EARTHQUAKES IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN

5-27-06 - 4000+ killed in Jakarta, Indonesia quake
over 200,000 homeless

compiled by Dee Finney

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Earthquake sends Tonga trembling

Strong shaking awoke residents of Tonga when a magnitude-7.9 earthquake rocked the region at 4:26 a.m. local time today, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although Tonga is seismically active, seismologists say that such a large-magnitude event is unusual for the region.

{Editors note: It was stated that this was a 8.1 quake]

The 55-kilometer-deep quake occurred 160 kilometers south of Neiafu in Tonga, the cluster of South Pacific islands east of Australia and north of New Zealand. Image is courtesy of USGS.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning for the Pacific basin. The center canceled that warning after the threat had passed, however, and said that at most, some areas could see small, momentary sea-level changes. In Samoa, for example, a half-meter tsunami was reported, says David Applegate, senior science advisor for earthquake and geologic hazards at USGS in Reston, Va.

So far, no reports of significant damage or injuries from the earthquake have been reported, according to USGS. And "not a lot" of local onshore damage has been reported from the ensuing small tsunami, Applegate says.

Tonga lies near the Tonga Trench, where the Pacific plate is moving west and subducting beneath the Australian plate. The rate at which the plate subducts is "one of the higher rates worldwide," says Jim Dewey, a geophysicist at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, Colo.

But that plate boundary was not necessarily the source of today's earthquake, Dewey says. Seismologists have also measured faulting and stresses within the interior of the Pacific plate. "This earthquake is in a position that, based on preliminary data, I wouldn't rule out either mechanism," he says. To figure out the center of today's earthquake, seismologists will continue to analyze the data as it comes in.

Stresses both in the Tonga Trench and within the Pacific plate make Tonga "very active at the moderate-earthquake level," Dewey says. Two other earthquakes over magnitude 5.0 have shaken Tonga since mid-April. Many of the region's events fall between magnitude 6 and lower magnitude 7. Within that range, Dewey says, Tonga is in one of the "most active areas on Earth."

Large earthquakes in Tonga are not unheard of, however, and can't be ruled out for the region, Dewey says. Evidence exists for a few earthquakes in the 19th and early 20th centuries that approached the magnitude of today's event, he says. But today's magnitude-7.9 quake was "near the upper limit of what we know from the last century," he says.

Kathryn Hansen

Links:

7-point-8 quake in Tonga is the biggest on record

Posted at 20:48 on 03 May, 2006 UTC

Tonga’s National disaster office says the massive earthquake which hit the kingdom early this morning is likely to be the biggest on record for the country.

Emergency services were put on full alert following the earthquake measuring 7-point-8 on the Richter scale.

The US monitoring centre says the epicentre was 155 kilometres south of Neiafu island and 160 kilometres north-east of Nuku’Alofa, the main island.

The deputy director of the disaster office, Male’u Takai, says preliminary assessments in the islands have brought no reports of injury or damage to buildings although the power supply in Tongatapu was disrupted.

Thu May 04 00:05:14 2006 -->

Wellington/Washington - A massive earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale was recorded in the South Pacific, off the coast of Tonga, on Thursday morning New Zealand time (15:27 GMT on Wednesday).

The Pacific tsunami warning centre (PTWC) issued a tsunami alert for Fiji and New Zealand after tide gauges in Pago Pago, Samoa, and Niue showed a small rise in sea levels, but this was subsequently withdrawn.

People ran into the streets of Tonga's capital, Nukualofa, as buildings shook during the quake which lasted about four minutes, a police officer told Radio New Zealand.

Early reports said there had been some minor damage, but no reports of injury.

Some people fled from their homes in Gisborne, on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, where civil defence workers went on standby after a tsunami was reported likely to hit at 06:20 local time.

Quake felt in Auckland

But the warning was lifted shortly before then, at 06:00, and Radio New Zealand repeatedly broadcast announcements that the scare was over.

The quake originally was estimated to be of 8.1 magnitude, a size New Zealand's Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) said the world experienced only once a year, on average.

It was subsequently downgraded to 7.8, making it one of about 18 quakes ranging from 7 - 7.9 recorded annually.

GNS said the quake was centred 170km north-east of Nukualofa, at a depth of 38km beneath the surface.

It was felt in Auckland 3 700km away.

