PLANETARY TREMORS: Earthquake Swarm In Northwest Arizona Keeps Rolling On - 21 Tremors Along The Arizona-Nevada Border; Puzzling Geologists; Could There Be Additional Potentially Active Faults Nearby?!

(Source: Arizona Geological Survey)

April 25, 2016 - ARIZONA, UNITED STATES - More small earthquakes shook northwest Arizona Sunday adding to the list of temblors that have struck the area since March 29.

The Arizona Geological Survey said two quakes occurred, including a magnitude 2.6 quake at 12:07 a.m.

There has been a swarm of 21 quakes in an area along the Arizona-Nevada line south-southwest of Littlefield, AZ, which is also close to southwestern Utah and the frequency and span puzzles geologists.

NW Arizona earthquake swarm keeps rolling on with two events today, including M2.6 at 12:07 am. pic.twitter.com/9jYcHj9Hlx

— AZ Geological Survey (@AZGeology) April 24, 2016

The survey said the area has several active faults and that its geologic features suggest there could be additional potentially active faults just north of the largest quake.

The largest in the swarm was a magnitude 3.4 quake was reported at 2:23 a.m. on April 8.


- AZ Family.

PLANETARY TREMORS: "Tectonically Active" - Swarm Of Small Earthquakes Hit Northwestern Arizona!

Arizona has been hit by nearly 20 earthquakes since March 29th. The tremors have ranged from magnitude 0.7 to magnitude 2.6. (KGUN/Inform)

April 7, 2016 - ARIZONA, UNITED STATES - A series of small earthquakes swarmed the state's northwest corner after an initial magnitude 2.3 earthquake on the Arizona strip March 29, officials said Tuesday.

The earthquake that struck near Littlefield, Ariz., a community about 20 miles southwest of St. George, Utah, was the first of 18 small-magnitude tremors that lasted through Sunday, according to the Arizona Geological Survey.

The largest event was a 2.6 magnitude quake at about 8:36 a.m. Sunday. The Arizona Geological Survey has not reported any injuries or damage from the series of tremors.

While the amount of quakes to hit the area may seem unusual, Geological Survey researcher Michael Conway said the state has seen swarms before.

Conway said the area is "tectonically active," but this was the first time a swarm has been recorded in the northwest corner of the state, bordering Utah and Nevada.

"Active faults in the vicinity of the earthquake swarm include the Mesquite/Overton Arm," according to an Arizona Geological Survey statement. The area has extensive earthquake history.

The tremors were large enough to register with the seismometers installed in the area but small enough to go unnoticed, Conway said.

He pointed out that the Geological Survey has a duty to record, catalog and remind people that Arizona experiences at least 100 small quakes each year.

According to Conway, there hasn't been significant technological advances that can predict naturally occurring quakes, but researchers have been able to predict induced tremors in Oklahoma and Texas likely due to fracking.

There have been moderate-sized earthquakes closer to Phoenix, including the Nov. 2, 2015, quake in Black Canyon City, which had a 4.1 magnitude.

Conway advised that if an earthquake happens, "you drop down, get under a desk and hold on." - AZ Central.

PLANETARY TREMORS: "Like A Bomb Going Off" - Earthquake "Swarm" Rattles Village In New Brunswick, Canada?!

A window was cracked at Lindsey Wilson's McAdam home during a recent earthquake. © CBC

February 11, 2016 - NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA - McAdam again hit by dozens of small quakes as seismologists search for answers

A swarm of small earthquakes is again rattling residents in the southwestern New Brunswick village of McAdam.

Officially, nine earthquakes hit the area on Monday night alone, coming on the heels of more than 23 temblors recorded since Feb. 1.

Mayor Frank Carroll estimates there were 20 to 30 small quakes on Monday night, with many of them not picked up by monitoring equipment located about 95 kilometres away in St. George. One of them registered 3.3 in magnitude.

No injuries have been reported and damage has been minor.

"Some people kind of describe it as a bomb going off," said Carroll.

"The community was really on edge on Monday," he said. "It was a horrific day in the world of earthquakes for us."

The village is giving all residents an "earthquake safety action plan," advising them on what to do if the quakes worsen.

Lindsey Wilson says a quake rattled her windows hard enough to break one of them.

"We've had some damage to our house. We've actually had a window get cracked on Sunday night," Wilson said.

A seismologist with Natural Resources Canada says it isn't known whether the small quakes are a precursor to a larger one.

