Category Archives: Physics

Earthquake near Lake Kivu (Updated)

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The USGS has reported a magnitude 6.0 quake in the area of Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lake Kivu is one of three known “exploding lakes“, and Wikipedia says:

The trigger for lake overturns in Lake Kivu’s case is unknown but periodic volcanic activity is suspected. The gaseous chemical composition of exploding lakes is unique to each lake; in Lake Kivu’s case, methane and carbon dioxide due to lake water interaction with a volcano. The risk from a possible Lake Kivu overturn would be catastrophic, dwarfing other documented lake overturns at Lakes Nyos and Monoun, since approximately 2 million people live in the lake basin.

The USGS maps show the epicenter on dry land, but with a possible error margin of over 4 miles it could just be under the southern part of the lake. Even in the current location the USGS shake map shows a large area of the lake that could be affected.

Shake map for earthquake near Lake Kivu, 20080203

The BBC has the first reports of casualties, though thankfully no reports of a lake overturn.

Shuttle Endeavour damaged by falling ice

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This doesn’t sound good..

An analysis of images taken during Wednesday’s lift-off in Cape Canaveral, Florida, shows that the shuttle’s underbelly was hit by a piece of ice – rather than foam from its external fuel tank as previously believed, he said. The impact left what appeared to be a 19 square centimetre gouge near the hatch of one of the shuttle’s landing gears.

Thermal tile damage on shuttle Endeavour, BBC.

Hopefully carrying teachers on the shuttle isn’t bad luck..

Getting Some Perspective – The Earth from Space

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The Planetary Society has some amazing images & animations of Earth taken by planetary spacecraft.

My favourite at the moment has to be the image of Earth from the surface of Mars, taken by the Spirit rover in 2004 and the first image taken from the surface of an object beyond the moon.

You Are Here

Shades of the Total Perspective Vortex, for those HHGTTG fans out there.

Speaking of which, Paulo Ang has a rather wonderful Flash animation entitled “The Total Perspective Vortex” which makes powerful use of planetary and astronomical imagery alongside music and a liberal smattering of Hitch Hikers quotes.

India Launches First Commercial Satellite Payload

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Here’s some interesting news:

India has gone into business in outer space, launching its first commercial rocket. The rocket was carrying an Italian astronomical satellite that will be used to gather information about the origins of the universe. India is the fifth entry into the commercial satellite launch business after the US, Russia, China, Ukraine and the European Space Agency.

I hadn’t realised Ukraine was in the business too..

Solomon Islands Earthquake Activity

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According to the USGS maps for the Solomons and PNG there have been 22 quakes greater than mag 4.8 in the 15 hours or so since the mag 8.0, here’s a quick graph of magnitude versus time after the first quake (click for a larger version)..

Solomon Island Earthquakes, 2007/04/02

This graph was brought to you by cat, awk, tac and OpenOffice.org Calc and Draw.

Tsunami Alert Cancelled for East Coast of Australia (QLD, NSW, TAS) (Update 10)

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There has been a magnitude 7.6 8.0 quake near the Solomon Islands. The ABC is reporting that the Bureau of Met has issued a tsunami alert for the Australian Barrier Reef and Willis Islands and that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre has also issued an alert.

The centre said it had no confirmed information a tsunami was generated but said authorities should take appropriate action in response to the possibility.

Update 1: The BoM’s tsunami alert says:

Based on the magnitude and location of this earthquake, tsunami could start affecting these locations at the following local time: Willis Island from 0832am 02/04/2007

The Bureau is seeking confirmation that tsunami have been generated. Tsunami Warnings will be issued, if necessary, by the Regional Offices of the Bureau in affected States. People in coastal areas in threatened regions should then listen for further advice from state emergency service authorities.

Update 2: BoM has confirmed that a tsunami was generated, but the only measured height so far was at Honiara in the Solomon Islands with a 15cm zero-to-peak at 7:13am EST.

The Bureau of Met has its own Tsunami Alert Site and the alert now says:

TSUNAMI THREAT TO EASTERN AUSTRALIA and Willis and Barrier Reef Islands, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands.

Update 3: The Tsunami alert now includes Tasmania.

TOP PRIORITY
TASMANIA TSUNAMI WARNING
Issued at 9:16am on Monday the 2nd of April 2007
For people in eastern coastal areas of Tasmania.
An earthquake of preliminary magnitude 8.1 occurred at 06:40 am EST near the Solomon islands [8.1S 157.2E] generating a tsunami.
A series of waves associated with this tsunami will impact Eastern Australia today, reaching the Eastern Tasmanian coastline from about 12:30 pm.
Dangerous waves and currents may affect beaches, harbours and rivers for several hours from the time of impact and low-lying coastal areas could be flooded.
The waves can be separated in time by between ten to sixty minutes and the first wave of the series may not be the largest.
People should keep listening to the local media for updated information and
advice and follow instructions and advice from emergency services
This warning will be updated by 11:00 am.

There is also an ABC news report about the tsunami alert that confirms that the Solomon Islands has been hit, though details of any damage are sketchy.

Update 4: There are now alerts online at BoM for NSW, TAS and QLD. The QLD one is encouraging, it now says:

Willis Island Meteorological station reported NO noticable affect of waves at 9am by which time the Tsunami should have passed. They are checking to see if there has been any affect to beaches.

Update 5: The BoM’s reports for QLD are looking better again, Cooktown isn’t showing signs of a destructive tsunami meaning the overall chance of a destructive tsunami is lessened. The NSW warning is still fairly general though.

Update 6: The quake has been revised up to magnitude 8.0.

Update 7: It looks like the Solomon Islands may not have been this lucky, according to the BBC.

“There was 10ft of water rushing through town,” – Harry Wickham, Gizo

Update 8: The USGS has reported mag 5.8, mag 6.4 and mag 6.7 quakes, amongst others, also in the Solomons Island region (though north-west of the 8.0 quake).

Update 9: The QLD alert now says:

TSUNAMI THREAT TO QUEENSLAND and Willis and Barrier Reef Islands has eased. No destructive Tsunami is expected. […] No reports of significant sea level rises have been received from the Northern Tropical Coast of Queensland. Some rises of about 20 to 30cm have been observed.

Update 10: As of 1350 EST the BoM is now saying that the tsunami alert has been cancelled.

Small surges in sea level height and minor abnormal currents have been detected along the Queensland coast.

It’s not as good news in the Solomon Islands though.

The quake, with a magnitude of 8.1 on the Richter scale, levelled buildings and damaged a hospital on Gizo Island, north-west of the Solomons capital Honiara, while a tsunami sucked homes into the sea as thousands of panicked residents fled for higher ground.

“An Inconvenient Truth” Wins Best Documentary Oscar

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Congratulations!

The film, An Inconvenient Truth, former US Vice-President Al Gore’s dire warning about the threat of climate change, has won the Oscar for best documentary. Making use of a vast body of scientific data, the film represents a stinging rebuttal to the dwindling and increasingly discredited band of skeptics who refuse to acknowledge the extent of climate change.