Paula Chipman, a US tourist from Seattle vacationing in Tonga, said she felt the ground shake, but that no warnings were issued in the hotel where she was staying.

"There's stuff on the floor, stuff upstairs that has come out of the rooms...(but) everything looks pretty much intact," she told CNN.

Chipman also said there was a power failure in the hotel.

A tsunami in the Indian Ocean on December 26 2004 killed more than 220 000 people in the region.

Early-warning still being developed

An early-warning system which includes new seismic sensors in the Pacific and Indian oceans was developed, but is still in the process of being implemented to help alert people to the possibility of a tsunami developing.

Authorities expected the system to be fully implemented by 2008.

No tsunami warnings or watches were issued for the US as a result of the earthquake, said the West Coast and Alaska tsunami warning centre.

Google Alert for: earthquake

 

Earthquake rattles Fiji
Fiji Times - Suva,Fiji
In a press statement yesterday, Assistant Seismologist Nilesh Kumar Jit said the earthquake originated at a depth of 25 kilometres below the surface and it ...

One man hurt as great earthquake 8.0 shakes awake Tonga
Matangi Tonga - Nuku'alofa,Tonga
TONGANS were shaken awake early this morning as a Magnitude 8.0 earthquake possibly its largest on record, shook the capital, where one terrified hotel guest ...

Pacific earthquake sparks tsunami panic
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 rocked Tonga, triggering panic evacuations in New Zealand after tsunami warnings were briefly issued for the South ...
See all stories on this topic

Commentator on earthquake available to media
Canada NewsWire (press release) - Canada
... of Communications & Public Affairs at The University of Western Ontario is providing the following contact to assist those covering today's earthquake in the ...

Early morning Tonga earthquake sends 8-inch wave to Tahiti
Tahiti Presse - Papeete,French Polynesia
(Flash d'Océanie) - A 7.8 magnitude ocean earthquake struck in the central Tonga Islands early Wednesday, prompting a short-lived tsunami warning for the ...

Mild earthquake felt in parts of Pakistan
Hindustan Times - India
An slight earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale was felt in the capital city and the adjoining areas on Wednesday. There ...
See all stories on this topic

Earthquake felt in Ovalau
Fijivillage - Suva,Fiji
By fijivillage. The Mineral Resource Department has confirmed that the quake measured 4.2 on the Richter scale with its epicenter ...

Earthquake Centennial: Quit shaking the bed!
Willits News - Willits,CA,USA
The Mendocino County Museums newest exhibit--photos of the devastation suffered in Mendocino County during the 1906 earthquake, early seismographic equipment ...

Breaking news:South Pacific earthquake rattles Tonga, provoke ...
One Bakersfield Online - CA, United States
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - People in New Zealand and elsewhere are breating a little easier, after a powerful quake prompted fears of a tsunami. ...

UNJLC Bulletin No. 45 - Pakistan Earthquake
ReliefWeb (press release) - Geneva,Switzerland
- The ERRA-UN Early Recovery Plan was officially approved on April 29th, meaning that the next phase of the operation will soon be underway. ...

Strong earthquake hits South Pacific near Vanuatu, no reports of ...
Politics.ie - Ireland
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - A strong magnitude 6 earthquake rocked the seabed near the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu on Sunday but there were no reports of ...

Date: 05/04/06 07:01:55
Subject: 2006/05/04 11:25 M 6.0 TONGA Z= 38km 20.52S 174.10W

2006/05/04 11:25 M 6.0 TONGA Z= 38km 20.52S 174.10W

        This information is provided by the USGS
         National Earthquake Information Center.

These parameters are preliminary and subject to revision.

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake IN TONGA has occurred at: 20.52S 174.10W  Depth  38km  Thu May  4 11:25:30 2006 UTC

Time: Universal Time         (UTC) Thu May  4 11:25:30 2006
      Time Near Epicenter          Fri May  5 00:25:30 2006
      Eastern Daylight Time  (EDT) Thu May  4 07:25:30 2006

Location with respect to nearby cities:
     135 km (85 miles) ENE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (pop 37,000)
     205 km (130 miles) S of Neiafu, Tonga
     480 km (300 miles) E of Ndoi Island, Fiji
     2115 km (1310 miles) NE of Auckland, New Zealand

For maps, additional information, and subsequent updates, please consult:
  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usmhaz.php .

