Earthquake Strikes Near Los Angeles

THE GUARDIAN: Magnitude 5.1 quake 20 miles from Los Angeles was only 1.2 miles deep but only minor damage has been reported

A magnitude-5.1 earthquake shook the Los Angeles area and surrounding counties on Friday evening, authorities said.

The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at about 9:09 p.m. and was centred near Brea in Orange County about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

It was felt as far south as San Diego and as far north as Ventura County, according to citizen responses collected online by the USGS.

"Tonight's earthquake is the second in two weeks, and reminds us to be prepared," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a written statement released about an hour after the shaking stopped. » | Associated Press | Saturday, March 29, 2014

Earthquakes Kill 250 in Iran

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Iranian officials said at least 250 people died and more than 2,000 were injured by twin earthquakes that hit the Tabriz region in northwest Iran.

The two strong quakes struck towns and villages in northwest Iran in quick succession on Saturday, killing at least 180 people and injuring more than 1,000, according to a preliminary toll by officials.

Khalil Sa'ie, a provincial official, said 250 people had been killed and some 1,300 injured.

Gholamreza Masoumi, the head of Iran's emergency services, said those hurt were being taken to hospitals in Tabriz and Ardebil, the two biggest nearby major cities, both of which escaped relatively unscathed by the quakes.

The quakes measured 6.2 and 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale, according to Tehran University's Seismological Centre, but the US Geological Survey, which monitors seismic activity worldwide, ranked them as more powerful than that, at 6.4 and 6.3, respectively. » | Sunday, August 12, 2012

Experts Warn of Jakarta's Earthquake Exposure

Seismologists in Jakarta have said the Indonesian capital is more vulnerable to a major earthquake's destruction than in the past due to a rapid increase of unsafe homes, shops and other fragile structures. Experts claim the city is dangerously unprepared for a potential disaster when compared to other similarly at-risk cities such as Tokyo or San Francisco. Al Jazeera's Step Vaessen reports from Jakarta.

Christchurch Jolted by Series of Quake Shocks
A series of powerful tremors have rattled the earthquake-prone city of Christchurch in New Zealand, destroying a building and sending boulders tumbling down hillsides. Al Jazeera's Bhanu Bhatnagar reports

Earthquake Strikes Southeast Spain

Earthquake Hits Southern Spain

THE GUARDIAN: Spain: Lorca shaken by earthquakes – More than 300 troops and extra police with search and rescue teams were being drafted into the city, where 10 died » | Giles Tremlett in Madrid | Thursday, May 12, 2011

Related »

Spain: Earthquake rocks Lorca, Murcia, killing 10
BBC: At least 10 people were killed after a magnitude 5.3 earthquake toppled several buildings in southern Spain, near the town of Lorca, officials say.

The quake struck at a depth of just 1km (0.6 miles), some 120km south-west of Alicante, at 1850 (1650 GMT), the US Geological Survey reported.

Lines of cars lay crushed under tonnes of rubble and a hospital was evacuated as a precaution.

The quake followed a 4.4 magnitude tremor about two hours earlier.

It is not clear how many people were injured, although Spanish media say there are dozens. (+ video) » | Wednesday, May 11, 2011

New Dark Age Alert! Extramarital Sex 'Causes More Earthquakes', Iranian Cleric Claims
THE TELEGRAPH: Women who dress “inappropriately” incite extramarital sex that in turn cause more earthquakes, a senior Iranian hard-line cleric has claimed.

Attractive women who snub traditional Islamic clothing to instead wear fashionable clothes and apply heavy make-up, caused youths in the country to “go astray” and have affairs, Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi said.

The hard-line cleric said as a result the country, bounded by several fault lines, experienced more “calamities” such as earthquakes, the reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper reported him saying.

Iran is prone to frequent quakes, many of which have been devastating for the country.

"Many women who dress inappropriately ... cause youths to go astray, taint their chastity and incite extramarital sex in society, which increases earthquakes," he told worshippers at a Tehran prayer service late last week.

"Calamities are the result of people's deeds.

“We have no way but conform to Islam to ward off dangers." >>> Andrew Hough | Monday, April 19, 2010

Tehran Set to Lose Status as Iran Capital
THE GUARDIAN: Expediency council approves plan for new capital – which could be a new or existing city – amid earthquake fears over Tehran

It has witnessed some of Iran's most tumultuous events: the fall of the shah, the return of Ayatollah Khomeini and the transformation from pro-western monarchy to revolutionary Islamic republic.

Now Tehran's days as the Iranian capital appear numbered after a powerful state body approved a plan for a new principal city. The idea was proposed by the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and rubber-stamped by the expediency council.

Seismologists have warned that Tehran is liable to be struck by a catastrophic earthquake in the foreseeable future. It is not clear whether a new capital will be built from scratch or sited in an existing city.

Iran has had numerous capitals during its history, including Isfahan, Qazvin, Shiraz, Mashhad and Hamedan. Since the Qajar king Agha Mohammad Khan declared it capital in 1795, Tehran has become the country's political, social, economic and cultural centre.

Its infrastructure has been left creaking by rapid population growth that has seen it become home to 12 million people, up from 250,000 at the start of the 20th century.

A mass influx from the countryside under the last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fed the social discontent unleashed by the 1979 Islamic revolution. The population has continued to spiral since then, with unregulated development creating a traffic-clogged and polluted urban sprawl. >>> Robert Tait and Noushin Hoseiny | Sunday, November 01, 2009

Gays Cause Earthquakes, Says Ultra-Orthodox Jew
BBC: An Israeli MP has blamed parliament's tolerance of gays for earthquakes that have rocked the Holy Land recently.

Shlomo Benizri, of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas Party, said the tremors had been caused by lawmaking that gave "legitimacy to sodomy".

Israel decriminalised homosexuality in 1988 and has since passed several laws recognising gay rights.

Two earthquakes shook the region last week and a further four struck in November and December. Israeli MP blames quakes on gays >>>

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