The Day-Date-Moon Ticker*
M25, T26NM, W27(Mars Opposition), Th28/6.0M,6.2M,V9, F29/V9, Sa30, Su31Pg/6.2M, M01, T02/6.4M, W03FQ, Th04
Key: Moon(FM, LQ, NM, or FQ; le or se; Pg or Ag); Solar flares=XC or MC, Geomagnetic Storm=GS30; Volcanic Eruption=V8; Earthquakes=6M
Earth and Sun Digest for September 4, 2003
MARS PERIGEE QUAKES UP
...at a Glance (with time ticking)
(Source data can change without notice or correction.)
Earthquakes of 5.0 to 5.9M thru Wednesday--10; four quakes of 6M or greater: 9/02 6.4M TONGA, 8/31 6.2M PRIMOR, RUSSIA, 8/28 6.0 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA, 8/28 6.2M SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE (two of 8/28 reported last week)
California earthquakes in past week--237; none of 4M or greater
Volcanic ash over 5 mi (8 km)--Ecuador
Sunspot No. high--146 on 28 August
Smallest to largest daily total area of sunspots--220 on 1 September from 520 on 29 August
(100 equals a Planet Earth area.)
X-Class Solar Flares: none detected; last M-Class flares (5/day) 8 on 11 June (see ticker for fewer MC, if any)
Planetary Geomagnetic Indices: high of 18 on 28 August;
no sets of K-Indices of 4 or more (5 or more/24 hours*)
The number of 6M earthquakes in the week surrounding the Moon in Perigee on 31 August was four, with none expected because the perigee was distant. In recent years close perigees have an average of just over three. The other distant perigee-week on 6 August had only the 7.5M quake on 4 August.
Moon for September per Astronomy Magazine
3 first quarter, 10 full, 16 apogee, 18 last quarter, 25 new, 28 perigee
The moon is at apogee (251,477 miles far) on 16 September.
The autumnal equinox is Sept. 23 at 6:47 AM EDT.
Mars continues its apparent retrograde motion, but becomes stationary on Sept. 29 at 10 AM EDT.
SPECIAL NOTE: Can one supervolcano be apocalyptic for mankind? Check out this one in Indonesia, and it isn't Krakatoa.
Recent Volcanic Eruptions:
KARYMSKY Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia 54.05°N, 159.43°E; summit elev. 1,536 mo
n 29 August ash plumes to heights of 4-4.7 km
LEWOTOBI Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia 8.53°S, 122.78°E; summit elev. 1,703 m
on 1 September an ash plume to a height of ~4.2 km
SOPUTAN Sulawesi, Indonesia 1.11°N, 124.73°E; summit elev. 1,784 m
on 2 September ash emissions to ~2 km
COLIMA western México 19.514°N,103.62°W; summit elev. ~3,850 m
on 28 August an ash plume to a height of ~6.8 km
DUKONO Halmahera, Indonesia 1.70°N, 127.87°E; summit elev. 1,185 m
on 28 August an ash plume at a height of ~4.3 km
KILAUEA Hawaii, USA 19.43°N, 155.29°W; summit elev. 1,222 m
a M 5.0 earthquake occurred 10 km beneath Kilauea's central S flank on 26 August, during 27 August to 1 September surface lava flows sometimes visible on the coastal flat and upslope on Pulama pali
KLIUCHEVSKOI Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia 56.06°N, 160.64°E; summit elev. 4,835 m
on 26 August Strombolian activity, during 27-28 August gas-and-steam plumes with minor amounts of ash to 6.8 km
PITON DE LA FOURNAISE Réunion Island, Indian Ocean 21.23°S, 55.71°E; summit elev. 2,631 m
an eruption on 22 August, stopping suddenly on 27 August
POPOCATÉPETL México 19.02°N, 98.62°W; summit elev. 5,426 m
on 28 August low-level emissions, on 29 August a low-density ash emission to ~6.9 km
RABAUL New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea 4.271°S, 152.203°E; summit elev. 688 m
on 10 August slowly emitted convoluted ash plumes, on 25 August discrete explosions with ash from the eruptions
SOUFRIÈRE HILLS Montserrat, West Indies 16.72°N, 62.18°W; summit elev. 1,030 m
activity at low levels during 22-29 August and a strong sulfur smell
TUNGURAHUA Ecuador 1.47°S, 78.44°W; summit elev. 5,023 m
during 27 August to 1 September volcanic block and ash emissions, ash plumes to a maximum height of ~9 km on 28 and 29 August
Ash data is summarized from the weekly GVN/USGS report at
http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/
All ash elevations are in km above sea level (a.s.l.).
EARTH:
FIVE Index of Global earthquakes of 5.0 magnitude or greater
(Reference: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/ )
(6.0 or greater are highlighted in red.)
Regions highlighted are
Japan and South Pacific.