Flinn-Engdahl Region Number = 173

For the most significant earthquakes, information may also be available from the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program home page at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/ and the USGS home page at http://www.usgs.gov/ .

Events of magnitude 6.5 or greater are generally reviewed and posted to Bigquake within 2 hours of their occurrence and events of magnitude 5.5 to 6.5 are generally posted to Bigquake within 24 hours.  Additionally, processing and sending the messages typically takes 30 minutes.  The USGS cannot guarantee the receipt or timeliness of an e-mail after sending.

Undersea Earthquake Strikes Indonesia
05.19.2006, 01:50 PM
A strong undersea earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia late Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of injuries, damage or a possible tsunami.

The magnitude 6.2 quake struck at 11:44 p.m. and was centered 34 miles beneath the Molucca Sea, the USGS said on its Web site.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

A magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on Dec. 26 killed more than 131,000 people in Indonesia's western Aceh province and left a half-million homeless.

The USGS Web site mentioned no immediate possibility of a tsunami.


Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Saturday May 27, 11:39 AM

*Many killed, hundreds injured in Indonesian quake*

Many people were killed and hundreds injured when a strong earthquake rocked the densely-populated southern coast of Indonesia's Central Java, police and witnesses said.

Many houses and buildings collapsed and tremors were felt in various cities as well as on the north coast of the island. Hundreds of people were rushed to hospital.

Police said they could not provide an immediate casualty toll after the local headquarters in Yogyakarta, around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Jakarta, was hit by a blackout following the quake.

"We have no figure yet but yes, there are at least 60 people reported killed and hundreds of injured," said Subiyakto, an officer with the police in Yogyakarta province.

RCTI television said 25 people were killed in Yogyakarta and Elshinta radio reported that ten people were killed in Klaten district after their houses collapsed. Neither gave details of their sources.

The quake also forced the closure of Adisucipto airport in Yogyakarta, Detikcom newsportal said. The airport was badly damaged, with the roof of an airport section collapsing and at least one person trapped, Metro TV reported.

It showed workers trying to release a person trapped in the rubble of the building. It was not known if the person was still alive.

Flights have been diverted to the nearby city of Solo.

Meteorologists said the quake measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, but both US and Hong Kong monitors registered it at 6.2.

Yogyakarta province police chief Bambang Hari Sampurnojati told radio that the earthquake was reportedly followed by tidal waves, striking panic in a nation that was one of the worst hit by the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami.

The police chief did not give further details but the radio report said thousands of people fled coastal areas for higher ground.

"We panicked when we heard that there was a tsunami. We were ready to flee," said Yogyakarta resident Clemon Cilik told the state Antara news agency.

The quake hit just before 6 am (2300 GMT Friday) around 40 kilometres (25 miles) south of Yogyakarta.

An official on duty at the Panti Rapih general hospital in Yogyakarta said that "hundreds of people are being admitted and they continue to come."

He said that most had cuts and broken bones and came from areas south of the city such as Bantul and Gunungkidul.

Witnesses told Elshinta radio that hundreds of houses partially or entirely collapsed in the Bantul and Kulonprogo districts south and southwest of Yogyakarta.

A worker at the Muhammadiyah hospital said about 100 were being treated there, including some outside. "There are fatalities but we don't know how many," the staffer told AFP.

Temblors were felt in various cities in Central and East Java, including on the northern coast of Central Java and as far as Kediri to the east.

Sampurnojati said the death toll was still unknown and that police headquarters was hit by a blackout following the quake.

"Electricity is out and communication is difficult," he told ElShinta.

Indonesia sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

An official at the meteorological office said the quake was not related to the Mount Merapi volcano, which has been rumbling in recent weeks.

Thousands of people living on the slopes of Mount Merapi have been evacuated after authorities declared code red for the volcano.

