.blog.ajc.com

Are Houston’s Sinking Suburbs Suffering Worse Flooding?
After the flooding last month in Houston, a local geologist noticed something that looked suspicious: some of the areas of Houston hit hardest were also areas where the land is sinking. The sinking is called “subsidence”. But there’s a debate over whether it’s actually making flooding worse.

Top map shows worse subsidence in blue since the 1990s. Bottom map shows it moving northeast in 2011. Source: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention of Mitigation of Natural Hazards

23 May, 2016. What made last month’s flooding, especially in north Harris County, so bad?

Simple: a whole lot of rain says Mike Talbott, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District.
“It has a lot to do with this phenomenal rainfall … people don’t want to talk about the rainfall,” Talbott tells News 88.7.
But people are talking about how other factors, besides the massive rainfall, may have made things worse. And one those people is a professor of geology at the University of Houston, Shuhab Khan.
“It’s making it worse,” says Khan.
What Professor Khan believes is making flooding worse in certain neighborhoods is a geological condition Houston and many cities suffer from and have for decades: subsidence. It’s where many acres of ground sink.
Historically in Harris County, subsidence has been worse in areas where over the decades, groundwater and oil and gas have been sucked out from under the ground, causing the land to sink by fractions of an inch a year, in some places by feet over many years.
Could it be that today, the ground that homes are built on is sinking in different places than it did decades ago and thus, could this make flooding worse in places where people say, “It never flooded like this before.”
When Professor Khan looked at maps showing where last month’s flooding damaged the most homes, those maps looked eerily similar to ones he’d drawn as part of a study two years ago, maps showing where subsidence was happening in Harris County.
“Those are the areas that are areas that are subsiding very rapidly. North and northwest. It used to be Jersey Village. (Now) it’s moving northeastwards, north and northeast these days. But it is the same area where the flooding was,” Khan tells News 88.7.
Khan says one subsidence zone is drifting northeast towards the Woodlands and seems to be affected by fault lines that traverse the area. Khan is not saying that subsidence alone is why there’s flooding.
“Of course there would be flooding. But maybe not huge,” says Khan. Source: houstonpublicmedia.org

Kasmarek, Mark. 2013. Hydrogeology and Simulation of Groundwater Flow and Land-Surface Subsidence in the Northern Part of the Gulf Coast Aquifer System, Texas, 1891-2009. Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5154, Version 1.1, December 2013. U.S. Geological Survey. Figure 32, p. 47. Source: texaslandscape.org;

Caption: A map created using data from the United States Geological Survey shows how far Harris County has dropped in elevation since the 1920s. Though most of the region to the east has stabilized, areas to the west continue to subside at an significant rate, according to the agency. Remove the map to see which areas of Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery County are experiencing decreasing aquifer levels. Source: houstonchronicle.com

Sinking Atlantic Coastline Meets Rapidly Rising Seas

Source: scientificamerican.com

14 April, 2016. Geological changes along the East Coast are causing land to sink along the seaboard. That’s exacerbating the flood-inducing effects of sea level rise, which has been occurring faster in the western Atlantic Ocean than elsewhere in recent years.

New research using GPS and prehistoric data has shown that nearly the entire coast is affected, from Massachusetts to Florida and parts of Maine.

Land subsidence and sea level rise are worsening flooding in Annapolis, Md., and elsewhere along the East Coast.

The relatively fast rate of rise in sea levels along the East Coast may have been a blip — for now. The rate of rise recorded so far this century may become the norm during the decades ahead. “Undoubtedly, these are the rates we’re heading towards,” said Simon Engelhart, a University of Rhode Island geoscientist.

Engelhart drew on data from prehistoric studies and worked with two University of South Florida, Tampa scientists to combine it with more modern GPS data to pinpoint the rates at which parts of the Eastern seaboard have been sinking.
<...>
The data suggests that some land in coastal Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, on the other hand, is rising slightly, although not quickly enough to keep up with the global rate of sea level rise.

