Deadly Spain Earthquake Triggered By Groundwater Removal

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck near Lorca, Spain May 11, 2011. The quake ruptured only 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) below the Earth's surface, which meant the earthquake's energy was concentrated at the surface.

Groundwater removal triggered the unusually shallow and deadly earthquake that hit Lorca, Spain, in 2011, according to a new study.

Scientists have known for decades that pumping water into the Earth can set off small earthquakes. But this is the first time that removing water has been identified as an earthquake trigger, researchers said. Both the size and the location of the quake were influenced by groundwater pumping, the study found.

"The fact that the very tiny stress changes due to normal processes, such as the extraction of groundwater, could have an effect on very large systems such as faults, that's very surprising," said Pablo González, lead study author and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

The researchers were also able to precisely calculate the physical changes that generated the quake. The results will help seismologists better understand the physics that control when an earthquake starts and stops — an important step in predicting when and where a quake will occur, and its size.

"We need observations of this sort to calibrate physical models" of faults, said Jean-Philippe Avouac, a geologist at Caltech in Pasadena, Calif., who was not involved in the study. "The initiation and arrest of [fault] ruptures are something we are trying to constrain," he told OurAmazingPlanet.

Small quake, devastating effect

The May 5, 2011, earthquake was a relatively moderate magnitude 5.1. Quakes of this size usually don't cause significant damage in developed countries. A 2006 earthquake of magnitude 4.8 near Lorca did not cause any deaths. [Video: What Does Earthquake 'Magnitude' Mean?]

But the 2011 quake ruptured only 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) below the Earth's surface, which meant the earthquake's energy was concentrated at the surface. Nine people were killed and dozens were injured, and both unreinforced masonry, like medieval churches, and modern buildings were damaged.

Thanks to previous research work in Spain, González suspected the quake's shallow epicenter could be related to groundwater extraction near Lorca. The groundwater table south of Lorca has dropped as much as 820 feet (250 meters) since 1960.

"When the tragic event occurred, we asked ourselves if the earthquake might be related to the subsidence. The earthquake was very shallow, and moreover, this pattern of subsidence was bounded by the fault," González told OurAmazingPlanet.

Linking subsidence to fault rupture

Using data from satellite imagery and GPS stations, González and his colleagues first confirmed the quake occurred on the Alhama de Murcia fault. Then, they calculated how the crust responded to removing the weight of the water. Releasing the load increased the stress on the Alhama de Murcia fault by a few tens of kilopascals — less than atmospheric pressure — the study found.

During the quake, the fault broke only in areas where removing groundwater increased stress on the fault. From this correlation, González inferred that the groundwater removal not only helped trigger the quake, but also controlled the size of the fault rupture and the earthquake's magnitude.

However, the amount of energy released by the quake far exceeded that built up by groundwater extraction. Thus, the earthquake released both stress caused by groundwater extraction and several centuries of regional deformation, the study concludes. Southeastern Spain is near the plate boundary region that separates the Eurasia and Africa tectonic plates.

The findings were detailed in the Oct. 21 issue of the journal Nature Geosciences.

Reach Becky Oskin at boskin@techmedianetwork.com. Follow her on Twitter@beckyoskin. Follow OurAmazingPlanet on Twitter @OAPlanet. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

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IRAN all one big scam ( Documentary )

Banking protest mural resembling Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda to be removed from East End

• East London's Tower Hamlets council says it has received numerous complaints about the mural
• Councillor Peter Golds said it is 'horribly similar to the propaganda used by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany'
• He has urged the police to pursue artist Mear One - real name Kalen Ockerman - under race hate laws
• Mear One denies his mural is anti-Semitic
• The piece is also being defended by resident Azmel Hussain, who owns the property
  
  

By HANNAH ROBERTS

PUBLISHED: 18:26 GMT, 5 October 2012 | UPDATED: 18:33 GMT, 5 October 2012

A mural depicting money-grabbing bankers will be removed following complaints that it resembles the anti-Semitic propaganda of Nazi Germany.

The provocative painting has appeared on a wall in the predominantly Muslim area of Brick Lane in East London, once a thriving Jewish community.

The mural, by international graffiti artist Mear One, shows moustachioed and hooked-nosed bankers huddled around a Monopoly board supported on the backs of the working class, seemingly drawing on long outdated Jewish stereotypes.

Azmel Hussain, pictured, is defending the artwork which has been painted on his property. He described the wall as showing world leaders playing monopoly on a table held up by tax payers

But with its continued presence causing public tolerance to fray, council bosses have set a deadline for its removal.

Mear One - real name Kalen Ockerman - completed the painting last month in an area steeped in Jewish history.

Orthodox immigrants fleeing persecution in Tsarist Russia first settled in Brick Lane in the 1880s and the area remained a proud Jewish neighbourhood until the 1960s.

Local councillor and long-term resident Peter Golds has urged the police to pursue the inflammatory artist under race hate laws.

He said: ‘When I saw the mural I was shocked. It’s horribly similar to the propaganda used by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany.

‘The money hoarding and hooked-nosed men is classic Nazi.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213536/Banking-protest-mural-resembling-Nazi-anti-Semitic-propaganda-removed-East-End.html#ixzz29zB3c2jX
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Major US, Israeli air defense exercise begins

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says its largest ever exercise with the United Stateshas begun.

A major air defense drill called Austere Challenge 2012 started Sunday and includes more than 3,500 Americans and 1,000 Israelis. The militaries are practicing their ability to work together against a range of threats facing Israel, the main U.S. ally in the Mideast.

The military exercise was originally scheduled for April but was postponed at Israel's request. No reason was given but it came amid growing talk of Israel preparing to attackIran if Tehran does not cease its uranium enrichment program.

The weeks-long joint exercise will test multiple Israeli and American air defense systems against incoming missiles and rockets from places as far away as Iran.

Taliban deny their bombs cause most Afghan deaths

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban dismissed on Sunday a UN report that roadside bombs are causing most civilian casualties in Afghanistan as "Western propaganda."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed that the insurgents only use the weapons to target foreign troops and the Afghan security forces.

"By spreading such propaganda they are trying to prevent us from planting bombs which cause the deaths of invaders in our country," he said in an emailed statement.

On Saturday, the UN mission in Afghanistan urged the insurgents to end the use of roadside bombs, also known as improvised explosive devices or IEDs, saying they were by far the biggest killer of civilians in the conflict. The organization used the term in reference both to bombs detonated by remote control and land mines that go off when a vehicle goes over them.

The call came a day after 19 civilians died and 15 were injured when their bus struck a mine in northern Balkh province on Friday. The UN said that blast was caused by an IED planted on a busy public road and set off by a pressure plate. It said the bomb was "consistent with documented patterns and tactics of choice by the Taliban."

Insurgent-placed homemade bombs continue to be the deadliest weapon for civilians, according to the world body. IEDs killed 340 civilians and injured a further 599 over the past nine months, an increase of almost 30 per cent compared to the same period last year, the UN said.

The Taliban spokesman denied that any insurgents were operating in the area of Balkh province where Friday's blast occurred.

He also said the Taliban use only remote-controlled roadside bombs which — unlike the devices automatically activated by pressure-plates — allow a bomber to choose the time of the blast and specifically target coalition troops and their Afghan allies.

About half of the casualties suffered by coalition forces in recent years have been caused by roadside bombs and mines.

Also Saturday, a service member with the NATO military coalition was killed by a bomb in the south, the alliance said in a statement. The coalition did not provide the service member's nationality or any other details about the incident. The NATO force usually waits for national authorities to give such information.