Sunday, March 28, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Multi-awarded actor and director Cesar “Buboy” Montano's son, Christian Angelo 23, died from a gunshot wound in the head.
See story below:
Son of actor Cesar Montano found dead in QC home
A 23-year-old son of actor-politician Cesar Montano was found dead in his house in Quezon City early Friday, in what police said was an apparent suicide.
Quezon City police deputy for operations Senior Superintendent Audie Arroyo said Christian Angelo Montano died from a gunshot wound in the head.
"Meron po, confirmed. Tinawagan ng Station 6, meron talaga na-receive na report. Anak ito ni Cesar Montano, Christian Angelo, 23 years old (Yes, it's confirmed, based on a report from our police station 6. The victim is the son of Cesar Montano, Christian Angelo, 23 years old)," Arroyo said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
The elder Montano is running for governor of Bohol province under the Liberal Party in the May 10 elections. He lost in the 2007 senatorial polls.
Citing initial reports reaching him, Arroyo said they received a call from Montano's household at 5:49 a.m.
Minutes later, a police team reached the house and found the victim with a gunshot wound to the head.
"Nakita nila may tama sa ulo ang bata (The team saw the victim with a gunshot wound to the head)," Arroyo said.
"Ang security guard, sabi may nagpakatiwakal (The security guard at the house said someone tried to kill himself)," he added.
A separate report by dzBB radio's Manny Vargas said the younger Montano was declared dead on arrival at the General Malvar Hospital in Quezon City.
Dr. Ed Antonio of the hospital's emergency room said the victim sustained a gunshot wound in the right temple, and an exit wound at the back of the head. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV
See story below:
Son of actor Cesar Montano found dead in QC home
A 23-year-old son of actor-politician Cesar Montano was found dead in his house in Quezon City early Friday, in what police said was an apparent suicide.
Quezon City police deputy for operations Senior Superintendent Audie Arroyo said Christian Angelo Montano died from a gunshot wound in the head.
"Meron po, confirmed. Tinawagan ng Station 6, meron talaga na-receive na report. Anak ito ni Cesar Montano, Christian Angelo, 23 years old (Yes, it's confirmed, based on a report from our police station 6. The victim is the son of Cesar Montano, Christian Angelo, 23 years old)," Arroyo said in an interview on dwIZ radio.
The elder Montano is running for governor of Bohol province under the Liberal Party in the May 10 elections. He lost in the 2007 senatorial polls.
Citing initial reports reaching him, Arroyo said they received a call from Montano's household at 5:49 a.m.
Minutes later, a police team reached the house and found the victim with a gunshot wound to the head.
"Nakita nila may tama sa ulo ang bata (The team saw the victim with a gunshot wound to the head)," Arroyo said.
"Ang security guard, sabi may nagpakatiwakal (The security guard at the house said someone tried to kill himself)," he added.
A separate report by dzBB radio's Manny Vargas said the younger Montano was declared dead on arrival at the General Malvar Hospital in Quezon City.
Dr. Ed Antonio of the hospital's emergency room said the victim sustained a gunshot wound in the right temple, and an exit wound at the back of the head. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV
Earthquake of 6.0 magnitude hit Metro Manila
Metro Manila was hit by 6.0 magnitude earthquake thurday at 1:29 p.m. I didn't feel it because I was riding a tricycle. I only learned about it when I heard people talking about it.
For more of the news, read story below from Business Mirror:
Magnitude-6 earthquake rocks Metro, nearby provinces
THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said a magnitude-6.0 earthquake rocked Metro Manila and nearby provinces at about 1:29 p.m. on Thursday, causing panic across the metropolis but no damage had been reported so far.
Renato Solidum, Phivolcs director, said the tectonic temblor was caused by movements of fault along Lubang Island near the South China Sea.
The epicenter of the quake was traced at 27 kilometers northwest of Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro.
“We urge the public to stay calm,” Solidum said, adding the people must not panic should aftershocks ensue.
“So far we have yet to receive reports of damage, but we recorded 10 feeble aftershocks,” he said.
The Phivolcs head said areas surrounding the fragile Marikina Valley System, the most active fault line in the country, were not severely affected although more than 30-second shaking was felt in Pasig City.
“It’s because the epicenter of the quake is in Mindoro. But we received reports that they felt mild to moderate temblor there,” he said.
The quake was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 25 kilometers underground.
It was felt at Intensity 4 in Quezon City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Makati City, Pasay City, Taguig City and Talisay, Batangas.
