Massive coronal ejection en route to Earth

The largest ejection of charged particles from the Sun since 2005 is currently speeding toward Earth at 5 million miles per hour. It's due to hit us sometime tomorrow.

In recent months I have made it known that for the past number of years, I have been observing a correlation between this kind of solar activity and an increase in significant seismic activity. You can read about them here and here and here and most recently from October here. So in keeping with that, I am going to strongly suggest that this latest storm of energy which the Sun is throwing at us could possibly trigger severe earthquake activity.

Just something to maybe bear in mind these next few days and weeks...

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The Knight Shift Seismic Forecast #2

Less than 24 hours following my most recent post regarding a theory I've been developing about seismic activity, Turkey was hit with a 7.2 earthquake.

In keeping with this blogger's goal of observation and collecting data, I will now state that if there is indeed validity to the theory, that there will be a significant possibility of severe seismic/geological activity within the next three to four weeks of this writing, with a chance of occurring much sooner. That seems to be the window of "opportunity" (for lack of a better word).

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Follow-up to previous post about seismic activity

On September 26th I wrote about a theory that I have been developing for some time now and in regard to that, there was a strong possibility of a moderate to severe earthquake happening in the near future. Well it's been almost a month since then and I thought it would be wise to revisit that prognostication...

There has been an increase in geological activity since I posted that, particularly around the Pacific Rim (the so-called "Ring of Fire"). In addition there have been numerous earthquakes in excess of 4.0 Richter throughout the American Southwest following the "forecast" (or whatever one wishes to call it) and now increasing volcanic activity in Iceland and a very interesting rise in earthquakes around El Hierro in the Canary Islands.

So what does this mean for my theory?

I suppose it could be some validation, but something like this still needs long-term data before I could comfortably say "Hey, this makes the possibility of earthquakes more likely to happen!" Although in the past month there has been one peer-reviewed and published journal study that kinda dovetails with this concept of mine.

So here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna keep watching this thing that I've been observing, and the next time the conditions are "favorable" (for lack of a better term), I'll make a note of it and we'll see what happens.

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Testing a theory

This afternoon, September 26th 2011, I am stating that there is a strong possibility of a moderate to severe earthquake occurring during the next few weeks.

Don't know where. The theory I've been developing ain't that refined yet.

However, I will note that during this past year I have made such "predictions" (though I'd rather find a better word for it) among friends, and every time there has been some significant seismic activity: from the Tokyo quake to the recent one that rattled us here on the East Coast.

We'll see what happens in the next month or so. And if something occurs geologically, I'll elaborate at greater length on this theory (which does seems to have some merit to it...)

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5.9 earthquake rocked this house!!!

Looks like I picked the wrong day to start blogging again...

The 5.9 magnitude earthquake epicentered near Richmond, Virginia shook my house west of Reidsville, North Carolina for... darn nearly 30 seconds! Okay, probably not that long but it sure as hell felt long enough. I was working on some stuff on my iPad while sitting up on my bed when I felt the bed shake and heard the windows creaking. First thing I thought was "wow, that wind sure is strong..." Then I looked outside and saw that there was no wind.

Getting reports from friends all over: my girlfriend's apartment shook a few hours north of here. Good friend Chad in Cary felt it there. Folks as far away as Cleveland, Ohio and southwest North Carolina are saying it shook them too.

Wow.

Okay, I know there are lots of you who are like "Chris, this is no big deal." Maybe for good people in California or so but we are not used to this. I have never experienced an earthquake before and all my life I've heard about how unsettling it is. How treacherous an emotion it is, to have the ground beneath you start shaking without warning.

I had never known what it must be to have that feeling. This afternoon, I know.

Okay, gonna try to blog about more... stuff... now. Had some technical difficulties during most of the past week and then was trapped out of town last night. Back in the saddle now. And I didn't even have to resort to posting funny pictures of my girlfriend's cats either... :-P

Y'all stay safe out there!

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The earthquake in Japan...

...moved the axis of the entire Earth 10 inches from its previous position.

And the coastline of Japan has been permanently moved nearly 2 and a half meters.

Once again, I am reminded about how lacking in humility we are in regard to the world we live upon.

Try to think about the forces required to move something as big as the entire Earth by ten inches. Just ten inches.

In the first year of this blog's operation, after the 2004 Indonesia earthquake/tsunami, I posted an excerpt from Jurassic Park (the super-incredible novel not the less-than-satisfying movie). It's the scene toward the end where Ian Malcolm is telling Hammond about how the Earth cannot be destroyed. It's perhaps worth reading again, and pondering.

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8.9 earthquake just hit Japan

That's just short of the 2004 Boxing Day earthquake that produced the tsunami which devastated Indonedia and other places along thousands of miles of the Indian Ocean's shoreline.

8.9 Richter... sheesh. I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to experience something like that.

Thoughts and prayers going out this morning to our friends in Japan. And if you can, tune in to the television coverage going on right now. This is history in the making.

