Saturday, April 20, 2013

Weekend Update: Earthquakes, Golan Instability, Things To Come




Earthquakes have been increasing recently and this story isn't receiving much attention. 

First, just take a glance at the quake monitor and one can visually see the various quakes:












This page will automatically refresh every 8 minutes. Keep it open in a browser tab.
Update 13:01 UTC : 6000 people are now reported as injured
Update 12:56 UTC : The China Meteorological Bureau expects rain in Lushan
- Some seriously injured people have been transported to Chengdu, the provincial capital  who has a lot more facilities
Update 12:45 UTC : We are posting regular updates on TWITTER and FACEBOOK about the continuing events. Please subscrive to our accounts if you want to become a well informed world citizen.
We can propose you also to leave this page open in a browser tab. It will refresh even in the background. When you return you will always have the latest numbers and information
Update 12:43 UTC : 7,941 soldiers are at work in the earthquake zone at this moment. 10,000 more are standing by to be dispatched if a call comes from the disaster command.
Update 12:31 UTC : Earthquake-report.com expresses his admiration towards the Chinese SAR and Relief forces. They are doing a very great job. Chinese authorities have invested huge amounts of money in the organization of disaster response. It will not be perfect and people will be critical from all sites, but as 24/24 7/7 followers of earthquake disasters we are well placed to compare disaster response. We can only admire the efforts of the Chinese community.
Update 12:26 UTC : The death toll has further risen to 156.  More than 2,000 people injured








 A strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit a remote, mostly rural and mountainous area of southwestern China's Sichuan province on Saturday, killing at least 102 people and injuring about 2,200 close to where a big quake killed almost 70,000 people in 2008. 
The earthquake occurred at 8.02 a.m. (8:02 a.m. ET) in Lushan county near Ya'an city and the epicenter had a depth of 7.5 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. 
The quake was felt by residents in neighboring provinces and in the provincial capital of Chengdu, causing many people to rush out of buildings, according to accounts on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo microblogging service. 












The depth of the hypocenter is the main reason that this earthquake was felt as far as Tokyo, 1500 km away from the epicenter. More or less similar than the Iran/Pakistan M7.8 earthquake who happened earlier this week. The depth of that earthquake was 82 km.
The hypocenter or focal depth of these earthquakes are occurring in the hot solid mantle of the earth.
Intermediate to deep depths are seriously weakening the shaking impact earthquakes.


Update 22:19 UTC : Aftershock of M6.2 at 19:58 is also harmless because far out in the sea
Update 12:07 UTC : A 20 cm tsunami wave did hit the Sakhalin coast, harmless of course. Strong currents can always be expected after such a powerful earthquake.
Based on the theoretical calculations of USGS approx. 2000 people will have felt a moderate shaking and 2000 a light shaking
Our second map below shows the epicenter area as a location which gets regular very strong to massive earthquakes.
USGS reported a depth of 122 km and EMSC 100 km. Far too deep to generate a tsunami at this Magnitude.




Also see:







Golan Heights residents reported hearing a number of blasts near the Syrian border on Saturday morning, according to Walla News.
Israeli security forces were scouring the area for possible mortars fired from Syria. There were no reports of damage or injuries.
Last week, IDF forces came under artillery and small arms fire along the Syrian border. Forces stationed along the border returned fire at the Syrian army post with a Tammuz missile. Israeli authorities notified the United Nations of the incident.






The following story hasn't received much publicity but this could end up being very interesting and pivotal in Israeli plans to take out Iran's nuclear facilities:







US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will finalize a huge arms deal with Israel during his visit starting Saturday, under which Israel will for the first time be permitted to purchase US aerial refueling planes and other ultra-sophisticated military equipment that could prove vital to any Israel strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.


The deal is to be finalized during Hagel’s visit — his first stop on his first overseas trip since taking over from Leon Panetta — during his talks with Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. But most of its content was agreed upon with Ya’alon’s predecessor Ehud Barak. Hagel’s first meeting with a foreign counterpart after taking up his post was with Barak at the Pentagon in early March. Hagel said at that meeting that, while the US continues to believe there is still time to address the threat of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons through diplomacy, that window is closing.


