Emotions run high at Chinese hospital after blasts 01:28
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USGS: Piedmont-based earthquake was shallow
OAKLAND -- A magnitude-4.0 temblor that rattled nerves in the East Bay on Monday morning was a very shallow but routine geologic shrug in an area notorious for seismic risk -- and yet another reminder of the threat lurking from a fault that's the Bay Area's most overdue for a major quake.
Monday's quake was the second magnitude-4.0 quake on the Hayward Fault in less than a month -- and comes almost a year after the magnitude-6.0 Napa temblor that was the region's biggest in 25 years -- but there is no indication it is a precursor of the Big One. While there was a flurry of aftershocks following Monday's 6:49 a.m. earthquake, there is only a 10 percent chance that it will be followed by a larger earthquake in the next week, Knudsen said.
Residents throughout Northern California took notice of the hiccup on the Hayward Fault near and far. "I was working on my computer and saw my monitor tilt and wobble," said Barbara Kossy of Moss Beach.
The earthquake occurred almost one year after the Aug. 24 South Napa temblor, which measured 6.0-magnitude on the West Napa Fault, noted USGS research geophysicist Tom Brocher. That event was the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, causing about $500 million in damage.
"Today is another reminder that we live in earthquake country," said Brocher. "These events remind us that we should be prepared -- because we can't predict earthquakes and don't know exactly when they'll happen."
![The "Faulted Floor" in the Fremont Community Center. Structural damage to the 1962 building was caused by the Hayward Fault.](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tBS_9LT-WSGKYdkiY6Q0sSucSqfZxd16tneSfv4-nQBN27Re9UsJjJZDAP7pDYar8-0W-pJp7xTpegbk7210_3jC5tfvuMYojZ7yqzpvhtjt4UXvGASDCXU8Oe8ZvXOmSUpfCn8VzL7YdzMrzkdwRFSCKR3IVucKYWFSegaF3levU=s0-d "The "Faulted Floor" in the Fremont Community Center. Structural damage to the 1962 building was caused by the Hayward Fault.")
The "Faulted Floor" in the Fremont Community Center. Structural damage to the 1962 building was caused by the Hayward Fault. (Mercury News archives)
On July 21, the Hayward Fault produced another magnitude-4.0 earthquake at 2:41 a.m. on the border of Fremont and Union City. That temblor was 5 miles deep, located just north of the intersection of Niles Canyon Road and Mission Boulevard.
The largest earthquake on the fault, estimated to have a magnitude of 6.8, occurred in 1868, according to the USGS. It killed about 30 people and caused major property damage.
But the population of the East Bay is now about 100 times larger -- so many more people will be affected by the next major quake.
"Think about your home, your work and where your kids go to school," USGS' Knudsen said. "If there is an earthquake, are they likely to be safe? If you don't know, ask the experts."
For Northern Californians, the Hayward Fault is the most likely source of a dangerous quake, with a 31 percent chance in the next 30 years.
The Hayward Fault, part of the larger San Andreas Fault system, runs from San Pablo Bay in the north to Fremont in the south -- passing through the heart of Berkeley, Oakland, Hayward, Fremont and other East Bay cities.
The region is a place of ongoing and often imperceptible earthen creeping, as evidenced by routinely broken sidewalks in Hayward and Fremont. If you stand in the Bay Area and look toward the Sierra, over time you'd see the mountains move to the right.
The Hayward Fault creeps about one-fifth of an inch a year.
"If you live in the East Bay, you get used to the little earth shakes that occur from time to time," said Lafayette-based photographer Charlotte Gibb. "These do not bother me much. As a native Californian, I just accept them as part of living here."
Bangkok bomb: Thai capital reeling after deadliest attack in years
Military junta blames explosion at Erawan shrine which killed at least 19 people on forces aiming to destroy economy and tourism
Thailand’s military rulers are facing up to the deadliest attack in the capital in recent memory after at least 19 people were killed in a bomb blast that the government blamed on forces seeking to destroy its tourist economy.
Body parts and mangled scooters were scattered across a busy intersection in central
Bangkok
after the improvised device went off at about 7pm local time (noon GMT) at the Erawan Hindu shrine.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the deadly assault in which more than 123 people were injured is a major test for the military-run administration, which ousted the elected government in May 2014. The military is fighting a Muslim insurgency in the south but militants rarely launch attacks of this scale on the capital.
“The perpetrators intended to destroy the economy and tourism, because the incident occurred in the heart of the tourism district,” the defence minister, Prawit Wongsuwan, told Reuters.
“We still don’t know for sure who did this and why,” he later told reporters. “We are not sure if it is politically motivated, but they aim to harm our economy and we will hunt them down.”