EDIT 2:55 a.m. EST: This blog has lots of readers in Hawaii (yeah hey to you too Danny :-). Now hearing that a tsunami warning has been issued and that you guys are due to get hit by the heavy end of the hammer around 3:00 a.m. Hawaiian local time this morning.

Got you guys in prayer especially. Please, be safe.

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Remember my post last week about solar flares and earthquakes?

Here's the link if you wanna look at it. It was about the massive discharge of highly-energized particles that the Sun threw out at the Earth early last week. As a result there were some astonishingly brilliant aurora reported at the northern latitudes.

Well anyway, in my post I wondered aloud if there might be any earthquake activity that would happen as a result, 'cuz I've noticing for the past few years that whenever this planet gets hit by particles from a solar flare that it seems to agitate the inner workins enough to cause pretty good rumblin' soon afterward.

I wrote that last Monday, August 2nd. Today, August 12th, there have been two earthquakes reported in the past several hours. A 6.0 quake hitting the island nation of Vanuatu and then a short while ago a 6.9 quake striking just over a hundred miles away from Quito in Ecuador. No reports of injuries from either earthquake.

Not adding any further commentary. Just wanted to pass along the information for anyone interested in such things.

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Severe geological activity about to happen?

I may get called a "kook" from some quarters for writing about this. All I can really say in my own defense is that it's something I'm sincerely curious about and I was told a long time ago that the only wrong question to ask is one that isn't asked at all...

Slashdot is spreading the news this afternoon about a massive ejection of high-energy particles from the the sun. It's headed toward Earth and should reach us sometime tomorrow. Among other things it means that we should be enjoying some lovely aurora, if you're fortunate to live at a high-enough latitude.

Awright well, here's the thing: I've noticed in the past several years that most every time we get hit by a solar flare, that there's usually a massive earthquake that happens not very long afterward.

Considering that the inside of the Earth is a molten piezoelectric dynamo that generates this planet's magnetic field and that the plates of the planet's crust are floating on top of it, it doesn't seem that coincidental a correlation. I mean, if every now and then the sun ejects some highly electromagnetic particles toward us, seems only fitting that there'd be some agitation of the works beneath us.

So... will an earthquake be occurring in the near future? More than one, perhaps?

I decided awhile back that the next time there was a report of this kind of solar weather that I'd make a note of it on this blog, just to see if anything happens. And whether or not it does well, guess this'll be my own lil' contribution to the body of observable data on geological activity :-)

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Chile earthquake is making scientific and television history

First things first: The proprietor of this blog extends his own thoughts and prayers to the very many that are going out to our friends down Chile way today, in the aftermath of the 8.8 earthquake that rocked that country in the wee hours this morning.

And by the way, it's a great testament to that country about how on the ball the folks are about this. I've heard only great things about Chile over the years and the speed and diligence that they have exerted in dealing with this disaster, makes me compelled to tip my hat to 'em.

If you haven't already today, it would - not to put too fine a point on it - be extremely recommended that you tune in right now to CNN or Fox News or whatever, and check out the live feed coming from Hawaii, which looks to have dodged the proverbial bullet so far as tsunami are concerned. There have been significantly higher waves hitting Hawaii but so far, nothing of serious consequence (and let's pray it stays that way). The truly fascinating thing that I'm finding from all of this is that, for the first time that I can remember it happening anyway, possible tsunami have been anticipated and evacuations well underway... and before television cameras for all the world to see, too.

Considering that the Boxing Day Tsunami was just over five years ago, that's a huge leap in technology and means of geological analysis and prediction.

Gotta love science :-)

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Want to help those in Haiti? Consider giving to New Directions International

All two of this blog's regular readers know: I never endorse anything here unless I can sincerely trust a person or organization to the utmost. Well, in light of what's going on down in Haiti right now in the aftermath of this week's earthquake, many folks are wondering what they can do to help out the people of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area.

So if your heart is leading you to make a contribution toward the relief efforts there but you may not have known where exactly to lend your resources to, I would like to recommend that you consider giving to New Directions International.

Based in Graham, North Carolina, New Directions is a Christian outreach ministry that, among many other things, sends food and supplies to South America, Africa and plenty of other regions around the world. They are also quite active in helping to construct buildings for local congregations in those same areas. Being familiar with a number of people involved at New Directions International, I can absolutely and completely vouch for their commitment, their integrity and their Christ-like love toward others.

Nobody's asked me to make this post. I'm doing it because the local Fox affiliate this evening aired a story about New Directions and its operations in Haiti. The ministry had planned for two mission trips there in the coming weeks: missions that are obviously now hanging in limbo. Several Haitian colleagues of New Directions are being reported missing or dead. There's also a story in Burlington's Times-News about what's happening at the ministry following the earthquake.

New Directions is currently raising money for food and other aid to the victims of this week's earthquake. You can visit their website at www.newdirections.org. The phone number is 336-227-1273.

If you cannot donate funds, please keep the people at New Directions International in your thoughts and prayers. This blogger, for one, will be very thankful if you do.

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Danny Glover blames global warming for Haiti earthquake

This is an even dumber thing to say than Pat Robertson's sick statement two days ago.

