Geology, Earthquakes & Volcanism News and Discussions

[caltrek]

Japan Earthquake Update
by Ashley May
January 2024

Extract:

(Axios) State of play: Officials in Ishikawa Prefecture confirmed at least 48 deaths and 16 injuries, per multiple reports.

• The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a major tsunami warning for Ishikawa that was later downgraded. However, it said waves up to 10 feet were still a concern for several hours after the quake struck at 4pm Monday local time (2am ET). Tsunami warnings were also issued in eastern Russia.

There were "numerous" reports of people injured and trapped, the Wajima Fire Department told AFP. The firefighters were working to put out a blaze in Wajima City, the largest city in the Okunoto region that extends into the Sea of Japan.

• Electricity is out for more than 30,000 households in Ishikawa and neighboring Niigata Prefecture, while almost 20,000 homes across four prefectures lacked running water, government spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi said, according to the New York Times.

• Hayashi added that over 57,300 people were evacuated from their homes to 1,000 different facilities in the affected prefectures.

• Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority reported no impact to nuclear power plants along the Sea of Japan.

Read more here: https://www.axios.com/2024/01/01/japan ... -updates

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

Quake Death Toll in Central Japan Tops 80
January 4, 2024

Introduction:

(Kyodo News) Search and rescue operations continued in central Japan after it was struck by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day, with the death toll rising above 80 and some 180 unaccounted for in Ishikawa Prefecture as of Thursday.

In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called for an "all-out effort" to save as many lives as possible during the first 72 hours following the magnitude-7.6 quake disaster, after which the victim survival rate is said to drop sharply.

Read more here: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/202 ... ing.html

[caltrek]

Volcano Erupts on Southwestern Island of Suwanosejima
January 14, 2024

Introduction:

(Asahi Shimbun) A volcano has erupted on the remote island of Suwanosejima in southwestern Japan, the government said early Sunday.

No damage has been confirmed due to the eruption, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing a local police station in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The government later issued a level 3 volcanic alert--out of 5--for Suwanosejima, restricting the entrance to dangerous areas surrounding the volcano.

Read more here: https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15111383

[weatheriscool]

[caltrek]

U.S. Forces to Join Relief Efforts for Central Japan Quake of January 1
January 16, 2024

Introduction:

(Kyodo News) Tokyo - The U.S. military plans to airlift supplies from Wednesday to support Japan's relief efforts for areas in Ishikawa Prefecture damaged by a powerful earthquake on New Year's Day, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said.

The request by Japan to its key security ally was an "exceptional" one, Kihara told a press conference on Tuesday, given that Tokyo earlier declined personnel or material support from overseas, citing arrangement difficulties.

Two U.S. Army UH-60 helicopters will engage in the mission for two days through Thursday to deliver relief supplies from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Komatsu Air Base to an airport in Wajima, one of the cities on the Sea of Japan coast hardest hit by the magnitude-7.6 temblor, according to the Defense Ministry.

The ministry added that it will discuss with the U.S. side whether the choppers' relief operation needs to extended beyond Thursday.

As the Japanese Self-Defense Forces' manpower is needed for transporting evacuees from evacuation centers to hotels and other accommodation facilities outside the affected areas, Kihara said the government wants to make sure that supplies will continue to be delivered to areas in need with the help of the U.S. military "without delay."

Read more here: https://english.kyodonews.net/news/202 ... wed.html

[caltrek]

Experts Confirm: Icelandic Faultline Has Awakened After 800 Years
January 17, 2024

Introduction:

(AFP via Science Alert) A volcanic eruption that has engulfed homes in an Icelandic fishing port confirms that a long-dormant faultline running under the country has woken up, threatening to belch out lava with little warning for years to come, an expert warned on Tuesday.

Glowing lava swallowed several homes on Sunday at the edge of the town of Grindavik, southwest of the capital Reykjavik.

The fishing town was mostly evacuated due to threat of an eruption last month and the most recent volcanic activity has since eased, authorities in the North Atlantic nation said on Monday.

The island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

Sunday's eruption was the fifth in fewer than three years on the Reykjanes peninsula, which had not previously seen one in centuries.

Read more here: https://www.sciencealert.com/experts-c ... 0-years

[caltrek]

NASA Satellite Image Reveals Heat Leaking From Iceland's New Fissures
by Clare Watson
January 24, 2024

Extract:

New satellite imagery from NASA also shows how much heat is still leaking out of the fissures near Grindavik, a faultline that had been quiet for 800 years before this sudden spell of volcanic activity.

The map below depicts the heat emanating from the fractured land surface, detected by a thermal infrared sensor aboard NASA's Landsat 9 satellite. While the temperature scale isn't specific, it reveals the sheer size of the fissures bubbling hot with lava.

The recent January 2024 fissures appear blistering hot, while lava flows from an earlier eruption in December 2023 have cooled but still emanate considerable heat.
Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory


A false-color image of lava flows captured on 17 July 2023, by the Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2) instrument on Landsat 9.
Wanmei Liang/NASA Earth Observatory



Although small, the March 2021 eruption of Fagradalsfjall was bright enough for the Suomi NPP satellite to observe.
Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory.

[weatheriscool]

Oklahoma rattled by shallow 5.1 magnitude earthquake

Source: ABC News/AP

February 3, 2024, 2:31 AM

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A 5.1 magnitude earthquake shook an area near Oklahoma City late Friday night, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The earthquake hit at 11:24 p.m. and was centered 8 kilometers (4.9 miles) northwest of Prague, Oklahoma, the agency said.

Prague is about 57 miles (92 kilometers) east of Oklahoma City, where residents reported feeling the shaking. Shawnee, Stillwater and Tecumseh residents also felt the earthquake, KFOR-TV reported.

The earthquake was shallow — just 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) deep, according to the USGS — and temblors that hit close to the surface can make the shaking more intense.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireS ... -106918256

[Time_Traveller]

A follow on to Caltrek's and Will's posts about this town from November.

Iceland Girds for Feared Volcanic Eruption

Iceland volcano: Peninsula faces 'decades' of instability

Iceland volcano: Grindavik's people may never return after volcano spills lava into town.

6 hours ago

The resilient community of Grindavik has for the past weeks and months experienced the relentless forces of nature, once again proving why Iceland is often called the "Land of Fire and Ice."

Three homes in this town on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland were destroyed this month when molten lava spewed through two fissures created by the Svartsengi volcanic system.

Once a thriving fishing village with vibrant sports teams and a youthful population, Grindavik now lies empty. Its people have fled and are beginning to face up to the realisation they may never be able live there again.

So uncertain is their future, one woman said she wished her home had been swallowed up by lava.

Overhead photo of blackened lava after recently erupted volcano burns down three houses in the town on January 15, 2024

Over the past three years, the peninsula - approximately the size of the West Midlands in the UK - has witnessed five volcanic eruptions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68133386