The study shows that subsidence is occurring twice as fast now than in centuries past in a hot spot from Fredericksburg, Va. south to Charleston, which the scientists mostly blame on groundwater pumping.
<...>
Even without future warming, high tide flooding is already getting worse along the East and Gulf coasts, where subsidence and erosion are rife. The problems become most plainly clear during king tides.

“We can have up to 4-foot tides,” said Christine Voss, a University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ecologist involved with a project that’s documenting the effects of king tides. “People are noticing that these flooding events are occurring more frequently, and perhaps with greater depth of inundation.” Source: climatecentral.org

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

Increase bow stress animation

Visualization of different generations of EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) network (consisting of over 1100 GPS stations, as well as other instruments) velocity solutions from UNAVCO using the Generic Mapping Tools (Wessel and Smith, 1989)

Image Credit: Thorsten W Becker, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. physicscentral.com

Increase of earthquakes in United States

Cumulative number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or larger in the central and eastern United States, 1973-2015. The rate of earthquakes began to increase starting around 2009 and accelerated in 2013-2014. Source: usgs.gov

Within the central and eastern United States, the number of earthquakes has increased dramatically over the past few years. Between the years 1973–2008, there was an average of 21 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States. This rate jumped to an average of 99 M3+ earthquakes per year in 2009–2013, and the rate continues to rise. In 2014, alone, there were 659 M3 and larger earthquakes. Most of these earthquakes are in the magnitude 3–4 range, large enough to have been felt by many people, yet small enough to rarely cause damage. There were reports of damage from some of the larger events, including the M5.6 Prague, Oklahoma earthquake and the M5.3 Trinidad, Colorado earthquake. Source: earthquake.usgs.gov

Within the central and eastern United States, the number of earthquakes has increased dramatically over the past few years. Between the years 1973–2008, there was an average of 21 earthquakes of magnitude three and larger in the central and eastern United States. This rate jumped to an average of 99 M3+ earthquakes per year in 2009–2013, and the rate continues to rise. In 2014, alone, there were 659 M3 and larger earthquakes. Most of these earthquakes are in the magnitude 3–4 range, large enough to have been felt by many people, yet small enough to rarely cause damage. There were reports of damage from some of the larger events, including the M5.6 Prague, Oklahoma earthquake and the M5.3 Trinidad, Colorado earthquake.

Cumulative number of earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or larger in the central and eastern United States, 1970–2016. The long-term rate of approximately 29 earthquakes per year increased sharply starting around 2009. Source: earthquake.usgs.gov

Saltwater injection-related Earthquakes over time. (Credit: Matt Weingarten/UC-Boulder)

Earthquakes associated with saltwater-injection in 1975 and 2015. (Credit: Matt Weingarten/UC-Boulder)

Earthquakes since 1975. Bars in red are associated in time with saltwater injection while those in gray are not. (Credit: Matt Weingarten/UC Boulder) Source: forbes.com

Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory report. Source: Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory

Researchers at VTSO first developed an interest in induced seismicity after using the EarthScope transportable array (TA) of seismic stations to study wave propagation in the central United States. The TA is an array of 400 stations placed 70 km apart that started on the western side of the United States and has been leap-frogging across the country every two years. In 2010 and 2011, the TA was in the central US, where it collected data for many of the events in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. The TA is providing a very unique opportunity to study seismicity in parts of the country that don't usually have enough seismic stations for very accurate research. With the TA now in the east, VTSO wanted to look at earthquakes in West Virginia and Ohio that seemed to be induced by wastewater disposal.

Fig. 4: Oklahoma earthquakes (red) and disposal wells (black)

Fig. 5: The number of Oklahoma earthquakes increases dramatically after 2009 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Fig. 10: Ohio and West Virginia earthquakes (red = USGS locations; green = VTSO locations) and disposal wells (black)

Fig. 11: Earthquakes in Ohio and West Virginia spiked in 2010, decreased in 2012 and spiked again in 2013 and 2014 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Arkansas Earthquakes

Fig. 12: Arkansas earthquakes (red) and wastewater disposal wells (black).

Fig. 13: Earthquakes in Arkansas spiked in 2011 and then again in 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Kansas Earthquakes

Fig. 14: Kansas earthquakes (red) and wastewater disposal wells (black). Click here for an interactive map of Kansas earthquakes and wells.