Here's what Danny Glover has declared about the earthquake in Haiti...

"When we see what we did at the climate summit in Copenhagen, this is the response, this is what happens, you know what I'm sayin'?"

So Haiti got hit because the "climate change" conference in Copenhagen last month didn't go like Glover wanted it to?

Either Glover is horribly ignorant/uneducated about the subjects of climate and plate tectonics, or he's ascribing god-like sentience and powers to the Earth itself.

Once upon a time, actors were held in such ill repute that they weren't allowed burial in a town's cemetery: they were interred without Christian rite at a more remote site from civilization. Today, merely being a celebrity is grounds to celebrate one's grasp of science and philosophy, however misguided.

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Obama sending $100 million to Haiti... and why he's very wrong to do so

Haiti is still reeling from a 7.3 earthquake two days ago that destroyed Port-au-Prince. A half-million people there or more might be dead in the rubble. The tiny island nation was already one of the world's poorest economies and even that has been shattered beyond belief.

This is very much one of the worst natural disasters of modern memory. Some are saying that the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami pales in comparison.

As I wrote here yesterday, our thoughts and prayers should be with the people of Haiti. I have certainly held them up in my own time with God.

Just wanted to make it clear that I do have sympathy for what the Haitian people are going through. I can't say that I have understanding though, 'cuz honestly I've never been through something on this vast a scale. But does my heart break for the people there? Absolutely.

And I can understand why a lot of folks are going to think that it's mighty good of President Barack Obama to pledge $100 million from the United States government to aid in the recovery of Haiti.

So I can hear it now: "Chris you're a heartless bastard!" when I write that Obama should not be using our tax money to help out Haiti.

Longtime readers of this blog might know where I'm coming from. I can't think of a better way to articulate it than the story of Horatio Bunce, as shared by Davey Crockett. But if you want a synopsis: Crockett and some other well-meaning members of the House of Representatives voted $20,000 (a huge sum in those days) for relief for victims of a fire in Georgetown. When Crockett went back to his district in Kentucky to campaign for re-election, a well-respected local sage named Horatio Bunce harshly reprimanded Crockett for his "act of charity". Using the money of the public treasury in such a fashion was a violation of the citizens' trust, Bunce told Crockett: it was "not yours to give"! And as a result, Bunce told Crockett that he could not vote for him again.

Davey Crockett realized that Bunce was correct, and he never again voted for funds from the taxpayers to be used for anything other than what is called for in the Constitution. As for Horatio Bunce: he was satisfied that Crockett had learned his lesson, and promised to throw Crockett a fine barbecue and fundraiser the following week.

If only more of our politicians today had the wisdom of Horatio Bunce... or the humility to acknowledge that they are in the wrong, as Davey Crockett had.

I've never been comfortable with our elected officials sending our money abroad in the name of "humanitarian aid". For one thing, it's not a power given them in the Constitution of the United States. For another and far more practical reason: there is no accounting of how the money is being spent. Does anyone seriously believe that $100 million of American taxpayers money is going to all be used for disaster relief down in Haiti? If past history is an indicator, most of it will be wasted sloppily at best, and no doubt much will be outright stolen. Money that we barely have, that isn't our government's to give to begin with.

Now if you want to really help out the folks in Haiti, there are many worthwhile organizations that you can contribute to, if you choose to. The Salvation Army is one that comes to mind. These are agencies that have a tremendous interest in being accountable to the public. That is something that can not be said of the federal government. Indeed, I would dare say that $10 million of privately raised funds by the Salvation Army would go much further to sincerely helping the people of Haiti than $100 million from the United States government.

It's astounding that the United States still leads the world in providing disaster relief, in spite of ourselves (or our government anyway).

Kinda makes you wonder: if politicians like Barack Obama would not waste the citizens' money on "charitable" but unlawful expenditures, how much more could this country's people be able to give aid to those who need it most?

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Please keep Haiti in your prayers y'all

Yesterday's 7.3 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti is fast shaping up to be one of the worst natural disasters of recent memory. I'm hearing that this is the biggest tremblor in two centuries to hit the area.

Here's asking this blog's readers to please hold the Haitian people up in your thoughts and prayers in the days and weeks to come. Lord knows, they're gonna need it.

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Swiss scientist on trial for causing earthquakes

Markus Haering appeared in court in Basel, Switzerland today. The charge leveled against him: that his company's activities caused earthquakes, one of which measured 3.4 Richter magnitude. Haering's firm is researching geothermal-generated electricity. Well, according to court documents his company's deep-drilling in 2006 triggered the quakes. There were no injuries but $9 million in damages were reported. If the judge finds him guilty of intentionally damaging property, Haering faces five years jail for making the earthquakes happen...

...which is gonna be a heckuva retort when he gets asked "So what are you in for buddy?"

(Seriously though, sounds like it's gonna be an easy charge to beat. Lex Luthor might have been put behind bars for doing something like this but not Markus Haering. Dude doesn't even have a nuclear weapon, fer pete's sake...)

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