Landslide in Langtang Valley #Nepal #Earthquake #Landslide

The headline in the Nepali Times said it all: “Langtang is gone.” The small village, which was located along a popular trekking route near the base of Mount Langtang, was completely buried by an avalanche. The ice and rocks were shaken loose by the earthquake that struck central Nepal on April 25, 2015. At least 200 people perished in the disaster.

While cloudy conditions have hampered satellite observations of Nepal since the earthquake, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 captured a clear view on April 30, 2015. A mixture of snow, ice, and debris—which originated in snowfields on the slopes above Langtang—slid toward the Langtang River and buried the village.

Walter Immerzeel and Philip Kraaijenbrink, members of a group of volunteer scientists with expertise in remote sensing, were the first to identify and analyze the landslide using Landsat 8. “The Langtang River was completely covered by the deposit that buried Langtang Village, but there is no evidence yet of a lake forming behind the blockage,” the scientists noted on their Mountain Hydrology website. “This may indicate that the water has found its way through the debris, snow, and ice.” This is significant because rivers damned with landslide debris can back up and lead to destructive downstream floods if the natural dam fails.
Turn on the image comparison tool to see the landslide debris cover Langtang and the Langtang River.

• References and Related Reading

• Barnett R. (2015, April 29) Nepal Quake: Report on situation in Langtang, April 28, from Austin Lord. Accessed May 1, 2015.
• Mountain Hydrology Langtang village avalanche. Accessed May 1, 2015.
• Mountain Hydrology Landsat 8 reveals extent of earthquake disaster in Langtang Valley. Accessed May 1, 2015.
• Nepali Times “Langtang is gone.” Accessed May 1, 2015.
• Petley, D. via The Landslide Blog (2015, April 29) Landslides in Langtang during and after the Nepal earthquake. Accessed May 1, 2015.
• Time (2015, April 30) Americans Stranded in Nepal Mountains for 5 Days Tell Their Story of Survival. Accessed May 1, 2015.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Caption by Adam Voiland. Thanks to Walter Immerzeel and Philip Kraaijenbrink for help in locating the Landsat data.

Instrument(s): 

Landsat 8 - OLI

Disaster Observation: M 7.8 #Earthquake 34km ESE of Lamjung, #Nepal

An earthquake with magnitude 7.8 occurred near Lamjung, Nepal at 06:11:26 UTC on Apr 25, 2015.

The 7.8 magnitude quake struck an area between the capital, Kathmandu, and the city of Pokhara, the US Geological Survey said.

Tremors were felt across the region, with further loss of life in India, Bangladesh, Tibet and on Mount Everest.

The government has declared a state of emergency in the affected areas.

The latest death toll stands at 1 800 people and thousands had been injured.

Nepali Information Minister Minendra Rijal said there had been "massive damage" at the epicentre, from where little information is emerging.

For more information and images follow MSBWX live Twitter updates at:
https://twitter.com/MSBWXB or @MSBWXB

 Images: Twitter (Click on images for larger view.)

Earthquake: 17 workers injured at AngloGold mine

Rustenburg - Seventeen employees were injured at two of AngloGold Ashanti's Vaal River mines in North West following Tuesday's earthquake, the company said. “AngloGold Ashanti confirms that an earthquake of 5.3 magnitude occurred near its Vaal River operations in South Africa, at a depth of roughly 8km. “Early indications are that 17 of our employees at the Great Noligwa and Moab Khotsong mines sustained minor injuries and are being attended to on site by emergency medical staff,” said AngloGold Ashanti spokesman Chris Nthite in a statement. Power was temporarily interrupted and had since been mostly restored, he said. Engineers had begun clearing shafts. “Our priority is the safe passage of our employees from underground. Engineers are inspecting shaft infrastructure, and at those shafts where this work is complete, hoisting of people to surface has already begun.” He said AngloGold Ashanti's West Wits operations were not affected. Tuesday's earthquake struck after midday, shaking buildings and rattling pictures and windows, resulting in some buildings being evacuated. The Council for Geoscience said the quake measured 5.5 magnitude on the Richter scale. The United States Geological Survey reported it being a 5.3 magnitude quake. The council could not say why the US had a lower figure. ER24 reported that a man was found dead following the earthquake. “A 31-year-old man was found deceased in an old mining village in Orkney, in the North West,” said ER24 spokeswoman Luyanda Majija. The man was found lying under debris. Emergency workers were at the mining village.