Fig. 15: Earthquakes in Kansas have been increasing in number and magnitude since late 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Colorado Earthquakes

Fig. 16: Colorado earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 17: Earthquakes in Colorado (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

New Mexico Earthquakes

Fig. 18: New Mexico earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 19: Earthquakes in New Mexico (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Texas Earthquakes

Fig. 20: Texas earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 21: Earthquakes in Texas spiked in 2011 and then again in 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Source: magma.geos.vt.edu

A study of the recent earthquakes that occurred in Ohio from 1990 to 2011 shows that the number has been increasing since the turn of the century and continues to do so. The data can be found on the Ohio Department of Natural Resource website: dnr.state.oh.us

Source: webberenergyblog.wordpress.com

Man-made earthquakes increasing in central and eastern U.S., study finds

For the first time, the U.S. Geological Survey has unveiled a map of earthquakes thought to be triggered by human activity in the eastern and central United States.

Oklahoma is by far the worst-hit state recently, according to the USGS study released Thursday. The state last year had more earthquakes magnitude 3 or higher than California, part of a huge increase recorded in recent years.

Seismic activity in Texas near the Dallas-Fort Worth area has also increased substantially recently. Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and Ohio have all experienced more frequent quakes in the last year.

All of the areas highlighted on the map “are located near deep fluid injection wells or other industrial activities capable of inducing earthquakes,” the study said.

Mark Petersen, chief of the USGS' National Seismic Hazard Project, said the pattern of increased quakes is troubling.

“These earthquakes are occurring at a higher rate than ever before, and pose a much greater risk and threat to people living nearby,” Petersen said.

Source: latimes.com

State geologists compiled historical accounts of earthquakes recorded before 1964 and data from modern seismometers to compose an earthquake history of Virginia. Source: phys.org

USGS. 2013. “Earthquake Archive Search & URL Builder.” http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/search. On this data portal, I searched for magnitude 2.0 or greater earthquakes using 1980-01-01 12:01:00 as the starting time and 2013-12-31` 11:59:59 as the ending time. I searched for a rectangle that approximated the State of Missouri, using 40.4891° as the northern boundary, 36.4985° as the southern boundary, -91.6478° as the western boundary, and -89.0994 as the eastern boundary. I selected this eastern boundary, even though it included some of Illinois, because I wanted to capture the portion of the New Madrid Zone in Missouri. I selected this western boundary, even though it omitted portions of Northwest Missouri because I wanted to omit the recent earthquake swarm in Oklahoma. I omitted the Illinois earthquakes from the data reported above, though they are shown on the map. Source: mogreenstats.com

Alaska shook from record number of earthquakes in 2014

13 January, 2015. Alaska experienced a busy year underground in 2014, according to experts who record the state's earthquakes.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center detected 40,686 quakes in the state and bordering parts of Canada, significantly more that the previous high of nearly 32,000 in 2003, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

In 2013, 28,000 earthquakes were detected with the center's seismometer network.

"We've blown away those benchmarks," said state seismologist Michael West. "There's never been a year where we identified 40,000 earthquakes in a year." Source: adn.com

Time-lapse video animation of earthquakes in and around Arizona from 1852 to 2011. The apparent increase in seismic events in the latter part of the 20th century and early 21st century stems from improved seismic monitoring. It is interesting to see where the most earthquakes occur.

Arizona earthquake numbers saw a large increase in 2011

11 April, 2011. According to the Arizona Geological Survey, 131 earthquakes were detected in 2011 compared with 53 in 2010. That was twice as many as in 2009 and about a third more than in 2008. Most of the earthquakes were in the northwestern part of the state. The Yuma area was also shaken by earthquakes associated with the Gulf of California Rift Zone. <...>

Source: wryheat.wordpress.com

Increase in earthquakes may be tied to groundwater pumping

For years, scientists have wondered what are the forces that keep pushing up California's mighty Sierra Nevada and central coast ranges, causing an increase in the number of earthquakes in parts of Central California.

