Earthquake Strikes Off Coast of Papua New Guinea

Map of Papua New Guinea

CNN - A preliminary 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Monday morning off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The quake struck around 9:39 a.m. and was centered 131 kilometers (81 miles) east of Wewak, which is on the northern coast of the Pacific nation, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. Its depth was reported at 16 kilometers (9 miles).

The Japan Meteorological Agency - which had an identical measure for the quake's strength -- noted on its website that "there is a very small possibility of a destructive local tsunami" as a result. It said any tsunami likely would not be over half a meter (20 inches) high.
"However at some coasts, particularly near the epicenter, high tsunamis may arrive (larger) than our estimation," the agency said on its website.

But within about two hours after the quake struck, the Japanese agency reported there were no such warnings or advisories still in effect.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue any threats or warning, noting on its website that there was no danger of a tsunami striking Hawaii. Similarly, the Australia tsunami warning center said there was no threat to that nation.

In the last 30 days there were a few powerful earthquakes. On July 20 an quake measuring 6,2 struck Kyrgyzstan an Uzbekistan. Another natural disaster happened yesterday - earthquake with magnitute of 6,1 jolted Japan.

Earthquake 6,2 Richter Hit Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan

An earthquake measuring 6.2 rocked south-western Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan early today, triggering panic in the region, seismologists and witnesses said.

The quake hit in the middle of the night at 1:35am (local time) shaking the region some 400 kilometres south-west of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek, with the epicentre 42 kilometres south-west of the Uzbek town of Fergana, the US Geological Survey said.

"We were woken up by a noise and strong jolts which lasted for about 40 seconds. The house began to shake," said Albek Seitov, a resident of the Kyrgyz town of Och in the Fergana Valley.

"I thought it was a dream, a nightmare. I went out in the street like my neighbours. Everyone is afraid, panicking," he said.

The quake struck the border region at a depth of just 9.2 kilometres, rocking Fergana which has some 200,000 residents.

"The people were scared and went out onto the streets. It lasted for a few seconds. There are cracks on the ceiling and the paint has started to fall off in my home," said Abdullah, who did not want to give his family name.

Another Fergana resident, Sukhrob, said the tremors had stopped, but people were frightened of returning home.

"I haven't seen houses destroyed. But the people are still outside, they're afraid of going home," he said.

The earthquake centres in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan could not be contacted early on Wednesday and there were no immediate reports of victims or serious damage to property.

The Fergana Valley is an area shared uneasily by Kyrgyz, Tajik and Uzbek ethnic groups and the scene of periodic violence and unrest since the 1991 Soviet collapse.

By 2018 The World Will End 7 Times!

For the next 7 years there are 7 dates on which the world will end. Predictions and scientific theories are telling us when and how will end the world.


According to different soothsayers there are different dates meant to be the end of the world, all of them in various years.


The american prophet, Harold Camping, convinced 200 000 people all over the world that on May 21st 2011 (a few weeks ago) will be fulfilled the biblical prophecy about the Second Coming.
As we can see (thanks God) that didn't happen. But Harold doesn't give up easily, he changed the date to October 2011. 


The most popular and discussed end of the world date is December 21st 2012. The Mayans predict that will be the last day of our civilization. 
On this day, according to ancient text - the Mayan prophecy - will occur so-called parade of planets: Earth, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will arrange in a line, in the center of which will be the Sun.
Because of the unusual proximity of the Earth to the star will start a chain reaction: in the atmosphere will penetrate energy flows so strong that the surface of our planet will not sustain them.


There is another prediction for the same date - December 21st 2012. This time it comes from the Ancient Sumerians. Nibiru - the mystic planet, will be so close to the Earth, that will cause a shift of the magnetic poles and will completely change the orbit of our planet.
It's giant mass will cause the rise of huge water masses, which in turn will flood thecontinents and will destroy all life on Earth.


The second most discussed end of the world date is Spetembet 22nd 2012. That would be the energetical world end. It's said that it will be caused by natural-technological global catastrophe. According to calculations of a group of scientists from NASA's strong eruption of the Sun, whose electromagnetic pulse will damage virtually all power and electronicequipment for a long period of time will cause the death of billions of people.


Dutch astrophysicist, Pierre van der Meere said, that the Sun will explode in 2013 and this will literally burn the Earth.


Russian astrophysicist, thinks that a new Ice Age will begin in 2014. This will destroy most of the fertile lands on Earth and humanity will gradually die of hunger. 


According to Vanga, the great bulgarian fortune teller, millions of people will be deceased from the festering sores, skin cancer and other diseases due to chemical warfare.


American climatologist, James Hansen, believes that in 2016 the glaciers will melt and flood large parts of land that will become uninhabitable.


2018 is the year for which Nostradamus predicted that will start a global nuclear war that will destroy mankind.


Well, we went so far. We've been through 2000, 2001, 2006, 2010 end of the world predictions.
I believe we will live through this. Of course, the world is going to end someday, but I don't think it's close.


Live your life with happiness, do whatever you want to, enjoy every second. :)  Be happy with what you do and who you are!

Is The Planet Gliese 581d Really Habitable?

Yahoo : A rocky alien planet called Gliese 581d may be the first known world beyond Earth capable of supporting life as we know it, a new study suggests.