Scientists have warned that although the magma flow that forms a dome at the Merapi peak appears to be weakening, the structure may collapse and spew out millions of cubic metres of volcanic rock and lava.

~~~~~

Indonesia quake death toll soars*

Saturday, May 27, 2006 Posted: 0705 GMT (1505 HKT)

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Relief and rescue crews and medical teams on Saturday raced to help the victims of the strong earthquake that rocked the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta and adjacent areas along the southern coast of Indonesia's Java island.

The 6.2 magnitude quake that struck just before 6 a.m. (7 p.m. ET, 11 p.m. GMT Friday) shook and rippled through a heavily populated region, killing at least 2000 people, injuring thousands, and leveling and damaging many structures.

There are fears that many people are trapped in the rubble of collapsed buildings.

The epicenter was 25 kilometers (16 miles) southwest of the city and near the erupting volcano Mount Merapi. Scientists believe the quake could affect volcanic activity.

The quake was felt across central and eastern Java, with many aftershocks reported.


The city of Yogyakarta -- a popular tourist destination and a historic royal metropolis that sits near the Indian Ocean -- appeared to endure the brunt of the damage.

"People here reported that this was the largest earthquake they had ever felt in their lives in this area," Brook Weisman-Ross, disaster coordinator for Plan International, told CNN from Yogyakarta.
Hospitals overwhelmed

Health care providers and hospitals have been overwhelmed, and the casualty figures are expected to rise. More injured people were pouring into Yogyakarta's main hospital, many of them in buses and trucks, a hospital spokesman said.

Many people -- fearing aftershocks, a tsunami and more structural damage -- have left their dwellings and have raced to higher ground. But an Indonesian meteorologist said the shallow quake did not cause a tsunami.

Search-and-rescue teams in Yogyakarta said they saw extensive damage to buildings and homes and that some communications were down.

Weisman-Ross said he was "shaken rather violently from my bed with furniture flying and chunks of concrete falling from the walls of my hotel room."


Outside, Weisman-Ross said he saw large cracks in the walls of the hotel and other buildings in the area. As he rushed across town to check on his staff, he saw small, older buildings with collapsed roofs or walls.

Government officials said plans are in place to bring in relief supplies and rescue teams, and non-governmental organizations have geared up to provide help. Citizens in the region need medicine, tents and blankets.

Latifur Rahman is the disaster management coordinator of International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Speaking from Jakarta, he confirmed reports of flattened and damaged structures, including a collapsed local hospital. He said medical teams are mobilizing and preparing to set up a field hospital in the region.

Relief flights had to be diverted from Yogyakarta because of damage to that city's airport runway.

Because of fears over the volcano, evacuation centers and emergency personnel are in place.

Personnel deployed to respond to the volcano can conceivably be used to help out with search, rescue and relief in the aftermath of the earthquake.

-- CNN's Kathy Quiano contributed to this report.

Powerful Earthquake Kills Over 2,900 in Indonesia 
Quake Also Triggers Heightened Activity at the Deadly Mount Merapi Volcano
By IRWAN FIRDAUS, AP

YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (May 27, 2006) - A powerful earthquake flattened homes and hotels in central Indonesia early Saturday as people slept, killing at least 2,900 and injuring thousands more in the nation's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.

The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 5:54 a.m. near the ancient city of Yogyakarta, 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta. It was centered about six miles below the surface, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake's epicenter was close to the rumbling Mount Merapi volcano, and activity increased soon after the temblor. A large burst spewed hot clouds and sent debris cascading some two miles down its western flank.

Bambang Dwiyanto of the Energy and Mineral Ministry could not say whether the quake caused the volcanic activity but warned that it could trigger a larger eruption.

"It will influence the activities of Mount Merapi, particularly in the lava dome," said Dwiyanto, head of the ministry's geological division.

Almost all people had already been evacuated away from the volcano's danger zone, and there were no reports of injuries as a result of the eruption.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

The strong quake knocked down houses, hotels and government buildings, sending hysterical people running into the streets. Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get taxis and pickup trucks filled with wounded to packed hospitals.

In the hardest-hit district of Bantul, rescuers tried to pull bodies from the rubble as residents started digging mass graves.

Rows of corpses awaited burial beneath a blazing sun, with village heads recording their names so they could be added to the official death toll.

Subarjo, a 70-year-old food vendor, sobbed next to his dead wife, his house destroyed.

"I couldn't help my wife ... I was trying to rescue my children, one with a broken leg, and then the house collapsed," he said. "I have to accept this as our destiny, as God's will."

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the army to help evacuate victims and arrived in densely populated Central Java province Saturday afternoon with a team of Cabinet ministers to oversee rescue operations.

Fourteen hours after the quake struck, the number of dead stood at 2,914, Social Affairs Ministry official Sopar Jaya said, adding that two-thirds of the fatalities occurred in devastated Bantul.

"The numbers just keep rising," said Arifin Muhadi of the Indonesian Red Cross, adding that nearly 2,900 people were hurt.

Yogyakarta is about 18 miles from the sea. In the chaos that followed the quake, false rumors of an impending tsunami sent thousands of people fleeing to higher ground in cars and on motorbikes.

The city is 1,390 miles southeast of Aceh province, where 131,000 people died in a December 2004 tsunami triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake under the sea.

Civilians carried bloodied survivors, including children, into hospitals, sometimes jumping off flatbed trucks used in construction. Large cracks crisscrossed some rads, while others had collapsed.

Doctors were coming into the region from other parts of the country. Japan also said it was sending a seven-person medical team, relief goods and financial aid, the Foreign Ministry said.

Neighboring Malaysia said it will send a 56-member search team, doctors and medical supplies, and the European Commission said it would release up to $3.8 million in emergency aid.

Medical teams struggled to care for the injured, hundreds of whom were lying on plastic sheets, straw mats and even newspapers outside the overcrowded hospitals, some hooked to intravenous drips dangling from trees.

"We need help here," said Kusmarwanto of Bantul Muhammadiyah Hospital, the closest hospital to the quake's epicenter, adding that his hospital alone had 39 bodies.

At nearby Dr. Sardjito Hospital, health officials tallied 60 dead, but more bodies were lined up in the hallway and some family members were taking them home before they could be added to the official toll.

"We have hundreds of injured people, our emergency care unit is overwhelmed," Heru Nugroho said.

The quake cracked the runway at the airport in Yogyakarta, closing it to aircraft until at least Sunday while inspections take place, Transport Minister Hatta Radjasa said.

The city is home to the 9th century Borobudur Buddhist temple, considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Officials did not immediately know if it was affected in the quake.

Nearby Prambanan, a spectacular Hindu temple to the southeast, suffered some damage but it was not immediately clear how much.

2006-05-27 09:20:05

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

