A glitch at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant caused its cooling system for spent fuel to go offline. Technicians worked quickly to restore systems amid fears of a potential meltdown.

It is the latest in a series of glitches to hit the nuclear site following the multiple meltdowns caused by the tsunami of 2011.

Tokyo Electric Power confirmed that the pool attached to the plant’s Number 3 reactor was no longer operational.

Technicians are now working to get the cooling system back online. TEPCO stated the pool was at a stable 15.1C, indicating the reactor poses no immediate danger.

If the temperature of spent nuclear fuel is allowed to increase unchecked it can potentially reach the point where a nuclear reaction begins, leading to a meltdown.

Two weeks ago a massive power outage at the facility caused cooling systems to go offline. The origin of the power cut was identified as a 25cm-long “rat-like animal” that was found dead on the switchboard, a TEPCO official told Kyodo news.

The TEPCO official went on to say stronger measures would be put in place to prevent small animals from entering the switchboard.

It took 30 hours for specialists to repair the problem and bring systems back online.

The Fukushima meltdown two years ago was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and spilling radiation over the surrounding countryside.

Bron RT News

A strong and shallow earthquake M6.1 hit East of the Kuril Islands on March 24, 2013 at 04:18:34 UTC. Depth of the earthquake was just 9.7 km (6.0 miles), and epicenter was 268 km (166 miles) ESE of Ozernovskiy, Russia and 273 km (169 miles) SSE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia at coordinates 0.718°N, 160.155°E. EMSC reported M6.0 at depth of 10 km (6.21 miles).

According to GDACS, this earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the Magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

There’s no population within 100 km radius of the earthquake.

Earthquake location in respect to tectonic boundary. Credit: EMSC

Tectonic Summary by USGS

Seismotectonics of the Kuril-Kamchatka Arc

The Kuril-Kamchatka arc extends approximately 2,100 km from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Islands and the Pacific coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula to its intersection with the Aleutian arc near the Commander Islands, Russia. It marks the region where the Pacific plate subducts into the mantle beneath the Okhotsk microplate, part of the larger North America plate. This subduction is responsible for the generation of the Kuril Islands chain, active volcanoes located along the entire arc, and the deep offshore Kuril-Kamchatka trench. Relative to a fixed North America plate, the Pacific plate is moving towards the northwest at a rate that increases from 75 mm/year near the northern end of the arc to 83 mm/year in the south.

Plate motion is predominantly convergent along the Kuril-Kamchatka arc with obliquity increasing towards the southern section of the arc. The subducting Pacific plate is relatively old, particularly adjacent to Kamchatka where its age is greater than 100 Ma. Consequently, the Wadati-Benioff zone is well defined to depths of approximately 650 km. The central section of the arc is comprised of an oceanic island arc system, which differs from the continental arc systems of the northern and southern sections. Oblique convergence in the southern Kuril arc results in the partitioning of stresses into both trench-normal thrust earthquakes and trench-parallel strike-slip earthquakes, and the westward translation of the Kuril forearc. This westward migration of the Kuril forearc currently results in collision between the Kuril arc in the north and the Japan arc in the south, resulting in the deformation and uplift of the Hidaka Mountains in central Hokkaido.

The Kuril-Kamchatka arc is considered one of the most seismically active regions in the world. Deformation of the overriding North America plate generates shallow crustal earthquakes, whereas slip at the subduction zone interface between the Pacific and North America plates generates interplate earthquakes that extend from near the base of the trench to depths of 40 to 60 km. At greater depths, Kuril-Kamchatka arc earthquakes occur within the subducting Pacific plate and can reach depths of approximately 650 km.

This region has frequently experienced large (M>7) earthquakes over the past century. Since 1900, seven great earthquakes (M8.3 or larger) have also occurred along the arc, with mechanisms that include interplate thrust faulting, and intraplate faulting. Damaging tsunamis followed several of the large interplate megathrust earthquakes. These events include the February 3, 1923 M8.4 Kamchatka, the November 6,1958 M8.4 Etorofu, and the September 25, 2003 M8.3 Hokkaido earthquakes. A large M8.5 megathrust earthquake occurred on October 13, 1963 off the coast of Urup, an island along the southern Kuril arc, which generated a large tsunami in the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk, and caused run-up wave heights of up to 4-5 m along the Kuril arc. The largest megathrust earthquake to occur along the entire Kurile-Kamchatka arc in the 20th century was the November 4, 1952 M9.0 event. This earthquake was followed by a devastating tsunami with run-up wave heights as high as 12 m along the coast of Paramushir, a small island immediately south of Kamchatka, causing significant damage to the city of Severo-Kurilsk.

On October 4,1994, a large (M8.3) intraplate event occurred within the subducted oceanic lithosphere off the coast of Shikotan Island causing intense ground shaking, landslides, and a tsunami with run-up heights of up to 10 m on the island.

