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10 Instructions That Can Be Used As Guidelines During Earthquakes

If an earthquake struck suddenly, following 10 instructions that can be used as a handle wherever you are.

Inside the house
Vibration will be felt for a while. During that time, you should seek the safety of yourself and your family. Go to the bottom of the table to protect your body from falling objects. If you do not have a table, protect your head with a pillow.

If you're turning on the stove, then turn off immediately to prevent fires.

In school
Take refuge under the table, cover the head with a bag or a book, do not panic, if the earthquake subsided forth sequentially starting from the farthest distance to the door, look for the field, do not stand near the buildings, poles and trees.

Outside the house
Protect to you and avoid dangerous objects. In the area of ??office or industrial area, the danger could arise from the collapse of the glass and billboards. Protect your head with your hands, or whatever bag you are carrying.

In buildings, malls, movie theaters, and the ground floor mall
Do not cause a panic or a victim of panic. Follow all instructions of the officer or security guard.

In the elevator
Do not use elevators during an earthquake or fire. If you feel the vibrations of an earthquake while in the elevator, then press all the buttons. When the elevator stops, get out, see the safety and pass over. If you get stuck in a lift, please contact the building manager using the interphone if available.

On the train
Hold on tightly to the pole so that you will not fall if the train is stopped abruptly. Be calm following the explanation of the train attendant. One understands the information officer or station wagon will cause panic.

In the car
When a large earthquake occurs, you will feel as if your car wheels bald. You will lose control of the car and difficult to control. Stay away from the intersection, Pull your car left the road and stop. Follow the instructions from the car radio. If you must evacuate it out of the car, leave the car unlocked.

On the mountain / beach
There is a possibility of landslides occurred on the mountain. Get away to a safe place immediately. On the coast, the danger comes from the tsunami. If you feel the vibration and tsunami signs appear, quickly fled to high ground.

Give aid
Can already be predicted that many people will be injured during a major earthquake. Because of health workers from hospitals will have difficulty coming to the scene, then be prepared to give first aid to people who are around you.

Listen information
When a large earthquake occurs, the public mental hit. To prevent panic, it is important everyone be calm and act in accordance with the correct information. You can obtain information yag true of the authorities or police. Do not act because the information is not clear.

Rare earthquake shakes New York, sending residents scrambling

A 5.8 earthquake centered in Virginia jolted much of the East Coast Tuesday, giving New York City its biggest shaking in decades as surprised office workers scrambled down to the streets from swaying towers and countless residents marveled at what they’d just experienced.

The quake, whose epicenter was just outside of Richmond, Va., was one of the most powerful ever recorded on the East Coast. It rocked Gotham at 1:51 p.m. and lasted for about 30 seconds. That was long enough to temporarily shutter the city's airports and delay flights along the East Coast, prompt crack inspections of the Holland Tunnel, snarl cell-phone service — and put the lie to the idea that big quakes are the sole province of the West Coast.

Photo credit: People stand in a square outside the NY courthouse after evacuating.(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Image)

"It was crazy, the first thought I had was that the building was crumbling down," said Frank Schulterbrand, 62, who was inside a building on 34th Street during the afternoon temblor. Indeed, office floors swayed, overhead lamps swooned, and New Yorkers wondered what to do.

"I looked at the blinds and they were moving, and I said to myself, 'It was time to get out of there,' " Schulterbrand added.

Rattled East Coasters rushed to file dispatches on Twitter, with Tweets hitting 5,500 per second, more than after the death of Osama bin Laden and similar to the Japan quake and tsunami.

City Hall was evacuated, as were buildings across the city, but no injuries or deaths were reported, officials said. The MTA said there were no service disruptions, and FDNY said that aside from a water tower in Red Hook, it didn't get reports of other damage in the city.

Buildings in the nation's capital were also evacuated, including the White House and the Pentagon, and spires at the National Cathedral were damaged. Some injuries were also reported in D.C.