~~~~~~

Indonesian Quake Death Toll Passes 4,300

 

BANTUL, Indonesia - After sleeping outside in streets and fields, Indonesian earthquake survivors scavenged their wrecked villages Sunday for food, clothing and anything of use as the death toll rose to more than 4,300. Some 200,000 people were left homeless.

Waves of aftershocks compounded the terror of the magnitude-6.3 quake, which flattened villages and towns on densely populated Java island early Saturday _ Indonesia's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami. Power and phone service remained out amid fears that a nearby rumbling volcano might erupt.

Nations worldwide hurried to send food, supplies and funds. The Rome-based U.N. World Food Program said a plane with medicine and medical personnel was en route, as were eight truckloads of fortified noodles and biscuits. The U.N. children's agency UNICEF said it was ready to send tents, hygiene kits, health kits and school supplies.

The worst devastation was in the town of Bantul, which accounted for three-quarters of the deaths. One man dug his 5-year-old daughter out of the rubble of her bedroom only to have her die in a hospital awaiting treatment with hundreds of others.

"Her last words were 'Daddy, Daddy,'" said Poniran, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

"I have to start my life from zero again."

Some bodies were pulled from the collapsed brick-and-wood houses early Sunday in villages visited by reporters, but few were believed to still be trapped. Most of the dead were buried within hours of the disaster, in line with Islamic tradition.

In Peni, a hamlet on Bantul's southern outskirts, 20 residents searched for a neighbor, Purwoko, after finding the bodies of his wife and three children. Villagers set up simple clinics despite shortages in medicine and equipment. Women cooked catfish caught in a nearby pond for dozens of people huddled under a large tent.

The quake hit hundreds of square miles of mostly farming communities in Yogyakarta province, causing damage to the world-famous 9th century Prambanan temple. As many as 450 aftershocks followed, the strongest magnitude 5.2.

At least 4,332 people were killed, according to government figures, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent said at least 200,000 people were left homeless.

Many people spent Saturday night sleeping in any open space available _ on streets, in cassava fields, in narrow rice groves. On Sunday, exhausted and grieving, survivors searched the ruins of their homes and complained that aid was slow in arriving.

"We're short of everything _ clothes, food, water, all are gone. We are poor people, but our lives still matter," said Budi Wiyana, 63.

Doctors struggled to care for the injured, hundreds of them lying on plastic sheets, straw mats and even newspapers outside overcrowded hospitals. Some were hooked to intravenous drips dangling from trees.

