6.4 Quake Shakes Caribbean Sea

A tropical beach with clouds raining over it.

A 6.4 earthquake shook the Caribbean Sea January 13, 2014.

A 6.4 quake rocked the Caribbean this morning, but a tsunami alert was not generated. High waves will still smack the coastlines in the region, though, so expect floods on some of the Caribbean shores.

Last week Cuba had two 5.0 quakes, which is MOST unusual. I’d say that the Caribbean has become much more active then anyone expected … and THIS signals movement along the US Craton.

Google map of distance between Key West and Cuba.

Two 5.0 earthquakes rocked Cuba January 10, 2014, merely 132 miles south of Florida – Google Maps.

Here’s a great phone app that will alert you when quakes go off: PDC Disaster Alert.

Tail Of Comet Ison

A picture of a beautiful meteorite whizzing through the Earth's atmosphere. with the moon in the background.

More meteorites can be seen on Earth as we move through the debris tail of Comet Ison..

We are also going through the tail of Comet Ison right now, so seeing a few meteorites whizzing in the atmosphere will not be unusual. Check out this meteorite over Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZLQ-YxJdbg

There’s lots going on right now “out there” …. have fun watching the Earth move, but stay safe!

Here Comes The Next Comet – Lovejoy

Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy

Comet C/2013 R1 Lovejoy – Photo by Gerald Rhemann on December 13, 2013 @ Jauerling, Lower Austria

What a magnificent comet!

Filled with knots and eddies of dusty plasma, Lovejoy’s tails stretch more than 20 degrees across the sky — long enough to overlap 40 Full Moons or fill the bowl of the Big Dipper, twice.

On December 23, 2013, the comet will be just inside the orbit of Earth (0.82 AU) during its closest approach to the sun or “perihelion.” The extra heating it gets at perihelion will grow its tails even more.

Shines Like A Star

Comet Lovejoy shines like a 4th magnitude star, so it is barely visible to the naked eye, especially when the sky is filled with full moonlight. However, the comet is a fairly easy target rising ahead of the sun in the eastern morning sky using a backyard telescope.

If you have a GOTO telescope, send it to these coordinates. Slight pointing errors are no problem because the tail is almost too broad to miss.

Here are some sky maps to reference locating Lovejoy: Dec. 18, 19, 20. They will be useful through December 23.

SOURCE: Spaceweather.com

Solar Storms Are Down And So Are Earthquakes

A picture of a solar flare, or CME, exploding off the surface of the Sun.

Solar flares, or CMEs, exploding off the surface of the Sun are quiet right now.

There appears to be a connection between solar storms and earthquakes. It might be a coincidence, but then again, I don’t believe in coincidence.

When the Sun fires off huge coronal mass ejections (CMEs), earthquake records show that an increase in earthquakes occur at the same time all over the world.

The Sun is very calm right now, and is not throwing out as many massive CMEs; the “number” of earthquakes worldwide is also down.

Coincidence? Nah – not with Nature.

The Eye Of A Solar Storm

A picture of the Sun's coronal hole.

This coronal hole on the Sun is moving toward its North Pole. This shows movement toward an upcoming reversal of the Sun’s magnetic poles – NASA.

Right now, the solar CME cycle appears very calm. This does not mean that the current “solar cycle” is over, by any means. Actually, the present solar cycle peaks in 2013, so if anything, this means that the Sun is “sucking up” more energy from its surface as its magnetic poles prepare to flip.

Compare this to the eye of a hurricane; the eye is the center of the storm, and it is calm, quiet, sunny, and still. When you come out of the eye into the backside of the storm, you are back to hurricane winds.

No one really knows for sure, but monitoring the Sun’s polar magnetic flip should provide some hints when the CMEs will start flaring up again.

Maybe a decrease in the number of earthquakes mirrors a upcoming reversal of the Earth’s magnetic poles. No one knows because human technology was not on Earth when this happened last.

EQs

At this time, there has been a decrease in the number of earthquakes, worldwide, but an increase in magnitude – the quakes that have occurred have been doozies.

The following large earthquakes (5.0 and above) have occurred worldwide over the past 7 days:

  1. 5.6  Carlsberg Ridge (Indian Ocean near equator)
  2. 7.7  Pakistan
  3. 5.9  Pakistan
  4. 5.0  Pakistan
  5. 5.6  Pakistan
  6. 3 islands formed in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan after these quakes
  7. 5.0   Pakistan
  8. 5.5   Pakistan
  9. 5.0   Pakistan
  10. 5.5   Tonga
  11. 5.4   East Pacific Rise (South Polar region)
  12. 5.4   Alaska (North Polar region)
  13. 7.0   Peru (equator)
  14. 5.4   Reykjanes Ridge, Iceland (North Polar region)
  15. 5.7   Mexico (equator)
  16. 5.0   Tonga
  17. 5.0   Pakistan
  18. 5.2   Russia (North Polar region)
  19. 5.4   North Mid-Atlantic Ridge (North Polar region)
  20. 6.8   Pakistan
  21. 5.7   Tonga
  22. 5.0   South Mid-Atlantic Ridge (South Polar region)
  23. 5.7   Tonga
  24. 5.0   South Mid-Atlantic Ridge (South Polar region)
  25. 5.0   New Guinea
  26. 5.2   Russia (North Polar region)
  27. 5.1    SW Indian Ridge
  28. 5.2   Chile
  29. 5.0   Chile
  30. 6.5   New Zealand
  31. 5.4   Mid Atlantic Ridge
  32. 5.0   New Guinea
  33. 5.0   Japan

Believe it or not, 33 earthquakes 5.0 and above is a decrease in the number of recent earthquakes, but the strength of the quakes is the difference – their magnitudes are increasing. Merely a decade ago, the list above would have been for the entire year. Today, these large quakes are occurring within a week.

As the solar cycle recharges, we’ll have to wait and see if this list increases in both number and magnitude.