Fierce Planet

The U.S. Geological Service confirmed the magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit at 12:02 (Pacific time).  At about 6.2 miles deep, the quake epicenter occurred in the southern Guerrero state, near the border with Oaxaca state, about 115 miles from the tourist resort of Acapulco and 100 miles from Oaxaca City. In Mexico City, the quake shook buildings and a prolonged rocking motion swayed buildings and sent terrified people flooding into the streets.  Cell phone lines went down and traffic jammed in the moments after the quake. But there did not appear to be any major damage in the city.

According to the LA Times Blog, the governor of Oaxaca, Gabino Cue, reported cracks and broken windows in several schools and minor damage to a number of Oaxaca City’s iconic monuments. He said signposts had fallen in the city as well. Workers at two hotels in Oaxaca said they noticed a few seconds of shaking but no real damage or injuries.  “Yes, we felt the shaking for 15 to 20 seconds, but no damage,” a woman at the front desk of the Hotel Marina in Huatulco told ABC News.

No reports of injuries at this time. Also, the USGS has not issued a tsunami warning or advisory in the area.

Washington Post

A year ago today, a massive 9.0 earthquake battered Japan, followed by a lethal tsunami, ravaging fires, and nuclear power plant meltdown. Entire villages were wiped out, thousands of people were reported missing, thousands more were injured and left homeless, and more than 15,000 people were killed. In one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of Japan, the world watched in horror. Images from the devastated country made us all heartsick, and perhaps made us feel vulnerable to the power of nature—or at least aware of it.

The aftermath left a wasteland of once pristine and vibrant coastal communities. Though some restoration has occurred, there is obviously so much more to do. But for today, thousands of Japanese will pause from their daily activities to pay respects to the victims lost in the disaster.

Japan Tsunami Disaster, EPA/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

And how are the survivors doing a year later? According to The Telegraph, “In the worst-affected areas, the clear-up, let alone the recovery is far from complete. Ships stay stranded inland, cars sit where they came to rest on top of buildings.”

An article in the San Jose Mercury News reported, “Of course the scenes on TV were horrific,” said Dianne Fukami, president of the board of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California, a former TV journalist who is producing a documentary about relief efforts by the Japanese-American community. “But when you stand in the middle of what used to be a neighborhood and turn 360 degrees and can’t see anything that resembles a house, it’s a different experience.”

It appears that Japan has a long road ahead to revitalization—to rebuilding structures and lives—and we are sending the survivors our respects today.

As deadly twisters ripped through 12 states in the Midwest and the South on Friday, they obliterated homes, leveled towns, and killed at least 38 people. Hardest hit were Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

The National Weather Service reported that the four twisters to hit Kentucky were the worst in the region in 24 years.  “In Indiana, a tornado packing 175 mph winds hit the town of Henryville, and stayed on the ground for more than 50 miles. Three tornadoes in Kentucky had wind speeds up to 160 mph.”

The Associated Press In West Liberty, Ky., reported the aftermath for Doris Shuck. The storms took her home, leaving only the basement and front porch. “I could hear the glass and hear the wood breaking. I just thought the house is going to fall on top of me,” she said. She had scrapes and bruises.

The town of Marysville, Ind., population about 1,900, was “completely gone,” Clark County sheriff’s Maj. Chuck Adams told NBC News.
Paige Colburn, an emergency management officer at the Huntsville-Madison County Emergency Management Agency, told msnbc.com that the damage in Alabama covered a 4- to 5-mile swath in northern Madison County. “The reason that it is so wide is because we’re not talking about one tornado. We’re talking about a very large super-cell that spawned several smaller tornadoes,” she said.

As survivors try to recover and search and rescue teams continue their efforts to find missing and injured residents, the American Red Cross has launched a multi state relief operation. To learn more about helping, visit www.redcross.org

Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska were slammed by deadly storms around 1 a.m. today. Massive damage, injuries and fatalities have been reported in Branson, Mo; Buffalo, Mo; Harveyville, Kansas; and Harrisburg, Illinois.

Small towns in Illinois and Kansas were hit hard. At least nine deaths are blamed on the tornadoes.