“It was a pipe bomb,” the national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, said, adding that the toll could climb to nearer 30. “It was placed inside the Erawan shrine.” CCTV footage captured a cloud of fire, and showed Thai people and a foreign man running away.
“Those who have planted this bomb are cruel. They aim to kill because everyone knows that at 7pm the shrine is crowded with Thais and foreigners,” Somyot said. “Planting a bomb there means they want to see a lot of dead people.”
Bangkok has been mostly calm since the coup last year but anger from the opposition has intensified after the junta said it may not hold elections until 2017. The last major bombing in Bangkok occurred on New Year’s Eve at the end of 2006, when three people were killed in a series of explosions. Responsibility was never claimed.
Police and the fire brigade cordoned off the entire intersection with tape and human barriers. Four major roads and the above-ground metro rail converge here, and high-rise hotels and malls line the street. Shards of glass lay on the road and a sign from the nearby Alexander McQueen shop had letters missing from the impact of the blast.
Hundreds of onlookers, mostly from the security services but also journalists and some tourists, stood at the edge of the tape. When thunder clapped in the clouds above, everyone jumped.
The UK Foreign Office said people should “monitor media and take extra care” after the explosion. It later released a statement saying: “We are in contact with local authorities and urgently seeking further information following reports of an explosion in Bangkok.”
At the multistorey Grand Hyatt hotel, which is right next to the shrine, locals and tourists waited for the situation to calm down, looking at photos of the wreckage on social media as they sat only metres away.
Thanapon Peng, a 25-year-old who works in marketing, passed the site on a motorbike taxi moments after the blast. “I saw glass. I saw some organs of people on the road. I don’t know how many people there were,” he told the Guardian. “I heard that about 80 people are wounded but we don’t know how many died.”
He was told by hotel staff to wait inside, where a musician continued to play on the mezzanine grand piano and staff tried to help people. Outside, a single empty stretcher lay where taxis drop off guests.
There were suggestions in the aftermath that a second and third bomb had been hidden in the capital. Police with torches looked under bushes and walked the grounds of the nearby police station in an apparent search for other devices.
Tamar Johnson, 20, a British tourist staying in the nearby Lebua hotel, said she and her sister were at the rooftop bar when they heard a huge explosion. “At first we thought it was just thunder because there’s been electrical storms all day so we didn’t think much of it,” she told Caters News Agency.
“Then my mum phoned me from the hotel. She was shouting about a bomb so we sprinted back to our hotel. It was chaos – people were running around and there were police and ambulances everywhere.”
“Now we’re on the 23rd floor and we’re all together waiting for it to calm down. It’s really scary. The hotel staff are looking after us but they’ve closed the doors and told us not to leave until we hear anything else.”
Medics and police formed a line at the large intersection and walked slowly forward, looking for any debris from the blast. A volunteer medic said: “Some people died here, some people died at hospital.”
A full death toll would come later, medics said, as many of the critically wounded had been sent to different hospitals.
The explosion was large enough to throw a metre-wide chunk of metal to a third-floor balcony on the other side of the street, about 50 metres away. Human flesh lay on the road and medics were picking it up two hours after the blast.
The shrine is a major attraction for visitors from Asia and for Thai people. Dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, it is also popular among Thailand’s Buddhist and Chinese tourists.
Nearby tailors sell suits to tourists and diplomats, and the road straddles the capital’s main metro line.
Several ambulances rushed along the road away from the shrine to hospitals. Most of the wounded were taken to a hospital very close to the blast site and a long line of ambulances waited outside. Empty wheelchairs and stretchers stood at the entrance to the emergency care unit, where people were packed into the reception.
In the lobby, police said foreigners who speak Thai had arrived to volunteer to help translate for wounded tourists. Hospitals were calling for Chinese translators and many had arrived and registered their mobile phone numbers with the police, to be called on later.
Tony Chan, a Chinese physical education teacher, said he was in Bangkok on a three-week trip and came to the hospital to see if he could do something for the wounded. “I heard a very loud sound. I thought it was thunder. Later I saw the news so I came to see if I could provide some help,” he said.
The Nation television channel reported that the government would set up a “war room” to coordinate a response. Some were pointing fingers at Muslim separatists who have waged a long campaign in Thailand’s south, but the country has also seen violent confrontations between political groups in the capital. Two pipe bombs exploded in the same district in February but did not cause significant damage.
The Thai government posted a statement late on Monday evening, attributed to Maj Gen Werachon Sukhondhapatak, saying preliminary investigations had revealed that an IED was used to cause the explosion.
“As for possible motivations as to who may have caused this incident, it is too early to speculate which group may have been responsible for this crime but authorities are following possible leads.”