The most recent megathrust earthquake in the region was the November 15, 2006 M8.3 Kuril Island event, located in the central section of the arc. Prior to this rupture, this part of the subduction zone had been recognized as a seismic gap spanning from the northeastern end of the 1963 rupture zone to the southwestern end of the 1952 rupture. Two months after the 2006 event, a great (M8.1) normal faulting earthquake occurred on January 13, 2007 in the adjacent outer rise region of the Pacific plate. It has been suggested that the 2007 event may have been caused by the stresses generated from the 2006 earthquake.

Bron The Watchers

The coolant system of the spent fuel pools of reactor1, 3 and 4 has been out of operation for over 3 hours already.

Seismic isolation building has lost power too. Tepco is still investigating the reason.

http://fukushima-diary.com/2013/03/alert-all-powers-been-down-in-fukushima-plant-for-over-3-hours-tepco-investigating-the-reason/

earthquake in Calif. just now – I felt it!! :

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message2164167/pg1

Monday March 11 2013, 16:56:05 UTC 11 minutes ago Southern California 5.1 0.1 USGS Feed Detail
Monday March 11 2013, 16:55:50 UTC 12 minutes ago Southern California 5.2 12.1 USGS Feed Detail
Monday March 11 2013, 16:55:42 UTC 12 minutes ago Southern California 5.1 0.1 USGS Feed Detail

Strong earthquake M 6.5 struck New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 22:51:51 UTC. Epicenter of the earthquake was located 44 km (27 miles) ESE of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea and 138 km (85 miles) E of Lae, Papua New Guinea, at coordinates 6.653°S, 148.155°E and at depth of 28.9 km (18.0 miles). EMSC reported M 6.6 at depth of 60 km.

About 57000 people live within 100 km radius of the epicenter.

GDACS reported this earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the Magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability. As per last report, there was no Tsunami danger.

Intensity shake map of earthquake. Credits: USGS

Tectonic Summary by USGS

Seismotectonics of the New Guinea Region and Vicinity

The Australia-Pacific plate boundary is over 4000 km long on the northern margin, from the Sunda (Java) trench in the west to the Solomon Islands in the east. The eastern section is over 2300 km long, extending west from northeast of the Australian continent and the Coral Sea until it intersects the east coast of Papua New Guinea. The boundary is dominated by the general northward subduction of the Australia plate.

Along the South Solomon trench, the Australia plate converges with the Pacific plate at a rate of approximately 95 mm/yr towards the east-northeast. Seismicity along the trench is dominantly related to subduction tectonics and large earthquakes are common: there have been 13 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded since 1900. On April 1, 2007, a M8.1 interplate megathrust earthquake occurred at the western end of the trench, generating a tsunami and killing at least 40 people. This was the third M8.1 megathrust event associated with this subduction zone in the past century; the other two occurred in 1939 and 1977.

Further east at the New Britain trench, the relative motions of several microplates surrounding the Australia-Pacific boundary, including north-south oriented seafloor spreading in the Woodlark Basin south of the Solomon Islands, maintain the general northward subduction of Australia-affiliated lithosphere beneath Pacific-affiliated lithosphere. Most of the large and great earthquakes east of New Guinea are related to this subduction; such earthquakes are particularly concentrated at the cusp of the trench south of New Ireland. 33 M7.5+ earthquakes have been recorded since 1900, including three shallow thrust fault M8.1 events in 1906, 1919, and 2007.

The western end of the Australia-Pacific plate boundary is perhaps the most complex portion of this boundary, extending 2000 km from Indonesia and the Banda Sea to eastern New Guinea. The boundary is dominantly convergent along an arc-continent collision segment spanning the width of New Guinea, but the regions near the edges of the impinging Australia continental margin also include relatively short segments of extensional, strike-slip and convergent deformation. The dominant convergence is accommodated by shortening and uplift across a 250-350 km-wide band of northern New Guinea, as well as by slow southward-verging subduction of the Pacific plate north of New Guinea at the New Guinea trench. Here, the Australia-Pacific plate relative velocity is approximately 110 mm/yr towards the northeast, leading to the 2-8 mm/yr uplift of the New Guinea Highlands.

Whereas the northern band of deformation is relatively diffuse east of the Indonesia-Papua New Guinea border, in western New Guinea there are at least two small (<100,000 km²) blocks of relatively undeformed lithosphere. The westernmost of these is the Birds Head Peninsula microplate in Indonesia’s West Papua province, bounded on the south by the Seram trench. The Seram trench was originally interpreted as an extreme bend in the Sunda subduction zone, but is now thought to represent a southward-verging subduction zone between Birds Head and the Banda Sea.

There have been 22 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded in the New Guinea region since 1900. The dominant earthquake mechanisms are thrust and strike slip, associated with the arc-continent collision and the relative motions between numerous local microplates. The largest earthquake in the region was a M8.2 shallow thrust fault event in the northern Papua province of Indonesia that killed 166 people in 1996.

The western portion of the northern Australia plate boundary extends approximately 4800 km from New Guinea to Sumatra and primarily separates Australia from the Eurasia plate, including the Sunda block. This portion is dominantly convergent and includes subduction at the Sunda (Java) trench, and a young arc-continent collision.