2012 Tornado Outbreak

According to a KRMG news article, a man at a hotel in Branson, Mo. told KRMG, “Next thing I know the entire building is starting to shake. I believe there’s 12 floors to the hotel. You could hear windows being blown out and you could see debris out the window,” Corey Hall said. “The storm hit from both sides. It just basically went over the top of the hotel.”

The Christian Science Monitor quoted Branson’s Mayor “We were blessed with several things—the time of year and certainly the time of day, when people were not in their vehicles or outdoors,” said Mayor Raeanne Presley, noting that during Branson’s peak season, up to 60,000 visitors would have been in the city on any given day and staying in many of the hotels that were damaged.

Tulsa World News posted a historic record of previous Leap Day tornado outbreaks.  The growing reports indicate that 2012 may be the worst Leap Day outbreak yet.

A close relative, YaVaughnie Wilkins, knowing my love and respect for the power of Mother Nature, bid on and won a very special bottle of wine for me at a charity auction.  The California wine is called Earthquake.  She knew I would love it by the name alone.  However, when I visited the vineyard’s website I learned that “The original Earthquake Zin comes from an old Lodi vineyard planted around the time of San Francisco’s great Earthquake in 1906. The vineyard owners thought it fitting to relate the wine name with the historical quake.”

Not only that, but the bottle itself has a poem that pays homage to earth (land and soil) and earthquakes.  I’ve posted the mesmerizing poem below.  Oh, and the wine is yummy, too.

Zinfandel

Old Lodi wines, yielding supreme

Like ancient volcanoes releasing their steam.

Danger is present, felt but unseen

Vines of such power, such high self-esteem.

Intentionally hostile, purposefully bold

Nice not an option when truth must be told.

Energy captured, awaiting release

Zinfandel Vines, the great seismic beasts.

Instilling such fear, a risk few will take

Nothing prepares you for the Zinfandel Quake.

Kevin Phillips–

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck Virginia at 1:51 pm EDT. The quake was centered near Mineral, Virginia, northwest of Richmond and located about 87 miles from Washington, D.C. The tremor rattled the nation’s capital, causing the evacuation of the White House, Pentagon, Capitol, and other government buildings. Shaking was also felt by residents in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Hartford, Connecticut; and as far as New York. The FAA has grounded flights in Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York airports.

According to the WFSB news in Hartford, Connecticut, witnesses in New Haven said lights and props inside Long Wharf Theatre began to sway, and a witness in South Windsor said blinds shook as she watched television inside her home. Several businesses in the state were evacuated after the earthquake. Reports of possible damage to buildings in Virginia are coming in and reports of damage to the National Cathedral are confirmed.

A 12:15 tweet from Denise Addis, Morristown Patch’s “Around the Loop” columnist, “It was bad here on South Street; my building evacuated in like 10 seconds, everyone went running.”

According to the U.S. G.S. the quake occurred half a mile deep. A. U.S.G.S. earthquake hazard map shows Washington, DC and Virginia are not high danger zones for earthquakes.

by Victoria M. Johnson

Another earthquake fault was discovered near Truckee, California, a town about 35 miles from Reno. Using laser imaging technology, the scientists with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered the fault while they were inspecting the Martis Creek Dam, a dam that already had major safety concerns due to considerable leakage and it’s proximity to three fault zones.

Strike-Slip Fault

Named Polaris, the new fault is an active 22-mile long strike-slip fault. The last time Polaris caused an earthquake was 15,000 years ago. Lewis Hunter, a senior geologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says the fault could trigger a 6.5 to 6.9 magnitude earthquake. But because the fault connects to others, the magnitude could be even higher if they ruptured at the same time. Polaris holds the added potential of producing a flood if the Martis Creek Dam is damaged during quake activity.

Though the discovery of Polaris was unexpected, scientists claim there are hundreds of unknown faults around the world.

by Victoria M. Johnson

The eruption of the Puyehue-Cordon-Caulle volcano chain has prompted the mass evacuation of thousands of residents in southern Chile. Located about 500 miles south of the capital, Santiago, the eruption has spewed volumes of smoke and ash. So far no lava flows have been observed.

Chile volcano 4 o'cock in the Afternoon

As the strong smell of sulfur filled the air, officials said the volcano was spitting molten rock. Witnesses reported experiencing more than 20 earthquakes. No injuries have been reported.