Note the PERIGEE of the moon.
DATE-(UTC)-TIME LAT LON DEP MAG Q COMMENTS
yy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss deg. deg. km
READ UP for latest report.
03/09/02 18:28:0015.21S173.25W10.0 6.4TONGA
03/09/01 23:20:433.35S78.66W88.4 5.2PERU-ECUADOR BORDER REGION
03/09/01 23:16:3438.58N75.23E10.0 5.6SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA
03/09/01 15:13:0612.06N122.40E23.2 5.4SIBUYAN SEA, PHILIPPINES
03/09/01 09:04:172.93S129.15E33.0 5.3SERAM, INDONESIA
03/08/31 23:08:0043.48N132.24E479.5 6.2PRIMOR, RUSSIA
03/08/31 12:43:1313.85N119.78E33.0 5.3PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
03/08/31 09:01:3110.54N146.36E51.6 5.7SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS
03/08/30 10:06:3941.93N142.49E50.7 5.1HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
03/08/29 23:41:205.43S102.25E33.0 5.0SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
03/08/28 13:58:265.03S103.47E33.0 5.0SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
03/08/28 06:38:117.27S126.10E410.2 6.0KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
03/08/28 05:31:2155.85S146.66E10.0 5.2WEST OF MACQUARIE ISLAND
03/08/28 04:48:2049.76S114.66W10.0 6.2SOUTHERN EAST PACIFIC RISE
United States Quakes this past week
with quakes that might be felt:
03/09/02 23:38:2363.08N150.88W143.0 4.3CENTRAL ALASKA
03/09/02 09:31:0137.64N122.04W5.8 2.7SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIF.
03/09/01 02:27:1815.70S172.79W33.0 4.5SAMOA ISLANDS REGION
03/08/31 09:01:3110.54N146.37E51.6 5.7SOUTH OF THE MARIANA ISLANDS
03/08/30 22:52:0363.40N144.75W5.0 3.8CENTRAL ALASKA
03/08/30 19:56:0317.08N68.53W74.7 4.1MONA PASSAGE
03/08/30 13:31:2140.54N123.97W24.8 2.9NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
03/08/29 22:35:3917.73N66.11W5.7 2.5PUERTO RICO REGION
03/08/29 17:15:2017.86N67.17W2.0 2.2MONA PASSAGE
03/08/29 05:52:2815.25N145.85E72.7 4.1SAIPAN REGION, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
03/08/28 23:35:4012.74N145.57E33.0 4.4GUAM REGION
03/08/28 22:06:4713.15N145.24E61.0 5.3GUAM REGION
03/08/28 21:38:2040.51N111.36W10.8 2.9UTAH
03/08/28 17:33:3236.22N120.33W8.4 2.9CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/08/28 16:48:2938.23N122.24W0.0 2.8NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
03/08/28 16:48:2938.23N122.24W0.0 2.8NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MEDITERRANEAN REGION, Continued
03/08/30 19:13:4551.66N16.18E5.0 3.1POLAND
03/08/30 09:10:5246.39N12.80E10.0 3.8NORTHERN ITALY
03/08/29 20:15:2043.06N17.74E3 3.0BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
03/08/29 07:07:1750.56N28.67W10.0 5.0NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
03/08/28 18:31:5728.41N54.10E33.0 4.7SOUTHERN IRAN
03/08/28 01:16:3039.25N20.58E33.0 4.2GREECE
Monthly Summary of Earthquakes of 6 or greater Magnitude
in the World, per USGS/NEIC Preliminary Global Report
YEAR: 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03
April 0 12 17 4 9 6 8 3 9 7 8
May 3 15 17 8 9 6 9 5 8 7 16 with two 7M's
June 1 11 12 12 3 3 3 22 10 14 12 with one 7M
July 2 10 12 7 5 9 8 9 10 5 15 with one 7M
August 2 14 16 6 7 8 9 12 8 12 8 with two 7M's
September 4 8 8 9 7 4 12 7 10 13 (1)(with one 7M 9/02)
Yr total 19 110 160 109 76 63 103 109 112 133 (87)
SUN
Sunspot numbers for the past week:
8/27 28 29 30 31 0/1 2 3
116 146 132 120 101 59 90 74
Planetary geomagnetic A Indices for same period
13 18 15 17 7 14 12 17
Data from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/
SPECIAL NOTE
The Last Eruption of a Supervolcano,
Lake Toba Volcano, Indonesia
Thanks to Henry Willis on Pinpoint on Yahoo!
In a note Henry mentions that Mount Toba in Indonesia in 70,000 B.C. killed all but 2000 humans in the world. Here are URL's on Mount Toba and fatalities from recent volcanic eruptions:
http://www.volcanolive.com/toba.html
http://www.volcanolive.com/fatalities.html
Donald J. Boon, editor, donaldboon@comcast.net
