Hundreds of quakes in Iceland spur volcano warning Agence France-Presse

REYKJAVIK - Some 2,200 earthquakes have been recorded in the area around Iceland's capital Reykjavik the past 24 hours, signaling that a volcanic eruption could be imminent, the country's weather office said Wednesday. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said the tremors began around 4 pm (1600 GMT) on Tuesday beneath Mount Fagradalsfjall, which sits atop a volcanic system and where two eruptions have occurred in the past two years on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland's southwestern tip. "Around 2,200 earthquakes have been detected and the largest earthquakes have been felt in the Southwest part of Iceland," the agency said Wednesday, adding that continued seismic activity was likely. Seven of the quakes had a magnitude over four, which is still considered a light quake. The seismic activity also prompted the agency to raise its aviation alert to "orange" from "green". The color code is designed to inform the aviation industry of eruption risks. In April 2010, some 100,000 flights were canceled, leaving more than 10 million travelers stranded, following the massive eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, around 150 kilometers to the east along Iceland's southern coast. The enormous plumes of ash that billowed into the sky for several weeks, caused the biggest air traffic disruption in peacetime until the Covid-19 pandemic. While no "eruption tremor" had been observed so far Mount Fagradalsfjall, the likelihood of one occurring "within the coming hours to days" had increased. Iceland is Europe's biggest and most active volcanic region. The North Atlantic island straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack on the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. Lava spewed out near Mount Fagradalsfjall, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the capital Reykjavik, in both 2021 and 2022, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to catch a rare glimpse of an active volcano.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more