Intensity 3 was felt in Marikina City, Tagaytay City, Bagac, Bataan; Canlubang, Laguna; Clark Field, Pampanga; Rosario and Trece Martires City in Cavite.
Intensity 2 was registered in Calamba, Laguna; Legazpi City, Albay; and Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.
No tsunami warning was issued as the tremor was not strong enough to generate powerful waves. Earthquakes measuring Magnitude 7 and up can trigger a tsunami.
Solidum said the public must prepare for occurrence like this as the country is prone to earthquakes.
The Philippines sits along the so-called earthquake belt called the Ring of Fire, a band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
This causes the frequent seismic activity in the country, which typically averages 20 earthquakes per day.
“The key is to be informed, be prepared,” Solidum said. --PNA
For more of the news, read story below from Business Mirror:
Magnitude-6 earthquake rocks Metro, nearby provinces
THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said a magnitude-6.0 earthquake rocked Metro Manila and nearby provinces at about 1:29 p.m. on Thursday, causing panic across the metropolis but no damage had been reported so far.
Renato Solidum, Phivolcs director, said the tectonic temblor was caused by movements of fault along Lubang Island near the South China Sea.
The epicenter of the quake was traced at 27 kilometers northwest of Lubang Island in Occidental Mindoro.
“We urge the public to stay calm,” Solidum said, adding the people must not panic should aftershocks ensue.
“So far we have yet to receive reports of damage, but we recorded 10 feeble aftershocks,” he said.
The Phivolcs head said areas surrounding the fragile Marikina Valley System, the most active fault line in the country, were not severely affected although more than 30-second shaking was felt in Pasig City.
“It’s because the epicenter of the quake is in Mindoro. But we received reports that they felt mild to moderate temblor there,” he said.
The quake was tectonic in origin and had a depth of 25 kilometers underground.
It was felt at Intensity 4 in Quezon City, Mandaluyong City, Pasig City, Makati City, Pasay City, Taguig City and Talisay, Batangas.
Intensity 3 was felt in Marikina City, Tagaytay City, Bagac, Bataan; Canlubang, Laguna; Clark Field, Pampanga; Rosario and Trece Martires City in Cavite.
Intensity 2 was registered in Calamba, Laguna; Legazpi City, Albay; and Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro.
No tsunami warning was issued as the tremor was not strong enough to generate powerful waves. Earthquakes measuring Magnitude 7 and up can trigger a tsunami.
Solidum said the public must prepare for occurrence like this as the country is prone to earthquakes.
The Philippines sits along the so-called earthquake belt called the Ring of Fire, a band of volcanoes and fault lines circling the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
This causes the frequent seismic activity in the country, which typically averages 20 earthquakes per day.
“The key is to be informed, be prepared,” Solidum said. --PNA
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Another volcano eruption, this time in Iceland
Another volcano eruption, this time in Iceland.
Read story below from Associated Press
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — A volcano erupted near a glacier in southern Iceland, shooting ash and molten lava into the air and forcing the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of people from nearby villages.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, but a state of emergency was declared and scientists feared the eruption could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at the Katla volcano.
Saturday's eruption, which occurred just before midnight (2000 EDT, 8 p.m. EDT), came weeks after a series of small earthquakes. Television footage showed lava flows along the fissure.
"This was a rather small and peaceful eruption but we are concerned that it could trigger an eruption at the nearby Katla volcano, a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage," said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science.
Authorities evacuated 450 people between the farming village of Hvolsvollur and the fishing village of Vik, some 160 kilometres southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, said Vidir Reynisson of the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.
Evacuation centres were set up near the town of Hella. The most immediate threat was to livestock because of the caustic gases.
"We had to leave all our animals behind," Elin Ragnarsdottir, a 47-year-old farmer, told RUV, Iceland's national broadcaster from an evacuation centre. "We got a call and a text message ... and we just went."
Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. Volcanic eruptions, common throughout Iceland's history, are often triggered by seismic activity when the Earth's plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface.
Scientists in Iceland have been monitoring the recent activity using seismometers and global positioning instruments. Like earthquakes, however, it is difficult to predict the exact timing of eruptions.
"The volcano has been inflating since the beginning of the year, both rising and swelling," Einarsson told The Associated Press. "Even though we were seeing increased seismic activity, it could have been months or years before we saw an eruption like this ... we couldn't say that there was an imminent risk for the area."