Bloodstains littered the floor at Yogyakarta's Dr. Sardjito Hospital, along with piles of soiled bandages and used medical supplies. Relatives fanned victims in the heat in temporary shelters set up in the parking lot and corridors.

"We have too many patients and they're still arriving," said Aru, a doctor, adding that the hospital had received more than 2,000 wounded.

The earthquake hit at 5:54 a.m., caving in tile roofs and sending walls crashing down. Survivors screamed as they ran from their homes, some clutching bloodied children and the elderly.

The quake was the latest in a series of disasters to hit Indonesia: The 2004 tsunami that killed 131,000 people in Aceh province, terrorist attacks, a widening bird flu outbreak, and the threat of eruption from nearby Mount Merapi.

The quake's epicenter was 50 miles south of the volcano, and activity increased soon after the temblor. A large burst spewed hot clouds and sent debris cascading some two miles down its western flank. No one was injured because nearby residents had already been evacuated.

Officials said the famed 7th century Borobudur Buddhist temple, one of Indonesia's most popular tourist attractions, was not affected. But Prambanan, a spectacular Hindu temple to the southeast, suffered serious damage, with hundreds of stone carvings and blocks scattered around the ancient site.

It will be closed to the public until archeologists are able to determine whether the foundation was damaged, said Agus Waluyo, head of the Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation Agency. Close to 1 million tourists visit the Borobudur and Prambanan temples every year.

International agencies and nations across Europe and Asia pledged millions of dollars in aid and prepared shipments of tents, blankets, generators, water purification equipment and other supplies. The United States promised $2.5 million in emergency aid; the European Union granted $3.8 million.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)

 

BULLETIN ITEM:   Heads Up:  Major Expansion Of Tectonic Activity In Pacific Rim Is Underway

Duration and magnitude of threat are not known.

Following the activity on Java Island the past three days, suddenly today two 6.0 plus quakes struck in the Northeastern edge Fiji/Tonga Islands of the Australian Tectonic Plate amidst major increases in eruptive actions of Vanuatu island volcanos. Sudden increases of Vanuatu volcanism was noticed during the mid 1930's and fulfilled one of Cayce's predictions about the first outbreak of changing geologic conditions as a result of the shifting of the Earth's equilibrium which set the stage for the 1999 and 2006 anomalies of polar motion. No question that the Earth's crust is breaking up first along the Northern edge of the Australian Plate where it is grinding  and thrusting against FOUR other tectonic plates.  What will happen next is anyone's guess but doubtless we are on the trend line of a rapid increase in major Earth Changes.  There is no looking back, conditions will continue to mount into increasing instability during the next several years.  In the meantime, heads up all Pacific Rim.  New Zealand is especially perilous in addition to the entire northern tier of South Seas Islands.  Beware the 180 mirror opposite reflection of this activity in the zone from the Galapagos to Trinidad zone along the Cocos and Carib Plates.  

Reflections in the Northern Arc of the Pacfic Rim are uncertain.  Aleutions have been highly active.  Several shape shifters in Pacific portions of the Great Rift.  in general during the past 24 hours there has been a large Syzygy related increase in frequency of seismic activity around the Rim, typically in the range of 3 to 4.


Posted at 6:27pm on 26 May 2006
Lopevi Volcano in Vanuatu is continuing to cause havoc on surrounding islands, while several other volcanoes are also threatening.
The national disaster office says it is not able to reach one of two villages on Paama Island which has been badly affected by ash from Lopevi over the past two weeks.
Villagers in Paama have appealed to the Government for help securing new sources of drinking water, while crops have also been destroyed by ash contamination.
Meanwhile reports from nearby Ambrym say the two Benbow and Marum volcanoes have also started erupting and are sending down ash over ten villages in southeast Ambrym.
And in the latest development the Meteorological office confirmed the colour of Manaro lake in central Ambae has changed turned to grey which means that it is like to erupt again,.
Manaro erupted last year for the first time in 121 years, forcing thousands to evacuate.
Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International
Three volcanoes in Vanuatu erupting - a fourth threatening

See:  ORACLE FOR SUMMER

VOLCANO DATABASE

EARTHQUAKE DATABASE

DREAMS OF THE GREAT EARTHCHANGES - MAIN INDEX