Prominent among the Israeli purchases are an undisclosed number of KC-135 aerial refueling planes. Previously, the US refused to sell such planes to Israel. “The change of policy,” Israel’s Channel 2 reported on Friday night, constitutes “something of a hint over the understandings between the two nations regarding the possibility that Israel will seek (US assent) to strike at Iran.”



Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long indicated a readiness to resort to force if all else fails to halt Iran’s nuclear program, and has repeatedly alleged that the West is being duped by Iran in diplomatic contacts, and that Tehran is merely “buying time” while it advances toward the bomb. The danger posed by Iran was the key issue discussed by Netanyahu and Barack Obama when the US president visited Israel last month.


The “new generation of KC-135 refueling tanker planes would let Israel’s warplanes stay in the air longer, an ability essential for any long-range mission — like a strike by Iran,” the New York Times reported Friday.
KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft “would allow Israeli war planes to stay in the air for longer to carry out long-range missions — such as a strike on Iran’s nuclear installations,” echoed London’s Daily Telegraph.



Also being purchased by Israel are V-22 Osprey aircraft, a tilt-rotor hybrid that can take off and land like a helicopter and then fly like an airplane, as well as precision-guided missiles and advanced radar for Israeli fighter aircraft. It would be the first sale of the V-22 to a foreign nation. “Israel could use the Osprey for patrolling its borders, coastline and out to sea, and for moving troops to troubled areas,” Friday’s Times report said.
The Times added: “Israel also would receive antiradiation missiles. Launched from a warplane, they can home in on an adversary’s air-defense radar signals and destroy those sites. New, advanced radars for Israel’s military jets also would be in the package.”

One goal of the overall arms deal, the Times said, was “to ensure that Israel continues to field the most capable armed forces in the region to deter Iran and counter a range of threats.”

The arms sale was outlined to Congress on Thursday, the Times said. “Congressional officials said members were seeking assurances that the package was in keeping with American policy to guarantee Israel’s ‘qualitative military edge’ while not recklessly emboldening Israeli hawks,” it added — a presumed reference to any possible Israeli military intervention in Iran. Obama made clear while in Israel that he did not believe time had run out on a diplomatic solution.



In all, the US Defense Department is working out final details of a huge $10 billion in sales of warplanes, transport aircraft, and advanced missiles to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, amid concerns about the growing threat from Iran, Pentagon and congressional officials said. Israel’s purchases will largely be financed out of the annual US military aid package to Israel.
The US has spent the past year negotiating with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates on the deals.






Things to come?


Of course, the 'authorities' had to do whatever was necessary to catch the Boston bombers (assuming they have captured/killed the right people) and in this instance it seems justified. But the following images are haunting as we can see how easily martial law can be enforced, and we may just be getting a glimpse of what is to come on a larger scale - hopefully after the gathering up:



Things To Come?





2 comments:

Caver said...

Ok, just sitting here looking at all those rubber bands stretched so tight and wondering which is gonna be the first to give it up and cause the mass chain reaction.

Geepers, can you imagine the fur ball of loose ends flying around at that moment in time? Kind of makes you want to suit up in the "full armor" but get all your "loose ends" tied up nice-n-neat at the same time.

Course, most folk don't want to hear about it, much less do anything about it. So guess our "loose ends" knot has to be making sure they know what's happening to them when the whiplash thrashing fur ball starts. Maybe, just maybe, most of them will "get the message" and figure out their Knees have another use and they have that one last chance.

Praying it doesn't take them this long, but afraid most will.

Jesus, You are our King, our Lord, our Kinsman Redeemer, our Savor....and our Super Hero. Your bride is so ready.

Scott said...

Same here Caver. ALthough sometimes, part of me is envious to those who are oblivious - I actually believe that the HS is holding things at bay....Its quite possible that the band won't pop until the restrainer is removed - I'm leaning more and more in that direction lately