On Wednesday, a group of scientists offered a new intriguing theory: that the quakes are being caused in part by pumping of groundwater in the Central Valley.

“These results suggest that human activity may give rise to a gradual increase in the rate of earthquake occurrence,” said the study published in the journal Nature Wednesday, written by scientists at Western Washington University, University of Ottawa, University of Nevada, Reno and UC Berkeley. <...> Source: latimes.com

Earthquake possible along new fault zone near Victoria say scientists

9 March, 2016. The Devil's Mountain Faults, indicated here by a red line, is actually made up of a series of faults that run from Washington to Victoria.

B.C. megathrust earthquake could rupture like a zipper, expert says

Seismologists in B.C. have confirmed the existence of a fault only five kilometres south of Victoria, giving South Coast residents one more thing to worry about when preparing for earthquakes.

It's called the Devil's Mountain Fault Zone and it's actually made up of a series of faults that run from Washington state to Victoria, running much closer to the B.C. capital than the point where the Juan de Fuca plate meets the North American plate, which scientists have predicted for decades will result in the 'Big One.' Source: cbc.ca

Risk of big earthquake on San Andreas fault rises after quake swarm at Salton Sea

1 October, 2016. The rumbling started Monday morning deep under the Salton Sea. A rapid succession of small earthquakes — three measuring above magnitude 4.0 — began rupturing near Bombay Beach, continuing for more than 24 hours. Before the swarm started to fade, more than 200 earthquakes had been recorded.

The temblors were not felt over a very large area, but they have garnered intense interest — and concern — among seismologists. It marked only the third time since earthquake sensors were installed there in 1932 that the area had seen such a swarm, and this one had more earthquakes than the events of 2001 and 2009. Source: latimes.com

USGS: New fault zone discovered following 2011 earthquake

11 February, 2015. The Aug. 23, 2011 Virginia earthquake may have been felt by more people than any other quake in U.S. history, and has led to the discovery of a new East Coast fault zone.

The magnitude 5.8 temblor marked the first time that a fault zone in the eastern United States produced a magnitude 5 or higher earthquake “clearly delineated by aftershocks,” according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey.

All those rattling aftershocks following the 2011 quake helped the USGS locate the new fault zone, which scientists have named the “Quail” fault zone.

“Most of these aftershocks were in the Quail fault zone, and outlying clusters of shallow aftershocks helped researchers to identify and locate other active faults,” the USGS said in a news release this week.
<...>
• New geologic mapping and trenching reveal previously unknown faults and evidence that the faults were active more than once in the past . Source: insidenova.com

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav

West US Uplift

ZetaTalk: Mountain Building Note: written on May 15, 1999.

This time around, there will be strong mountain building, in particular in the Hymalayas and Andes, not so much along the West Coast of North American, and hardly at all in the Alps in Europe

California drought causes major tectonic uplift

Spatial distribution of ground displacements from March 1 of 2011 through 2014. Uplift is indicated by yellow-red colors and sinking by shades of blue. Gray regions show where stations were excluded in the Central Valley of California. Source: citylab.com

Vertical displacement data of GPS stations around the United States. The top image shows data for a year in which heavy precipitation occurred in the west (March 2011) and on the bottom during a drought year (March 2014).

Image Credit: Adrian Borsa, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego. physicscentral.com

23 August, 2014. The lost water from the current severe drought has alleviated enough pressure from the crust to uplift land in California anywhere from 4 millimeters (.15 inch) to 15 millimeters (.6 inch) in the past few years.

Although clearly visible in before and after photographs, the water loss due to the drought in California can now be measured tangibly: the amount of water loss has been so great that the Earth’s crust is rising rapidly across the region.

According to the calculations of scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of San Diego, the water deficit during the drought is currently 240 gigatons, or 63 trillion gallons. The lost water weight alleviated enough pressure from the crust to uplift land in California anywhere from 4 millimeters (.15 inch) to 15 millimeters (.6 inch) in the past few years.