The population around the Eyjafjallajokull volcano and the glacier that bears the same name is sparse -- unlike the area around the Katla volcano, which is also covered by glacial ice and poses a greater danger of floods, according to Einarsson.
"One of the possible scenarios we're looking at is that this small eruption could bring about something bigger. This said, we can't speculate on when that could happen," he said in an interview.
Authorities initially feared the eruption occurred below the 160 square-kilometre Eyjafjallajokull glacier and could have triggered floods if the glacial ice melted. But after an aerial survey Sunday they concluded that the eruption struck near the glacier in an area where there was no ice.
"This is the best possible place for an eruption," said Tumi Gudumundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland.
There hasn't been an eruption near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier since 1821.
The Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration ordered aircraft to stay 120 nautical miles away from the volcano area due to low visibility in some areas.
All domestic flights were cancelled until further notice, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reported, but Reykjavik appeared to be unaffected with clear visibility.
Three Icelandair flights from the U.S. -- departing from Seattle, Boston and Orlando, Florida -- bound for Keflavik airport in Reykjavik were turned back to Boston, leaving about 500 people waiting, the airline said.
Flights to Stockholm, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt were scheduled to leave Sunday but a flight to Oslo was cancelled and passengers were being rerouted. The airline expected further delays throughout Sunday.
First settled by Vikings in the 9th century, Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of its volcanos and glaciers. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the Hekla volcano the "Gateway to Hell," believing that souls were dragged below. Hekla is Iceland's most active volcano.
In the mid-1780s, the Laki volcano erupted, prompting scores to die of famine when livestock and crops were destroyed.
Iceland, an island with a population of just 320,000, has been better known recently for its financial troubles.
After a decade of dizzying economic growth that saw Icelandic banks and companies snap up assets around the world, the global financial crisis wreaked political and economic havoc on the island nation. Iceland's banks collapsed within a week in October 2008, its krona currency plummeted and protests toppled the government.
The new left-of-centre government has been trying to negotiate a plan to repay $3.5 billion to Britain and $1.8 billion to the Netherlands as compensation for funds that those governments paid to citizens who had accounts with Icesave, an Icelandic Internet bank that failed along with its parent, Landsbanki.
Icelandic voters this month resoundingly rejected a $5.3-billion plan to repay that debt.
Read story below from Associated Press
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — A volcano erupted near a glacier in southern Iceland, shooting ash and molten lava into the air and forcing the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of people from nearby villages.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, but a state of emergency was declared and scientists feared the eruption could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at the Katla volcano.
Saturday's eruption, which occurred just before midnight (2000 EDT, 8 p.m. EDT), came weeks after a series of small earthquakes. Television footage showed lava flows along the fissure.
"This was a rather small and peaceful eruption but we are concerned that it could trigger an eruption at the nearby Katla volcano, a vicious volcano that could cause both local and global damage," said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science.
Authorities evacuated 450 people between the farming village of Hvolsvollur and the fishing village of Vik, some 160 kilometres southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, said Vidir Reynisson of the Icelandic Civil Protection Department.
Evacuation centres were set up near the town of Hella. The most immediate threat was to livestock because of the caustic gases.
"We had to leave all our animals behind," Elin Ragnarsdottir, a 47-year-old farmer, told RUV, Iceland's national broadcaster from an evacuation centre. "We got a call and a text message ... and we just went."
Iceland sits on a large volcanic hot spot in the Atlantic's mid-oceanic ridge. Volcanic eruptions, common throughout Iceland's history, are often triggered by seismic activity when the Earth's plates move and when magma from deep underground pushes its way to the surface.
Scientists in Iceland have been monitoring the recent activity using seismometers and global positioning instruments. Like earthquakes, however, it is difficult to predict the exact timing of eruptions.
"The volcano has been inflating since the beginning of the year, both rising and swelling," Einarsson told The Associated Press. "Even though we were seeing increased seismic activity, it could have been months or years before we saw an eruption like this ... we couldn't say that there was an imminent risk for the area."
The population around the Eyjafjallajokull volcano and the glacier that bears the same name is sparse -- unlike the area around the Katla volcano, which is also covered by glacial ice and poses a greater danger of floods, according to Einarsson.
"One of the possible scenarios we're looking at is that this small eruption could bring about something bigger. This said, we can't speculate on when that could happen," he said in an interview.
Authorities initially feared the eruption occurred below the 160 square-kilometre Eyjafjallajokull glacier and could have triggered floods if the glacial ice melted. But after an aerial survey Sunday they concluded that the eruption struck near the glacier in an area where there was no ice.