Videos: http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/aug/18/bangkok-bombing-reactions-its-just-shocking-video
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Tom Brady's judge is salvaging Deflategate and putting the NFL to shame
“You might say (Brady) got no better advantage from the under-inflation,” Berman said.
The egos of two rich and powerful men are at stake in this case, as is the reputation of Brady, though some believe that has already been irrevocably damaged. The truth of the matter, regardless of who is culpable, is that Deflategate is utterly absurd and now it has become a drain on public resources. That a federal judge is being tasked with determining whether a four-game suspension was unfair and violated the labor contract of a professional football player because that player and his league couldn’t get along would be laughable if it wasn’t so embarrassing.
It is embarrassing, whether you support Brady or not, and Berman is going to make sure everyone knows just how embarrassing it is, whether he passes a decision or not. Ideally, Berman won’t have to make a decision – this is a settlement hearing after all. His tact on Wednesday was to seemingly illustrate the absurdity of the proceedings and humor both parties into an agreement.
AFP
No one is leaving these court proceedings looking well. But Judge Berman appears determined to leave laughing. Really, it’s the only thing you can do in the face of such overwhelming nonsense.
Former President Jimmy Carter Reveals Cancer Diagnosis
President Obama issued this statement on the former president's illness:"Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body. I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare. A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week."
The Associated Press reports that earlier this month Carter announced he had an elective surgery "to remove a small mass from his liver." A spokeswoman for Carter said that the prognosis after that procedure was for a full recovery."Michelle and I send our best wishes to President Carter for a fast and full recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rosalynn and the entire Carter family as they face this challenge with the same grace and determination that they have shown so many times before. Jimmy, you're as resilient as they come, and along with the rest of America, we are rooting for you."
Carter, son of a peanut farmer, served as the 39th president of the United States, from 1977 to 1981. After his time in office, he founded the Carter Center and became an advocate for international peace, democracy and human rights.
Tianjin explosion: Dozens dead; areas of Chinese port city devastated
Tianjin, China (CNN)You
can see the devastation everywhere: in the hollowed-out shells of
barely-standing buildings, in the anguished faces of relatives waiting
for news of loved ones, in the parade of scorched cars.
But
what was it that set off the terrifying blasts that ripped through
warehouses containing hazardous chemical materials, sending fireballs
shooting across the sky and shaking tall buildings more than 2 miles
away?
Hours later, amid the
destruction in this northern Chinese port city of more than 13 million,
the exact cause of Wednesday night's blast remained unclear.
A thick chemical odor hung in the air.
Fires still burned in the waterfront industrial district where the
explosions went off. And the grim toll kept mounting.
At
least 50 people are confirmed dead, including 12 firefighters,
officials said Thursday. More than 500 people are hospitalized, and 71
of them were in critical condition, the state-run Xinhua news outlet
reported. Dozens of firefighters are missing.
Local
authorities suspended firefighting efforts Thursday because of a lack
of information about the "dangerous goods" stored at the warehouse at
the heart of the blasts, Xinhua said.
The explosions originated at a
warehouse site owned by Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International
Logistics Co. Ltd., a company that stores and transports dangerous
chemicals. Company executives have been taken into custody, state media
said.
The blasts' destructive force tore into Tianjin, smashing buildings and mangling shipping containers.
The
first explosion was huge, but the second was even more powerful -- the
equivalent of 21 metric tons of TNT or a magnitude 2.9 earthquake,
according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.
The
power of the explosions destroyed the house where Qian Jiping and his
wife, both of them migrant construction workers, were staying.
"When I heard the first explosion, I thought we were finished," he said.
Strangers
pulled them from the rubble. They fled barefoot, desperate to get away,
barely feeling the jagged shards of glass that littered the ground.
Across the city, residents were jolted awake as the blasts shattered windows and fish tanks.
"The
shock wave just blew through our apartment. It blew out the glass, it
blew out the doors, it knocked out the power," said Vafa Anderson, a
teacher at an international school who lives less than two kilometers
from the explosions' epicenter.
Anderson
told CNN he was awakened by the first blast and was looking out the
window when the second went off, sending a "huge mushroom cloud" into
the sky.
"I thought it was an
earthquake!" said Liu Yue, a 25-year-old woman who lives about four
kilometers away. "I was extremely scared. I was afraid my family was in
danger."
She told CNN the entire 16-floor building she lives in was rocking.
The injured were taken to different hospitals in the city, with many reported to be suffering from cuts caused by broken glass.
People gathered outside one hospital not far from an area of badly damaged buildings, waiting for news of loved ones.
A severely burned man was wheeled past waiting crowds.
Some people collapsed from the heartbreak of losing someone close to them.
"Why did God take her? Why did God take my daughter?" one man cried out.
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