USGS Evidence Shows Power of the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12)

Did You Feel the Virginia 2011 Earthquake?New Evidence Shows Power of East Coast Earthquake

Virginia Earthquake Triggered Landslides at Great Distances

Released: 11/6/2012 8:30:00 AM
USGS.gov
Earthquake shaking in the eastern United States can travel much farther and cause damage over larger areas than previously thought.
U.S. Geological Survey scientists found that last year’s magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Virginia triggered landslides at distances four times farther—and over an area 20 times larger—than previous research has shown.
“We used landslides as an example and direct physical evidence to see how far-reaching shaking from east coast earthquakes could be,” said Randall Jibson, USGS scientist and lead author of this study. “Not every earthquake will trigger landslides, but we can use landslide distributions to estimate characteristics of earthquake energy and how far regional ground shaking could occur.”
“Scientists are confirming with empirical data what more than 50 million people in the eastern U.S. experienced firsthand: this was one powerful earthquake,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “Calibrating the distance over which landslides occur may also help us reach back into the geologic record to look for evidence of past history of major earthquakes from the Virginia seismic zone.”
This study will help inform earthquake hazard and risk assessments as well as emergency preparedness, whether for landslides or other earthquake effects.
This study also supports existing research showing that although earthquakes are less frequent in the East, their damaging effects can extend over a much larger area as compared to the western United States.
The research is being presented today at the Geological Society of America conference, and will be published in the December 2012 issue of the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America.
The USGS found that the farthest landslide from the 2011 Virginia earthquake was 245 km (150 miles) from the epicenter. This is by far the greatest landslide distance recorded from any other earthquake of similar magnitude. Previous studies of worldwide earthquakes indicated that landslides occurred no farther than 60 km (36 miles) from the epicenter of a magnitude 5.8 earthquake.
“What makes this new study so unique is that it provides direct observational evidence from the largest earthquake to occur in more than 100 years in the eastern U.S,” said Jibson. “Now that we know more about the power of East Coast earthquakes, equations that predict ground shaking might need to be revised.”
It is estimated that approximately one-third of the U.S. population could have felt last year’s earthquake in Virginia, more than any earthquake in U.S. history. About 148,000 people reported their ground-shaking experiences caused by the earthquake on the USGS “Did You Feel It?” website. Shaking reports came from southeastern Canada to Florida and as far west as Texas.
In addition to the great landslide distances recorded, the landslides from the 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred in an area 20 times larger than expected from studies of worldwide earthquakes. Scientists plotted the landslide locations that were farthest out and then calculated the area enclosed by those landslides. The observed landslides from last year’s Virginia earthquake enclose an area of about 33,400 km², while previous studies indicated an expected area of about 1,500 km² from an earthquake of similar magnitude.
“The landslide distances from last year’s Virginia earthquake are remarkable compared to historical landslides across the world and represent the largest distance limit ever recorded,” said Edwin Harp, USGS scientist and co-author of this study. “There are limitations to our research, but the bottom line is that we now have a better understanding of the power of East Coast earthquakes and potential damage scenarios.”
The difference between seismic shaking in the East versus the West is due in part to the geologic structure and rock properties that allow seismic waves to travel farther without weakening.
Learn more about the 2011 central Virginia earthquake.

The Antichrist Tries to Unify the Two Horns (Daniel 7-8)

The Militia, The Kingdom, and Mutual Interests

Although sectarian and political strife between the Gulf’s main and most powerful kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and various Shiite organizations and political entities, mainly the Middle East’s leading Shi’i political entity, Iran, have been exponentially tense in recent years, Saudi Arabia’s deputy Crown Prince, Mohamed Bin Salman has embraced controversial Shia cleric, spokesman, and militant leader Muqtada Al Sadr.