<...> Though significant changes to the crust may alarm residents in an area with high plate tectonic activity already, the scientists stress that the uplifting has virtually no impact on the San Andreas fault and should not correlate with any increased seismic activity. Source: natmonitor.com

Source: slideplayer.com

California Central Valley groundwater depletion slowly raises Sierra Nevada mountains

14 May, 2014. Winter rains and summer groundwater pumping in California's Central Valley make the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountain Ranges sink and rise by a few millimeters each year, creating stress on the state's faults that could increase the risk of an earthquake.

Gradual depletion of the Central Valley aquifer, because of groundwater pumping, also raises these mountain ranges by a similar amount each year—about the thickness of a dime—with a cumulative rise over the past 150 years of up to 15 centimeters (6 inches), according to calculations by a team of geophysicists. Source: phys.org

California's Thirst Triggers Earthquakes, Lifts Mountains

14 May, 2014. One of California's worst environmental disasters can move mountains and cause earthquakes.

The Sierra Nevada and other mountain ranges ringing fertile farmlands in California's Central Valley are springing upward atop land freed of an immense weight — enough water to fill Lake Tahoe.

Thirsty Californians have sucked so much water from beneath the Central Valley that scientists estimate the Sierra Nevada mountains and Coast Ranges both rose nearly 6 inches (15 centimeters) since groundwater pumping started in 1860. The Central Valley grows 25 percent of the nation's food, but most of its water comes from wells, not rainfall. Source: livescience.com

Groundwater Depletion Is Destabilizing the San Andreas Fault and Increasing Earthquake Risk

14 May, 2014. Source: sfpublicpress.org

Magma Causing Uplift in Oregon

4 January, 2012. Volcanic activity is causing the earth to rise in Oregon, scientists have found.

Though whether such uplift is a sign of an imminent eruption remains uncertain.

As early as the summer of 1996, a 230-square-mile (600-square-kilometer) patch of ground in Oregon began to rise. The area lies just west of the South Sister Volcano, which with the North and Middle Sisters form the Three Sisters volcanoes, the most prominent peaks in the central Oregon stretch of the Cascade Mountains.

Although this region has not seen an eruption in at least 1,200 years, the scattered hints of volcanic activity here have been a cause of concern, leading to continuous satellite-based monitoring. Now 14 years of data is revealing just how the Earth is changing there and the likely cause of the uplift — a reservoir of magma invading the crust 3-to-4 miles (5-to-7 km) underground.

Uplifting ground

The European Space Agency's European Remote Sensing and Envisat radar satellites revealed that the terrain deformed in three distinct phases since this uplift began. From 1996 to 1998, the ground rose by 0.4 inches (1 cm) per year. Then, from 1998 to 2004, uplift grew to 1.2-to-1.6 inches (3-to-4 cm) annually. However, for the rest of the decade, uplift declined to only a few millimeters per year, for a total of 9.8 inches (25 cm) of uplift so far. Source: livescience.com

Oct 22, 2016
Stanislav
Some facts. ZetaTalk Accuracy.

US

The GPS/GNSS show massive continental scale sinking in US East Coast, Atlantic coast, Great lakes area and in many others parts in Western US. Also GPS/GNSS show massive uplift of parts West US, Vancouver island and New England.

Sierra Nevada uplift, from San Diego to Moneteray area uplift, Northern Calfornia uplift, Great Basin parts uplift and etc.

GPS/GNSS show New Madrid sesmic strain (strike-slip fault) upper Midwest (with New England to south-west) move to East and southwest move to west (with Mexico) also west area around Missisipi uplift while east area sinking.

Earthquakes increase in Arizona, Central California, Alaska, Missouri, Oklhaoma, Vrginia, Kansas, Ohio, Arkansasm Colorado, New Mexico, Texas

Certain areas of New Orleans have dropped 113cm [12] Parts of Harris County, Texas have dropped between 10 and 12 feet (3 metres) since the 1920s, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey. [13] Central California sinking faster than ever [31]

India, Pakistan

India has already moved to Northeast (under Himalayas) around 1,2 metres since 1994 as show GPS/GNSS station [15] 45% of India's coastline facing erosion. [19] India'n deltas are sinking [22]

Cases of flooding with salt water (or so-called flood tide) in India are common, these are just a few examples: Sundarbans, Sagar Island [23] Mumbai [24] Machiwad village, Navsari [25] and etc. For Pakistan: in Badin floods salt water mixes with salt water [26] and etc. And many salt intrusion cases [27] [28] and etc

In Godavari delta some parts of the coastal area had sunk by 5 feet, at the rate of 3-4 inches per year and this sinking blamed for floods [29]

Atlantic expands

Pacific plate shrinks [20] while Atlantic expands -

UK - around 68,5 cm move to Northeast since 1994.

