MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

“The number of daily earthquakes recorded on the smallest of the Canary Islands (Spain), El Hierro, has increased considerably in recent days. The Instituto Volcanologico de Canarias has also reported a 1cm inflation over part of the island’s volcano following on from GPS analysis.

The total number of tremors recorded during the past five weeks has now exceeded 4200, according to the Instituto Geografico Nacional (IGN).

The majority of the earth tremors range between 1 and 3 magnitude. More than 431 earthquakes, including one measuring 3.5 magnitude on the Richter Scale, were recorded on Monday (22 August) alone.

The vast majority of the tremors have been recorded in the northwest of the 278.5-square-kilometre island at El Golfo, the location of a massive landslide that created a 100-metre high tsunami almost 50,000 years ago.

The earthquake swarm, prompted the Canary Islands Government to convene the first ever meeting on 22 July of the Steering Committee and Volcanic Monitoring, reflected in the Specific Plan Protection Civil and Emergency for Volcanic Risk, given what it described ‘the significant increase in seismic activity’. The Committee met again on Friday 29 July to discuss the low magnitude seismic activity. It reported that it had stepped up its seismic monitoring operations to identify the source of the earthquakes.

It remains unclear if the unprecedented seismic activity on El Hierro is a precursor to a possible future increase in earthquake or volcanic activity. However, the latest surge in recorded earthquakes and the inflation of the volcano could indicate magma rising underneath El Hierro.” Read more.

Fortunately, this one is rather deep …

Richter Magnitude 6.8 – NORTHERN PERU
Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 12:46:11 PM
7.644°S, 74.506°W
Depth: 145.1 km (90.2 miles)
Read more.

“WASHINGTON — The National Park Service says engineers have found a crack near the top of the Washington Monument presumably caused by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the East Coast.

Park service spokesman Bill Line said Tuesday night that structural engineers found the crack where the 555-foot landmark narrows considerably.

He says the lower portions checked out fine earlier but later they found the crack. He says the monument will be closed indefinitely to keep the public safe.

An outside engineering service will study the crack on Wednesday. He says it’s too early to say what would be involved in fixing it.” Read more.

Initial reports stated that this was a 5.8 earthquake and then a 6.0.  USGS is now reporting this as a 5.9.  Felt from Virginia to Massachusetts and as far north as Toronto, Canada …

“(Reuters) – A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck the U.S. East Coast and Canada from Virginia to Toronto on Tuesday, shaking buildings and forcing evacuation of the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries from the quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said was centered in Mineral, Virginia, between Charlottesville and Richmond. It was initially recorded at 5.8 magnitude.

Washington office workers scurried into the streets after the quake, which lasted for about five seconds and sent items crashing to the floor from store and office shelves.

Tremors shook New York City office buildings, prompting evacuations of courthouses, City Hall and halting work at the World Trade Center construction site, officials and witnesses said.

It was not immediately clear if there was any damage or injuries in New York, but fire department and police officials in Dutchess County, north of New York City, reported structural damage to some buildings.” Source.

Nuclear Plant Near Epicenter Shuts Down – “A nuclear power plant located in Louisa County, the epicenter of the earthquake in Virginia, has shut down. The North Anna Power Station, operated by Dominion Power, has two reactors. The plant declared an “unusual event” in the wake of the 5.9 magnitude quake, which is the lowest stage on the plant’s emergency scale. As a result, the plant has been shut down.” Read more.

“(AP) TRINIDAD, Colo. – The largest earthquake to strike Colorado in almost 40 years has shaken hundreds of people near the New Mexico border.

The magnitude 5.3 earthquake was recorded at about 11:46 p.m. MDT Monday about nine miles southwest of Trinidad, Colo., and about 180 miles south of Denver, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. The quake followed two smaller ones that hit the area earlier in the day.

The quake is the largest in Colorado since a magnitude 5.7 was recorded in 1973, U.S. Geological Service geophysicist Amy Vaughn said. That one was centered in the northwestern part of the state — about 50 miles north of Grand Junction, she said.

A few homes have been damaged and deputies were investigating reports of rockslides along a highway, a Las Animas County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher said.

‘I thought maybe a car had hit my house,’ 70-year-old Trinidad resident Nadine Baca said. ‘Then I called to my son and he said it was the third (quake) today.’

Another USGS geophysicist, Shengzao Chen, said the information center had received calls from more than 70 people in Trinidad and several dozen people in New Mexico who felt the shaking. More than 30 people in Colorado Springs, about 130 miles north of Trinidad, also reported feeling the quake, he said.” Read more.

“NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting a powerful undersea earthquake off the South Pacific island of Vanuatu.

The U.S.G.S. says a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck at 5:19 a.m. Sunday local time (1819 GMT) at a depth of 28.5 kilometers (17.7 miles). Its epicenter was 69 kilometers (42 miles) south-southwest of the Vanuatu capital of Port-Vila.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says no tsunami warning is in effect.” Read more.

“TOKYO — A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck off Japan’s northeastern coast Friday, triggering a tsunami advisory that was later lifted. [USGS says it was a 6.3].

Japan’s Meteorological Agency said the quake hit at 2:36 p.m. (0536 GMT) and was centred slightly south of where a massive magnitude-9.0 temblor struck in March.

The agency issued a tsunami advisory, predicting waves of 50 centimetres along the coast of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, where a nuclear plant crippled in the March 11 quake is located. But about a half-hour later, the advisory was lifted.

There were no abnormalities in key equipment at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, said Chie Hosoda, an official with the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant’s operator. She said some of the plant’s workers assigned to the coastal side of the facility temporarily retreated inside the building.” Read more.

“SYDNEY — The Pacific island nation of Papua New Guinea was jolted by a powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake Monday, prompting a minor tsunami warning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The US Geological Survey said the quake occurred at a depth of 16 kilometres (10 miles), some 131 km (81 miles) east of Wewak and 706 kilometres north of the capital Port Moresby.” Read more.

“Another powerful earthquake has jolted a pacific island nation.

The U.S. Geological Survey says an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 struck near Vanuatu at 4:34 a.m. Hawaii time. There were no reports of damage and no tsunami alert was issued.

The USGS says the quake was about 226 miles east of the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila. It was at a depth of 12.1 miles. A 7.3-magnitude quake struck near Vanuatu on Dec. 26, causing a tsunami a few inches high but no damage.” Read more.

“A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Sunday morning off the east coast of Honshu, Japan, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The earthquake was centered 27 miles (43.5 kilometers) beneath the surface about 114 miles (184 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.” Read more.

“A 6.2-magnitude earthquake has jolted northeastern Japan in the same region that was devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports that the earthquake hit Fukushima prefecture early Monday. It says the epicenter was at a depth of about 35 kilometers in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of Japan’s Honshu island, 280 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

A magnitude-6.4 quake struck the same area on Saturday. There were no reports of injuries or damage from either quake, and no tsunami warnings were issued.

More than 20,000 people were killed or left missing after the March 11 twin disaster in the region. Another 80,000 have been forced to evacuate their homes because of the radiation threat from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.” Read more.

Richter Magnitude 6.2 – KYRGYZSTAN
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at 01:35:42 AM
40.130°N, 71.435°E
Depth: 9.2 km (5.7 miles)

Casualties Confirmed After Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan Quake – “At least 13 people have been confirmed killed and more than 70 others injured after a strong earthquake struck the southwestern Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan border area on early Wednesday morning, officials said.” Read more.