Friday 08-26-16

Japan scientists detect rare, deep-Earth tremor

 

Miami (AFP) - Scientists who study earthquakes in Japan said Thursday they have detected a rare deep-Earth tremor for the first time and traced its location to a distant and powerful storm.

The findings, published in the US journal Science, could help experts learn more about the Earth's inner structure and improve detection of earthquakes and oceanic storms.

The storm in the North Atlantic was known as a "weather bomb," a small but potent storm that gains punch as pressure quickly mounts.

Groups of waves sloshed and pounded the ocean floor during the storm, which struck between Greenland and Iceland.

Using seismic equipment on land and on the seafloor that usually detects the Earth's crust crumbling during earthquakes, researchers found something they had not detected before -- a tremor known as an S wave microseism.

Microseisms are very faint tremors.

Another kind of tremor, known as P waves, or primary wave microseisms, can be detected during major hurricanes.

P waves are fast-moving, and animals can often sense them just before an earthquake hits.

The elusive S waves, or secondary waves, are slower, and move only through rock, not liquid. Humans feel them during earthquakes.

Using more than 200 stations operated by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention in Japan's Chugoku district, researchers Kiwamu Nishida and Ryota Takagi "successfully detected not only P wave microseisms triggered by a severe and distant North Atlantic storm, known as a weather bomb, but also S wave microseisms, too," said the study.

"The discovery marks the first time scientists have observed... an S wave microseism."

Microseism S waves are so faint that they occur in the 0.05 to 0.5 Hz frequency range.

The study in the journal Science details how researchers traced the direction and distance to the waves' origins, and the paths they traveled.

The discovery "gives seismologists a new tool with which to study Earth's deeper structure," said Peter Gerstoft and Peter Bromirski of the University of California, San Diego in an accompanying Perspective article.

Learning more about microseismic S waves may "add to our understanding of the deeper crust and upper mantle structure."

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/japan-scientists-detect-rare-deep-earth-tremor-200327022.html

Tuesday 05-24-16

40 Volcanoes Are Erupting Right Now As The Crust Of The Earth Becomes Increasingly Unstable

Have you noticed that our planet has begun to shake, rattle and roll?  Over the past few days we have seen major volcanic eruptions in Costa Rica and Indonesia, and according to Volcano Discovery 40 volcanoes around the planet are erupting right now as you read this article.  Meanwhile, earthquakes continue to shake the globe with alarming regularity.  Just last week, Ecuador was hit by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake and a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in rapid succession.  Overall, there have been more than 3,000 earthquakes of magnitude 1.5 or greater within the past month globally.  So yes, I write constantly about the rapidly accelerating deterioration of our financial system, but the coming “collapse” is not just about money.  I am convinced that we are entering a “perfect storm” in which a confluence of factors will absolutely cripple society and bring about changes that most of us would not even dare to imagine right now.
Let’s talk about the volcanic eruptions that we have seen in recent days.  The eruption down in Costa Rica took authorities completely by surprise, and a thick layer of dust and ash is coating vehicles and buildings 30 miles away in the capital city of San Jose…

A volcano has erupted in central Costa Rica, belching smoke and ash up to 3,000m (9,840ft) into the air.
Hundreds of people have gone to hospital, complaining of breathing difficulties and skin problems.
Some schools were shut and some flights into the country cancelled or diverted.
People in the capital San Jose, about 45km (30 miles) west of the Turrialba volcano, said layers of ash had coated buildings and cars and there was a fierce smell of sulphur.

Leading up to this eruption, there were “swarms of small earthquakes” in the vicinity of the volcano, but scientists assured the public that these earthquake swarms were “not signs of an imminent eruption.”
Keep that in mind, because later in the article I am going to show you something.
But first let us talk about the other major eruption that is happening right now.  Down in Indonesia, Mount Sinabung has violently erupted, and this is causing all sorts of chaos…

The death toll from a volcanic eruption in western Indonesia has climbed to six, an official said Sunday, with fears more could have been trapped by the hot ash.
Three people also remain in a critical condition after Mount Sinabung, a highly-active volcano on Sumatra island, unleashed a series of fresh eruptions on Saturday afternoon, disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
“Nine people were struck by the hot clouds. Six died, and three others remain critical with burns,” he said, adding the injured had been taken to hospital.