"This is the best possible place for an eruption," said Tumi Gudumundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland.
There hasn't been an eruption near the Eyjafjallajokull glacier since 1821.
The Icelandic Civil Aviation Administration ordered aircraft to stay 120 nautical miles away from the volcano area due to low visibility in some areas.
All domestic flights were cancelled until further notice, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reported, but Reykjavik appeared to be unaffected with clear visibility.
Three Icelandair flights from the U.S. -- departing from Seattle, Boston and Orlando, Florida -- bound for Keflavik airport in Reykjavik were turned back to Boston, leaving about 500 people waiting, the airline said.
Flights to Stockholm, London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt were scheduled to leave Sunday but a flight to Oslo was cancelled and passengers were being rerouted. The airline expected further delays throughout Sunday.
First settled by Vikings in the 9th century, Iceland is known as the land of fire and ice because of its volcanos and glaciers. During the Middle Ages, Icelanders called the Hekla volcano the "Gateway to Hell," believing that souls were dragged below. Hekla is Iceland's most active volcano.
In the mid-1780s, the Laki volcano erupted, prompting scores to die of famine when livestock and crops were destroyed.
Iceland, an island with a population of just 320,000, has been better known recently for its financial troubles.
After a decade of dizzying economic growth that saw Icelandic banks and companies snap up assets around the world, the global financial crisis wreaked political and economic havoc on the island nation. Iceland's banks collapsed within a week in October 2008, its krona currency plummeted and protests toppled the government.
The new left-of-centre government has been trying to negotiate a plan to repay $3.5 billion to Britain and $1.8 billion to the Netherlands as compensation for funds that those governments paid to citizens who had accounts with Icesave, an Icelandic Internet bank that failed along with its parent, Landsbanki.
Icelandic voters this month resoundingly rejected a $5.3-billion plan to repay that debt.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Peter Graves died at 83.
Peter Graves the favorite lead in "Mission Impossible" by two generations died at the age of 83.
I remember him very well, the good looking guy of "Mission Impossible". My siblings, the 12 of us would gather in our sala to watch him. Our children are also fan of Peter.
Our condolences to his family.
For details read story below:
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Actor Peter Graves, best known for his starring role on TV's "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday. He was 83.
While the cause of the actor's death was not immediately known, he apparently suffered a heart attack, his publicist said.
Graves had gone to brunch with his family Sunday morning. After they returned home and entered the house, one of his daughters began to wonder why he hadn't come back inside with them, said publicist Sandy Brokaw.
The family went outside and found Graves had collapsed. His daughter performed CPR but was unsuccessful in reviving the actor, Brokaw said.
Graves had been in good health and was celebrating 60 years of marriage and 60 years in the entertainment business. He was still pursuing work when he died, the publicist said.
Share your memories of Peter Graves
He is best known for playing the character Jim Phelps for all but one of the seven years "Mission: Impossible" ran on CBS, from 1967-1973. He won a Golden Globe in 1971 for his work on the show, and was also nominated for an Emmy.
He reprised the role from 1988 to 1990 when the show resurfaced on ABC.
In an interview with CNN in 1996, Graves expressed disappointment with Hollywood's movie version of "Mission: Impossible" -- starring Tom Cruise -- which included none of the stars from the original TV series. Actor Jon Voight played the Phelps character.
"I am sorry that they chose to call him Phelps," he said at the time. "They could have solved that very easily by either having me in a scene in the very beginning, or reading a telegram from me saying, 'Hey boys, I'm retired, gone to Hawaii. Thank you, goodbye, you take over now.' "
Graves also appeared as Capt. Clarence Oveur in the 1980 movie spoof "Airplane!" -- a role he originally turned down, according to the Web's Internet Movie Database. He changed his mind after meeting with the film's writers, according to IMDb.
In recent years, Graves was part of a larger group that won an Outstanding Informational Series Emmy for the 1997 TV documentary "Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow." Graves hosted the documentary.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Endress, and three daughters, Kelly, Claudia and Amanda Graves, according to IMDb. Graves was the younger brother of actor James Arness, who starred in the long-running TV series "Gunsmoke," as Marshal Matt Dillon.
CNN's Douglas Hyde contributed to this report.
I remember him very well, the good looking guy of "Mission Impossible". My siblings, the 12 of us would gather in our sala to watch him. Our children are also fan of Peter.
Our condolences to his family.