Iberian Peninsula - around 52,3 cm move to Northeast since 1997.

US - around 17,7 cm move to Northwest since 2007

Indonesia

North Jakarta has sunk four metres in the last 35 years. [1] Jakarta lose 0 - 2.6 metres since 1998 to 2014 [2]

In HUGE parts (suburbs, none-urban area and etc.) of Java and Sumatra show severe scale sinking 3 cm/year (InSAR 2006-2009 obervation) Also sinking detected in such cities Lhokseumawe, Medan, Jakarta, Bandung, Pekalongan, Semarang, Blanakan, Bungbulang, and in the Sidoarjo regency at rates up to 22 cm/yr (as example 5*22=110cm (for 5 years)). [6]

Mexico

In Mexico InSAR show 21 sinking areas, including 17 cities. Linear sinking rates of 30 cm/yr are observed in Mexico City, while in the other locations rates of 5-10 cm/yr are detected. [16] Mexico is already drop 32 feet (10 metres) elevation and also show 1 metres/year sinking rate [17]

Southeast Asia

Almost innumerable instances of flooding with seawater (or so-called flood tide). Some examples:

Bangkok [33] Singapore [34] Rakhine state, Myanmar [35] Malabon, Bulacan, Philippines [36] Ho Chi Minh City [37] Klang, Malaysia [38] and many etc.

Philippines

Manila already lose around 0.68 meter to 1.34 meters in 30 years (from 1979 to 2009) and continue 5.5 cm/y as show ENVISAT ASAR. [3]

Thailand

Bangkok lose around 100 cm from 1978 - 2011 [4] Parts of the Chao Phraya River delta have sunk 1.5 meters below sea level. [14]

Vietnam

Vietnam, Mekong delta parts sinking rates 2 cm/y with Ca Mau and No Chi Minh city higher than 4 cm/year [5]

North Vietnam, Bao Yen district (Lao Cai), Yen Bai city and Hai Hoa district (Yen Bai) the subsidence rate reached up to -60 mm/year. The author called the cause of subsidence fault slip (Red river Fault) [7] Parts of Hanoi also show around 40 mm/year subsidence rate [8]

Cau Mau subsided from 30 to 70 cm in many places [32]

Taiwan

Many areas in Taiwan already lose elevation - Taipei 2.11m, Yilan 0,48m in the north, Changhua 2,50m, Yunlin 2,47m, Chiayi 1,50m and Pingdong 3,40m in Central and Southern Taiwan. [9]

Bangladesh

GPS show sinking (see below picture)

Malaysia

GPS show sinking

China

Himalayan swirl also confrimed by GNSS/GPS (see below)

"Since the 1950s, constant land subsidence has occurred across nearly 70,000 square kilometers there, with some places sinking 3.18 meters and at an annual rate of more than 100 millimeters. Beijing, Tianjin, Tanggu and Cangzhou are the most affected areas – Cangzhou has sunk about 2.4 meters since the 1970s, said Wu Aimin of the Chinese Academy of Geological Environment Monitoring." [18]

"Shanghai has sunk by nearly 3 metres over the last 80 years, causing damage worth 14.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion), according to a report. The report also shows that 16 provinces and regions in China, and 46 major cities also suffer from subsidence.
The report shows that south of the Yangtze River, the land has sunk by an average of more than 20 centimetres over an area of almost 10,000 square kilometres. The most serious ground subsidence occurs in the urban districts of Shanghai Municipality and Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, and Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province. Subsidence here can reach 2.63 metres." [21]

Mediterranean and Europe

There are many cases of sea water floods (or so-called flood tide) examples:

