[b]The Day-Date-Moon Ticker[/b]
[b]M22/6.5M, T23NM/V8[/b], W24, [b]Th25/6.0M,6.5,6.0M,6.5, F26/6.8M,6.6M,V8, Sa27/6.1M,7.3M,6.7M,6.3M[/b], Su28, M29/6.1M, T30, [B]W31/MC[/B], Th1

[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 January 1, 2004
NO QUAKE RECORD; SATURN CLOSEST OF NEXT 29 YEARS
...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.

Earthquakes of 5.0 to 5.9M thru Wednesday--13 (Jap-6, SoPac-4); [b]eleven quakes of 6M or greater: 12/29 6.1M HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION, 12/27 6.3M SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/27 6.7M SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/27 7.3M SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/27 6.1M SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/26 6.8M SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/26 6.6M SOUTHEASTERN IRAN, 12/25 6.0M SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/25 6.5M SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS, 12/25 6.0M SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS, 12/25 6.5M PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION (four reported previously)
California and Nevada earthquakes in past week--741 ; two quakes of 4M or greater: 12/25 4.3M CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, 12/25 4.2M CENTRAL CALIFORNIA[/b]
[b]Volcanic ash near Jet Stream (at 5 mi/8 km)--Ecuador[/b]
Sunspot No. high and low--65 on 26 December to 15 on 30 December
Largest and smallest daily total area of sunspots--780 on 25 December to 100 on 30 December (100 = Earth)
X-Class Solar Flares: none; last M-Class flares (5+/day) 5 on 27 October (see ticker for fewer MC)
Planetary Geomagnetic Indices: high of 17 on 31 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, Electron blue and red lines below median and dipping on 31 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: The aftershocks with the CA/NV past week quake count can be followed at http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/latest.htm

[b]Recent Volcanic Eruptions[/b]

COTOPAXI Ecuador 00.677°S, 78.43°6W; summit elev. 5,911 m
during 15-21 December only fumarolic activity was observed

DUKONO Halmahera, Indonesia 1.70°N, 127.87°E; summit elev. 1,185 m
during 24-30 December thin ash plumes sometimes visible on satellite imagery extending ~90 km E

FUEGO Guatemala 14.47°N, 90.88°W; summit elev. 3,763 m
on 30 December small-to-moderate explosions and plumes containing little ash to low levels

KARYMSKY Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia 54.05°N, 159.43°E; summit elev. 1,536 m
on 23 December possible explosions accompanied by pyroclastic flows, during 19-26 December possible gas-and-ash explosions to 3.5 km

KILAUEA Hawaii, USA 19.43°N, 155.29°W; summit elev. 1,222 m
during 24-30 December no active lava flows observed on Pulama pali or the coastal flat and no lava entering the ocean but eruptive activity at the Pu`u `O`o vent

KLIUCHEVSKOI Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia 56.06°N, 160.64°E; summit elev. 4,835 m
during 19-26 December gas-and-steam plumes to low levels

POPOCATÉPETL México 19.02°N, 98.62°W; summit elev. 5,426 m
during December low-intensity steam-and-gas emissions occurring

SANTA MARÍA Guatemala 14.756°N 91.552°W; summit elev. 3,772 m
on 30 December weak-to-moderate explosions with ash-and-gas plumes to 4.5 km

SOUFRIÈRE HILLS Montserrat, West Indies 16.72°N, 62.18°W; summit elev. 1,030 m
volcanic activity low during 19-26 December

SUWANOSE-JIMA Ryukyu Islands, Japan 29.53°N, 129.72°E; summit elev. 799 m
several small ash emissions on 27 and 28 December to unknown heights, on 28 December ata height of ~1.5 km

[b]TUNGURAHUA Ecuador 1.47°S, 78.44°W; summit elev. 5,023 m
during 24-30 December emissions of gas, steam, and ash, on 28 December plumes to ~6.5 km, on 30 December an ash cloud ~5.8 km above the volcano, ash visible on satellite imagery to a maximum height of ~8 km above the volcano[/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 .

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.

