Mt. Etna Volcano Erupts Again
By Mitch Battros (ECTV)
If the summit activity continues long enough, it might progressively increase and bring a return of lava fountains which are the most spectacular feature of Etna's eruptions. Southeast Crater has no inner pit, so if this crater resumes its activity it may be violent and destroy the unstable summit of its cone, or gradual, with Strombolian bursts, and lava outflow possibly from one of its side vents that were established in 2000-2001. (Volcano Eruption News)
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Predicted Quake Could Rate 9 On Scale...08/14/03
New research focusing on the coastal waters off Vancouver show that the area where the Juan de Fuca and North America plates overlap is almost twice the size that they thought.
Researchers at Columbia University say the West Coast could soon be facing its worst earthquake in centuries. Columbia's Earthquake Institute says the original estimate for the zone where the tectonic plates interlock, called Northern Cascadia, was 56 kilometres. The area is now believed to be 90 kilometres.
Researchers say that this locked zone could create so much energy when it finally releases that it could cause one of the largest earthquakes in history. In fact, they say it would release 1,000 times the energy of the 2001 Seattle earthquake, which shattered windows, caused skyscrapers to sway and rattled buildings up to 350 kilometres away. The damage caused by that quake cost several billion dollars.
The 2001 Seattle quake registered only a 6.8 on the Richter Scale. Researchers say the predicted Cascadia earthquake would measure at least 9 on the Richter Scale. If the quake is as powerful as the researchers believe, it would be the worst in the region since 1700.
Mitch Battros Producer - Earth Changes TV http://www.earthchangestv.com
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