According to one report, “torrents of lava” are pouring out of the volcano, and this is just one example of how volcanoes that were once considered to be “inactive” are coming to life all over the world.  In fact, prior to 2010 Mount Sinabung had been dormant for about 400 years.
Meanwhile, there is “unprecedented” activity at Iceland’s very dangerous Baroabunga volcano.  This one is not erupting quite yet, but we definitely want to keep an eye on it, because a major eruption there would have serious implications for Europe.
To finish this article, I would like to provide an update to a piece that I posted last week on End of the American Dream.  Just prior to the eruption of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica, there were significant earthquake swarms in the vicinity of the volcano.  Well, the exact same thing is happening at three major volcanoes in the United States right now.
I would like to share three images with you that come from Google Earth via the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.  This first image shows the earthquake activity that has taken place in the area around Mt. St. Helens in recent days.  Over the past month there have been 95 earthquakes in the region, and most of them have been centered right along the core of the volcano…

This next image shows what has been happening at Mt. Rainier.  Those that follow my work closely already know that I consider it to be the most dangerous mountain in America and that I believe that a major eruption of the volcano is coming in the not too distant future.  There have been 36 earthquakes at Mt. Rainier over the past month, and once again most of them have occurred right along the core of the volcano…

Mt. Hood is also a very dangerous volcano.  There have been 126 earthquakes in the vicinity of Mt. Hood in recent days, and in this image you can see that the earthquakes have been centered very tightly on a spot on the south face of the mountain.  This is alarming because it was also the south side of Mt. St. Helens that violently erupted back in 1980…

When there are major volcanic eruptions or major earthquakes in other parts of the globe, many Americans don’t seem to care too much because they don’t think that this rise in global seismic activity is any sort of a threat to them personally.
But the truth is that the entire west coast of the United States lies along the Ring of Fire, and virtually every other section of the Ring of Fire is roaring to life these days.
At some point, there will be historic earthquakes on the west coast.
At some point, there will be historic volcanic eruptions on the west coast.
Scientists assure us that these things are inevitable.
So let us certainly hope for the best, but putting our heads in the sand and pretending that these dangers do not exist is not going to help matters one bit.
Get prepared while you still can, because at some point time will run out.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/40-volcanoes-are-erupting-right-now-as-the-crust-of-the-earth-becomes-increasingly-unstable

Friday 05-13-16

San Andreas fault is about to crack – here's what will happen when it does

The director of the Southern California Earthquake Center, Thomas Jordan, made an announcement recently that would have sent a chill down the spine of every Californian: that the San Andreas fault appears to be in a critical state and as such, could generate a large earthquake imminently.
Of course, the reiteration of the seismic hazard to Californians will be nothing surprising, but what is new is the warning that the southern portion of the fault "looks like it's locked, loaded and ready to go."

Why is this eminent seismologist making these alarming statements? Well, the fact is that there has not been a major release of stresses in the southern portion of the San Andreas fault system since 1857. In simple terms, the San Andreas is one of many fault systems roughly marking the border between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. Both plates are moving in an approximately northerly direction, but the Pacific plate is moving faster than its North American counterpart, meaning that stresses between the plates are constantly building up.

In 1906, some of these stresses were catastrophically released in the San Francisco Bay area in a 7.8 magnitude event and again, in northern California, during the 6.9 magnitude 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Events of these magnitudes, however, have not occurred along the San Andreas fault in the south of the state – the 1994 Northridge event was associated with a nearby, but separate, fault system – leading to the suggestion that one is imminent and, given the amount of stress that might actually have accumulated, when it arrives it will be the "Big One."
How big is 'Big'?
So just how big could this potential earthquake be and is it possible that the destruction demonstrated in the film San Andreas could actually come to fruition?

