[b]The Day-Date-Moon Ticker[/b]
M15, T16, W17, Th18, F19, Sa20, [b]Su21/6.4M, M22/6.5M, T23NM/V8[/b], W24, [b]Th25/6.0M,6.3M,6.2M, F26/6.7M[/b]

[b]Explanatory Notes[/b]
[i]The Ticker above is chronological, with symbols for day, date, moon phase and/or distance. After the / are earthquakes(7.0M), volcanoes(V8), geomagnetic storms(GS31), and solar flares(XC and MC). These correspond to the data below.[/i]

[b]Earth and Sun Digest for December 25, 2003
THE CHRISTMAS QUAKES OF 2003
...at a Glance (with time ticking)[/b]
[i](Source data can change without notice or correction.)[/i]

BOON'S FIVE RULE: FIVE EARTHQUAKES OF FIVE.X MAGNITUDE IN FIVE DAYS CAN CAUSE A VOLCANO TO ERUPT ASH AND/OR GAS UP FIVE MILES.

[b]Earthquakes of 5.0 to 5.9M thru Wednesday--16 (Jap-2, SoPac-4); five quakes of 6M or greater: 12/26 6.7M SOUTHEASTERN IRAN, 12/25 6.2M SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/25 6.0M SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS, 12/25 6.3M PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION, 12/22 6.5M CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, 12/21 6.4M CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE (at least five in the week surrounding the perigee in 22 December)

California and Nevada earthquakes in past week--943 ; twenty 4M or greater quakes in California from 6.5M on 22 December with one 4M before and 18 4M aftershocks and continuing[/b]

[b]Volcanic ash near Jet Stream (at 5 mi/8 km)--Ecuador[/b]
Sunspot No. high and low--152 on 22 December to 100 on 24 December
Largest and smallest daily total area of sunspots--730 on 24 December from 510 on 18 December (100 = Earth)
X-Class Solar Flares: none; last M-Class flares (5+/day) 5 on 27 October (see ticker for fewer MC)
[b]Planetary Geomagnetic Indices: high of 21 on 21 December; last sets of five or more Kp's of 4 or more per 24 hours: 20-21 December[/b]

Solar Fluxes Today (related to graph median): Protons under, Electrons mostly over (2-blue and red lines-of 4 graphs below line on 22 December).

[b]Moon for January 2004[/b] per Astronomy Magazine
3 apogee, 7 full moon, 14 last quarter, 19 perigee, 21 new moon, 29 first quarter, 31 second apogee
The moon is at [b]apogee[/b] (252,095 miles far) on 3 January.

The earth is at [b]perihelion[/b] (91.4 million miles nearest the Sun) on 4 January.

Quadrantid Meteor Shower peaks on 4 January. Check it out at www.spaceweather.com .

SPECIAL NOTE features a special website on NASA and earthquakes.

The USGS website for the Christmas Quake in California is at
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsUS/Quakes/nc40148755.htm
The aftershocks with CA/NV past week quake count can be followed at
http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm

[b]Recent Volcanic Eruptions[/b]

SUWANOSE-JIMA Ryukyu Islands, Japan 29.53°N, 129.72°E; summit elev. 799 m
an explosion on 15 December producing a plume to an unknown height

COLIMA western México 19.514°N,103.62°W; summit elev. ~3,850 m
as of 12 December an average of three explosions per day with ash rising to 6.9 km, a significant explosion on 11 December depositing ash in the city of Ciudad Guzmán, 25 km to the NE, ash from an explosion on 14 December visible on satellite imagery at a height of ~6 km

DUKONO Halmahera, Indonesia 1.70°N, 127.87°E; summit elev. 1,185 m
during 10-16 December thin ash plumes sometimes visible

FUEGO Guatemala 14.47°N, 90.88°W; summit elev. 3,763 m
during 10-16 December weak explosions producing ash clouds rising to a maximum of 4.8 km, explosions

KILAUEA Hawaii, USA 19.43°N, 155.29°W; summit elev. 1,222 m
during 10-16 December eruptive activity at Kilauea’s Pu`u `O`o vent, new lava flows covering parts of the crater floor, no surface lava flows were visible on the coastal flat or Pulama pali

NYIRAGONGO Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.52°S, 29.25°E; summit elev. 3,469 m
in December activity at relatively low levels with the constant presence of an active lava lake inside the crater

SANTA MARÍA Guatemala 14.756°N 91.552°W; summit elev. 3,772 m
weak-to-moderate explosions during 10-16 December, on 10 December ash drifting, on 12 December ash clouds visible on satellite imagery at a height of ~4.5 km

SOUFRIÈRE HILLS Montserrat, West Indies 16.72°N, 62.18°W; summit elev. 1,030 m
volcanic activity at Soufrière Hills at low levels during 5-12 December, s ulfur-dioxide flux from 800-900 tons per day at the beginning of the report period to 300-500 tons per day towards the end of the week

STROMBOLI Aeolian Islands, Italy 38.79°N, 15.21°E; summit elev. 926 m
a small explosion on 10 December producing a plume to a height of ~1.9 km

[b]TUNGURAHUA Ecuador 1.47°S, 78.44°W; summit elev. 5,023 m
during 11-16 December volcanic activity with several explosions producing ash-and-gas plumes to a maximum height of 8 km on 23 December with near-constant gas-and-ash emissions, ash-and-gas plumes visible on satellite imagery several times during the report week[/b]

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.).