- Sapa/IOL

Will you pay for earthquake information?

I see several requests on the social media for people to assist the Council for Geoscience with information reports (completing of a questionnaire) on the earthquake yesterday  in South Africa. Before you grab the keyboard to assist just remember that it is this council that ask for money if you want information and data on earthquakes in South Africa. Data was removed from their website from free public viewing. Now they want you to send them reports on this earthquake for free. We tend to forget very quickly in this country. I am more than willing to send them information and data for free if the people of this country can also get data and info free from them. Why should we send free reports if they want us to pay for info from them? Another alarming fact is that the outside world knew within minutes after the incident what the intensity was of the quake in SA. Council for Geoscience release this vital information a few hours after the quake. We need to catch a wake up in this country and stop selling vital disaster and weather information to the public. I said it before and will keep on saying it. Vital information on weather and disasters should be free of any charges and be released instantly. Do we have to wait for people to die before vital information will be free to the public?

- MSBWX + @SAWXREP

SA quake severely dangerous - US Geological Survey

Johannesburg - The US Geological Survey said on its website "Earthquake report.com" that the earthquake experienced in South Africa on Tuesday was felt as far off as Botswana.

 - Did you feel the tremor in your area? Tell us where. Have you heard of injuries? Upload PHOTOS, upload STORIES, or E-MAIL.

One person has been reported dead in a 5.3 magnitude earthquake which struck six kilometres east of Orkney in the North West shortly after midday.

"This earthquake is severely dangerous because the epicentre is located right below Orkney and Klerksdorp," it said.

It reported that severe shaking was felt in Klerksdorp and there was an unconfirmed report of a building that had collapsed, where people were trapped.

Another report on the website said a school building in Klerksdorp shook so badly that pupils were thrown off balance.

"Our school has three storeys and I was in the middle when it shook. We dove for the door along with our geography teacher and we were told to evacuate the building," said a pupil on the website.

"We are on the football field, damage [was] done to multiple classrooms."

Another person on the website reported that two children were injured at an Orkney mine, and that buildings were damaged.

The Council for Geosciences could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fatality

Earlier, ER24 confirmed that one person was reported dead following the quake.

"A 31-year-old man was found deceased in an old mining village in Orkney, in the North West," said ER24 spokesperson Luyanda Majija.

"He was found lying under some debris."

Emergency workers were at the mining village, searching for mineworkers presumed to be trapped in 11 shafts. Majija could not immediately confirm the name of the mine.

The tremors were felt in various parts of the country, shaking buildings, rattling windows and resulting in building evacuations.

People immediately took to social media to report it.

"Who else just felt the earthquake. That was a crazy... tremor," said Johannesburg resident Adrian Patrick on Facebook.

"Here in Durban too," responded Byron David.

Evacuated 

Citizens from Johannesburg to KwaZulu-Natal, North West, and Cape Town reported feeling the quake.
Sapa's reporter in Durban said people in the 32-storey Durban Bay House, one of the tallest buildings in the city, were evacuated.

Hundreds of people were milling around Anton Lembede Street where the building is located in the city centre.

"I felt it. I thought I was going mad. I stood up and saw my colleagues rushing out," said Lungelo Xaba, who works on 17th floor of the building.

Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Robert Mulaudzi said the tremor was felt in most parts of the city.

"The city has not received any reports of injuries, or collapsed building. However we will be monitoring the situation."

Engineering geologist Oliver Barker told eNCA that it was an earthquake, and went into details about the history of earthquakes on the sub-continent.