Fiction ... or fact?

In short, Californians will be (reasonably) pleased with the answers to these questions. In the film, the San Andreas fault produces an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0. While not unheard of globally, earthquakes of this size are generally confined to regions of the earth where subduction – where one tectonic plate is being forced below another – is happening, for example in Chile and Japan. The tectonic situation in California is different. Here, two plates are sliding past each other.
As such, recent predictions limit the possible maximum earthquake magnitude along the San Andreas fault system to 8.0, although with a 7 percent probability estimate that such an event could occur in Southern California in the next 30 years; over the same period, there is a 75 percent chance of a magnitude 7.0 event. While magnitudes of 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0 might sound negligibly different, the energy that such events would unleash varies significantly, with a magnitude 9.0 event releasing 32 times more energy than a magnitude 8.0 and 1,000 times more energy than a magnitude 7.0.
Obviously, however, be it a 7.0 or an 8.0, damage is inevitable, but the whole sequence of events, as depicted in the film, is unlikely. For example, the San Andreas fault is not beneath the ocean and as such, any slippage along it could not displace water to the extent that a tsunami would be generated. The opening up of a massive chasm is also from the land of fantasy, as the plates are sliding relative to each other, not away from each other.

Map of the San Andreas Fault, showing relative motion. USGS PD

What is realistic, however, is that a great amount of destruction is likely. While the building codes in California are stringent, recommending retrofitting of seismic protection measures to older buildings and preventing the construction of new buildings near to known fault lines, there is no way to make a building 100 percent safe.
Predicting devastation
In an attempt to understand the effects of a large, southern San Andreas earthquake, the United States Geological survey modelled a 7.8 magnitude event, with slippage of 2-7 metres, to represent the stresses that have built up in the area since the last large event.
From this model, it was found that damage would be most severe to constructions straddling the fault. Fortunately, constructions of this sort are few and far between following the 1972 Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act. What would be affected by this slippage, however, are the 966 roads, 90 fibre optic cables, 39 gas pipes and 141 power line that cross the fault zone.
The total cost of damage to buildings was estimated at $33 billion, with modern buildings faring well but older buildings being particularly susceptible. Fires would rage – as they did following the Northridge earthquake – as gas mains, and water pipes, become severed; in fact, the damage from resulting fires is estimated as more costly than that resulting from the initial shaking.

San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, aerial view from 8,500 feet altitude. By Ikluft (own work) via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

The overall death toll is estimated at 1,800. And just when things don't look like they can get any worse, the main event will have destabilized the tectonics of the region to such an extent that a series of potentially powerful aftershocks will begin. For example, in 2011, Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 6.2 magnitude event and since then the city and surrounding region have experienced more than 10,000 aftershocks.
Fortunately, the film San Andreas is pure fiction, featuring the levels of exaggeration we are all used to from film makers who are, ironically, also based in southern California.
Even so, in all probability, the San Andreas is likely to generate a significant earthquake in the not too distant future. When it arrives, the damage will be significant and southern California will be massively affected. But Californians are no strangers to these events and the infrastructure of the state, in recent times, has been designed with earthquake protection in mind.
Forget tsunamis and deep chasms opening up, but do expect violent shaking, building damage, fires and widespread economic impacts as the region is out of action for potentially a long period of time.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Opinion/2016/05/11/San-Andreas-fault-is-about-to-crack-heres-what-will-happen-when-it-does/6741462974519