“The Cordon Caulle (volcanic range) has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometer-high gas column,” Chilean state emergency office ONEMI said. According to MSNBC, it was not immediately clear which of the chain’s four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions.

The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960. Chile’s chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world’s second largest after Indonesia. Some 50 to 60 are on record as having erupted. Chile’s Chaiten volcano erupted in 2008 for the first time in thousands of years. Chile’s Llaima volcano, one of South America’s most active, erupted in 2008 and 2009.

by Victoria M. Johnson

On May 22, 2011 an EF-5 tornado slammed into Joplin, Missouri, demolishing everything in its path. An EF-5 is the strongest rating possible. The twister is responsible for 139 fatalities and 100 people remain unaccounted for. The twister that destroyed a third of the city of nearly 50,000 residents also injured more than 900 people.

Joplin, Missouri Tornado aftermath

According to the New York Times, the Joplin tornado was part of a weather system in which cold and warm fronts crashed together throughout the middle of the country, creating conditions that spawned “supercell” thunderstorms. Even though the supercell is the rarest of storm types, it is the most dangerous because of the extreme weather generated.

The Weather Channel forecasts widespread and severe thunderstorms throughout the Memorial Day holiday in the Plains and Upper Midwest. So far tornados in May 2011 have killed 10 in Oklahoma (May 24), 2 people in Kansas (May 24), 6 people in Arkansas (May 24).

by Victoria M. Johnson

On Sunday, May 22, 2011 a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri stripping trees, hurling vehicles, and damaging homes. Rescue workers toiled through the night, sifting through the rubble, hoping to find survivors. According to the Weather Channel, 10 survivors were pulled from the debris. But at least 116 lives have been claimed in the nation’s deadliest single twister in 60 years and the second major tornado disaster in less than a month. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long. The National Weather Service stated the storm had winds of 190 to 198 miles per hour.

Joplin, Missouri Tornado Damage (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The Huffington Post has a terrifying video of a first-person account of the tornado. People in a convenience store ran into a storage cooler as the tornado ripped the building apart. They recorded the experience while deafening sounds of the destruction paralyzed them and the tornado threatened their lives. Miraculously none of them were seriously hurt.

by Victoria M. Johnson

Stefan And Erika Svanstrom of Sweden planned a perfect four-month long honeymoon… but Mother Nature intervened.  The couple wed on November 27, 2010 and a week later, with their infant daughter in tow, they set off for a 16-country adventure. “Our plan was to get a lot of sun and beach-life early in the trip, and experience nature and culture later in the trip. Some of the destinations were chosen for the diving, as we are both keen to go scuba diving,” Stefan said, “leaving plenty of time to explore.”

The Svanstroms left Stockholm in December and became stranded for a night in Munich, Germany due to a severe snowstorm, one of Europe’s worst blizzards. The newlyweds enjoyed China and Thailand, but in Bali, Indonesia, a relentless monsoon kept them indoors for days. Another natural disaster awaited in Cairns, Australia where a catastrophic cyclone forced them to join a group shelter with thousands of people. “Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered across the streets,” Stefan said. Once the family arrived in Brisbane, massive flooding had put much of the city underwater. The Svanstroms then narrowly escaped bush fires in Perth.

The Svanstroms

Moving on, the family arrived in New Zealand, just after the 6.3 quake hit Christchurch on February 22. Their last ordeal was in Tokyo, where they experienced Japan’s largest quake ever recorded and the resulting calamitous tsunami. “The trembling was horrible… we saw roof tiles fly off buildings,” Stefan said. (He also survived the devastating tsunami that hit Southeast Asia in 2004).

The couple said the most emotionally upsetting experience during the trip had been the Japanese earthquake and its consequences. “Oh – we’re very grateful that nothing happened to the family and we think a lot about the people, particularly in Japan,” Erika said.

The Svanstroms returned to Stockholm on March 29, 2011 after an uneventful final stop in China. “Although we’ve had some bad luck, we still have our lives. Our thoughts are with those who couldn’t escape these disasters. In the end, we are very fortunate to be alive,” Stefan said. The family plans to continue their travels in the future.