"Magnitude 3.3 was quite a bit bigger than they had before," said John Adams. "But the pattern of activity is unpredictable."

Natural Resources Canada is sending additional seismology equipment to McAdam to enhance monitoring. It is expected to arrive by noon Thursday if road conditions allow.

Adams advises that if residents feel a quake lasting more than few seconds they should seek cover.

"Because we don't know what's going to happen, whether it will get bigger."

History of earthquakes

McAdam has been hit by similar swarms of earthquakes in the past. One in 2012 lasted 50 days, while another two years later lasted 10 days.

"It passed before in 2012 and we hope it's going to pass again," said Carroll.

Adams said there is probably a fault located under the village.

"There has to be a fault in the sense that an earthquake happens on a fault even if we can't see it," he said.

"There is an unknown fault under McAdam, as there is probably under most of New Brunswick somewhere."

"At some point it will be over, but we can't say it will be over for good," he said. - CBC.

WEATHER PHENOMENON: Omen - Utah Storms Bring Sun Halos And Sundogs!

© stgeorgenews.com

May 23, 2015 - UTAH, UNITED STATES - With recent storms moving through Southern Utah on a weekly basis, conditions have been good for seeing two fascinating sights in the sky: sun halos and sundogs.

St. George resident Janna Fox was lucky enough to spot a sun halo Sunday, from her driveway at around 900 South and River Road.

"My 13-year-old son saw it first and came in and told us," Fox told St. George News. "I had never seen a sun halo before, in my 35 years! It was neat!"

Both sun halos and sundogs are caused by sunlight passing through ice crystals in the high, thin cirrus clouds that often move in before a storm system. Sunlight reflects and bends, or refracts, causing these sometimes spectacular sights.

These ice-crystal displays can be seen year-round, because the upper atmosphere always below a freezing temperature.

A ring or circle of light around the sun or moon is called a halo, or, for the more scientifically minded, a parhelic circle or ring.

Sundogs are rainbow-colored splashes often seen to the left or right of the sun. Sundogs are also known as parhelions, and are formed by plate-shaped ice crystals drifting in the clouds, according to NASA.com.

© Janna Fox, St George News

Cirrus clouds are made of millions of hexagonal ice crystals 3 miles to 6 miles up in the atmosphere. Each ice crystal acts as a tiny prism bending the sun's light and throwing it elsewhere into the sky. The spectacular displays in the sky depend on the size and tilt of the ice crystals.

There's an old weather saying, "ring around the moon means rain soon," and there is truth to that, according to Earthsky.org. High thin cirrus clouds often precede a storm system, at 20,000 feet. These clouds contain ice crystals, by the millions. The halos are caused by both refraction and reflection of sunlight.

Sundogs and sun halos are just two of nearly four dozen different kinds of effects produced by sunlight interacting with ice crystals in the sky.

So when's the best way to catch one of these beauties in the sky? Both sun halos and sundogs may be seen whenever and wherever there are cirrus clouds in the sky.

The best displays are most commonly seen in the fall, winter and spring when the northern jet stream descends southward, drawing down Arctic air masses that carry ice crystals.

Sundogs are found at or more than 22 degrees to the left or right of the sun and at the same height above the horizon as the sun.

Because sundogs and sun halos are found near the sun, viewers should protect their eyes while viewing. - St. George Utah.

 

INFRASTRUCTURE COLLAPSE: Avid Plane Crashes While Landing At The St. George Municipal Airport, Washington County, Utah - Pilot Ejected!

An experimental plane crashed at the St. George Municipal Airport due to being caught by a crosswind while landing, St. George, Utah, Feb. 21, 2015
Photo courtesy of Brad Kitchen, City of St. George, St. George News

February 22, 2015 - UTAH, UNITED STATES - Just after 1 p.m. Saturday a single engine experimental plane got caught in a crosswind while landing at St. George Municipal Airport, crashing and ejecting the pilot about 3-4 feet from the plane. The pilot, who had been flying solo, walked away from the crash with no injuries except for scratches to his head and hand.

The pilot, local to the St. George area whose name has not been released by airport officials, was flying an Avid Flyer Model B, single engine, two-place (or seater), plane, tail number N88WJ, Airport Operations Supervisor Brad Kitchen said.

“The pilot was landing on Runway 19 and got caught up in a crosswind while he was landing and it took him off the runway,” Kitchen said, “He came through the infield and went over the top of a drainage ditch and ended up on Taxiway Alpha, or Taxiway A, with a collapsed left landing gear.”

