A rare powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the region around the Balleny Islands, Antarctica on January 31, 2016.

The strong shallow earthquake was recorded at 5:39pm at a depth of 10 km 473km (294mi) NE of Young Island, Antarctica or 2475km (1538mi) S of Wellington, New Zealand.

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Rare powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake hits Antarctica

By Strange Sounds -

Feb 1, 2016

A rare powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck the region around the Balleny Islands, Antarctica on January 31, 2016.

The strong shallow earthquake was recorded at 5:39pm at a depth of 10 km 473km (294mi) NE of Young Island, Antarctica or 2475km (1538mi) S of Wellington, New Zealand.

via USGS

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, earthquakes do occur occasionally in Antarctica, but not very often. There have been some big earthquakes–including one magnitude 8–in the Balleny Islands.

The boundary between the Scotia Plate and the Antarctic Plate just grazes the north tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (again, look “northwest” from the Pole toward South America). There is also a hint of a line of seismicity off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula and someactivity in the Kerguelen Plateau (in the Indian Ocean “northeast” from the Pole). The Kerguelen Plateau is within the Antarctic Plate but it is not part of the Antarctic Continent. As with the interior area of all tectonic plates, earthquakes can and do occur in Antarctica, but they are much less frequent than quakes on the plate boundaries.

Another reason why there are fewer quakes located in Antarctica than within other plates such as Australia or North America is because smaller quakes are much more likely to go undetected in Antarctica because there are very few seismograph stations. There are only 19 operating seismograph stations (as of 2005 )in all of the continent of Antarctica, and only one of them, at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, is in the interior of the continent. By comparison, there are 42 stations within the State of New Mexico. The closest seismograph station to the one at South Pole is 1350 km or about 840 miles. That’s a big area to hide little earthquakes in!

Finally, the interior of Antarctica has icequakes which, although they are much smaller, are perhaps more frequent than earthquakes. The icequakes are similar to earthquakes, but occur within the ice sheet itself instead of the land underneath the ice. Some of our polar observers have told us they can hear the icequakes and see them on the South Pole seismograph station, but they are much too small to be seen on enough stations to obtain a location.

Is this magma? or a nuclear weapon test?

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli forces demolished 24 Palestinian buildings in a disputed military zone in the West Bank Tuesday, including 10 funded by the European Union, leaving families homeless, authorities and residents said.

Soldiers destroyed the structures in and around the village of Khirbet Jenbah south of Hebron, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said. Israeli officials said the buildings were illegal.

An EU spokesman denounced the demolitions and said that 10 of the buildings had been constructed with funds from ECHO, the European Commission's humanitarian arm.

The soldiers arrived at around 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and carried out the demolitions, leaving 12 families temporarily homeless, said Nidal Younes, head of the local council of a neighbouring village.

"In total it is around 80 people," he told AFP.

Israel has carried out a long campaign to relocate the residents of the area, which was declared a military zone by the Israeli government in the 1970s.

View gallery

Palestinian Bedouins play around the remains of makeshift homes that were demolished by the Israeli …

Human rights groups have repeatedly challenged Israel's claim to the land, arguing it is illegal to establish a military zone in occupied territory, Sarit Michaeli from the B'Tselem NGO told AFP.

The families argue that their ancestors, who were cave dwellers, have lived on the land since long before Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

A statement from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit that administers civilian affairs in the West Bank, confirmed "enforcement measures were taken against illegal structures and solar panels built within a military zone."

The EU called on Israel to change its policies in the occupied West Bank.

"The EU expects its investments in support of the Palestinian people to be protected from damage and destruction," said a spokesman, who condemned the demolitions.

View gallery

Palestinian Bedouins inspect the remains of makeshift homes that were demolished by the Israeli army …

A High Court injunction later in the day ordered a halt to all demolitions until at least February 9.

The residents of the region had been undergoing a process of arbitration with Israeli authorities after a High Court ruling, Michaeli said.

However talks broke down in recent days.

"This basically means we are back to square one. The government wants to remove them. The residents object," Michaeli said.

COGAT said the negotiations failed as "the building owners showed no willingness to get the situation in order and illegal construction did not stop."

As such, "measures were taken in accordance with the law," it said.

In total, more than 1,000 people could be affected, Michaeli explained, as there are around 10 other villages that could face similar action.

