Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.8 Earthquake hits offshore Coquimbo, Chile.

5.6 Earthquake hits Bio-Bio, Chile.

5.5 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.

5.4 Earthquake hits the Indian Ocean triple junction.

5.2 Earthquake hits off the coast of Coquimbo, Chile.

5.1 Earthquake hits south of the Kermedec Islands.

5.1 Earthquake hits offshore Coquimbo, Chile.

5.0 Earthquake hits the northern Mid-Atlantic ridge.

Parts of Chile Moved More Than a Meter in the Illapel Earthquake

The Illapel earthquake that hit Chile in September shifted the ground by up to 1.4 meters. That’s awfully far to move the not-so-steady rock below our feet.

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake hit Chile on September 16, 2015. The sudden snapping and release of tension in the tectonic plates shifted the very ground, with the greatest displacement close to the epicentre along the country’s coast.

This new map uses the same synthetic aperture radar data from the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-1A satellite that we looked at in the days after the earthquake, but cleaned up to show ground displacement more clearly. The ground moved vertically, horizontally, or a combination of both. The ground displacement is measured by looking at the interference pattern between before and after measurements by the satellite’s radar. Fantastically, the 1.4 meter maximum displacement in this new map confirms with the initial displacement estimated from counting fringes on the interferogram.

The ground shifted most in areas marked yellow (up to 1.4 meters), running down through green and blue until marking the areas of no displacement (0 meters) in purple. The circles mark out the epicentres of earthquakes, with circle diameter tied to earthquake magnitude.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:

Hurricane Joaquin is located about 165 mi…270 km NE of San Salvador and about 660 mi…1060 km SW of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds…125 mph…205 km/h. Present movement…NE or 45 degrees at 13 mph…20 km/h.

Joaquin – now a Category 4 hurricane – has been slowly pounding the Bahamas and is now moving out to sea. Meanwhile, local National Weather Service offices now believe that flooding caused by Hurricane Joaquin this weekend could be “historical” in parts of the U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Flash flood watches have already been issued for parts of Northeast Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and northwards into the Mid-Atlantic including Washington D.C. through Sunday night. Meanwhile, the hurricane will also likely impact broad swaths of the U.S. Northeast, including New York City and New Jersey. Heavy rain and flooding should start Friday and last through the weekend, possibly into early next week.

Tropical Storm Mujigae is located approximately 204 nm south of Hong Kong, and is tracking west-northwestward at 12 knots.

Tropical storm 23w (Choi-Wan), located approximately 87 nm west-southwest of Wake Island, and is tracking westward at 12 knots.

Tropical Depression Seven-C is located about 395 mi…635 km S of South Point Hawaii and about 585 mi…945 km SSE of Honolulu Hawaii with maximum sustained winds…35 mph…55 km/h. Present movement…NE or 50 degrees at 7 mph…11 km/h.

Invest 94E is an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific that has the potential for tropical development.

Invest 90L is an area of disturbed weather in the North Atlantic that has the potential for tropical development.

Invest 98C is an area of disturbed weather in the Central Pacific that has the potential for tropical development.

NewsBytes:

Guatemala – Massive landslide in Santa Catarina Pinula town of Guatemala has claimed lives of at least 26 people and left 600 others missing, emergency services said Friday. The landslide has buried around 125 homes in Santa Catarina Pinula, 15 km south of the capital Guatemala City. The landslide occurred late Thursday following heavy rains in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula and small village of El Cambray II.

Wildfires

Wildfires – Colombia

The low level of water in Colombia’s rivers has officials on standby to deal with the effects of a drought caused by the El Niño weather phenomenon, which has helped wildfires spread and led to water rationing.

The drought in the Andean and Caribbean regions is the result of a combination of adverse factors, Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies Institute, or IDEAM, director Omar Franco told EFE.

Rainfall in September was 50 percent of the normal precipitation level, while El Niño has caused “a rise in temperatures of between 5 and 6 degrees Celsius (9 to 10.8 F) in some regions of the country,” Franco said.

The northern, southern and western basins of Colombia show distress and officials are especially concerned about some portions of the Magdalena River, which crosses the country from south to north, where “the situation is quite critical,” Franco said.

The lack of rain and the high temperatures have sparked forest fires, with about 67 wildfires currently active, a situation the Environment Ministry describes as “complex.”.

Volcanos

Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity

Dukono (Halmahera): Ash emissions from the volcano remain intense, suggesting near continuous ash-venting activity inside the crater. Almost every day, VAAC Darwin reports ash plumes drifting from the volcano as altitudes around 7,000 ft (2.1 km) and extending several tens of kilometers.

Ubinas (Peru): A small explosion occurred at 16:35 local time on 1 October. It generated a small ash plume that rose a few hundred meters and quickly dissipated.

Piton de la Fournaise (La Réunion): The eruption continues with little changes overall. The lava flow field gradually expands (and thickens) towards the southeast from the vents, with the most distant flow fronts now being around 2600-2700 m away. A slight increase in tremor has been noted over the past week, but volcanologists believe that it is probably due to rainwater infiltration. An inversion of the deformation trend has been detected as well: now, the upper part of the central Dolomieu cone seems to have started to deflate, which could indicate a beginning exhaustion of magma supply.