Astronomers performing a new atmospheric-modeling study have found that the planet likely lies in the "habitable zone" of its host star — that just-right range of distances that allow liquid water to exist. The alien world could be Earth-like in key ways, harboring oceans, clouds and rainfall, according to the research.

This conclusion is consistent with several other recent modeling studies. But it does not definitively establish that life-sustaining water flows across the planet's surface.

The new study assumes that Gliese 581d, which is about seven times as massive as Earth, has a thick, carbon-dioxide-based atmosphere. That's very possible on a planet so large, researchers said, but it's not a given. [Video: Life-Sustaining "Super Earth" Gliese 581d]

The Gliese 581 system: Worlds of possibilities

Gliese 581d's parent star, known as Gliese 581, is a red dwarf located 20 light-years from Earth, just a stone's throw in the cosmic scheme of things. So far, astronomers have detected six planets orbiting the star, and Gliese 581d is not the only one intriguing to scientists thinking about the possibility of life beyond Earth.

Another planet in the system, called Gliese 581g, is about three times as massive as Earth, and it's also most likely a rocky world. This planet received a lot of attention when its discovery was announced in September 2010, because it's located right in the middle of the habitable zone. That makes 581g a prime candidate for liquid water and life as we know it — if the planet exists.

Some researchers question the analysis used to discover the planet, and say they cannot confirm 581g in follow-up studies. The planet's discoverers, however, are standing by their find. [The Strangest Alien Planets]

Gliese 581d orbits outside of 581g, far enough away from its star that researchers first thought it too cold for life when it was originally discovered in 2007. But a strong greenhouse effect may warm 581d up substantially, perhaps enough to support liquid water.

That's the tentative conclusion of the new study, as well as several other recent studies by different research teams that also modeled Gliese 581d's possible atmosphere.

Modeling an alien atmosphere

The planet Gliese 581d receives less than a third of the solar energy that Earth does from our sun, and it may be tidally locked (a situation in which one side of the world always faces its sun — a permanent day — and the other faces away, producing eternal night).

After Gliese 581d's discovery, it was generally believed that any atmosphere thick enough to keep the planet warm would become cold enough on the night side to freeze out entirely, ruining any prospects for a habitable climate, researchers said.

The research team tested that possibility in the new study, developing a new kind of computer model that simulates alien planets' atmospheres and surfaces in three dimensions. The model is similar to those used to study climate change on Earth.

When the team ran the model, they found that Gliese 581d probably can indeed host liquid water if it has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. Even though the planet is relatively far away from its dim red dwarf parent star, it could be warmed by a greenhouse effect, with daytime heat circulated around the planet by the atmosphere.

The team, led by scientists from the Laboratoire de Métrologie Dynamique (CNRS/UPMC/ENS/Ecole Polytechnique) at the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace in Paris, France, published their results in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The work remains speculative.

To determine conclusively if Gliese 581d is truly habitable, future work will probably have to detect and characterize its atmosphere directly. And that is likely years off, since it requires the development of new and advanced telescopes. Human-made probes won't be getting to the planet anytime soon; with current technology, it would take spacecraft hundreds of thousands of years to make the 20-light-year trek.

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Indonesia Quake Death Toll Reaches 75 People.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A major earthquake in Indonesia killed at least 75 people Wednesday, according to a Red Cross disaster report, citing an official report from the country's vice president.

Wednesday's earthquake was centered in Indonesia's West Sumatra province.

Earlier in the day an official said the quake toll was at least 21, with hundreds more injured.

Thousands may be trapped by collapsed buildings and houses, said Rustam Pakaya, the head of Ministry of Health's crisis center. He said 75 people were seriously injured.

The quake caused widespread power and phone outages, making it difficult to assess the scope of the damage.

It struck at around 5 p.m. local time, about 33 miles (53 kilometers) from Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra. Padang is home to more than 800,000 people.

The earthquake, which had a magnitude of 7.6, according to the U.S Geological Survey, caused widespread power and phone outages, making it difficult for authorities and aid organizations to evaluate damage

State-run Antara news agency cited Pakaya as saying he had received reports that part of a hospital had collapsed and that people were buried under the debris.

The earthquake was felt in nearby cities, such as Medan and Gengkulu, where people panicked and ran outside in search of higher ground, fearing a tsunami.

But it was also felt as far away as Singapore and Malaysia.

The Web site for one of Indonesia's main newspapers, The Jakarta Globe, crashed for a while, partly as a result of the heavy traffic from people trying to find out about the quake, the paper said in a Twitter post.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a tsunami watch for Indonesia, India, Thailand and Malaysia, but canceled it soon after.

The temblor did generate a tsunami just under one foot high, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

On Tuesday, a magnitude 8.0 quake-triggered tsunami killed at least 111 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga.

The tsunami waves swept across a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean, killing dozens and flattening or submerging villages. The dead included 22 in American Samoa, 82 in Samoa and seven in Tonga.

Officials warned that the death toll could rise as rescue workers start to reach outlying villages and discover new casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey declined to say whether the two quakes were linked. The epicenters of the two temblors are about 4,700 miles (7,600 km) apart.