The villages are represented by a number of different legal teams, so Tuesday's demolitions concerned only one of the claims.

Members of Iraq's Shi'ite paramilitaries launch a rocket towards Islamic State militants in the outskirts of the city of Falluja, in the province of Anbar, Iraq July 12, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

By Stephen Kalin

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of trapped Iraqi civilians are running out of food and medicine in the western city of Falluja, an Islamic State stronghold under siege by security forces, according to local officials and residents.

The Iraqi army, police and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias - backed by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition - imposed a near total siege late last year on Falluja, located 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad in the Euphrates river valley.

The city's population is suffering from a shortage of food, medicine and fuel, residents and officials told Reuters by phone, and media reports said several people had died due to starvation and poor medical care. Insecurity and poor communications inside the city make those reports difficult to verify.

Sohaib al-Rawi, the governor of Anbar province where Falluja is located, appealed to the coalition to air-drop humanitarian supplies to the trapped civilians. He said this was the only way to deliver aid after Islamic State mined the entrances to the city and stopped people leaving.

"No force can enter and secure (the delivery) ... There is no option but for airplanes to transport aid," he said in an interview with al-Hadath TV late on Monday, adding the situation was deteriorating by the day.

Falluja - a long-time bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists - was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State, in January 2014, six months before the group that emerged from al Qaeda swept through large parts of northern and western Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Since recapturing the city of Ramadi - a further 50 km to the west - from Islamic State a month ago, Iraqi authorities have not made clear whether they will attempt to take Falluja next or leave it contained while the bulk of their forces head north toward Mosul, the largest city under the militants' control.

'HUGE DETENTION CENTER'

Falih al-Essawi, deputy chief of Anbar's provincial council, said Islamic State had turned Falluja into "a huge detention center".

"Security forces managed to control almost all areas around Falluja. This victory has helped to reduce Daesh (Islamic State) attacks outside the city, but it cost too much because civilians now are paying the price," he said from Ramadi, warning of a potential humanitarian disaster.

A doctor at a hospital in Falluja said medicine and supplies were running low, especially for post-natal care.

"What is the sin of those born after living in their mothers' womb without nutrition or protection except from God?" she said.

Spokesmen for the Iraqi army, police and Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias besieging Falluja were not immediately available to comment.

The U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State estimates there are around 400 fighters from the ultra-hardline Sunni militant group in Falluja, though some military analysts put the figure at closer to 1,000.

The coalition, which includes European and Arab powers, dropped food and water in 2014 to members of Iraq's minority Yazidi community trapped on Mount Sinjar by Islamic State - a humanitarian crisis that sparked the international air campaign.

A Baghdad-based spokesman for the coalition did not rule out a similar operation in Falluja but said Islamic State's control of the city made it more challenging.

"The thing about an air-drop is it's very difficult to control who gets it," said U.S. Army Col. Steve Warren. "The conditions have to be such that the people who you want to receive the supplies are actually able to receive them and there's no evidence that that's the case in Falluja."

FREEZING WINTER

Falluja, known as the "City of Minarets and Mother of Mosques", is a focus for Sunni faith and identity in Iraq, a majority Shi'ite country. It was badly damaged in two offensives by U.S. forces against al Qaeda insurgents in 2004 following the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Maria Fantappie, Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group think-tank, said the humanitarian situation would remain grave even after the siege ended as much of the city's infrastructure had been destroyed in the fighting.

Rawi, the provincial governor, said Islamic State was using civilians as human shields in Falluja like it did in Ramadi - a tactic that slowed the advance of Iraqi forces.

He said media reports of up to 10 deaths due to starvation and insufficient medical care were accurate, but local officials could not provide details.

The price of food in Falluja's markets has rocketed and bakeries have begun rationing bread, residents told Reuters. They said fuel had become scarce during the cold winter months when temperatures drop close to freezing.

One man, who like the other residents declined to be named, said the last time Islamic State distributed basic food items a few weeks ago, much of it had already gone off.

Lise Grande, U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, described conditions in Falluja as "terrible".

"We're incredibly worried about the unconfirmed reports of people dying because of lack of medicine and widespread hunger," she told Reuters.

The United Nations appealed on Sunday for $861 million to help Iraq meet a big funding gap in its 2016 emergency response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war against Islamic State which has left 10 million people in need of urgent aid.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Saif Hameed; Editing by Pravin Char)