Anti-virus pioneer John McAfee warns on mobile phone snooping

Computer security pioneer John McAfee pulls out his cell phone to stare at a notification on the screen.
“It says something changed in my account, please press next,” McAfee says. “I have the best (security) habits in the world and I cannot keep my phone secure.”
McAfee, whose name became synonymous with antivirus protection, says he’s no longer as worried about computer security. Now, he says, the danger comes from the camera and microphones we carry everywhere in our pockets, attached to our smartphones. It’s a “trivial” matter, he says, for a hacker to remotely and secretly turn on a phone’s sensors.
Think about that the next time you’re having a supposedly private conversation in your office, your phone sitting on the desk, he says. McAfee says he’s accustomed to the idea that potentially hundreds of people are listening to every conversation he has, and that his emails are widely snooped upon.
McAfee on Monday confirmed he’s expected to become the CEO of a small tech company called MGT Capital Investments, which will be rebranded and offer an anti-spyware product for mobile devices.
McAfee received a rock star’s welcome while speaking to a computer-security conference Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging his tendency to shock governments and institutions into action. The alternative, he says, is complacency from about the true risks posed by hackers and info thieves.
McAfee for years has been something of a cult figure in the tech world — he fled his home in Belize in 2012 after he was sought for questioning as a "person of interest" in the murder of a neighbor. He then landed in Portland, Ore., before he settled in central Tennessee, where he was once convinced assassins from Central America were tracking him. He’s now also running for president as a Libertarian.

 

Wednesday, he pointed out that foreign hackers have repeatedly attacked American infrastructure, including power grids, and said neither the government nor big business seems to truly appreciate how quickly society would collapse if large portions of the country lost power for even a few days. He also mused that perhaps people who couldn't manage their privacy and identity protections might just fall by the wayside.
“We are teetering on an edge, not just as companies, not just as individuals, but as a nation and even as a world. We depend so much on our information science,” he says. “Believe me, this will be the new paradigm… and until you are touched, you do not understand the fullness of the risk.”
McAfee founded McAfee Associates in 1987, and Intel bought it for $7.7 billion in 2010. He used to own a yoga retreat in central Colorado.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/05/11/anti-virus-pioneer-john-mcafee-warns-mobile-phone-snooping/84266838/

Monday 05-09-16

Plans for a Cashless Society Revealed

TOPICS:Cashless AgendaWar on Cash

May 8, 2016

By A Changing World
In this video I talk about how the elites are going to take away our cash – step by step. There seems to be a really concrete plan to reach the goal of a cashless society. I’ll let you decide what the ultimate goal is, whether it’s “just” total control, hegemony of banks and financial institutions, or having everyone wearing embedded RFID payment chips.

http://www.activistpost.com/2016/05/revealed-plans-for-a-cashless-society.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29


Giant chunks of the Earth's mantle are falling off and causing quakes across the southeastern US - and more are coming, warn researchers

The southeastern United States has been hit by a series of strange unexplained quakes – most recently, the 2011 magnitude-5.8 earthquake near Mineral, Virginia that shook the nation’s capital.

Researchers have been baffled, believing the areas should be relatively quiet in terms of seismic activity as it is located in the interior of the North American Plate, far away from plate boundaries where earthquakes usually occur.

Now, they believe the quakes could be caused by pieces of the Earth’s mantle breaking off and sinking into the planet.

Researchers believe the quakes could be caused by pieces of the Earth’s mantle breaking off and sinking into the planet in the affected area (shown here). They say pieces of the mantle have most likely been breaking off from underneath the plate since at least 65 million years ago. This map shows the study area in detail.

A new study found pieces of the mantle under this region have been periodically breaking off and sinking down into the Earth.

This thins and weakens the remaining plate, making it more prone to slipping that causes earthquakes.

The study authors conclude this process is ongoing and likely to produce more earthquakes in the future.

‘Our idea supports the view that this seismicity will continue due to unbalanced stresses in the plate,’ said Berk Biryol, a seismologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and lead author of the new study.

‘The [seismic] zones that are active will continue to be active for some time.’

The study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.

‘Based on distinct variations in the geometry and thickness of the lithospheric mantle and foundered lithosphere, we propose that piecemeal delamination has occurred beneath the region throughout the Cenozoic, removing a significant amount of reworked/deformed mantle lithosphere,’ the team wrote.

Compared to earthquakes near plate boundaries, earthquakes in the middle of plates are not well understood and the hazards they pose are difficult to quantify.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2016/05/no_author/chunks-earths-mantle-falling-off/