When Kitchen arrived on scene shortly after the plane crash, winds were blowing from the west at about 7-10 knots, he said.

The pilot was thrown out about 3 or 4 feet from the airplane when the aircraft stopped. “He hit sideways, it stopped him abruptly and popped him out the pilot door,” Kitchen said. “The door opened – it probably opened from hitting an embankment or right near the edge of the taxiway – it doesn’t take much to jar these doors on any of these small aircraft.”

An experimental plane crashed at the St. George Municipal Airport due to being caught by a crosswind while landing, St. George, Utah, Feb. 21, 2015
Photo by Mori Kessler, St. George News

In addition to the collapsed landing gear, the aircraft suffered substantial structural damage.

“He’s very lucky,” Kitchen said of the pilot. “He crashed his airplane, the prop is no longer with us, it’s pretty much gone, and there’s substantial structural damage to the aircraft.”

Ultimately, the only injuries the pilot showed were a scratch on top of his head and a scratch on his hand. He declined medical transport, Marc Mortensen, assistant to the city manager of St. George, said.

Neither the airport nor its runways, except of a portion of one taxiway, were closed in response to the incident at any time with no impacts on its commercial or private use.

“We did a thorough runway inspection and we kept the runway open,” Kitchen said, “and the airport remained open. We just closed Taxiway Alpha from Alpha 2 to Alpha 1 for a short time.”

St. George Municipal Airport’s AR21 fire unit responded, as did St. George Fire Department’s Engine 28, St. George Police Department and Gold Cross Ambulance.

The Federal Aviation Administration has been contacted by airport staff to provide notification of the incident.

Neither Mortensen nor Kitchen knew what the FAA may require in this instance.

“We don’t know,” Mortensen said, “but we’ll have a report. We file a report with the Police Department as well.”

St. George News Editor-in-Chief Joyce Kuzmanic contributed this article. St. George News and KCSG Reporter Melissa Anderson contributed the videocast to this report.  - St. George News.

GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: Rude Awakening - Falling Boulder Bulldozes Into Utah Home Injuring A Sleeping 63-Year-Old Woman?!

January 24, 2013 - UNITED STATES - A southern Utah woman got the wake-up call from hell. A massive boulder tumbled down a ridge behind Wanda Denhalter’s St. George home and slammed into the bedroom where she was sleeping early Saturday.

The 63-year-old woman was trapped inside the bedroom but was close enough to a phone to call 911, husband Scot Denhalter told The Salt Lake Tribune. Medics then rushed her to a hospital for emergency surgery, where doctors wired shut her broken jaw and addressed her cracked sternum and gashes on her leg. She’s expected to fully recover. “The officer told me she had been in an accident and she recently bought a car and that’s what I thought happened,” Scot Denhalter told CBS affiliate KUTV. “It took me a while to get my arms around (what actually happened),” he said. He wasn’t home at the time of the accident but said his wife awoke to the sound of the 12-by-9-foot rock rumbling downhill. “She rolled away from the oncoming noise to my side of the bed,” Scot Denhalter told The Salt Lake Tribune. “If she had decided to swing her leg over (her) side of the bed to investigate, it would have killed her.”

Scot Denhalter suspects a broken water pipe at a ridgetop home might be why the boulder fell about 3 a.m., but authorities will try to determine the exact reason. “It’s been kind of leaking into the fissures and cracks of the ridge, and I think last night when the water froze it (the boulder) snapped and down it came,” Scot Denhalter told The Spectrum of St. George. When the Denhalters moved into the rental house in December, he told his wife that he was concerned about the boulder-covered ridge above the backyard. “I said you could have a big boulder snap and come down and come right through the house, but she said that would never happen,” said Scot Denhalter, an English professor. - NY Daily News.

WATCH: Boulder Crashes Into Utah Home - Woman Inside Survives.

THE AUSTRALIAN WEATHER ANOMALIES: Fire Chief And Premier Warn Victorians Of High Fire Danger As Western Australia Coast Feels Fury Of Cyclone Peta?!

