Earthquakes

Earthquake hits northern Japan, no tsunami warning issued

Reuters,

8 November, 2012

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 shook northern Japan on Friday, public broadcaster NHK said.

No tsunami warning was issued, and there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

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Strong earthquake off Guatemala kills at least 48

TVNZ,

8 November, 2012

A strong earthquake off the coast of Guatemala has killed at least 48 people and trapped others under rubble, crushing homes and cars, destroying roads and forcing evacuations as far away as Mexico City.

Most of the dead were buried under debris in San Marcos state, a mountainous region near the Mexican border.

Landslides triggered by the 7.4-magnitude quake blocked highways and complicated rescue efforts.

It was the strongest earthquake to hit the Central American nation since 1976, when a 7.5-magnitude quake killed more than 20,000 people.

President Otto Perez, who confirmed the death toll after returning to the capital Guatemala City from a lightning trip to San Marcos, said that as many as 23 people were unaccounted for, while 153 people were being housed in emergency shelters.

"It's very sad to meet people here who are waiting to find their families who are still buried," Perez said in San Marcos.

"It's really a tragedy and we will do all we can to help the families that are suffering."

Rescue workers in bright yellow helmets worked through the night pulling bodies from the rubble-strewn streets of San Pedro Sacatepequez, San Marcos, as dazed locals looked on, taking stock of the damage.

"Thank God we're alive," said resident Arnulfo Portillo.

"To be honest, there's quite a few families who have been hit badly, but we're a tight-knight community and we'll come out on top."

Ten members of one family reportedly killed

In San Cristobal Cucho, also in San Marcos, all but one of an 11-member family died, buried under rubble, volunteer fireman Ovidio Fuentes told local radio.

Only the 17-year-old son survived.

Local Red Cross chief Carlos Enrique Alvarado said 75 homes were destroyed in the city of San Marcos alone and authorities said damage to the prison forced them to transfer 101 inmates to another jail.

Perez, who announced three days of mourning, said Spain and Venezuela had offered help.

Authorities distributed 16,000 emergency rations and mobilized more than 2000 soldiers to help with the rescue effort. The energy ministry said 73,000 people were left without electricity.

In Guatemala City, 161km from the quake's epicenter, the streets filled with office workers forced to evacuate buildings, although most soon returned to work.

"It was really big. I felt quite nauseous," said Vanessa Castillo, 32, a secretary who was evacuated from her 10th floor office in the capital.

Building janitor Jorge Gamboa said: "I was in the bathroom. When I came out the office was empty and I thought, what's happening? They didn't even say goodbye."

'Small tsunami'

The epicenter was 42km below the surface, according to the US Geological Survey.

The quake was felt in El Salvador and more than 1223km away in Mexico City, where some people also fled offices and homes.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said a small tsunami was registered on Guatemala's coast, although there were no reports that it caused any damage.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the quake was felt strongly in a large part of the city.

"There are evacuations in various parts of the city," he said via Twitter. 

 

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US geologists say East Coast earthquakes travel farther, do more damage than thought before

Data from the 2011 earthquake centered in Virginia shows East Coast tremors can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday.

Washington Post,

7 November, 2012

The agency estimated about one-third of the U.S. population could have felt the magnitude 5.8 tremor centered about 50 miles northwest of Richmond, which would mean more people were affected than any earthquake in U.S. history. Scientists also found the quake that caused more than $200 million in damage triggered landslides at distances four times farther and over an area 20 times larger than research from previous quakes has shown.

“Scientists are confirming with empirical data what more than 50 million people in the eastern U.S. experienced firsthand: this was one powerful earthquake,” USGS Director Marcia McNutt said in a news release about the findings presented at the Geological Society of America conference in Charlotte, N.C.

Researchers used landslides to see how far-reaching the shaking from East coast earthquakes could be. The unexpected jolt cracked the Washington Monument in spots and toppled delicate masonry high atop the National Cathedral. The shaking was felt from Georgia to New England.

According to the findings, the farthest landslide from the quake was 150 miles from the epicenter, a greater distance than any other similar-sized earthquake. Previous similar quakes have resulted in landslides no farther than 36 miles from the epicenter.

Additionally, the landslides from the 2011 tremor occurred in an area of about 12,895 square-miles — about the size of the state of Maryland. Previous studies indicated an area of about 580 square-miles — about the size of Houston — from an earthquake of similar magnitude.

“It’s just much more dangerous to have an earthquake at that level back on the East Coast than it would be on the West Coast,” said Edwin Harp, a USGS scientist and co-author of the study. “If something big happened, although it’s much less frequent, it would tend to damage a lot more buildings because they’re probably not quite up to the codes that they are in California.”

Geologic structure and rock properties on the East Coast allow seismic waves to travel farther without weakening compared with the West Coast, Harp said.

He said equations used to predict ground shaking might need to be revised now that scientists know more about the power of East Coast earthquakes.

The information also will help with building codes as well as emergency preparedness, the USGS said.

While West Coast earthquake veterans scoffed at what they viewed as only a moderate temblor, the August 2011 quake changed the way officials along the East Coast viewed emergency preparedness. Emergency response plans that once focused on hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding and snow are being revised to include quakes.

Some states have enacted laws specifically related to the quake, and there is anecdotal evidence of a spike in insurance coverage for earthquake damage.