Eyjafjallajökull Still Tapping Into Earth's Mantle

Earthquakes Indicate Volcanic Activity Persists While NASA Captures Stellar Satellite Image

With a series of earthquakes occurring this week inside Eyjafjallajökull, it seems there is no end in sight for the erupting volcano. In fact, over fifty quakes have been reported since Monday morning, which prove that magma is still flowing into the volcano from the Earth's mantle.

As for the eruption, there was a slight increase in explosive activity Monday, resulting in an ash plume at times shooting up 20,000 feet. At the same time, luck would have it that NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on its Aqua satellite captured the image above. In my opinion it's the best satellite image of Eyjafjallajökull's ash plume yet.

In related news, you can now purchase official Eyjafjallajökull ash online! An Icelandic Internet retailer by the name of nammi.is is selling the ash to support the search and rescue team responsible for safekeeping and restoring work in the area.

Apparently orders have been coming in from across the world... so ummm, get your ash today!

Recent Earthquakes Connected?

The past couple of months have featured some of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). From the Pacific Rim and across Asia, to South America and the Caribbean, and from North America eastward to Europe, it now seems that a major earthquake is becoming an almost daily occurrence. Since early January massive tremors greater than 6.0 and as high as 8.8 have rattled Haiti, California, China, Japan, Indonesia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Taiwan, and now Turkey.

Why is Earth so active and is there a connection between all these events?

Geophysicists say there is a connection and that major earthquakes such as these tend to come in clusters. Back in the early 1960s similar events took place, ending with the great Alaskan quake which triggered a significant tsunami. Dr. Gerard Fryer with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says “plate tectonics are working all the time, constantly grinding together and causing strain to accumulate more and more until suddenly, wham!” The outcome is a cluster of major earthquakes like we are seeing now.

Here’s an interesting fact: the USGS expects that 17 major earthquakes, those between 7.0 and 7.9, and one great quake 8.0 and higher, will affect the world in any given year. So it seems we’re right on target, eh? Well many times these quakes happen well below the surface of the earth, or often times over water where they are hardly felt. Despite the statistic, the USGS is calling the recent spate of quakes unusual.

I’m going to end here by expressing how glad I am that I finally found some information about the recent quakes because each time I get a CNN Breaking News alert on my phone I’m like, AGAIN!?!?! If you’re interested in learning more about these quakes or seismology in general, here’s some fun information I came across in my research…

→ Latest Up-to-the-Minute Earthquakes » click here
→ Earthquake Facts » click here
→ Today in Earthquake History » click here
→ Animations for Earthquake Terms and Concepts » click here

Time Bandit Earthquake Shifts Earth's Axis

Feel like there isn’t enough time in the day??? Well now there is less.

The magnitude 8.8 earthquake that hit Chile over the weekend — killing hundreds, and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless — may have shortened the length of each Earth day, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist, Richard Gross.

Dr. Gross computed how Earth's rotation should have changed as a result of the February 27 quake. Using a complex model, he and fellow scientists came up with a preliminary calculation that the quake should have shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second.) This might not seem like much to you and I, but consider supercomputers that operate millions of times faster where even a few of nanoseconds came make a difference. So much for sleeping in during precious microseconds we just lost forever.

Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis. Gross calculates the quake should have moved Earth's figure axis (the axis about which Earth's mass is balanced) by 2.7 milliseconds (about 8 centimeters, or 3 inches).

Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis; they are offset by about 33 feet. Now consider the earth has shifted, but the GPS satellites have not, which means due to the angles involved there are some positional errors, not to mention that any scientific experiments requiring accurate time will need to take it into account.

Operation Haiti: Search and Rescue Weather

In the wake of the strongest earthquake in centuries to disasterize (new word made up right here at The Northeast Quadrant) Haiti, what will the weather be like?

The first 36 hours following a major earthquake are the most critical. This time frame is the most dire for victims being rescued. Nearly 18 hours since the earthquake hit, weather is cooperating for search and rescue operations.

The next several days near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince will be sunny and mostly dry, with just a slight chance of showers here and there. This forecast will likely aid recovery and cleanup efforts following the earthquake.

However, one thing to note is that the Caribbean Islands are now in their "dry season," meaning there is very little humidity accompanying very warm temperatures near 90 degrees, Fahrenheit. So while the weather will cooperate for those involved in the search and rescue mission, victims of the quake will need to scouer for any and all resources for remaining hydrated in these conditions.

Haitian Quake Impacts Likely to Trump that of Major Hurricanes

As we've all heard, a devastating and destructive earthquake rattled the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince this evening.

Haiti, which occupies the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds), is considered one of the poorest countries in the Americas and is hardly able to withstand a severe magnitude 7.0 earthquake like the one that struck the region tonight.

Experts are saying that because of the earthquake's proximity to the capital, and because the city is densely populated and has poorly constructed housing (nearly 80 percent of the country lives below the poverty line), it could cause significant damage and casualties. Situated in the heart of hurricane alley, this is something that Haiti is unfortunately no stranger to.

In 1994 Hurricane Gordon tore through the nation causing major damage and killing more than 1,000 people. Four years later in 1998 Hurricane Georges, on it's path towards the Gulf of Mexico, passed through Haiti killing more than 400 people and destroyed the majority of the country's crops.

More recently during the epic hurricane season of 2004, heavy rains from Hurricane Jeanne, which did not even landfall on the island of Hispaniola, caused landslides and flooding that killed more than 3,000 people. Last year (i.e. Hurricane Season 2008) Haiti was hit heavily again, when four tropical systems passed through: Tropical Storm Fay, Major Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna and Major Hurricane Ike.

Despite the recent cyclonic blows by Mother Nature to the already ravished Caribbean island, it appears likely that, in terms of damage and death toll combined, the January 12, 2010 7.0 earthquake will go down as Haiti's costliest natural disaster.

As daylight shows it gloomy face tomorrow morning, the picture will become much clearer as to just how bad things are. Stay tuned to major news outlets for this developing story.

Watching Today's 6.5 Quake on Twitter - Courtesy Of USGS

Tonight's 6.5-magnitude earthquake which struck off California's northern coast put a new US Geological Survey (USGS) Twitter Based Earthquake system to the test.

Thanks to some TARP funds, USGS developed the Twitter Early Detection project or TED. The system gathers real-time, earthquake-related messages from the social networking site Twitter and applies place, time, and key word filtering to gather geo-located accounts of shaking.

While only anecdotal evidence, Twitter users report information about quakes in a matter of seconds, whereas accurate scientific information can take from 2 to 20 minutes. By adopting and embracing these new technologies, the USGS potentially can augment its earthquake response products and the delivery of hazard information.

I think this innovative use ofnew technologies by USGS is awesomeness! Check out the google map of tweets from today's earthquake here.