For details read story below:
Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Actor Peter Graves, best known for his starring role on TV's "Mission: Impossible," died Sunday. He was 83.
While the cause of the actor's death was not immediately known, he apparently suffered a heart attack, his publicist said.
Graves had gone to brunch with his family Sunday morning. After they returned home and entered the house, one of his daughters began to wonder why he hadn't come back inside with them, said publicist Sandy Brokaw.
The family went outside and found Graves had collapsed. His daughter performed CPR but was unsuccessful in reviving the actor, Brokaw said.
Graves had been in good health and was celebrating 60 years of marriage and 60 years in the entertainment business. He was still pursuing work when he died, the publicist said.
Share your memories of Peter Graves
He is best known for playing the character Jim Phelps for all but one of the seven years "Mission: Impossible" ran on CBS, from 1967-1973. He won a Golden Globe in 1971 for his work on the show, and was also nominated for an Emmy.
He reprised the role from 1988 to 1990 when the show resurfaced on ABC.
In an interview with CNN in 1996, Graves expressed disappointment with Hollywood's movie version of "Mission: Impossible" -- starring Tom Cruise -- which included none of the stars from the original TV series. Actor Jon Voight played the Phelps character.
"I am sorry that they chose to call him Phelps," he said at the time. "They could have solved that very easily by either having me in a scene in the very beginning, or reading a telegram from me saying, 'Hey boys, I'm retired, gone to Hawaii. Thank you, goodbye, you take over now.' "
Graves also appeared as Capt. Clarence Oveur in the 1980 movie spoof "Airplane!" -- a role he originally turned down, according to the Web's Internet Movie Database. He changed his mind after meeting with the film's writers, according to IMDb.
In recent years, Graves was part of a larger group that won an Outstanding Informational Series Emmy for the 1997 TV documentary "Judy Garland: Beyond the Rainbow." Graves hosted the documentary.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Endress, and three daughters, Kelly, Claudia and Amanda Graves, according to IMDb. Graves was the younger brother of actor James Arness, who starred in the long-running TV series "Gunsmoke," as Marshal Matt Dillon.
CNN's Douglas Hyde contributed to this report.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Earth's Axis Shifted by About 3 Inches
Scientists figure that the earth's axis shifted by three inches because of the earthquakes, typhoons, sloshing ocean waters.
For story, read below:
How The Chilean Quake Moved An Entire Planet
by Richard Harris, NPR
The magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile this weekend apparently changed the length of the day — and shifted the way the Earth wobbles, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Not that anyone noticed.
Here's why scientists figure that the Earth changed the way it rotates: It turns out our planet doesn't spin like a perfect top; it actually wobbles a bit.
"The consequence of that is that the rotation pole actually moves, and it moves over the area about the size of a tennis court," says Richard O'Connell at Harvard University.
This is called the Chandler wobble. And back in the mid 1970s, O'Connell wrote a paper that showed how big earthquakes keep kicking the Earth and by so doing keep the Earth wobbling.
The Earth's Wandering, Wobbly Axis
Now we know that earthquakes aren't alone in keeping that wobble going. It's also propelled by sloshing ocean waters and by huge air masses like typhoons.
All this shifting around can also change the speed at which the Earth spins. And that of course affects the length of a day.
So how much difference can an enormous quake make? Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory figure that the shift caused by Saturday's quake in Chile should have shortened each day on Earth by about a millionth of a second. They also figure that the Earth's wobbly axis should have shifted by about 3 inches within that tennis-court-size area where it tends to wander.
But did it? It's Brian Luzum's job at the U.S. Naval Observatory to keep tabs on the Earth's rotation and orientation. And he says even the best instruments in the world can't measure a change in day length as small as a millionth of a second.
The Wobble Doesn't Show Up In Data
It is possible to measure the Earth's wobble pretty precisely. But considering how many things affect that wobble, it's hard to see the effect of the quake as well.
"So on a day-to-day basis, we actually will see changes on the order of 2 to 3 inches happening every day, and to try to pick out this signal in and among all the other signals, is just not really feasible," Luzum says.
The one hope was that the quake changed the wobble so abruptly that it would show up on the data.
"That's what you'd like to see to give you that eureka moment, but when we do look at the data, no such jump exists," Luzum says.
Theory says it happened, but the observations thus far aren't good enough to back that up.
Melting Ice Also Moved The Earth
But if these planetary effects are trivial on a day-to-day basis, they can really add up over geological time. Adam Maloof at Princeton University notes that ice has been melting over the past 12,000 years, as we come out of the last ice age. That's changing the Earth's orientation by about an inch, each and every year.