Two nuclear plants in Virginia shut down automatically as a precaution, as they would during any earthquake. Up in Martha’s Vineyard, the vacationing President Barack Obama was playing golf when the quake happened, though reported he didn’t feel it.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg was at work in City Hall when he felt the quake that, among other things, brought an abrupt end to District Attorney Cy Vance’s news conference about Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

"For many people this was a stressful afternoon, but so far we've been lucky to avoid any major harm," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

(with Marc Beja, Erik Ortiz and Reuters)

SOURCE

Indiana Earthquake: 3.8 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Central Indiana

A 3.8 magnitude earthquake rattled portions of Central Indiana Thursday morning--and was even felt by some Chicago residents.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially estimated the quake's strength was magnitude 4.2, but since lowered that number, according to the Associated Press.

Residents of Chicago, Naperville and Buffalo Grove, Illinois told NBC Chicago they felt their beds shaking and saw their ceiling fans move early Thursday. A geophysicist told the AP a 3.8 magnitude quake "would feel like a loaded truck passing by."

The Indiana Geological Survey had no records of a 3.8 magnitude earthquake in Central Indiana ever, according to the Indianapolis Star. The director of the IGS told the Star that the quakes location--about 3 miles below the ground--was "highly irregular" and "extremely rare."

Indiana's last major earthquake was on April 18, 2008. The 5.2 magnitude quake was the strongest to hit the state in 40 years, the Star reports.

No injuries or damage had been reported as of 9:30 a.m. CT.

Check out the U.S. Geological Survey's map of the earthquake's location here:

related : earthquake, indianna

Samoa, then Indonesia: are the earthquakes linked?

Two earthquakes within 16 hours of each other. Cause and effect, or coincidence?

American Samoa and Indonesia, the victims of two earthquakes in 24 hours, both lie on the so-called Ring of Fire. This volcano- and quake-plagued semi-circle runs for 40,000km around the edge of the Pacific Ocean and accounts for approximately 90 per cent of the World's earthquakes and 75 per cent of its volcanoes.

At 17:48GMT on Tuesday September 29, a magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck south of American Samoa. Just 16 hours later, at 10:16GMT yesterday, the second quake, of magnitude 7.6, hit 30 miles off the east coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. A third, smaller, earthquake struck Sumatra in the early hours of this morning. (The earthquake which caused the devastating Asian tsunami on Boxing Day 2004 was magnitude 9.1.)

So why might the Samoan and Indonesian quakes be linked? The epicentres of these earthquakes both lie near to the edge of the Australian plate, about 4,000 miles apart (see map). It seems plausible that one movement of the Australian plate caused both earthquakes. But David Booth, senior seismologist at the British Geological Survey, is not so sure.

"There are sound physical reasons for expecting one earthquake to cause another, but that is very unlikely to have happened in this case," he says. "The quakes were in different fault zones, and the chance of one earthquake triggering another by seismic waves moving up the fault line are very slight over such a great distance.

"Indonesia is one of the most seismic zones in the world - perhaps the most seismic - so it's no real surprise that a large earthquake has happened there, but the fact that it happened within hours of the Samoan one is almost certainly a coincidence."

One thing Booth is certain about is that there has been an upsurge in seismic activity in the Indonesian faultline since the 2004 Asian tsunami - and recent earthquakes in that region have only added to the likelihood of further disasters.

"As one earthquake happens, the stress in the fault changes," he explains. "The stress on unfractured segments increases, making an earthquake in that segment more likely."

This is indeed what has happened in Indonesia this morning. Sumatra was hit by a second earthquake of magnitude 6.8 at 01:52GMT. It won't be the last.

Official: Death in Indonesia earthquake hits 467

JAKARTA, Indonesia - The death toll in Wednesday's powerful earthquake on Indonesia's Sumatra island reached 467 on Thursday, a government official said.

A total of 467 people were confirmed dead and 421 seriously injured in Wednesday's 7.6 magnitude quake, Tugiyo Bisri of the Social Affairs Ministry's crisis center said.

