Lockyer Valley hammered by "inland tsunami"

The Lockyer Valley has been decimated after an eight metre "inland tsunami" swept through Toowoomba and then down the range on Monday and Tuesday.

The Lockyer Creek reached a record peak of 18.93m at Gatton on Monday night before the gauge failed, but waters continued to rise on Tuesday as the creek caused a wave of destruction through the region. Many roads have been destroyed.







http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/general/lockyer-valley-hammered-by-inland-tsunami/2046541.aspx

M7.0 Earthquake Near Concepcion, Chile

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred near Concepcion, Chile on Friday, February 11 at about 5:05 PM local time. The USGS instrumental intensity map shows values of VI to VII near the epicenter.

http://geology.com/news/2011/m7-0-earthquake-near-concepcion-chile.shtml

The San Andreas Fault

The San Andreas Fault is the sliding boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. It slices California in two from Cape Mendocino to the Mexican border.

The San Andreas Fault is a transform fault. Imagine placing two slices of pizza on the table and sliding them past one another where they touch along a common straight edge.
The plates are slowly moving past one another at a couple of inches a year - about the same rate that your fingernails grow. But this is not a steady motion, it is the average motion.

http://geology.com/articles/san-andreas-fault.shtml

Mount Vesuvius - Italy

Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates

Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe. It has produced some of the continent’s largest volcanic eruptions. Located on Italy’s west coast, it overlooks the Bay and City of Naples and sits in the crater of the ancient Somma volcano. Vesuvius is most famous for the 79 AD eruption which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Though the volcano’s last eruption was in 1944, it still represents a great danger to the cities that surround it, especially the busy metropolis of Naples.

http://geology.com/volcanoes/vesuvius/

Massive Earthquake Hits Southwest Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A 7.2-magnitude earthquake jolted southwestern Pakistan early on Wednesday in a sparsely-populated area near the nation's borders with Iran and Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake's aftershocks were felt in New Delhi, India's capital, more than 700 miles away, with walls shaking for a few seconds.

An earthquake of similar intensity in Pakistan's Kashmir region killed more than 70,000 people in 2005. The area hit by the quake on Wednesday is known for its seismic activity. The country is also still reeling from last summer's deadly flooding, which killed almost 2,000 people, affected 20 million others, and caused billions of dollars in damages.

Still, there remains opportunity in natural disasters. The U.S. response to the Pakistan earthquake in 2005, which killed more than 70,000, was widely praised. The defense department flew thousands of helicopter sorties and the State Department funneled in hundreds of millions in relief aid. The quick response was credited with raising public opinion of America throughout Pakistan, at least temporarily.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703954004576090331100675282.html

Haiti Dominates Earthquake Fatalities in 2010

In 2010, about 227,000 people were killed due to earthquakes, with over 222,570 from the magnitude-7.0 Haiti event, as reported by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

 

In 2010, 22 earthquakes reached a magnitude of 7.0 or higher, including the Chile quake that exceeded magnitude 8.0. These numbers are higher than those of 2009, which experienced 17 earthquakes over magnitude 7.0, including one over 8.0. While 22 earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater is more than the average per year, and is the largest number of big events since 1968, it is still substantially fewer than 1943, which experienced 32 earthquakes of that size. Factors such as the size of an earthquake, the location and depth of the earthquake relative to population centers, and the fragility of buildings, utilities and roads all influence how earthquakes will affect nearby communities.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110117142732.htm

Chile quake didn’t reduce risk

A major earthquake that hit Chile in February 2010 (star marks epicenter) did not relieve seismic stress in a region known as the "Darwin gap" that lies between areas hit by quakes in 1928 and 1960.

The magnitude-8.8 earthquake that pummeled Chile in February 2010 did not relieve seismic stress the way scientists thought it might have, a new study suggests. The geologic stress remains because instead of the ground moving the most where stress had been building the longest, the team reports, the greatest slip occurred where a different quake had already relieved stress just eight decades earlier.

Because of the seismic risk, the Chilean coast is one of the most studied regions in the world. For the past decade, Oncken and others have studded the area with seismometers to understand the details of how a diving plate like the Nazca causes quakes. “We now have the unique opportunity to do a detailed comparison from before and after an event,” says Oncken. “Whatever you look at, it’s fantastic data and new observations emerging at an incredible rate.”

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/69285/title/Chile_quake_didn%E2%80%99t_reduce_risk

More Frequent Drought Conditions in East Africa

The increased frequency of drought observed in eastern Africa over the last 20 years is likely to continue as long as global temperatures continue to rise. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of California, Santa Barbara, determined that warming of the Indian Ocean, which causes decreased rainfall in eastern Africa is linked to global warming. drought is one reason for food shortages, it is exacerbated by stagnating agricultural development and continued population growth.”

http://geology.com/usgs/east-africa-drought/