"You can imagine that as the ice melts you are redistributing the mass on the surface of the Earth," Maloof says. "So all this water that's caught up in the ice in poles is melting and moving into the oceans at lower latitudes."
And if you go way back in time — like to a period 800 million years ago — this kind of movement was dramatic. Over the course of a few million years, the land mass at the North Pole shifted monumentally: It slid south by 50 degrees.
"That's basically like taking Paris to the equator," Maloof says.
Nobody knows why this happened, though Maloof says one idea is that a huge volcanic plume, like the one that created the Hawaiian Islands, developed near one of the poles and that lopsided mass forced the Earth to rotate.
"It would have had major ramifications for sea level, climate, landscape, equilibrium, all sorts of effects like this," he says.
As for the effect of one quick catastrophic event: It's fair to say the Chilean quake touched hearts around the world more tangibly than it changed the spin of our planet.
For story, read below:
How The Chilean Quake Moved An Entire Planet
by Richard Harris, NPR
The magnitude 8.8 quake in Chile this weekend apparently changed the length of the day — and shifted the way the Earth wobbles, according to scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Not that anyone noticed.
Here's why scientists figure that the Earth changed the way it rotates: It turns out our planet doesn't spin like a perfect top; it actually wobbles a bit.
"The consequence of that is that the rotation pole actually moves, and it moves over the area about the size of a tennis court," says Richard O'Connell at Harvard University.
This is called the Chandler wobble. And back in the mid 1970s, O'Connell wrote a paper that showed how big earthquakes keep kicking the Earth and by so doing keep the Earth wobbling.
The Earth's Wandering, Wobbly Axis
Now we know that earthquakes aren't alone in keeping that wobble going. It's also propelled by sloshing ocean waters and by huge air masses like typhoons.
All this shifting around can also change the speed at which the Earth spins. And that of course affects the length of a day.
So how much difference can an enormous quake make? Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory figure that the shift caused by Saturday's quake in Chile should have shortened each day on Earth by about a millionth of a second. They also figure that the Earth's wobbly axis should have shifted by about 3 inches within that tennis-court-size area where it tends to wander.
But did it? It's Brian Luzum's job at the U.S. Naval Observatory to keep tabs on the Earth's rotation and orientation. And he says even the best instruments in the world can't measure a change in day length as small as a millionth of a second.
The Wobble Doesn't Show Up In Data
It is possible to measure the Earth's wobble pretty precisely. But considering how many things affect that wobble, it's hard to see the effect of the quake as well.
"So on a day-to-day basis, we actually will see changes on the order of 2 to 3 inches happening every day, and to try to pick out this signal in and among all the other signals, is just not really feasible," Luzum says.
The one hope was that the quake changed the wobble so abruptly that it would show up on the data.
"That's what you'd like to see to give you that eureka moment, but when we do look at the data, no such jump exists," Luzum says.
Theory says it happened, but the observations thus far aren't good enough to back that up.
Melting Ice Also Moved The Earth
But if these planetary effects are trivial on a day-to-day basis, they can really add up over geological time. Adam Maloof at Princeton University notes that ice has been melting over the past 12,000 years, as we come out of the last ice age. That's changing the Earth's orientation by about an inch, each and every year.
"You can imagine that as the ice melts you are redistributing the mass on the surface of the Earth," Maloof says. "So all this water that's caught up in the ice in poles is melting and moving into the oceans at lower latitudes."
And if you go way back in time — like to a period 800 million years ago — this kind of movement was dramatic. Over the course of a few million years, the land mass at the North Pole shifted monumentally: It slid south by 50 degrees.
"That's basically like taking Paris to the equator," Maloof says.
Nobody knows why this happened, though Maloof says one idea is that a huge volcanic plume, like the one that created the Hawaiian Islands, developed near one of the poles and that lopsided mass forced the Earth to rotate.
"It would have had major ramifications for sea level, climate, landscape, equilibrium, all sorts of effects like this," he says.
As for the effect of one quick catastrophic event: It's fair to say the Chilean quake touched hearts around the world more tangibly than it changed the spin of our planet.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
6.1 Quake in Tuguegarao, Cagayan
A 6.1 quake visited Tuguegaro, Cagayan, Phils. while Pres. Arroyo was delivering her speech in Florencio Vargas College in the said city.