Wednesday's quake struck western Indonesia, trapping thousands of people under collapsed buildings — including hospitals, a hotel and a classroom, officials said.

The temblor Wednesday started fires, severed roads and cut off power and communications to Padang, a coastal city of 900,000 on Sumatra island. Thousands fled in panic, fearing a tsunami. It was felt hundreds of miles away in Malaysia and Singapore, causing buildings there to sway.

The undersea quake of 7.6 magnitude was followed by a powerful, shallow inland earthquake on Thursday morning with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It hit about 150 miles south of Padang at a depth of just under 20 miles.

Shallow, inland earthquakes generally are more destructive. There were reports that the second quake badly damaged dozens of additional buildings.

Hundreds of buildings damaged

In Padang, the capital of West Sumatra province, the shaking was so intense from Wednesday's temblor that people crouched or sat on the street to avoid falling. Children screamed as an exodus of thousands of frantic residents fled the coast in cars and motorbikes, honking horns.

At least 500 buildings in Padang collapsed or were badly damaged, said Disaster Management Agency spokesman Priyadi Kardono, adding that 200 bodies had been pulled from the rubble there. The extent of damage in surrounding areas was still unclear due to poor communications. Indonesia, a poor, sprawling nation with limited resources, was cobbling together an emergency aid response, and the government was preparing for the possibility of thousands of deaths.

Padang's mayor appealed for assistance on Indonesian radio station el-Shinta.

"We are overwhelmed with victims and ... lack of clean water, electricity and telecommunications," Mayor Fauzi Bahar said. "We really need help. We call on people to come to Padang to evacuate bodies and help the injured."

Hundreds of people were trapped under collapsed buildings in Padang alone, including a four-star hotel, he said. Other collapsed or seriously damaged buildings included hospitals, mosques, a school and a mall.

"I was studying math with my friends when suddenly a powerful earthquake destroyed everything around me," an unidentified boy told the TVOne broadcaster. He escaped out of the top floor just as the three-story structure, used for after-school classes, crumpled.

TVOne footage showed heavy equipment breaking through layers of cement in search of more than 30 children it said were missing and feared dead.

'High-scale disaster'

Thousands were believed trapped throughout the province, said Rustam Pakaya, head of the Health Ministry's crisis center.

Tsunami smashes Samoa; earthquake rocks Indonesia

09:09 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Associated Press

APIA, Samoa – A massive tsunami hurled by a powerful earthquake flattened Samoan villages and swept cars and people out to sea, killing at least 99 and leaving dozens missing Wednesday. The toll was expected to rise.

Survivors fled the fast-churning water for higher ground on the South Pacific islands and remained huddled there hours after the quake, with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck around dawn Tuesday.

The quake was centered about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Samoa, an island nation of 180,000 people located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii. It was about 120 miles (190 kilometers) from neighboring American Samoa, a U.S. territory that is home to 65,000 people.

Four tsunami waves 15 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters) high roared ashore on American Samoa, reaching up to a mile (1.5 kilometers) inland, Mike Reynolds, superintendent of the National Park of American Samoa, was quoted as saying by a parks service spokeswoman.

The same day, western Indonesia was rocked by a strong underwater quake, briefly triggering a tsunami alert for countries along the Indian Ocean and sending panicked residents out of their houses. The alert was later canceled.

The Samoan capital, Apia, was virtually deserted by afternoon, with schools and businesses closed. Hours after the waves struck, fresh sirens rang out with another tsunami alert and panicked residents headed for higher ground again, although there was no indication of a new quake.

In American Samoa's capital of Pago Pago, the streets and fields were filled with ocean debris, mud, overturned cars and several boats as a massive cleanup effort continued into the night. Several buildings in the city - just a few feet above sea level - were flattened. Several areas were expected to be without electricity for up to a month.

In Washington, President Obama has declared a major disaster for American Samoa.

In a statement issued early Wednesday, Obama said he and his wife, Michelle, "will keep those who have lost so much in our thoughts and prayers."