Unsual tide floods in Msida, square, Malta [30] Isle of Man island unusually high tide flooded road [39] Channel Islands flooded after 'highest tide of the year' [40]

To see more details images, figure and etc see below

Confrimed facts
- Southeastern US sinking (GNSS/GPS CORS also many news sources, InSAR and etc )
- Great lakes stretching (sinking)
- Upper Midwest move to east with New England to south west. Southwest move to west with Mexico. While east coast remain stable (GNSS/GPS CORS)
- West US bow stress and uplift (some parts sinking) (GPS/GNSS CORS also many news sources, InSAR and etc)
- Arizona parts sinking due bow stress (InSAR)
- Spain parts, West England, Portugal, Morocco sinking (GNSS/GPS)
- Java and Sumatra HUGE parts sinking with 7 big cities (InSAR)
- Bangkok sinking (leveling)
- Metro Manila sinking and (InSAR)
- Bangladesh parts sinking (GNSS/GPS)
- India moving to Northeast around 1.2 metres (GNSS/GPS IGS08 Reference frame). Australia around 1.5 metres.
- Himalayan swirl (GNSS/GPS)
- Red sea expands (GNSS/GPS)
- Atlantic stretch - (GNSS/GPS IGS08 Reference frame) UK - around 68,5 cm move to Northeast since 1994. Iberian Peninsula - around 52,3 cm move to Northeast since 1997. US - around 17,7 cm move to Northwest since 2007
- Africa twist
References

[1] 1 May 2014. EGU2014: Land subsidence in coastal megacities outranges sea level rise Source: dutchwatersector.com

[2] Abidin, H. Z., Andreas, H., Gumilar, I., & Wibowo, I. R. R. (2015). On correlation between urban development, land subsidence and flooding phenomena in Jakarta. Proceedings of IAHS, 370, 15-20. proc-iahs.net

[3] 24 September, 2011. Large areas of Metro Manila sinking Source: opinion.inquirer.net

[4] 2 February, 2015. Caught between rising seas and subsidence, and hit by alternate droughts and floods, Bangkok is fighting for dry ground like never before Source: bangkokpost.com

[5] Erban, L. E., Gorelick, S. M., & Zebker, H. A. (2014). Groundwater extraction, land subsidence, and sea-level rise in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Environmental Research Letters, 9(8), 084010. iopscience.iop.org

[6] Chaussard, E., Amelung, F., Abidin, H., & Hong, S. H. (2013). Sinking cities in Indonesia: ALOS PALSAR detects rapid subsidence due to groundwater and gas extraction. Remote Sensing of Environment, 128, 150-161. rsmas.miami.edu

[7] Nguyen, Xuan Thi; Chang, Chung-Pai (2015) MAPPING SURFACE DEFORMATION IN RED RIVER FAULT ZONE USING SPACEBORNE SAR INTERFEROMETRY In Proceedings of the 36th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2015), Manila, Philippines

[8] Le, S. T., & Chang, C. P. (2015, October). Surface deformation assessments in Hanoi, Vietnam using ALOS PALSAR interferometry. In Proceedings of the 36th Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS 2015), Manila, Philippines (pp. 19-23).

[9] Hsu, W. C., Chang, H. C., Chang, K. T., Lin, E. K., Liu, J. K., & Liou, Y. A. (2015). Observing Land Subsidence and Revealing the Factors That Influence It Using a Multi-Sensor Approach in Yunlin County, Taiwan. Remote Sensing, 7(6), 8202-8223. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

[12] 10 August, 2016. Rising tides, sinking cities. Source: trtworld.com

[13] 28 May, 2016. For years, the Houston area has been losing ground. Source: houstonchronicle.com

[14] Deltas Sink Worldwide, Increasing Flood Risk. Source: worldwatch.org

[15] Nevada Geodetic Laboratory - station IISC

[16] Chaussard, E., Wdowinski, S., Cabral-Cano, E., & Amelung, F. (2014). Land subsidence in central Mexico detected by ALOS InSAR time-series. Remote sensing of environment, 140, 94-106. estellechaussard.com