For more of the news, read story below:
6.1 quake shakes GMA in Cagayan
By GENALYN KABILING, FREDDIE G. LAZARO
March 2, 2010, 5:47pm
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” President Arroyo said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” President Arroyo said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
Shaken but not stirred.
President Arroyo endured Tuesday a powerful earthquake in Cagayan while visiting the El Niño-hit province on the second day of her North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle tour.
The President was delivering a speech in Florencio Vargas College in Tuguegaro City when a magnitude 6.1 quake suddenly struck the northernmost region shortly before lunch, forcing her to pause for several seconds until the ground stopped shaking.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the epicenter of the quake was located at 130 kms. north of Tuguegarao, Cagayan with a depth of 21 kilometers.
The quake was also felt in the nearby provinces of Ilocos Sur and Isabela but no damage was reported.
Phivolcs Director Renato U. Solidum said the quake was also felt at intensity 4 in Vigan City; intensity 5 in Aparri and Sta. Ana, Cagayan; intensity 3 in Tuguegarao City, Peñablanca, both in Cagayan; and Laoag City and Pasuquin, both in Ilocos Norte; intensity 2 in Palanan, Isabela; and intensity 1 in Santa, Ilocos Sur, Delfin, Isabela, and Manila.
Mrs. Arroyo was in Cagayan province to highlight the government efforts to help farmers improve productivity, including the use of irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities, to combat the threat of the El Niño phenomenon.
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” she said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
The President, who appeared calm, then uttered a long “wow” during the tremor and paused for 15 seconds more.
She then heaved a sigh of relief when the quake was over. “Let’s hope it’s not anything like Chile or Haiti,” she said, referring to the powerful earthquakes that recently hit the two countries and left hundreds of people dead.
Afterwards, the President resumed her speech on the government’s achievements in promoting agribusiness development in the super region.
She said the government has invested on roads, bridges, ports, airports, irrigation systems, and other facilities to spur agricultural production in Northern Luzon. The irrigation systems, she added, have helped protect farmlands from the full impact of El Niño.
“I’m glad to hear that the northern part of Cagayan province is not feeling the effects of El Niño and we can still expect a good harvest from the northern part,” she said.
Joy Roque of the Media Accreditation and Relations Office (MARO) who joined the President’s trip in Cagayan, meantime, said Mrs. Arroyo appeared fine after experiencing an earthquake in the province.
“The President paused in the middle of her speech and remained calm when quake rocked the school auditorium,” she said in a phone interview.
Roque said the people in the school auditorium were calm as well during the earthquake, adding they were actually watching the President’s next move. No member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) rushed to the President's side when the tremor rocked the school auditorium, she added.
“When the earthquake was over, the President resumed her speech," Roque, the MARO project officer in Cagayan, said.
After her quake encounter in Tuguegarao City, the President traveled to Isabela province to check government preparations to combat the ill-effects of El Niño.
To help farmers survive the drought, she ordered authorities to provide emergency employment and food assistance. She also imposed a moratorium on loan payments in the Land Bank of the Philippines as well as on irrigation fees for the affected farmers.
Meanwhile, Solidum allayed fears from residents on a possible tsunami, saying the tremor will not cause such a sea disturbance. Some residents of Palanan, Isabela reportedly panicked and hurriedly fled their homes as the quake struck.
Solidum clarified that the quake had no bearing on the magnitude 8.8 quake that hit Chile, saying the aftershocks of that strong quake can only happened in the surroundings of Chile within a 1,000-kilometer radius.
He also clarified that the mild quake is not related to the tsunami warning the Phivolcs released last Sunday afternoon.
To prepare the residents in case of eruption of earthquake, Solidum advised all local government units (LGUs) and the academes to continuously conduct an earthquake drill particularly those living near the shorelines.
“The earthquake drill is very significant this time especially there’s an often occurrence of earthquakes to avoid the local folks from panic instead of doing the precautionary measures for safety and to save lives or properties,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents in Pacific Ocean facing-city of Mati in Davao Oriental were rattled when a 5.0 magnitude tremor struck that southern tip city before noon Monday, it was learned.
However, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that there were no reports of damage or injuries from the undersea quake that occurred 16 kms northwest of Mati, capital city of Davao Oriental.
The 5.0 magnitude earthquake happened at 11:15 a.m., said Phivolcs.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. (With a report from Mike U. Crismundo)
For more of the news, read story below:
6.1 quake shakes GMA in Cagayan
By GENALYN KABILING, FREDDIE G. LAZARO
March 2, 2010, 5:47pm
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” President Arroyo said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” President Arroyo said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
Shaken but not stirred.