Hampered by power and communications outages, officials in the South Pacific islands struggled to determine damage and casualties.

Samoan police commissioner Lilo Maiava told The Associated Press that police there had confirmed 63 deaths but that officials were still searching the devastated areas, so the number of deaths might rise soon.

At least 30 people were killed on American Samoa, Gov. Togiola Tulafono said, adding that the toll was expected to rise as emergency crews were recovering bodies overnight.

"I don't think anybody is going to be spared in this disaster," said Tulafono, who was in Hawaii for a conference. He added that a member of his extended family was among the dead in the disaster.

Authorities in Tonga confirmed at least six additional people dead in the island nation west of the Samoas, New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said. He said Tongan officials told him that four people were missing after the tsunami swept ashore on the northern island of Niua.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Seven Network in Australia that two Australians had died, including a 6-year-old girl. The British Foreign Office said one Briton was missing and presumed dead.

Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi looked shaken Wednesday on board a flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to the Samoan capital of Apia.

"So much has gone. So many people are gone," he told reporters on board. "I'm so shocked, so saddened by all the loss."

Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was destroyed.

"Thankfully, the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said. "But not everyone escaped."

Gov. Tulafono said that because the closeness of the community, "each and every family is going to be affected by someone who's lost their life." He spoke to reporters before boarding a Coast Guard C-130 plane in Hawaii to return home. The plane, which also carried officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and aid, was scheduled to arrive at about 7 a.m. local time (2 p.m. EDT; 1800 GMT). The U.S. disaster agency said it was also preparing supplies stored in Hawaii for transport to the island chain.

A New Zealand P3 Orion maritime surveillance airplane had reached the region Wednesday afternoon and had searched for survivors off the coast, he said. It was expected to resume searching at first light.

The Samoa Red Cross estimated that about 15,000 people were affected by the tsunami.

New Zealander Graeme Ansell said the Samoan beach village of Sau Sau Beach Fale was leveled.

"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told New Zealand's National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia. "There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."

Residents in both Samoa and American Samoa reported being shaken awake by the quake early Tuesday, which lasted two to three minutes and was centered about 20 miles (30 kilometers) below the ocean floor. It was followed by at least three large aftershocks of at least 5.6 magnitude.

The quake came Tuesday morning for the Samoas, which lie just east of the international dateline. For Asia-Pacific countries on the other side of the line, it was already Wednesday.

The dominant industry in American Samoa - tuna canneries - was also affected. Chicken of the Sea's tuna packing plant in American Samoa was forced to close although the facility wasn't damaged, the San Diego-based company said.

The effects of the tsunami could be felt nearly 5,000 miles away (7,500 kilometers) on a Japanese island, though there were no reports of damage or injuries there.

U.S. officials said strong currents and dangerous waves were forecast from California to Washington state. No major flooding was expected, however. In Los Angeles, lifeguards said they would clear beaches at about 8 p.m.

While the earthquake and tsunami were big, they were not on the same scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, said Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle. That tsunami killed more than 230,000 in a dozen countries across Asia.

Earthquake

An earthquake (also known as a tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes are recorded with a seismometer, also known as a seismograph. The moment magnitude of an earthquake is conventionally reported, or the related and mostly obsolete Richter magnitude, with magnitude 3 or lower earthquakes being mostly imperceptible and magnitude 7 causing serious damage over large areas. Intensity of shaking is measured on the modified Mercalli scale.

At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by shaking and sometimes displacing the ground. When a large earthquake epicenter is located offshore, the seabed sometimes suffers sufficient displacement to cause a tsunami. The shaking in earthquakes can also trigger landslides and occasionally volcanic activity.

In its most generic sense, the word earthquake is used to describe any seismic event — whether a natural phenomenon or an event caused by humans — that generates seismic waves. Earthquakes are caused mostly by rupture of geological faults, but also by volcanic activity, landslides, mine blasts, and nuclear experiments. An earthquake's point of initial rupture is called its focus or hypocenter. The term epicenter refers to the point at ground level directly above the hypocenter.