[17] 5 March, 2016. Why This City of 21 Million People Is Sinking 3 Feet Every Year. Source: ecowatch.com

[18] 2 November, 2011. Sinking North China Plain threatens development. Source: china.org.cn

[19] Source: business-standard.com

[20] 27 August, 2014. Ring Of Fire Tectonic Plate Is Cooling - And Shrinking. Source: science20.com

[21] Source: in.china-embassy.org

[22] 9 April, 2014. India deltas are sinking Source: thehindu.com

[23] 26 August, 2014. Mystery tide floods Sagar Island. Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

[24] 30 December, 2015. High tide floods Mumbai, is city collapsing? Source: deccanchronicle.com

[25] 5 July, 2016. Seawater enters Machiwad village in Navsari. Source: nyoooz.com

[26] 6 September, 2011. Sindh floods: Salt water mixes with rain to add to Badin’s woes. Source: tribune.com.pk

[27] 10 January, 2015. Coastal villagers retreat as seas gobble land. Source: pakistantoday.com.pk

[28] 28 September, 2015. Arabian Sea eating up 100 acres of Sindh land daily. Source: geo.tv

[29] Land subsidence blamed for floods in Godavari. Source: archives.deccanchronicle.com

[30] 12 May, 2016. Unusual tide floods Msida square Source: timesofmalta.com

[31] 20 August, 2015. 2 inches a month: California sinking faster than ever, infrastructure in danger Source: rt.com

[32] 12 July, 2013. Land subsidence in Ca Mau Peninsula. Source: vietnambreakingnews.com

[33] 4 November, 2011. Flood water claims more areas of capital. Source: nationmultimedia.com

[34] 29 April, 2013 Flash floods hit eastern parts of S'pore. Source: news.asiaone.com

[35] 28 September, 2015. 4,000 Rakhine Rice Acres Unsuitable for Harvest This Season Source: mmbiztoday.com

[36] 24 January, 2013. High tide triggers Malabon, Bulacan floods Source: news.abs-cbn.com

[37] 5 December, 2013. Flood tide in HCM City hit record. Source: hanoitimes.com.vn

[38] 19 October, 2016. Homes damaged by floods, challenging times ahead for residents in Klang. Source: nst.com.my

[39] 3 January, 2014. Isle of Man roads closed by flooding after high tide Source: bbc.com

[40] 3 March, 2014. Channel Islands flooded after 'highest tide of the year' Source: bbc.com
Oct 22, 2016

Earth Changes and the Pole Shift

Please Place Evidence of the 7 of 10 Plate Movements Here

Australia is going up in the world: Official coordinates will change to reflect how the country moved 5ft north in 22 years

WHY IS AUSTRALIA MOVING?

Hundreds of deep-sea vents found spewing methane off US coast

Massive and Mysterious Ice Fall in Tibet (Largest/Fastest Glacier movement ever recorded)

Fig. 5: The number of Oklahoma earthquakes increases dramatically after 2009 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Fig. 10: Ohio and West Virginia earthquakes (red = USGS locations; green = VTSO locations) and disposal wells (black)

Fig. 11: Earthquakes in Ohio and West Virginia spiked in 2010, decreased in 2012 and spiked again in 2013 and 2014 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Arkansas Earthquakes

Fig. 12: Arkansas earthquakes (red) and wastewater disposal wells (black).

Fig. 13: Earthquakes in Arkansas spiked in 2011 and then again in 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Kansas Earthquakes

Fig. 14: Kansas earthquakes (red) and wastewater disposal wells (black). Click here for an interactive map of Kansas earthquakes and wells.

Fig. 15: Earthquakes in Kansas have been increasing in number and magnitude since late 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Colorado Earthquakes

Fig. 16: Colorado earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 17: Earthquakes in Colorado (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

New Mexico Earthquakes

Fig. 18: New Mexico earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 19: Earthquakes in New Mexico (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)

Texas Earthquakes

Fig. 20: Texas earthquakes (red), but no wastewater disposal well data.

Fig. 21: Earthquakes in Texas spiked in 2011 and then again in 2013 (graph is updated daily using ANSS data)