In the east, this boundary extends from the Kai Islands to Sumba along the Timor trough, offset from the Sunda trench by 250 km south of Sumba. Contrary to earlier tectonic models in which this trough was interpreted as a subduction feature continuous with the Sunda subduction zone, it is now thought to represent a subsiding deformational feature related to the collision of the Australia plate continental margin and the volcanic arc of the Eurasia plate, initiating in the last 5-8 Myr. Before collision began, the Sunda subduction zone extended eastward to at least the Kai Islands, evidenced by the presence of a northward-dipping zone of seismicity beneath Timor Leste. A more detailed examination of the seismic zone along it’s eastern segment reveals a gap in intermediate depth seismicity under Timor and seismic mechanisms that indicate an eastward propagating tear in the descending slab as the negatively buoyant oceanic lithosphere detaches from positively buoyant continental lithosphere. On the surface, GPS measurements indicate that the region around Timor is currently no longer connected to the Eurasia plate, but instead is moving at nearly the same velocity as the Australia plate, another consequence of collision.

Large earthquakes in eastern Indonesia occur frequently but interplate megathrust events related to subduction are rare; this is likely due to the disconnection of the descending oceanic slab from the continental margin. There have been 9 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded from the Kai Islands to Sumba since 1900. The largest was the great Banda Sea earthquake of 1938 (M8.5) an intermediate depth thrust faulting event that did not cause significant loss of life.

Bron  The Watchers

Lava fountains during March 5th paroxysm.

VolcanoDiscovery reports that another paroxysm occurred from the new SE crater during the night. Following a period of increasing strombolian activity, large lava fountains were rising from vent in the saddle between the old and new SE crater as well its summit vent.

Klik hier om de embedded video te bekijken.

Mount Etna, towering above Catania, Sicily’s second largest city, has one of the world’s longest documented records of historical volcanism, dating back to 1500 BC. Historical lava flows of basaltic composition cover much of the surface of this massive volcano, whose edifice is the highest and most voluminous in Italy. The Mongibello stratovolcano, truncated by several small calderas, was constructed during the late Pleistocene and Holocene over an older shield volcano. The most prominent morphological feature of Etna is the Valle del Bove, a 5 x 10 km horseshoe-shaped caldera open to the east.

Two styles of eruptive activity typically occur at Etna. Persistent explosive eruptions, sometimes with minor lava emissions, take place from one or more of the three prominent summit craters, the Central Crater, NE Crater, and SE Crater (the latter formed in 1978). Flank vents, typically with higher effusion rates, are less frequently active and originate from fissures that open progressively downward from near the summit (usually accompanied by strombolian eruptions at the upper end). Cinder cones are commonly constructed over the vents of lower-flank lava flows. Lava flows extend to the foot of the volcano on all sides and have reached the sea over a broad area on the SE flank.

Bron The Watchers

Source parameters reviewed by a seismologist

You felt this earthquake. Tell us! Magnitude Mw 6.5 Region KURIL ISLANDS Date time 2013-03-01 13:20:52.0 UTC Location 50.92 N ; 157.53 E Depth 50 km Distances 1502 km NE Sapporo (pop 1,883,027 ; local time 22:20:52.5 2013-03-01) 250 km S Mokhovaya, petropavlovsk-kamch (pop 22,815 ; local time 01:20:52.5 2013-03-02) 246 km S Petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy (pop 187,282 ; local time 01:20:52.5 2013-03-02) 95 km SE Ozernovskiy (pop 2,615 ; local time 01:20:52.5 2013-03-02)

Source parameters reviewed by a seismologist

Source parameters reviewed by a seismologist

HOUSTON – Een groot rotsblok uit de ruimte, een zogeheten asteroïde, vliegt vrijdag langs de aarde. Voor ruimtebegrippen gebeurt dat rakelings.

Foto:  ANP

 Bekijk video

Rond half negen ’s avonds (Nederlandse tijd) komt het rotsblok het dichtst in de buurt van onze planeet.

De afstand is dan slechts 27.000 kilometer. Voor het eerst in de moderne geschiedenis komt zo’n grote asteroïde zo dichtbij.

Voor sommige weer- en communicatiesatellieten zouden er misschien wel problemen kunnen ontstaan, omdat die ongeveer op dezelfde afstand rond de aarde draaien. De satellieten vallen hoogstwaarschijnlijk uit als zij worden geraakt.

Materialen

Dat de asteroïde zo dichtbij komt, geeft wetenschappers een zeldzame kans om te weten te komen uit welke materialen zo’n rotsblok bestaat. Ook kunnen ze zijn baan voor de komende eeuwen uitrekenen, om te kijken of hij ooit weer dicht bij de aarde komt.

Volgens de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA zijn er naar schatting 500.000 vergelijkbare asteroïden in de omgeving van de aarde, maar minder dan 1 procent daarvan is pas ontdekt.

Er is geen kans om vrijdagavond met het blote oog een glimp van 2012 DA14 op te vangen. Via de NASA-website is de baan van de asteroïde wel goed bij te houden.

Door: ANP ]]> http://sp00kje.nl/2013/02/15/asteroide-scheert-vrijdag-langs-de-aarde/feed/ 0