Category: National and World
The Biggest Earthquake in History
Steve Jones of AlabamaQuake.com supplied the following piece of interesting seismic history today:
“At 3:11 pm (19:11 UTC) on the afternoon of Saturday, 22 May 1960, the devastating magnitude 9.5 (Mw) event struck
in west-central Chile. Severe damage from shaking occurred in the epicentral Valdivia-Puerto Montt area. Although there are many different casualty estimates for this earthquake ranging from a low of 490 to a high of “approximately 6000,” most historical reports place this figure at 1655 deaths. Much of the damage and many of the casualties were due to large tsunamis which caused damage along the coast of Chile and in many areas across the Pacific Ocean, where fatalities from this quake were recorded as far away at the Philippines.”
Here is link to his full story.
Tornado Emergency Oklahoma City
A large and powerful tornado is on the ground right now approaching Moore, Oklahoma.
Large Tornado Moving into Cleburne TX
The storm we have been tracking for over an hour across southern parts of the Dallas Metroplex has produced a lot of damage and injuries tonight.
Now a tornado is moving north into the city of Cleburne. Warge, wedge tornado confirmed by spotters. Strong indications of debris on Doppler radar.
From the NWS Fort Worth:
FWD issues Tornado Warning for Johnson [TX] till 9:45 PM CDT …AT 923 PM CDT…STORM SPOTTERS AND DOPPLER RADAR OBSERVED A TORNADO NEAR CLEBURNE…MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. SPOTTERS REPORTED THAT THIS IS A MILE WIDE TORNADO…CAPABLE OF INCREDIBLE DESTRUCTION. THIS TORNADO HAS SHIFTED ITS TRACK AND WAS MOVING NORTH RIGHT AT THE CITY OF CLEBURNE! IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH…TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE!
80 mph winds confirmed at the hospital there.
The tornado appeared to be moving south of Cleburne, but it suddenly turned north up TX-171 and it moving into the city of Cleburne.
The good news is that the circulation appears to be weakening and a new circulation will likely form to the south, to the north of Rio Vista.
Tornadoes in the DFW Metro
A dangerous situation tonight in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Strong indications of a tornado approaching Cleburne now. Damage has been reported in the Granbury area. This tornado is crossing the far southern part of the Metroplex. Hood County Sheriff reporting “major” damage.
LATE REPORT
…8:46 p.m.: David Reimer reporting via scanner that school buses being requested in Hood County to transport walking wounded.
DALLAS STORM – late report at 8:46: Circulation is weakening on the storm near Arlington…
ORIGINAL REPORT:
A new thunderstorm is developing just to the south of Arlington. A tornado warning just issued for Dallas/Tarrant Counties until 9:15 p.m. This possible tornado moving toward Grand Prairie or Duncanville. Could impact the Arlington area and DFW as well as Irving if it keeps moving northeast.
On This Date in 2011: The Great Tohoku Earthquake
From our friend Steve Jones at AlabamaQuake:
On this date in 2011, a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck just off the northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan. The Great Tohoku Earthquake of 2011 was the fifth-largest earthquake ever recorded. At least 15,550 people were killed, 5,344 were missing, 5,314 were injured, and 130,927 were displaced by the earthquake itself and subsequent tsunami. At least 332,395 buildings, 2,126 roads, 56 bridges and 26 railways destroyed or damaged along the entire east coast of Honshu from Chiba to Aomori. The majority of casualties and damage occurred in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima from a Pacific-wide tsunami that had a maximum wave runup height of over 37 m at Miyako. The total economic loss in Japan was estimated at 309 billion US dollars.
Read more seismic details in the report, “Anatomy of a Mega-Quake” at http://alabamaquake.com/reports.html#Tohoku_2011.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @alabamaquake (not to be confused with the excellent band Alabama Shakes!)