January 23, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Victoria's fire chief has warned today's conditions could come close to those of Black Saturday as authorities brace for a repetition of last week's deadly outbreak.  Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said extreme temperatures and strong winds could force overnight evacuations for some communities as large fires continued to rage in the state's east.  "On Black Saturday it was what we'd now categorise as a Code Red day. So out of 10 you would say it's a six or a seven out of 10 compared to what was Black Saturday," he said.  He urged communities near Maffra and Heyfield to be aware of changing wind conditions as firefighters built containment lines around the mammoth Gippsland fire, 15km south of Licola.  Players from Gippsland Power Football Club were flown to safety after the blaze came within 100m of the team as they hiked on Mt Feathertop.

The high country fire threatens Mt Hotham. Picture: CFA.

Fire Chief And Premier Warn Victorians Of High Fire Danger.

Mr Lapsley said central and western Victoria were critical areas. A total fire ban had been declared for the state's southwest.  Calmer weather conditions last night helped firefighters bracing for today's extreme conditions.  Stable wind and easing temperatures across the Harrietville township allowed emergency services to make solid progress on control lines to the east of the blaze.  Harrietville Feathertop fire incident controller Tony Lovick said the chance to prep the control line would prove key before fire threats increased today and tomorrow. “Today we have experienced quieter fire behaviour particularly in areas which were burnt in 2003 and 2007,” Mr Lovick said.  “The key focus for us continues to be asset protection works and planning for Harrietville, Hotham Heights and Falls Creek.  “We are making use of control lines which were used in the 2003 and 2007 fires, with a team of dozers working to strengthen the lines.  “Aircraft, including the Skycrane from NSW, have been used successfully today on asset protection works near the origin of the fire, and for other high valued infrastructure including communications towers within the fire ground.”

More than 100 firefighters - flanked by five bulldozers and five aircrafts including water-bombing helicopters - were deployed to the fire zone yesterday, bolstering crews already on the ground.  Despite the smoother conditions, a Watch and Act message remains for the townships of Harrietville, Hotham Heights and Falls Creek, while an Advice message applies to the townships of Germantown, Freeburgh, Mount Beauty, Smoko, Tawonga, Tawonga South, Wandiligong, Bright and Dinner Plain.  Mr Lovick said no property damage had been reported, and that a flight over the fire ground yesterday confirmed that several historic huts in the surrounding area were yet to be impacted by the fire which has already roared through more than 900ha.  National Park is closed east of Harrietville, west of the Kiewa River West Branch, and to the north west of Mount Feathertop. Surrounding areas of State Forest are also closed. Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu said last week's conditions, which led to the destruction of homes and the death of Seaton grandfather Stan Hayhurst, would be mimicked today and tomorrow.  "We find ourselves today in almost exactly the same situation as we were last week. Thursday will be a hot day; tomorrow night will be a hot night," Mr Baillieu said.  More than 60,000ha has already been lost to the Gippsland fires, and Mr Lapsley urged Victorians to brace for more hardship.  "We've still got potentially the worst of the fire season to come." - Herald Sun.

WATCH: Dire Warning For Victoria.

Western Australia Coast Feels Fury Of Cyclone Peta.

West Australia's Pilbara Coast has felt the force of category one Tropical Cyclone Peta, which was expected to weaken late on Wednesday. The major export operations at Port Hedland were to resume on Wednesday after temporarily closing when Peta hit to the east of Point Samson.  Port Hedland Port Authority said conditions had improved, with the swell and wind reducing enough to allow shipping operations to restart from 4pm (WST).  The Bureau of Meteorology's alert just before 3pm (WST) said a cyclone warning continued in coastal areas from Port Hedland to Dampier, including Karratha.  Gales with gusts to 100km/h are expected close to the cyclone centre over the next few hours, the bureau said.  Squally thunderstorms are expected while locally heavy rainfall is possible, prompting a flood watch for the Pilbara.  Mining giant Rio Tinto closed its Cape Lambert facility at Port Walcott and Dampier port on Tuesday as it prepared for the wild weather and expects most of its coastal operations will resume on Thursday morning.  The resumption of ship loading will depend on prevailing sea conditions, however.  Although the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Peta could move back off the west Pilbara coast later in the week, it was not expected to redevelop into a tropical cyclone. - Herald Sun.

THE AUSTRALIAN WEATHER ANOMALIES: The Flooded Queensland Town Is Now Hit with Drought, As Catastrophic Fire Warning Burns Up Western Australia?!

January 22, 2013 - AUSTRALIA - Farmers in a western Queensland town that was ravaged by floods are losing their crops to drought almost a year later. Residents of St George, west of Brisbane, had to evacuate their homes after flood levels rose to record heights in February last year.  But now farmers are praying for rain, with many having to sacrifice some of their crops in an effort to make their dwindling water supplies hold out.  Balonne Shire Mayor Donna Stewart said it was ironic a year after the floods, residents were looking at water restrictions from February 1. 