With Shiite militias rampant sectarian violence taking place throughout Iraq, many innocent Sunni civilians, and Shiites alike, have fallen victim in the midst of the ongoing battle against ISIS initially conducted by a coalition between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias including the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, more commonly known as Hashd Ash-Sha’bi. The meeting comes at a time when both Saudi Arabia and Muqtada Al Sadr continuously express concerns over Iran’s regional hegemonic influence.
Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman’s meeting with Muqtada Al Sadr falls in line with recent attempts to reconcile diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Baghdad after 25 years. It has also been reported that Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir visited Iraq earlier in the year to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi. Yet what seems to be quite ironic is Sarayah As-Salaam’s, formerly known as Jaish Al Mahdi, commander, Abu Duaa Al-Issawi, will also be attending the meeting according to Iraqi parliamentary sources. Sarayah As-Salaam, or The Peace Brigades, partaking in the sectarian bloodshed of Sunni civilians in the Salahudeen Province in the city of Samaraa and Jurf al-Sakhar region in December of 2015 should raise red flags for Saudi Arabia. However, it seems as if the two parties have mutual interests that intend to combat Iran’s expansionist regional project. In the summer of 2016, Al Sadr’s supporters stormed the Green Zone, or the Iraqi parliament, in protest to demand government transparency, end to corruption and a call for the reduction of external influence, particularly that of Iranian foreign policy.
More recently, Saudi Arabia’s ongoing fight against Houthi militants to the south in Yemen has also fallen parallel to the concerns Muqtada Al Sadr has raised. As the Syrian Arab Army, Hezbollah, and other Shiite militias from Iraq regularly receive aid, so to does the Houthi establishment in Yemen receive aid from Iran as Saudi security forces have intercepted smuggled weapons on their way to Yemen from Iran on multiple occasions.
Interestingly enough, Al Sadr, leader of a Shiite militia himself, has called for the dismantling of other Shiite militias that are regularly funded and trained by Iran. Although this may coincide with Saudi Arabia’s national security interests, it is difficult to determine what Muqtada Al Sadr has in mind for the near and extended future as he most definitely has blood on his hands which has resulted from the notorious sectarian violence conducted by his Shiite death squads after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Warnings from the Seven “Trumps” of Prophecy (Rev 15)

Warnings of ‘Nuclear Nightmare’ as Trump Escalates Tensions With World Powers

“We need to step up sustained diplomacy. Firing off a bunch of missiles does nothing to address the crisis. We need negotiation, not posturing.”

by

Jake Johnson, staff writer

“In response to North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test late last week, the U.S. on Sunday carried out what the Washington Post called a “show of force” by flying two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula.” (Photo: mashleymorgan/Flickr/cc)

