Strange fireball filmed breaking away from meteorite-like object in California
(by Richard Gray – Daily Mail UK – 06.01.2015)

A mysterious glowing orb has been filmed breaking away from an unidentified meteorite-like object as it streaked across the sky above California. The unusual object can be seen moving through the sky leaving a long tail behind that is characteristic of space debris or a meteorite burning up in the atmosphere. But after a few seconds a second round object separates from the main fireball and moves off in the opposite direction.

UFO – California

'I was driving home after work when this UFO or whatever you call it caught my eye. 'I pulled over in front of somebody's house to film it. I would have got a better shot but I didn't want to jump these people's fence. 'Anyway I don't know what the hell to make of it. Couldn't have been a plane cause there was no noise. And I never heard a crash after either.
'The Orb thing flew straight up into the sky and disappeared.' (Ken Roberts – California – USA)

(sott.net)

Entre o aparecimento de tempestades solares e a ocorrência de tremores de terra, parece haver uma concordância crescente entre a comunidade científica mundial de que a ligação será mesmo real. Como o parece confirmar o tremor de terra que abalou hoje a Califórnia, no seguimento do recrudescimento da actividade solar com a emissão de novas CME. Talvez um novo alerta para a costa ocidental dos USA, no mesmo dia em que o Sol emite mais outras CME.

Strong, shallow and extremely dangerous earthquake M6.0 hit San Francisco Bay Area, California

California

A strong and shallow earthquake registered as M6.0 on the Richter scale hit San Francisco Bay Area, California - USA, on August 24, 2014, at 10:20 UTC (03:20 local time). USGS is reporting shallow depth of 10.8 km (6.7 miles)

Epicenter was located 6 km (4 miles) NW of American Canyon, 9 km (6 miles) SSW of Napa, 13 km (8 miles) NNW of Vallejo, 14 km (9 miles) SE of Sonoma, and 82 km (51 miles) WSW of Sacramento, California.

There are 7 688 843 people living within 100 km radius.

This was the largest quake to hit the Bay Area since the 6.9 magnitude quake hit Loma Prieta nearly 25 years ago.

Powerful solar flare reaching M5.9 erupted from eastern limb

Sol

A powerful solar flare measuring M5.9 at its peak time erupted from eastern limb of the Sun on August 24, 2014, at 12:17 UTC. The event started at 12:00, peaked at 12:17 and ended at 12:25 UTC.

The source was new AR 2151 located on the south eastern limb. Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) produced by this eruption should not be Earth directed.

(texto/inglês e imagens – The Watchers)

Dois temas ligados às alterações climáticas no planeta Terra e um terceiro tema relacionado com o planeta Marte: no primeiro tema as consequências da seca intensa que tem castigado dura e prolongadamente o estado norte-americano da Califórnia, com um contraponto dirigido para a Índia e para os efeitos por vezes devastadores das monções, no segundo tema; o terceiro tema tem a ver com a passagem do cometa Siding Spring numa tangente ao planeta Marte e das implicações atmosféricas que isso poderá ter para ambos.

(sobre os três textos seguintes de The Watchers)

California sinking one foot each year from groundwater depletion

California

The drought-stricken state of California is sinking into itself at an alarming rate, suggests a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The continued over-pumping of groundwater in many parts of the state -- the direct result of a historic three-year dry spell -- is creating empty pockets of earth that are causing the ground to literally drop, in some places by as much as one foot per year.

India's monsoon rains are changing - Heavy rain and extreme floods devastate Odisha, India (again)

India

Heavy rains that started in Indian state of Odisha, Bay of Bengal, mid July continued through August causing deadly floods and destruction. By Sunday, August 10, 2014, death toll climbed to 45, while flood waters affected more than 3 200 000 people. Over 3 million hectares of crops have been flooded in what might be the worst flooding Odisha experienced in more than 30 years.

Colliding atmospheres - Mars vs Comet Siding Spring

Mars

It's a known fact that planets have atmospheres, but the same can't be said for comets. The atmosphere of a comet, called its "coma," is made of gas and dust that spew out of the sun-warmed nucleus and it's typically wider than Jupiter.

“What might happen if the atmosphere of Comet Siding Spring hits the atmosphere of Mars on October 19/2014 – when the comet flybys just 132 000 km away from the surface of Mars”?

(texto em inglês e imagens – The Watchers)

“A potent threat of major earthquake off California's northern coast”

(Los Angeles Times)

Risk of a monster quake and tsunami off California's North Coast is greater than researchers once thought.

If a 9.0 earthquake were to strike along California's sparsely populated North Coast, it would have a catastrophic ripple effect.

A giant tsunami created by the quake would wash away coastal towns, destroy U.S. 101 and cause $70 billion in damage over a large swath of the Pacific coast. More than 100 bridges would be lost, power lines toppled and coastal towns isolated. Residents would have as few as 15 minutes notice to flee to higher ground, and as many as 10,000 would perish.

Scientists last year published this grim scenario for a massive rupture along the Cascadia fault system, which runs 700 miles off shore from Northern California to Vancouver Island.

Cascadian quake of 1700 – computer simulation

The Cascadia subduction zone is less known than the San Andreas fault, which scientists have long predicted will produce The Big One. But in recent years, scientists have come to believe that the Cascadia is far more dangerous than originally believed and have been giving the system more attention.

The Cascadia begins at a geologically treacherous area where three tectonic plates are pushing against each other. The intersection has produced the two largest earthquakes in California in the last decade — Sunday's 6.8 temblor off Eureka and a 7.2 quake off Crescent City in 2005. The area has produced six quakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater in the last 100 years, the California Geological Survey said.

Officials in Northern California as well as Oregon and Washington are beginning to address the dangers.

...

Cascadian subduction zone – creation of a tsunami

The Cascadia fault is powerful for two reasons: It is both extremely long and it is a "megathrust" fault, in which two tectonic plates — slabs of rock roughly the size of New Mexico floating atop the Earth's molten core — are being forced underneath the gigantic North American plate.

As the smaller plates — the Juan de Fuca and Gorda plates — jam underneath the North American plate, friction builds, and the edge of the North American plate is temporarily dragged down as well.

But the North American plate is old and strong, and won't be pulled down forever.

Every several hundred years or so, the North American plate violently snaps back like a rubber band — thrusting upward with horrific power.

Sunday's quake, which erupted 50 miles off the coast, caused light to moderate shaking. No injuries or damage was reported.

But the North Coast has not always been so lucky.

On April 25, 1992, a magnitude-7.2 earthquake hit on shore near the village of Petrolia — about 30 miles southwest of Eureka — injuring 95 people, and triggering landslides and rockfalls, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

That quake was so powerful that a 15-mile stretch of beach was pushed up as much as 4 feet — leaving behind rows of dead sea urchins, mussels and sea snails.

The 1992 earthquake pushed Victorian-era homes from foundations and took down chimneys.

An aftershock sparked an electrical fire that engulfed the lone shopping center in the town of Scotia. Firefighters stood by helplessly as a ruptured water main cut off water to the hydrants.

Fires also destroyed the only general store and post office in Petrolia.

As for the next 9.0 quake, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist David Oppenheimer said: "It could be today. It could be 100 years from now."

(Excerto de artigo: Rong-Gong Lin II and Rosana Xia – Los Angeles Times – 12.03.2014)