Praying for rain............John Howard at Wivenhoe Dam last week.

Flooded Queensland Town Now Hit with Drought.

She said while the Balonne River was "virtually running dry", planning was proceeding for a levee bank to protect St George from future floods.  "It's a bit surreal I suppose," she told AAP.  "You'd never have thought we'd be in this situation less than 12 months ago.  "And who knows? In two weeks time, if the good Lord says so, we might be back in flood."  Ms Stewart said farmers were hopeful heavy falls in catchment areas upstream would flow to the town in the next few weeks.  Cotton farmer Cleave Rogan said yields were lost last year when crops became waterlogged and now farmers were reducing their crop sizes to conserve water.  "It seems so extreme being in this sort of situation but it's part of living on the land really," he said.  Mr Rogan said while he had been through harsher droughts, times were still tough.  "We're as positive as we can be," he said.  "But a lot of crops have been ploughed in, so that makes it hard."  More than 2500 St George residents were evacuated to Brisbane and Dalby during floods the 2012 floods, when the Balonne River peaked at a record 13.96m. - Herald Sun.

The nation has already dealt with devastating bushfires this season. Picture: Blair Hamish Source: Leader.

Catastrophic Fire Warning in Western Australia.

A catastrophic fire danger warning has been issued for people living in the southeast of Western Australia.  The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the worst possible conditions for bush or grass fire on Wednesday for the Eucla, which includes the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area, as well as the shire of Dundas.  Residents have been warned that any fire that takes hold will be "extremely difficult to control and will take significant firefighting resources".  The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) said spot fires would start well ahead of the main fire, causing rapid spread of the fire with embers coming from many directions.  DFES said people living in or near bush with high fuel loads would be at risk and needed to act.  "If you are not prepared to the highest level, leaving bushfire risk areas early in the day is your safest option," DFES said in a statement.  Residents should also read through their bushfire survival plans.  Meanwhile, severe fire danger advice has been issued for inland parts of the Pilbara and coastal parts of the Great Southern for Wednesday, while extreme fire danger will be experienced in central and southern parts of the Interior.  A total fire ban has been declared for the Shire of Esperance. - News Australia.

MASS BIRD DIE-OFF: Extremely Strange Animal Behavior - Thousands of Birds Mysteriously Crash Land into Walmart Parking Lot in Utah?!

"I've been here 15 years and this was the worst downing I've seen," she told the newspaper.

Crews are cleaning up thousands of migratory birds that made a crash landing in Utah after apparently mistaking a Walmart parking lot and other areas as bodies of water.

Surviving grebes swim across the waters of Stratton Pond in
Hurricane, Utah following their release by Utah Division of Wildlife

Thousands of migratory birds died on impact after apparently mistaking a Walmart parking lot and other areas of southern Utah for bodies of water and plummeting to the ground in what one wildlife expert called the worst downing she's ever seen. Crews went to work cleaning up the dead birds and rescuing the survivors after the creatures crash-landed in the St. George area Monday night. By Tuesday evening, volunteers had rescued more than 2,000 birds, releasing them into nearby bodies of water. "They're just everywhere," said Teresa Griffin, wildlife program manager for the Utah Department of Wildlife Resource's southern region. "It's been nonstop. All our employees are driving around picking them up, and we've got so many people coming to our office and dropping them off." Officials say stormy conditions probably confused the flock of grebes, a duck-like aquatic bird likely making its way to Mexico for the winter. The birds tried to land in a Cedar City Walmart parking lot and elsewhere.

"The storm clouds over the top of the city lights made it look like a nice, flat body of water. All the conditions were right," Griffin told The Spectrum newspaper in St. George. "So the birds landed to rest, but ended up slamming into the pavement." No human injuries or property damage have been reported. Griffin noted most downings are localized "but this was very widespread." "I've been here 15 years and this was the worst downing I've seen," she told the newspaper. Officials said they were continuing the rescue effort that started Tuesday afternoon and included an enthusiastic group of volunteers. The surviving grebes were released into bodies of water in southern Utah's Washington County, including a pond near Hurricane. "If we can put them on a body of water that's not frozen over, they'll have a better chance of survival," said Lynn Chamberlain, a wildlife department spokesman. - The Sacramento Bee.