Chile, Argentina Order Evacuation Around Volcano; Magnitude 5.6 Quake Strikes Panama/Costa Rica; Damage Reported from Magnitude-5.7 Quake in Calif.
Chile, Argentina order evacuation around volcano
May 28, 2013Reuters - Chilean and Argentine authorities on Monday declared a red alert and ordered the mandatory evacuation of a 25-km (15.5-mile) radius around the active Copahue volcano, which straddles the border between the two Andean nations.
The volcano - located some 500 km (310 miles) south of capital Santiago, between Chile's Bio Bio region and Argentina's Neuquen province - has seen increasing seismic activity in recent weeks but has not erupted, Chilean authorities said.
Authorities estimated that some 2,240 people will be evacuated in Chile."This doesn't necessarily mean the volcano will start erupting. But according to the Sernageomin (National Geological and Mining Service), the volcano is now in a process that could culminate in an eruption, for that reason we've issued a red alert and the evacuation," Chilean Interior Minister Andres Chadwick told a nationally televised news conference.
In Argentina's Neuquen province, authorities also declared a "red alert," and ordered the evacuation of some 900 people in tourist-haven Caviahue-Copahue. The Argentine municipality had previously ordered the cancellation of school classes.
Close to the Chilean side of the volcano, in Bio Bio region, power generator Endesa Chile operates the Ralco and Pangue hydroelectric dams, which have not been affected by the evacuation order.
In mid-2011, ash from a volcano
in Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle chain that erupted after decades of
lying dormant forced the sporadic cancellation of hundreds of flights,
especially in neighboring Argentina and Uruguay.
Reuters - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 on Monday struck the border region of the contiguous Central American nations of Panama and Costa Rica, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but no damage was immediately reported.
The quake had a relatively shallow depth of 11 km (7 miles). Costa Rica's National Emergency Commission said no injuries or damages were reported, a spokesman for the commission said.
Its epicenter was about 12 km (7 miles) southwest of Guabito, Panama and about 79 km (48 miles) southeast of the Caribbean port of Puerto Limon in Costa Rica, the USGS said.
The quake struck at 4:41 a.m. local time (0941 GMT), the USGS said.
Damage reported from magnitude-5.7 quake in Calif.
May 24, 2013AP - Residents in rural northeastern California assessed damage to their homes and businesses Friday from a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, one of the strongest temblors to hit the densely forested region in decades.
The quake centered near Greenville downed chimneys and sent items tumbling from grocery store shelves
when it hit shortly before 9 p.m. Thursday. It also ruptured a tank
that supplies residential drinking water, leaving 300 people under a
boil advisory until further notice.
The earthquake was felt in Reno, Nev., about 100 miles south; as far away as San Francisco, 230 miles southwest; and in Oregon. About four dozen aftershocks have been reported, including a magnitude-4.9 temblor that struck early Friday.
Pacific Gas & Electric said about 660 customers lost power on the southwestern edge of Lake Almanor at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Electricity has since been restored.
At least three houses had moderate damage including collapsed chimneys and cracked plaster. County officials said the total damage isn't yet known because many homes in the area are seasonal and unoccupied.
Hagwood added supermarkets and other stores "had a lot of things come off the shelves."
Susan Shephard and her husband, Alan Shephard, who run the Quail Lodge at Lake Almanor near the epicenter, said they were watching "The Hunger Games" on TV when the whole building started shaking.
The quake was the most powerful to hit the mostly wilderness region since 1934, said Keith Knudsen, deputy director of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.
It appeared to have occurred along a strike-slip fault line similar to the San Andreas. More than 9,000 people including from neighboring states logged onto the USGS website to report feeling the jolt.
The region's seismicity is not well-studied because the terrain is rugged and dollars have been spent on analyzing faults in more populated corridors like the San Francisco Bay area where the earthquake risk is higher. Since Thursday's quake, scientists are mulling putting more portable monitors near the epicenter.
"Without question, it's the strongest quake I've ever felt here," Plumas County Sheriff Greg Hagwood said. "It was very unsettling, and it lasted long enough to create a measure of anxiety."Despite the damage, no injuries have been reported.
The earthquake was felt in Reno, Nev., about 100 miles south; as far away as San Francisco, 230 miles southwest; and in Oregon. About four dozen aftershocks have been reported, including a magnitude-4.9 temblor that struck early Friday.
Pacific Gas & Electric said about 660 customers lost power on the southwestern edge of Lake Almanor at about 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Electricity has since been restored.
At least three houses had moderate damage including collapsed chimneys and cracked plaster. County officials said the total damage isn't yet known because many homes in the area are seasonal and unoccupied.
Hagwood added supermarkets and other stores "had a lot of things come off the shelves."
Susan Shephard and her husband, Alan Shephard, who run the Quail Lodge at Lake Almanor near the epicenter, said they were watching "The Hunger Games" on TV when the whole building started shaking.
"All of a sudden things started falling off the shelves, mirrors fell off the wall, vases fell down to the floor, everything started crashing," Susan Shephard told the Redding Record-Searchlight. "It felt like the end of our world."The epicenter was not far from High Desert State Prison in Susanville, but wardens reported no power outages or damages to the facility or its operations, said Jonathan Parsley, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The quake was the most powerful to hit the mostly wilderness region since 1934, said Keith Knudsen, deputy director of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.
It appeared to have occurred along a strike-slip fault line similar to the San Andreas. More than 9,000 people including from neighboring states logged onto the USGS website to report feeling the jolt.
"It was a pretty good size quake," Knudsen said.The quake hit a rugged region where the Sierra and Cascade mountains meet. More than 100 lakes and 1,000 miles of rivers and streams flow through more than a million acres of national forest. About 22,000 people live in Plumas County.
The region's seismicity is not well-studied because the terrain is rugged and dollars have been spent on analyzing faults in more populated corridors like the San Francisco Bay area where the earthquake risk is higher. Since Thursday's quake, scientists are mulling putting more portable monitors near the epicenter.