- SAPA/NEWS24

M5.3 Earthquake - 6km East of Orkney, South Africa

Event Time

1. 2014-08-05 10:22:34 UTC
2. 2014-08-05 12:22:34 UTC+02:00 at epicenter
3. 2014-08-05 12:22:34 UTC+02:00 system time

Location

26.986°S 26.741°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities

1. 6km (4mi) E of Orkney, South Africa
2. 15km (9mi) S of Stilfontein, South Africa
3. 16km (10mi) SSE of Klerksdorp, South Africa
4. 32km (20mi) NW of Viljoenskroon, South Africa
5. 199km (124mi) SW of Pretoria, South Africa

Related Links

• Additional earthquake information for South Africa
• View location in Google Maps

- USGS

Quake shakes central South Africa, one dead

(Reuters) - A 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit central South Africa on Tuesday, killing at least one man who died when a wall collapsed on top of him, according to emergency services.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor was centered in Orkney, a town around 120 km (70 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, an area with a high concentration of deep gold mines.

"One of the buildings collapsed on a man believed to be in his 30s ... by the time paramedics arrived there was nothing they could do for him," Werner Vermaak, spokesman for emergency service provider ER24, told local television.

ER24 and South African rescue services confirmed that no miners were trapped underground, alleviating earlier concerns that workers were stuck in shafts.

Officials at AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Gold Fields and Sibanye Gold said they had felt the tremors in their headquarters but had so far received no reports of anything untoward in their mines.
The area around Johannesburg is not prone to seismic activity but it is home to some of the deepest gold mines in the world. The quake is the largest in the southern Africa region since a 7.0 tremor in Zimbabwe in 2006.

- Reuters

MSBWX:  Full timeline of the quake available at: @SAWXREP and MSBWX Facebook page.

EMSC earthquake notification: Magnitude 8.0 01/04/2014 23:46 OFFSHORE TARAPACA, CHILE

These parameters are preliminary and subject to revisions.
For updates, please consult: http://www.emsc-csem.org


A magnitude 8.0 earthquake has occurred OFFSHORE TARAPACA, CHILE at:
19.72S  70.86W Depth 33km 01/04/2014 at 23:46:49 (Universal Time)

Earthquake location with respect to nearby cities:
94 km NW Iquique (pop 227499, local time 19:46:49.7 2014-04-01)
237 km S  Ilo (pop 53476, local time 18:46:49.7 2014-04-01)
834 km W  Santa cruz (pop 1342604, local time 19:46:49.7 2014-04-01)

Comments :

Manual location disseminated on 02/04/2014 00:13 (UTC)
EMSC cannot guarantee the receipt or timeliness of an e-mail after sending.

For maps and additional data, please consult:
http://www.emsc-csem.org

Links to regional seismological observatories:
http://www.sismologia.cl/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/
http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/geofon

This location has been computed thanks to the data provided by the
following seismological institutes:
BGSG BUD GFZ LED MAD MLT MSO NEIR SC3
See the full list of data providers at:
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/contributors.php


This EMSC service is jointly operated by the LDG (Laboratoire de
Detection et de Geophysique, Bruyeres-le-Chatel, France) and the
IGN (Instituto Geografico Nacional, Madrid, Spain).

- EMC

Strong 6.1 earthquake on island in western Greece

A strong earthquake has struck near the town of Lixourion, or Lixouri – population 9,800 – on the island of Kefalonia in western Greece. Reports of the magnitude of the quake vary, but, at this time, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is still reporting the quake as a magnitude 6.1. The local time was late Sunday afternoon, January 26, 2014. Apparently the shaking was also felt in other countries, including Albania, Montenegro, Bulgaria and southern Italy. Seismologists and local officials are reporting damage and possible injuries, according to at least one report. Few details are available at this time. According to GreekReporter.com:

Residents of Kefalonia are scared. This event reminded them about the great earthquake of 1953 (M 7.2), where hundreds of people lost their lives.

Details of the quake, from USGS, follow

Event Time
2014-01-26 13:55:43 UTC
2014-01-26 15:55:43 UTC+02:00 at epicenter

Location
38.208°N 20.425°E depth=18.8km (11.7mi)

Nearby Cities
0km (0mi) NW of Lixourion, Greece
61km (38mi) NW of Zakynthos, Greece
87km (54mi) SSW of Preveza, Greece
89km (55mi) WSW of Mesolongi, Greece
289km (180mi) W of Athens, Greece

Bottom line: The USGS is reporting a strong earthquake in western Greece, on the island of Kefalonia, with the epicenter at the town of Lixourion on January 26, 2014.

- EarthSky