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Showing posts with label Earth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Earth. Show all posts

Thursday, April 15, 2010

China hit by 6.9 magnitude earthquake

Yushu, Qinghai Province in Northwestern China was hit by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake according to the China Earthquake Administration in Beijing. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was at 6.9 on the richer scale. The epicenter is at the town of Rima, 30 miles away from Jiegu (one of the worst hit by the quake).

In 2008, a neighboring Sichuan province was struck an earthquake leaving 90,000 people dead or missing. 5335 Chinese students were buried when their schools collapsed during the magnitude 8.0 Sichuan earthquake. Now they have to face the same nightmare as students were trapped when several schools were trapped. Among the worst hit, 22 students of the Yushu Vocational School has died according to an official of Xinhua News Agency. President Hu Jintao has allocated S30 million (200 million Yuan) for relief and has ordered 5000 soldiers, medical workers and rescuers to go to Yushu to help the 700 troops who are already in Yushu.

The problem that they now face is the lack of medical supplies, medical equipments, and medical workers. The nearest big city is 530 miles away. That is 12 hours away under the best conditions. Majority of the houses in Jiegu were made of wood and mud. 85 percent of the houses in Jiegu have been destroyed. Survivors had to no choice but to spend the night outdoors. Since Yushu is 13,780 above sea level, the temperature could drop below freezing point. Survivors had nothing but blankets to shield them against the cold winds.

Earthquakes are increasing by frequency and intensity. This year alone, several powerful earthquakes have caused massive destruction in infrastructure and have claimed the lives of so many people. According to earthquake experts, a lot of earthquake hit different parts of the planet yearly. People are just becoming more aware and more concerns about the earthquake due to what has happened in Haiti and Chile. Is this something to worry about? Does the frequency and intensity of earthquakes of 2010 fall on the margin of normal?

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Earthquake hits Turkey


An earthquake struck Turkey at 4:32 a.m. (0232 GMT, 9 p.m. EST Sunday) turning building to a pile of rubble. The Kandilli seismology center recorded a 6.0 magnitude quake near the village of Basyurt located in the Elazig province. The province is 340 miles or 550 kilometers east of the Turkey’s capital Ankara. The U.S. Geological Survey however listed the quake as a 5.9 magnitude earthquake.

Hundreds of people had huddled around bonfires to keep them warm against the winter cold after the earthquake has their destroyed their homes or damage it enough to make it unsafe to be use as a shelter. The Kurdish Village of Okcular was almost razed leaving 15 residents dead. The poor mud-brick building infrastructure was blamed for the many deaths. More than a hundred aftershocks in the region were noted on Monday. These aftershocks were at least 5.5-magnitude. People had to use shovels and their bare hands to dig people buried in the rubble out. People from neighboring provinces of Tunceli, Bingol and Diyarbakir had to rush the streets in panic and had to stay outdoors.

Earthquakes are frequent in Turkey. In 1999, two earthquakes claimed the lives of 18,000 people. In 2003, 84 children were killed when their school dormitory collapsed in Bingol. The Total number of deaths reached 177. In 2007, buildings in Elazig were damaged by a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. Bernard Doft, a seismologist for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in Utrecht, said that the Haiti and Chile earthquake was direct connection between the Turkey, Haiti and Chile Earthquake. According to the USGS, there are around 134 earthquakes ranging from 6.0 to 6.9-magnitude a year. That is about two earthquake of that magnitude a week

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Magnitude 6.4 earthquake Struck Taiwan


Less than a week after the Chile earthquake, Taiwan was hit by 6.4 magnitude earthquake at 8:18 am local time followed by several aftershocks. Taiwan is hit by at least three quakes of over magnitude 6 every year. On December 2010, a 6.9 magnitude quake was recorded 21 kilometers from Hualien City. The quake was centered is the county of Kaohsiung and was at a depth of 3.1 miles or 5 kilometers. Kaohsiung is located 249 miles south of Taipei

According to Kuo Kai-wen, director of the Seismology Center of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau, there is no geological connection between the Haiti and Chili earthquake and that there is nothing unusual with number of recent big quakes. People are just paying more attention to earthquake now because of what has happened to Haiti. The Activity is normal and is not so scary according to Mr. Kuo. In every 5 years, Taiwan is hit by a magnitude 7 or higher earthquake and a magnitude 6 or higher every 100 days.

The quake has caused power outages in Taipei while telephone service in some parts of Taiwan was affected. A train in southern Taiwan was slightly shifted off its tracks. Subway service in the city Kaohsiung was disrupted temporarily as well.  64 people were injured in the quake.

Taiwan, Chile and Haiti quakes are not within the same tectonic plates. In a year, there are around 17 magnitude 7 or higher quakes, around 170 to 180 earthquakes with a 6 magnitude or larger and at least one earthquake with a magnitude 8 or higher. Last year there were 16 earthquakes were recorded with a magnitude of 7 or higher.

