G.O.O.D

Source: AFP

A substantial 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck on Sunday just off the remote Aleutian Islands of the US state of Alaska, the US Geological Survey reported.

The quake occured at 3:48 am local time (1348 GMT) about 53 kilometers (33 miles) underground, some 56 kilometers (35 miles) south-southwest of Atka Alaska and 1828 kilometers (1136 miles) from the state’s largest city Anchorage, the USGS reported in a preliminary earthquake report.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the Aleutians, a sparsely populated archipelago of hundreds of small, mainly volcanic islands that arc into the northern Pacific Ocean.

The town of Atka nearest the temblor’s epicenter had a population of 92 in the 2000 US census.

Technorati Tags: earthquake

I have no idea why people want to live in California.

Source: CNN.com

A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has struck just east of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Los Angeles was hit by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake Tuesday.

Los Angeles was hit by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake Tuesday.

The quake’s epicenter was about 2 miles southwest of Chino Hills and about 5 miles southeast of Diamond Bar, the USGS said. Chino Hills is about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

The center was about 7.6 miles deep. In general, earthquakes centered closer to the Earth’s surface produce stronger shaking and can cause more damage than those further underground.

A 5.8 magnitude quake is considered by the USGS to be “moderate,” which can cause slight damage to buildings and others structures. About 500 can happen globally each year, the survey says.

According to the USGS archives, it’s the biggest California earthquake since September 28, 2004, when a 6.0 quake was recorded south of Parkfield, which is about 70 miles northwest of Bakersfield.

“It’s too early to tell if there’s any major damage but all units are checking overpasses, bridges and tall buildings,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Ken Seymour told The Los Angeles Times.

“I can tell you that we had a good-sized shake here in the bureau,” said CNN Los Angeles Bureau Chief Pete Janos. “It started slowly. It continued on, shaking the bureau pretty well. … Right now we’re just sort of assessing the situation. Nothing fell off the walls … but there definitely was a shake.”

Janos said he has lived in southern California for about 12 years. “I can tell you this is probably the best one we have had,” he said.

Signs of the times: We have pestilence, earthquakes, economic unrest, looming global famine, rising fuel costs, wars and rumors of wars. The one that really gets me going is the famine thing and food shortages in developed countries.

Via CNN.com

At least 107 people died in a major earthquake that rocked central China on Monday — but the total does not include any of the nearly 900 students feared buried in a collapsed high school.

China’s official news agency Xinhua did not say if the buried students were believed to still be alive following the 7.8 magnitude quake.

Xinhua did not detail where the 107 deaths occured, although it reported earlier that four students were killed and 110 hurt when a middle school building collapsed in Juyuan Township of Dujiangyan City, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of the epicenter.

Another person was killed when a water tower fell in the city of Mianyang, the news agency reported.

A provincial government spokesman said they feared more dead and injured in collapsed houses in Dujiangyan City in Wenchuan County, Xinhua reported.

The news agency also quoted a driver for the seismological bureau saying he saw “rows of houses collapsed” in Dujiangyan.

Chinese President Hu Jintao immediately ordered an all-out effort to help victims of the earthquakes, Xinhua reported. It said Premier Wen Jiabao would go there to direct the rescue work.