03/12/31 21:57:0847.21N154.08E33.0 5.2KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/31 03:44:3747.19N154.00E33.0 5.0KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/30 22:04:3747.24N154.08E33.0 5.2KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/30 09:50:4447.19N154.06E33.0 5.9KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/30 07:35:5543.09N146.88E33.0 5.2KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/29 11:48:4222.57S169.66E10.0 5.7SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/29 01:30:5442.47N144.55E33.0 6.1HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
03/12/29 00:03:0712.87S169.60E33.0 5.2SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS REGION
03/12/28 05:15:2622.06S170.05E10.0 5.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 22:55:0121.75S169.75E10.0 6.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 22:38:0121.82S169.70E10.0 6.7SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 16:01:0022.01S169.61E10.0 7.3SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/27 15:23:1543.56N127.34W10.0 5.0OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
03/12/27 04:55:2522.17S169.32E10.0 6.1SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/26 21:35:3942.39N144.28E33.0 5.1HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
03/12/26 21:26:0322.39S169.31E10.0 6.8SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/26 03:06:1328.83N58.36E10.0 5.4SOUTHEASTERN IRAN
03/12/26 01:56:5229.01N58.29E10.0 6.6SOUTHEASTERN IRAN
03/12/25 23:13:2122.41S169.57E10.0 5.3SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 23:09:4322.42S169.54E10.0 6.0SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 20:42:3322.29S169.49E10.0 6.5SOUTHEAST OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS
03/12/25 14:21:1134.81S178.40W10.0 6.0SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS
03/12/25 07:11:118.40N82.84W33.0 6.5PANAMA-COSTA RICA BORDER REGION
03/12/25 06:55:2318.41N68.69W140.7 5.0MONA PASSAGE


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

03/12/31 15:08:0533.67N91.69W5.0 2.8ARKANSAS
03/12/31 06:16:5243.58N110.41W5.0 3.5WYOMING
03/12/30 22:04:3747.24N154.08E33.0 5.2KURIL ISLANDS
03/12/30 21:17:4035.67N121.13W0.0 3.6CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/30 18:44:0535.53N120.80W1.0 3.3CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/30 06:19:4435.72N121.09W5.3 3.6CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/29 20:53:5460.22N153.12W140.0 4.1SOUTHERN ALASKA
03/12/29 18:34:1951.92N173.55W33.0 4.3ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
03/12/29 18:34:1951.93N173.55W33.0 4.3ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS.
03/12/28 03:57:0337.60N105.28W5.0 3.1COLORADO
03/12/28 02:55:0237.55N105.29W5.0 3.5COLORADO
03/12/27 15:43:2343.62N127.11W10.0 3.9OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
03/12/27 15:23:1543.56N127.34W10.0 5.0OFF THE COAST OF OREGON
03/12/27 07:17:5750.75N178.04E33.0 4.5RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
03/12/27 00:43:2439.64N111.92W3.2 3.8UTAH
03/12/27 00:40:4039.64N111.94W1.0 3.6UTAH
03/12/27 00:39:2439.64N111.93W1.2 3.8UTAH
03/12/26 14:11:2461.38N149.98W51.3 3.9SOUTHERN ALASKA
03/12/26 10:07:4548.75N119.64W0.3 3.4WASHINGTON
03/12/26 00:33:0638.98N111.91W0.6 3.0UTAH
03/12/25 11:50:0135.55N120.84W1.0 4.5CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
03/12/25 06:55:2318.41N68.69W140.7 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


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 04

January 2 1 13 10 4 7 5 8 10 14 10 with two 7M's
..
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 17

Yr total 19 110 160 109 76 63 103 109 112 133 145


SUN

Sunspot numbers for the past week:
12/24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
100 58 65 47 47 56 15 24
Planetary geomagnetic A Indices for same period
8 6 9 12 12 6 8 17

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

[b]SPECIAL NOTE[/b]

[b]Aurora Borealis? Not in December[/b]

Statistically speaking one rarely sees the great auroras around the Winter Solstice. Check out this article from NASA:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2002/23sep_auroraseason.htm

On the other hand, New Year's Eve will give the best view of the planet Saturn in the next 29 years.

Comments and questions are always welcome.

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