Busy seismic activity in Switzerland
Graphic of a 3.3 earthquake in Sierre - Provided by SED
Sierre, canton Valais (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s unusual seismic activity over the weekend was more widespread in canton Valais than initially realized: four quakes between 2.4 and 3.3 on the Richter scale were recorded in Sierre in less than three hours, with a total of 21 tremors in just over 12 hours in the same region.
The first 2.4 tremor occurred 8 January at 20:28, according to the Swiss Seismic Service (Sed). Three more minor quakes followed, two of 3.3 magnitude at 20:48 and 22:20, and another one of 2.8 magnitude at 23:32 that evening.
Fifteen aftershocks, which were minor and micro quakes, recorded but not felt, occurred in Sierre after the tremors and until 09:16 on 9 January.
Two other undetectable tremors were recorded during the same period in Brig and Helsenhorn, also in Valais.
At least one person has died and others are trapped in Mexicali, a US-Mexico border town, following a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey. The tremors shook buildings in Los Angeles and as far away as Las Vegas and Phoenix. Hundreds of people fled the beach at Tijuana, Mexico, although no tsunami warning was sounded, reports NPR.
Links to other sites: Los Angeles Times, NPR
A man has been pulled from underneath a house that had been repeatedly looted 14 days after the earthquake that reduced Port-au-Prince, Haiti to rubble. Rico Dibrivell was rescued by US soldiers after a crowd of looters called them for help. It was initially not clear if the man had been trapped since the original earthquake or had become stuck in a subsequent tremor. Over 100 people have been rescued since the earthquake.
The Haitian government began distribution of food by itself Tuesday, with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive saying: “We could not wait anymore that the international community organize by their standards.” Tempers are fraying and tensions rising, say humanitarian workers, as food, water and other emergency equipment slowly make their way to the needy. Crowds of desperate people throng distribution points, and the authorities are using force to keep people back.
The country was shaken by two lesser aftershocks 26 January and the US Geological Survey said that tremors will be felt for at least another month.
Links to other sites: AFP, Fox News, Miami Herald
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The CEO of Geothermal Explorers, the company that was drilling as part of a Basel geothermal energy project called Deep Heat, has been cleared of wrongdoing by a court in the city. Charges were brought against Markus Haering after the company’s drilling appeared to provoke earthquakes in Basel in 2006 and early 2007.
Basel's Deep Heat project, December 2006
Update 11:35 Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Basel’s innovative geothermal energy project made world headlines when it was begun in 2001, but the city suffered a series of tremors in December 2006 that prompted fears the deep drilling may have triggered the earthquakes. The Deep Heat Mining project, designed to pull energy from the deep bedrock, was closed temporarily in early 2007, but Thursday 11 December canton Basel City officials announced that the project has officially closed.
The head of the Geothermal Explorers next week faces charges in Basel, and 20 Minutes reports that there is widespread surprise in the region that he is the only person who will have to answer criminal charges and that no cantonal or city officials have been charged in the affair.
Insurance claims against the project came to CHF9 million, reports swissinfo, but the project has ended, the official report published Thursday notes, because risk analyses have suggested further drilling could set off more earthquakes.