President Arroyo endured Tuesday a powerful earthquake in Cagayan while visiting the El Niño-hit province on the second day of her North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle tour.
The President was delivering a speech in Florencio Vargas College in Tuguegaro City when a magnitude 6.1 quake suddenly struck the northernmost region shortly before lunch, forcing her to pause for several seconds until the ground stopped shaking.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said the epicenter of the quake was located at 130 kms. north of Tuguegarao, Cagayan with a depth of 21 kilometers.
The quake was also felt in the nearby provinces of Ilocos Sur and Isabela but no damage was reported.
Phivolcs Director Renato U. Solidum said the quake was also felt at intensity 4 in Vigan City; intensity 5 in Aparri and Sta. Ana, Cagayan; intensity 3 in Tuguegarao City, Peñablanca, both in Cagayan; and Laoag City and Pasuquin, both in Ilocos Norte; intensity 2 in Palanan, Isabela; and intensity 1 in Santa, Ilocos Sur, Delfin, Isabela, and Manila.
Mrs. Arroyo was in Cagayan province to highlight the government efforts to help farmers improve productivity, including the use of irrigation systems and post-harvest facilities, to combat the threat of the El Niño phenomenon.
“Oops, there’s an earthquake,” she said in the middle of her speech, stopping for five seconds while holding on to the podium.
The President, who appeared calm, then uttered a long “wow” during the tremor and paused for 15 seconds more.
She then heaved a sigh of relief when the quake was over. “Let’s hope it’s not anything like Chile or Haiti,” she said, referring to the powerful earthquakes that recently hit the two countries and left hundreds of people dead.
Afterwards, the President resumed her speech on the government’s achievements in promoting agribusiness development in the super region.
She said the government has invested on roads, bridges, ports, airports, irrigation systems, and other facilities to spur agricultural production in Northern Luzon. The irrigation systems, she added, have helped protect farmlands from the full impact of El Niño.
“I’m glad to hear that the northern part of Cagayan province is not feeling the effects of El Niño and we can still expect a good harvest from the northern part,” she said.
Joy Roque of the Media Accreditation and Relations Office (MARO) who joined the President’s trip in Cagayan, meantime, said Mrs. Arroyo appeared fine after experiencing an earthquake in the province.
“The President paused in the middle of her speech and remained calm when quake rocked the school auditorium,” she said in a phone interview.
Roque said the people in the school auditorium were calm as well during the earthquake, adding they were actually watching the President’s next move. No member of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) rushed to the President's side when the tremor rocked the school auditorium, she added.
“When the earthquake was over, the President resumed her speech," Roque, the MARO project officer in Cagayan, said.
After her quake encounter in Tuguegarao City, the President traveled to Isabela province to check government preparations to combat the ill-effects of El Niño.
To help farmers survive the drought, she ordered authorities to provide emergency employment and food assistance. She also imposed a moratorium on loan payments in the Land Bank of the Philippines as well as on irrigation fees for the affected farmers.
Meanwhile, Solidum allayed fears from residents on a possible tsunami, saying the tremor will not cause such a sea disturbance. Some residents of Palanan, Isabela reportedly panicked and hurriedly fled their homes as the quake struck.
Solidum clarified that the quake had no bearing on the magnitude 8.8 quake that hit Chile, saying the aftershocks of that strong quake can only happened in the surroundings of Chile within a 1,000-kilometer radius.
He also clarified that the mild quake is not related to the tsunami warning the Phivolcs released last Sunday afternoon.
To prepare the residents in case of eruption of earthquake, Solidum advised all local government units (LGUs) and the academes to continuously conduct an earthquake drill particularly those living near the shorelines.
“The earthquake drill is very significant this time especially there’s an often occurrence of earthquakes to avoid the local folks from panic instead of doing the precautionary measures for safety and to save lives or properties,” he said.
Meanwhile, residents in Pacific Ocean facing-city of Mati in Davao Oriental were rattled when a 5.0 magnitude tremor struck that southern tip city before noon Monday, it was learned.
However, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that there were no reports of damage or injuries from the undersea quake that occurred 16 kms northwest of Mati, capital city of Davao Oriental.
The 5.0 magnitude earthquake happened at 11:15 a.m., said Phivolcs.
The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where continental plates collide causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. (With a report from Mike U. Crismundo)
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