Earthquake in Chile

An earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 has hit central Chile in South America. The earthquake struck at 0634 GMT about 115km (70 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 325km south-west of the capital, Santiago.

Chile is highly vulnerable to earthquakes as it is situated on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", on the edge of the Nazca and South American plates; a subductive plate boundary.

The map below shows the areas within Chile that were affected by the earthquake:


It has been reported that at least 122 people have died, but this number is likely to rise further.

Nations around the Pacific Ocean are on full alert for a possible tsunami following the devastating earthquake.



BBC
The Guardian
Times Online

The Aftershock with 8A!

After the earthquake last term that affected 8E in room MD, today came the slightly delayed aftershock...just as powerful! Well done 8A :)

Earthquake in the classroom!

Today an extraordinary event happened and one that was hard to predict. An earthquake measuring 7.9 on the Richter Scale occurred in room MD. Well done to 8E for quickly getting to safety- under the desks!

It was all over so quickly. The emergency services were very efficient and access to room MD was easy, somehow no one was injured! Thanks to Martin the camera man and light technician and Curtis the sound technician. Brilliant 8E :)

Earthquake in Haiti...

This has been in the news since Tuesday, when a massive earthquake struck the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale and occured 15km from the capital Port au Prince.






Plenty of information here:
BBC News
The Guardian Live Blog

Here is some information about the countries which have pledged to the aid effort so far.

Donation Site here.

New quake hits Sumatra

An earthquake with a magnitude of 7 has hit Sumatra, a day after another powerful quake devastated much of the Indonesian island.



The first earthquake struck at 1716 local time (1016 GMT) on Wednesday, some 85km (55 miles) under the sea, north-west of Padang.

The second quake was on land and struck at 0852 local time on (0152 GMT) on Thursday, about 225km (95 miles) south-east of Padang at a depth of about 25km (15.5 miles).

Officials now say at least 200 bodies have been found from the earlier 7.6 magnitude quake, which triggered landslides and cut power lines.

BBC News
The Guardian
Times Online

Earthquake in Italy

The earthquake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre around 55 miles north-east of Rome. Sadly the latest is that 27 people have been killed and the death toll is likely to rise.


There are reports that up to 10,000 people have been made homeless in the medieval city of L'Aquila, due to the old buildings collapsing.
More here from the BBC and the Guardian.

The ShakeOut...

(Thanks Alan Parkinson).

Preparing for an Earthquake in Southern California...

On November 13 at 10am, join millions of people throughout Southern California in the ShakeOut Drill, the largest earthquake preparedness activity in U.S. history!

Also, a game to help you prepare for an earthquake. Beat the Quake.
Thanks to Bob Lang and Alan Parkinson

If you want to talk to someone with first hand experience of a major earthquake in California, go and see Miss Rose who has a house closeby to the San Andreas Fault :/

Earthquake in California!

The strongest earthquake to strike Southern California in more than a decade rattled windows, made buildings sway and sent people running into the streets on Tuesday. It measured 5.4 on the Richter Scale. See the links below for more information.


BBC News
The Guardian
CNN- for a video of the quake shaking the set of Judge Judy!
Sky News

Many thanks Rob Chambers for highlighting this. Also, you can check out more Geog in the news in the Geography newsroom which has been added in the list of useful websites :)

Media Response to the mourning in China...

Here is a slideshow which shows the Chinese media response to the 3 days of mourning for the Sichuan quake.

| View | Upload your own

Thanks to Paul Williams from SLN for highlighting this and to Oliver Ding for the making.

Earthquake in China

The most powerful earthquake to hit China in 30 years has killed at least 10,000 people in south-western Sichuan province, with thousands more trapped.



Click here for more.

See more pictures