The earthquake data that follows are taken from U.S. Geological Survey tables available through http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/bulletin.html .

[code]EARTH

FIVE Index of Global earthquakes of 5.0 magnitude or greater

DATE-(UTC)-TIME LAT LON DEP MAG Q COMMENTS
yy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss deg. deg. km

READ UP for latest report.

END PERIGEE WEEK
03/12/26 01:56:5629.01N58.27E33.0 6.7SOUTHEASTERN IRAN
03/12/25 20:42:3722.30S169.46E33.0 6.2SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 14:21:1534.84S178.45W33.0 6.0SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
03/12/25 07:11:118.43N82.82W33.0 6.3PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION
03/12/25 06:55:2418.41N68.67W141.1 5.0MONA PASSAGE
03/12/24 11:33:085.73S102.11E33.0 5.5SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
03/12/23 23:15:2726.27N125.63E33.0 5.6NORTHEAST OF TAIWAN
03/12/23 23:01:1526.28N125.68E33.0 5.3NORTHEAST OF TAIWAN
03/12/23 14:02:0340.03N29.62W10.0 5.6AZORES ISLANDS REGION
03/12/23 13:05:4822.73S175.08W33.0 5.2TONGA REGION
03/12/23 05:58:370.59S20.38W10.0 5.8CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
03/12/22 19:15:5635.71N121.10W7.6 6.5CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
PERIGEE
03/12/22 08:47:0642.33N144.57E33.0 5.7HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
03/12/21 07:40:450.75S20.60W10.0 6.4CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
03/12/21 06:29:168.73S158.48E42.9 5.4SOLOMON ISLANDS
03/12/19 14:12:1716.83S172.37E33.0 5.2VANUATU ISLANDS REGION
03/12/19 13:05:2913.76N124.45E33.0 5.4CATANDUANES, PHILIPPINES
03/12/19 13:03:435.51S102.79E33.0 5.3SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
03/12/19 05:32:5149.08N128.96W10.0 5.0VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
03/12/19 00:11:5819.85N95.71E10.0 5.5MYANMAR
BEGIN PERIGEE WEEK
03/12/18 21:46:027.20S129.81E33.0 5.1KEPULAUAN BABAR, INDONESIA
03/12/18 21:26:4243.22N146.37E75.5 5.0KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/18 05:41:576.28S151.33E53.0 5.8NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.

United States Quakes this past week
with quakes possibly felt in U.S. from nearby countries:

03/12/25 11:50:0135.55N120.84W1.0 4.4CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/25 06:55:2418.41N68.67W141.1 5.0MONA PASSAGE
03/12/25 05:21:5935.65N121.09W3.8 4.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/25 05:20:1335.66N121.10W5.0 4.2CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/24 08:24:5851.08N178.08E42.8 4.7RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
03/12/23 18:17:1135.65N121.04W6.9 4.9CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 11:40:3635.70N121.11W5.7 4.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 09:41:4935.53N120.93W8.0 4.1CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 05:30:1935.67N121.11W5.6 4.2CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 03:46:0035.70N121.12W5.6 4.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 02:56:4935.71N121.07W8.0 4.1CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/23 02:06:5535.69N121.11W6.0 4.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 23:52:3635.53N120.89W2.9 4.1CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 21:31:3635.71N121.07W3.7 4.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 20:41:4335.47N121.34W4.2 4.4OFFSHORE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 20:06:1435.69N121.11W6.5 4.1CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 20:01:3235.54N120.94W0.0 4.0CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 19:53:2935.65N121.05W4.5 4.6CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 19:30:0935.65N121.03W8.0 4.4CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 19:26:0735.65N121.05W3.0 4.7CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/22 19:15:5635.71N121.10W7.6 6.5CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/20 16:35:2337.18N117.86W6.4 4.1CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/19 18:29:3338.72N122.78W0.0 3.3NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
03/12/19 17:27:4850.25N178.40E33.0 4.5RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
03/12/19 13:56:0154.99N161.27W102.1 3.5ALASKA PENINSULA
03/12/19 11:45:2634.02N117.22W15.4 3.0GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
03/12/19 05:32:5149.08N128.96W10.0 5.0VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
03/12/18 14:49:1537.31N122.07W5.4 2.8SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIF.
03/12/18 00:22:4237.79N122.22W9.5 3.1SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIF.

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

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 18 with two 7M's, one 8M
October 4 12 21 9 6 3 4 8 11 21 11 with one 7M
November 0 7 10 6 7 4 15 15 10 11 13 with one 7M
December 0 6 13 7 3 2 16 11 7 11 (10)

Yr total 19 110 160 109 76 63 103 109 112 133 (138)

SUN

Sunspot numbers for the past week:
12/17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
92 114 113 104 105 152 144 100
Planetary geomagnetic A Indices for same period
10 8 7 16 21 15 9 8[/code]

Solar data from http://www.sec.noaa.gov/

[b]SPECIAL NOTE[/b]

[b]So What is NASA doing about earthquakes?[/b]

Thanks for this to Don in Hollister on Earthwaves Prediction Board.

Try exploring this very well developed and pertinent NASA website:
http://solidearth.jpl.nasa.gov/rp.html

Comments and questions are always welcome.

Donald J. Boon, editor, [email]donaldboon@comcast.net[/email]