Quake
hits Guatemala, no initial reports of damage
A
powerful earthquake struck Guatemala close to the capital on Monday,
though residents of Guatemala City felt little movement from the deep
tremor and emergency services said there were no initial reports of
damage or injuries.
The
epicenter of the 6.2 magnitude earthquake, initially reported as a
magnitude 5.8, was only 6 miles southeast of Guatemala City but it
was at a depth of 124.6 miles, lessening its effect.
Two
Reuters witnesses in the city said they did not feel the quake, nor
did they see people running outdoors as is often the case when
powerful tremors hit.
David
de Leon, a spokesman for Guatemala's emergency agency, CONRED, said
he had no reports of damage or victims.
A
magnitude 6.2 quake is capable of causing severe damage.
Last
November, more than 50 people were killed in a 7.5 magnitude quake in
Guatemala in San Marcos state, a mountainous region near the Mexican
border.
That
earthquake was the strongest to shake the country since 1976, when a
magnitude 7.5 quake centered about 99 miles northeast of Guatemala
City killed some 23,000 people.
Quake
shakes island in Spain's Canaries
An
earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale shook El Hierro island
in Spain's Canaries on Monday, the strongest of hundreds of tremblors
recorded in recent days in the territory which suffered an undersea
volcanic eruption in 2011, Spain's National Geographical Institute
said Monday.
The
earthquake struck at 3:41 pm (1441 GMT) and its epicentre was in the
Atlantic Ocean about 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) west of the island, a
spokesman for the institute said. It was measured at a depth of 16
kilometres and was preceded by another earthquake measuring 4.0 on
the Richter scale.
About
800 earthquakes have been recorded in El Hierro, which has about
10,000 inhabitants, since March 18, the spokesman added.
The
majority have measured above 2.0 on the Richter but only a handful
have been strong enough for people on the island to notice.
In
October 2011 an underwater volcano erupted off the coast of El
Hierro, two days after an earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter
scale rocked the island.
El
Hierro, which means "Iron" in Spanish, suffered thousands
of earthquakes throughout much of 2011, only a few of them, prompting
officials to briefly close a tunnel linking the island's two main
towns -- Frontera and Valverde -- and evacuate dozens of people over
fears of landslides.
The
Canary Islands are located off the northwestern coast of Africa. El
Hierro, which has an area of just 267 square kilometres (103 square
miles) is the westernmost of the seven islands of volcanic origin
that make up the archipelago.
The
last major volcanic eruption off the Canary Islands happened off
Teneguia, Las Palmas, in 1971.
Mexico
Earthquake 2013: Moderate Quake Hits Southern Mexico
Earthquakes
shook a broad swath of southern Mexico on Tuesday, causing buildings
to sway in the capital and sending thousands fleeing into the streets
as quake alarms sounded. But there were no immediate reports of
damages or injuries.
The
U.S. Geological Survey said a magnitude-5.5 quake hit at 7:04 a.m.
(9:04 a.m. EDT; 1304 GMT), centered about 10 miles (17 kilometers)
west-southwest of Pinotepa Nacional on the Pacific Coast and 227
miles (365 kilometers) south-southeast of Mexico City.
Mexico
Seismology Service initially calculated the quake's magnitude at 5.9.
A
second quake struck near the same spot eight minutes later, also
setting off alarms in the capital and causing people to evacuate tall
buildings in the capital. The USGS calculated the magnitude of that
quake at 5.1.
Mexico
City's soft soil and geology make it especially sensitive to distant
earthquakes. But Mayor Manuel Mancera said in a Twitter post that no
damage was reported. Local news media also said there were no reports
of damage close to Pinotepa Nacional.
Peruvian
volcano on verge of eruption
Peruvian
scientists have warned that Arequipa’s Sabancaya Volcano is
currently in a pre-eruptive stage. According to Domingo Ramos, head
of volcano monitoring at Peru’s Geological, Mining and
Metallurgical Institute (Ingemmet), Sabancaya’s activity has led
the agency to issue a yellow alert.
“We
have already talked with local authorities so that they can warn the
nearby population, about the volcano’s status, and how to prepare
before an eventual eruption,” Ramos said according to the daily.
Sabancaya,
he said, is currently emitting large plumes of smoke, and is seeing
between 300 and 500 seismic movements, Peruthisweek.com reported
quoting Peru21.
Fredy
Apaza, a chemist at Ingemmet, said the signs of continuous gas
release indicates that magma is rising to the surface, but said the
agency was not yet able to estimate how much magma could be on the
way.
“That’s
why Ingemmet has installed volcanological equipment and telemetry in
strategic points at Sabancaya, we expect results within 15 days,”
he said. -
Iceland
earthquakes prompt warning near Hekla volcano
Icelandic police say
seismic activity near the Hekla volcano has prompted them to declare
an "uncertainty phase" -- the lowest level of civil
warning.
Monitoring of the area
in southern Iceland has been increased. Police advise people not to
hike in the area, though it is not forbidden.
Vidir Reynisson, the
department manager for civil protection, said Tuesday that a swarm of
earthquakes prompted the warning but are not necessarily a sign of
pending eruption. Scientists worry that Hekla is overdue for an
eruption; in recent decades it has erupted roughly every 10 years,
most recently in 2000.
Concern about seismic
activity in the north Atlantic nation has grown since April 2010,
when ash from the Eyjafjallajokul volcano grounded flights across
Europe for days, disrupting travel for 10 million people.
http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/iceland-earthquakes-prompt-warning-near-hekla-volcano-1.1211663#ixzz2OhTB0NuI
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