Massive dust storm closes interstate 15 in Idaho

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Massive dust storm, rare for this time of year, closed interstate 15 today in Idaho for the second day in a row. The Idaho DOT closed Interstate 15; between mile marker 119 in Idaho Falls and 135 at Roberts because of blowing dust that eliminated visibility.

NZ EQ Update:

New Zealand Updates:

	MAG	UTC DATE-TIME y/m/d h:m:s	LAT deg	LON deg	DEPTH km	Region
MAP	4.8	2011/12/23 03:50:12	-43.536	173.021	8.4	OFF EAST COAST OF THE SOUTH ISLAND, N.Z.
MAP	5.9	2011/12/23 02:18:02	-43.491	172.844	4.9	SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
MAP	4.0	2011/12/23 01:41:37	-43.523	172.956	11.2	SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
MAP	4.2	2011/12/23 01:30:24	-43.537	172.936	5.0	SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
MAP	5.3	2011/12/23 01:06:25	-43.456	172.899	3.7	SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND
MAP	5.8	2011/12/23 00:58:36	-43.489	172.977	4.7	SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND

EQ-NZ....

There has been a 3rd quake registering 5.8 an hour or so after the 1st.
The initial 5.8 EQ has now been upgraded to a 6.0.....

New Zealand Quakes...

Christchurch has had 2 pretty good temblors here in the last hour+ NO major reports of damages coming in yet, the Airport is now evacuated and there are reports of power outages and some liquefaction events and photos coming in of some landslides.

First EQ was 5.8 and the second was 5.3 both were extremely shallow EQ's and described by locals as "violent" shaking.

Updated info can be found at : 3News.co.nz

Floods Surround Bangkok...

NASA image comparison of satellite photos taken on November 8, 2011 (top),and November 13, 2008 (bottom).:Floods Surround Bangkok

The Bering Sea Superstorm.... brrrrrrrrrr !!!!

The National Weather Service in Alaska states that an historic hurricane-force storm system is moving into the Bering Sea on Tuesday November 8th 2011. The storm, which is forecast to have sustained winds of 80 mph over an area the size of Colorado, is also predicted to produce storm surge effects on the Alaskan coast 8 to 10 feet above normal water levels. The Alaskan city of Nome is in its path.




As of 08:08am PST : Reports of widespread power outages along the west coast of Alaska (source: NWS Alaska Facebook page)

• Wales, Alaska: Gust to 89 mph at 2:21am Alaska Time 
• Nome, Alaska: Storm surge up to 6 feet and rising as of 2am Alaska Time 
• Tin City, Alaska: 85 mph as of midnight Alaska Time 
• Savoonga, Alaska: 76 mph as of midnight Alaska Time 
• Cape Lisburne, Alaska: 75 mph as of midnight Alaska Time

Wales, Alaska: Gust to 89 mph at 2:21am Alaska Time
Nome, Alaska: Storm surge up to 6 feet and rising as of 2am Alaska Time
Tin City, Alaska: 85 mph as of midnight Alaska Time
Savoonga, Alaska: 76 mph as of midnight Alaska Time
Cape Lisburne, Alaska: 75 mph as of midnight Alaska Time

Powerful 6.9 EQ strikes off shores of Okinawa

U.S.G.S. reports a large undersea earthquake measuring 6.9 occurred around noon local time on Tuesday Nov. 8th 2011. It was located deep under the ocean floor, offshore about 133 miles northwest of Naha, Okinawa, 310 miles east-northeast of  Taipei, Taiwan, and 710 miles south of Seoul.  No immediate reports of tsunami threats or damages have been reported.

This map  below has a good rendition of how the sea floor looks from satellite, it is easy to discern the plates and ridges outlining the faults.

View Larger Map