So far this year, there has already been one earthquake with magnitude of 8 or higher. Chile was struck by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake only days before the Taiwan earthquake struck. The mainshock of the Chile Earthquake lasted for at least three minutes while the earthquake in Taiwan lasted for only a minute. Earthquakes are quite frequent in Taiwan. Majority caused minor or no damage at all. However, a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.


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Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Tsunami warning caused thousands of Filipino families to flee their homes


Hundreds and thousands of families living in coastal areas in the Philippines evacuated their homes after Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) issued a Tsunami warning. Phivolcs forecasted that 19 provinces on the archipelago’s eastern seaboard are at risk of being hit by tsunamis. Tsunami warnings were issued by Phivolcs after the Chile registered an 8.8 magnitude earthquake. The Chief of Phivolcs Renato Solidum said that the first waves would arrive between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (0500 GMT and 0630 GMT). It is expected that the waves would not be higher than 1 meter.

Residents of Barangay Buhatan, Santo Domingo has refused to evacuate. They have undergone nationwide tsunami drill in 2005 and claim to know what to do in case the tsunami hits their village. The Philippine Coast guard has cancelled all sea travels in Albay and Catanduanes. The cancellation of sea travel from 11 a.m. to 4p.m. originating from Batangas port has left 200 passengers and 30 vessel stranded. The vessels were bound for Occidental Mindoro, Calapan, Abra de Ilog and Oriental Mindoro. Approximately 10,000 people in Siargao surfing resort in the Mindanao group of islands has seek higher ground as a precaution to the Tsunami alert.

At around 1 p.m. on Sunday, waves reached the eastern seaboard of the Philippines but have subsided two hours later.
It is fortunate that the Tsunamis were not as devastating as expected. Some evacuees has started returning to their homes after the tsunami warning was lifted while others decided to stay another night to be on the safe side.


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Monday, March 1, 2010

Chile hit by one of the most powerful earthquake in the last century



Only 46 days after a powerful earthquake hit Haiti, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake struck Chile. The earthquake was the fifth largest in the past 110 years. A half century ago, Chile was also hit by an even stronger earthquake with a recorded magnitude of 9.5 that killed 1,655 people in the city of Valdivia. The 1960 quake is the largest earthquake recorded in the last 200 years and has caused tsunamis that killed 61 people in Hawaii, 138 in Japan and left 32 dead or missing in the Philippines. According to U.S Geological survey, the earthquake’s epicenter was 70 miles northeast of Concepcion at a depth of 22 miles. The earthquake tremors have reached as far as Argentina’s provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. 

The earthquake started at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST) and lasted from three long minutes. Residents of Santiago, Chile were awoken from their sleeping prompting them to leave their beds and seeking shelter on the streets.  The destruction to the infrastructure was relatively low compared to the Haiti. This would be attributed to Chile’s solid building standards. The death toll has risen to 700 people from the initial count of 214 people reported on Feb 28, 2010. 

Chile produces 34 percent of the world supply of copper and the leading producer in the world. Several copper mines in Chile acquired minimal damages and was operating normally within a few hours after the quake. Several buildings were damaged including three hospitals which had partially collapsed. Debris blocked streets in Central Chile as Building and bridges were severely damage by the earthquake. In Concepcion, one of Chile’s largest cities with a population of around 670, 000 people, some residents were looting Medicine, grain and wheat. 175 miles south of Concepcion lies Temuco where residents have reported that there is no water and electricity. 

Due to high magnitude of the earthquake, tsunami warnings have been sent to Hawaii, Japan and Russia. Evacuation and other contingency plans have been implemented in attempt to minimize the possible damage that the Tsunami might bring. Six US Navy ships in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor were moved to different location to prepare for the big waves which were forecasted to reach as high as 8 feet. Fortunately, the tidal waves were not as big as expected.

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Economy versus the environment


A country’s economy seems to be the biggest factor that is causing leaders to move on a slower pace. Developing countries such as China still relies on coal mining as a main source of energy. It is said that China is rapidly becoming the world’s biggest carbon dioxide emitter due to their coal mines. In Copenhagen, the climate summit is mostly considered a failure due to several governments’ refusal to cooperate with other countries to come up with a solid plan to combat the increasing worldwide temperature.


In the Philippines, a huge percentage of the electricity is still from coal mining plants. As developing country, Philippines could not afford environment friendly source of power such as wind turbines or solar panels, and hydroelectric dams. Nuclear power plants are still out of the questions.


I understand that the Philippines could not afford this type of power source but at least we should take care of our Air, land and water pollution. There are too many smoke belchers. A lot of people are burning their garbage instead of throwing them. Waste segregation is still not existent in the Philippines. Large mass of water are polluted with plastic bags, piece of paper, Styrofoam, and body waste.


We should do small steps to help the environment. More Trash Cans should be designated to minimize littering. Government agencies should work together in catching smoke belchers, litterers, illegal loggers and those who abuse the environment. Smoking should be banned on all public places. And we should be more serious with the control of Population. Water supply should be solely controlled by the government. Water shouldn’t be use for business. It is the government’s responsibility to provide adequate water supply to its people. Log ban laws must be revised and should be implemented more effectively.


