More Earthquakes Are Occurring These Days

The Earth with bricks falling around it.

Big earthquakes are occurring all over the world.

The deep engine of earthquakes cranked up this weekend (September 23 – 25, 2016) when there were some big magnitude quakes all over the world.

We always pay attention when big ones occur around Japan, but 5.0+ to 6.0+ magnitude (and above) earthquakes were creating local tsunamis around the small islands in the Pacific Region.

Take a trip around the world, and go to a world map to see where these quakes have occurred.

Friday

  1. 6.5 Philippines (local tsunami)
  2. 5.6 Romania
  3. 5.8 New Zealand

Saturday

  1. 5.6 Jayapura, Indonesia
  2. 6.3 Tonga
  3. 6.8 Fiji (local tsunami)
  4. 5.9 New Zealand

Sunday

  1. 6.0 Nago, Japan
  2. 5.0 Chile

Chile Is Getting HOT – Quakes Ramping Up Along Eastern Pacific Rim

The USGS small globe at Chile.

There is an increase in earthquakes along the Pacific Rim in South America.

The eastern side of the Pacific Rim is moving, and Chile is a focal point. Over the past week, Chile has experienced 3-dozen quakes.

An Active Chile Week – March 17 – March 24, 2014

  1. 5.3  Iquique, Chile
  2. 4.8  Iquique, Chile
  3. 5.0  Iquique, Chile
  4. 4.9 (5.0) Iquique, Chile
  5. 5.1  Iquique, Chile
  6. 5.9 (6.0) Iquique, Chile
  7. 5.0  Iquique, Chile
  8. 5.4  San Pedro de Atacama
  9. 4.6  Putre, Chile
  10. 6.2  Iquique, Chile
  11. 5.1  Iquique, Chile
  12. 4.6  Iquique, Chile
  13. 5.5  Iquique, Chile
  14. 5.0  Iquique, Chile
  15. 5.1  Iquique, Chile
  16. 4.5  Iquique, Chile
  17. 4.8  Iquique, Chile
  18. 4.8  Iquique, Chile
  19. 4.5  Iquique, Chile
  20. 6.0  Iquique, Chile
  21. 4.7  Iquique, Chile
  22. 5.3  Iquique, Chile
  23. 4.6  Iquique, Chile
  24. 4.7  Iquique, Chile
  25. 4.9 (5.0) Iquique, Chile
  26. 5.5  Iquique, Chile
  27. 5.2  Iquique, Chile
  28. 5.5  Iquique, Chile
  29. 4.9 (5.0) Iquique, Chile

Brazil Confirms Amazon Deforestation On The Rise

A bird's eye picture of the Amazon River in Brazil.

The lush Amazon River and surrounding rainforest in Brazil.

Data recently released by the Brazilian government confirms an increase in Amazon forest loss.

Brazil’s National Space Research Institute, INPE, updated data from its near-real-time deforestation tracking system, known as DETER. The system showed a near five-fold increase in forest loss during the month of May 2013 relative to a year earlier in May 2012, from 99 square kilometers (24,463.4 acres) to 465 sq km (114,904 acres) lost.

DETER shows that annual deforestation is 14 percent higher from 2,051 sq km (506,813,137,389 acres) lost in 2012 to 2,329 sq km (575,508,433,437 acres) disappearing today.

This time last year, deforestation was the lowest since annual record-keeping began in the late 1980s.

Fifty-nine percent of the clearing occurred in Mato Grosso, a state in the Southern Amazon where large-scale farms and cattle ranching drive most deforestation. It would be interesting to uncover which foreign corporations are involved in this increased deforestation in Mata Grosso.

braz_defor_chart

Chart showing the increase in deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest.

Deforestation On The Rise

INPE’s data was confirmed by Imazon, a Brazil-based NGO, which showed an 89 percent annual increase in deforestation from 2012 to 2013.

Between August 2011 and May 2012, INPE determined that 873 sq km (215,723 acres) of forests were lost to development, but between August 2012 and May 2013, 1,654 sq km (408,712,300,947 acres) were lost. Imazon uses the same data, but employs a different methodology for estimating change in forest cover.

Chart showing deforestation in the Brazilian Rainforest

Chart showing the increase in deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest from 2011 to 2013.

Both near-real-time systems aren’t as accurate as the systems used for tracking annual deforestation, which is measured at the peak of the dry season each year when cloud cover is at a minimum. The shorter-term tools, which have relatively coarse resolution, are used mostly for alerting authorities on the location of forest clearing, rather than measuring changes in forest cover.

No matter what the figures say, deforestation has dramatically increased over the past year, and THAT purpose is to fulfill farming and cattle ranching for the benefit of countries outside of Brazil

Original post from Dylan Charles/Waking Times