As President Donald Trump foments tensions with world powers by behaving recklessly and pursuing aggressive action over diplomacy, developments in several major nations over the weekend sparked urgent concerns among peace groups, activists, and analysts that the world’s largest militaries are inching dangerously close to war.
“Firing off a bunch of missiles does nothing to address the crisis. We need negotiation not posturing.”
—Peace ActionIn response to North Korea’s second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test late last week, the U.S. on Sunday carried out what the Washington Post called a “show of force” by flying two B-1 bombers over the Korean Peninsula. The Post noted that the move is “a sign that tensions are spiraling upward rapidly.”
“The sense that time is running out in the confrontation with North Korea was reinforced as the day wore on,” the Post added. “Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, batted down rumors that the United States would seek an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council. It was pointless, she said, as long as China wouldn’t commit to increasing the pressure on North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.”
The bomber flights were in addition to the U.S. and South Korea’s joint missile exercise on Friday immediately following Pyongyang’s ICBM launch.
China also looked to put its military might on display Sunday, unveiling in a massive parade an assemblage of new weaponry and technology, including ICBMs “that can reach the U.S. in just 30 minutes” and a J-20 stealth fighter plane that “could potentially rival the F-22 or F-35.”
These events were punctuated by the Russian government’s response to a sanctions bill passed by the U.S. Congress last week, which Trump is expected to sign.
“President Vladimir V. Putin announced Sunday that the American diplomatic mission in Russia must reduce its staff by 755,” the New York Times reported. The Times went on to characterize the response as one “ripped right from the Cold War playbook and sure to increase tensions between the two capitals.”
Also raising alarms were reports last week indicating that the Trump administration is gearing up to challenge the legitimacy of the Iran nuclear deal by alleging that Iran has not lived up to its side of the agreement (Iran, for its part, has charged the U.S. with abdicating its responsibilities under the agreement).
Trump “desperately wants to cancel” the deal, according to the Associated Press, and he is “pushing for inspections of suspicious Iranian military sites in a bid to test” the agreement’s strength.
Trita Parsi, founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, argued that such a move makes clear Trump’s desire to “sabotage” the agreement. If he is successful in scrapping the deal, Parsi noted, the stage would be set for “a military confrontation.”
“Rarely has a sinister plan to destroy an arms control agreement and pave the way for war been so openly telegraphed,” Parsi wrote.
The rapid culmination of these factors—which come as Trump responds destructively to crises throughout the world, such as those ravaging Venezuela, Syria, and Yemen—have prompted warnings from activists and commentators that war could be on the horizon if measures are not taken to de-escalate tensions.
“There’s an urgent need to hit the reset button on U.S.-Korean policy, before one of the players hits a much more catastrophic button that could lead us into a nuclear nightmare.”
—Medea Benjamin, CODEPINK“We need to step up sustained diplomacy,” Peace Action said in response to the U.S.-South Korea joint missile exercise. “Firing off a bunch of missiles does nothing to address the crisis. We need negotiation, not posturing.”
Writing for Common Dreams, CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin argued that North Korea’s missile tests, and the White House’s response, are an “urgent warning” that U.S.-Korean policy “must be reset” if war is to be avoided.
“A war on the Korean Peninsula would likely draw in other nuclear armed states and major powers, including China, Russia, and Japan,” Benjamin observed. “This region also has the largest militaries and economies in the world, the world’s busiest commercial ports, and half the world’s population.”
With “the specter of nuclear war” looming, “the rational alternative policy is one of de-escalation and engagement,” Benjamin concluded.
“Time has proven that coercion doesn’t work,” Benjamin wrote. “There’s an urgent need to hit the reset button on U.S.-Korean policy, before one of the players hits a much more catastrophic button that could lead us into a nuclear nightmare.”

The South Korean Nuclear Horn (Daniel 7:7)

South Korea ‘considering developing nuclear programme’ to counter threat from North

Ben Kentish

South Korean politicians have said their country should develop its own nuclear weapons because the US under Donald Trump’s leadership cannot be trusted to come to the support of its allies.

As North Korea continues to test long-range missiles designed to carry nuclear bombs, the South remains heavily reliant on the US and its allies for defence.
Mr Trump’s isolationist rhetoric has caused concern among US allies, as have his calls for Asian countries to take on more of the cost of their defence.
During last year’s presidential campaign, the Republican suggested South Korea and Japan should develop their own nuclear arsenals in response to the threat from North Korea.
“Trump’s ‘America-first’ policy has triggered this kind of public sentiment,” said Moon Chung In, a national security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae In.
Mr Moon is against calls for South Korea to develop a nuclear programme but polls suggest the proposal has the support of a majority of the public.
“They want to strike a better balance of power between South and North Korea, and I also support that position,” said Yoon Young Seok, an MP who belongs to the conservative Liberty Korea Party.
South Korea had been trying to develop its own nuclear weapons until the 1970s, when it gave up the programme under pressure from the US. It now relies heavily on the deterrent provided by the US’s 4,000 nuclear weapons.
It comes after North Korea conducted its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test in the space of a month.
The latest test raised fears that scientists working for the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, had mastered new technology that could allow a missile to reach the entire continental US, American intelligence officials said.
Stabilising engines meant the test had greater height, range and power than the previous missile, which counter the effects of winds and other forces that can knock an ascending rocket off course, one said.