There are a lot of places in Philippines overflowing with nature’s beauty. Why not make it a business to develop and maintain those places to acquire revenue from tourism?


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Thursday, October 15, 2009

Typhoon Ondoy and peping's death toll rises

Typhoon Ondoy and Peping is a wake call up for all Filipinos. No one was spared from nature’s wrath. Nature does not care about the amount of money a person has on their bank account. Nor does it care about a person social status.  Everyone is equal in Nature's eye.

This is one of the reasons why everyone should act against Global warming. One of its effects, climate change, is causing too much destruction to the country. Crops were ruined, material properties were destroyed and most importantly Lives were lost.

As of this day, death toll has raised t 669. 462 people were injured while 87 still remains unaccounted for/. Typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) has claimed 332 lives. On Oct 3 alone, Pepeng killed 92 people while on Oct 8 and 9, 2009 death toll has risen to 251 deaths.

My wife was working on a mall in Quezon City during the typhoon. There was so much precipitation that the daily routes that she takes from our home to her office were already severely flooded.  The amount of rain that fell on that day was highest recorded in more than 40 years. Flood water has even reached the basement of the mall where my wife works at.

How did she go home you may ask? A good thing one of her officemates resides near us and was driving a sports utility vehicle and was kind enough to drop her in our house. Is there a lesson to be learned from all of these? Yes there is. The Philippines was caught off guard.  The government lacks the necessary equipment to effectively rescue does people who were stranded. We should move now against global warming before we loose the chance the to do anything  that would make a difference to our planet

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Sunday, October 4, 2009

It's getting hot in here!

That's right! The sun is burning hotter and it's washing away my summer spirit. Haven't you noticed? The temperature here in the Philippines has risen up to 35 degrees Celsius in the last few days. That's a record high. It's climate change brought by Global warming.

Why should we care about Global warming you may ask? But most importantly what is Global warming? Global Warming is the increase in the planet's temperature which is caused by the increase in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Why is this bad? Simple. The more the temperature rises, the frequency of hurricanes, floods, droughts and forest fires increases as well. 19 out of the 20 warmest years have been recorded since 1980. And in last eight years, the top three hottest years has occurred. Imagine how hot will it be in the next eight years. Imagine the effect of this phenomenon. Imagine would happen if this continuous.

It's too late to point the finger on who’s the biggest contributor of the carbon dioxide emission or whose not doing their part to solve this crisis. We have to get along. We have to start moving. We have to start the change. Let's save our planet! Let's save our life source!

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Global Warming

The sun is the main source of the earth’s energy. The Sun’s solar energy is transmitted via infrared rays. While one thirds of the infrared rays are reflected back to space, the greenhouse gases traps the remaining two thirds which causes the Earth’s temperature to increase. This is called the greenhouse effect. This is actually a good thing because without it, the planet would too cold and inhabitable. Since Carbon Dioxide emission has increased significantly in the past few years, the planet is heating up rapidly as well.The increase in the planet’s temperature is called global warming.
Global warming has caused the increase in frequency and the intensity of floods, drought, and Hurricanes. Due to the increased in the planet’s temperature, the three largest masses of ice, (Arctic, Antarctica and Greenland) is at risk of melting off. If this happens, sea level will increase significantly. That is not the only problem, the glaciers, permafrost and the ice acts like a giant mirror that reflects back infrared rays. Imagine how hot it will be if that remaining one third of infrared rays is not reflected back to space. Global warming also changes the amount and pattern of precipitation.

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Our Planet

When was the last time you took a nature hike? Or simply ran away from the urban jungle to be in within the confines of nature? When was the last time you sit back and relax while marveling nature’s beauty? When I was a kid I remember spending at least a week in my parent’s province. There were a lot of trees. The air is incomparably fresher. I spent a lot of time in the river and the beach near my Grandparents house. It is one of the things that I looked forward to when I was staying there.

I am always grateful that we are still living in an age where the air is still fresh. There are lakes, beaches and rivers that we could still dip in. There are trees where we could escape from the burning sun. And I wonder how long will this all last. I wonder if the next generation would still enjoy what we have right now. I hope that they could still see certain species of animals up close and not just in books or film documentaries. Will there still be trees in the future?

I heard a song over the radio the other day. It was made sometime around the 1970’s and back then people were already seeing changes with our planet. They sang about how the ocean’s water has changed from blue to black. Trees were being destroyed and the air was already polluted. It is an issue back then and still an issue now. I wonder what were the measures taken during that time. Or if there were any measures at all.

Now that we are faced with a situation that we do not fully understand, we as humans find it easier to ignore the problem than face it head on. We are going to pay for our mistakes. This is the time to believe that we are facing a big ecological problem. It is time to believe that our world is dying. It is the time to change.

Global warming is not the problem of one person, one race or one nation. It is the problem of everyone in this planet. This is our planet. This is our life source. This is our responsibility

Let me close this post with a quote from the film “Inconvenient truth”. Sir Winston Churchill said:

“The Era of Procrastination, of Half-measures, of Soothing and Baffling Expedients, of Delays, is Coming to its Close In its Place We are entering a Period of Consequences”

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