Magnitude-6.3 quake hits northeast of Rome

[Dantheman62]

ROME – A strong magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck central Italy early Monday, damaging buildings and sending panicked residents into the streets, officials and news reports said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northeast of Rome at about 8:30 p.m. EDT (0030 GMT Monday) on Sunday.

Italian news reports said the epicenter was near the city of L'Aquila, in the mountainous Abruzzo region.

The Civil Protection Department was assessing the damage.

The quake was felt in much of central Italy, including Rome. People were woken by the quake and ran into the streets, the ANSA news agency said.

The quake was the latest in a series of jolts that struck the area over the past two days.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090406/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_earthquake

[Dantheman62]

Alaska's Mount Redoubt has another large eruption,

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Mount Redoubt volcano had another large eruption Saturday after being relatively quiet for nearly a week.

Radar indicated a plume of volcanic ash rose 50,000 feet into the sky, making it one of the largest eruptions since the volcano became active on March 22, said the National Weather Service.

The ash cloud was drifting toward the southeast and there were reports of the fine, gritty ash falling in towns on the Kenai Peninsula.

Plans to transfer millions of gallons of oil from an oil storage facility near Mount Redoubt were derailed when the volcano erupted and a tanker sent to get the oil had to turn back.

The explosion caused a mud flow in the Drift River Valley. The slurry of meltwater, hot rocks, volcanic ash and other debris reached the area of the Chevron-operated Drift River Terminal, where 6.3 million gallons of oil is stored in two tanks, said Rod Ficken, vice president of Cook Inlet Pipeline Co.

A concrete-reinforced dike surrounding the tank farm is continuing to do a good job of protecting the tanks, he said.

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090405/capt.db13ed63f01e4294af929755a68ec02c.alaska_volca no_akken101.jpg?x=213&y=141&xc=1&yc=1&wc=409&hc=271&q=85&sig=rx5jWp79gxBqp5QEfxDCwA-- (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Mount-Redoubt-volcano-Alaska-Volcano-Observatory-explosive-eruption/photo//090405/480/db13ed63f01e4294af929755a68ec02c//s:/ap/20090405/ap_on_sc/alaska_volcano;_ylt=AqnplJHmgWGGm9omudWPKYxxieAA;_ ylu=X3oDMTE5bXA3cWJuBHBvcwMxBHNlYwN5bl9yX3RvcF9waG 90bwRzbGsDYW5lcnVwdGlvbnBs)AP – An eruption plume rises above Mount Redoubt volcano, 50 miles across Cook Inlet from Kenai, Alaska

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090405/ap_on_sc/alaska_volcano

[Northern Boy]

mother earth seems to be getting mighty restless lately