Illinois Earthquake Measures 5.4

An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 5.4 struck southern Illinois early Friday, and was felt throughout the Chicago and Indiana area.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake struck with an epicenter about six miles from downstate West Salem, at 4:36:57 a.m.

Police scanner traffic also indicated that it was felt throughout the city and across the northern Illinois.

Other reports shows that the earthquake was felt as far north as Kokomo, Rochester and Warsaw in Indiana, as well as in Evansville and Indianapolis. It shook tall buildings in downtown Indianapolis.

Reports also shows that there have been several calls to 911.

The New Madrid Fault is the largest center for seismic activity in the area. It was not immediately returned if the New Madrid Fault was origin of the earthquake.


Earthquake Details

Magnitude 5.4

Date-Time

* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 09:36:57 UTC
* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 04:36:57 AM at epicenter

Location 38.501°N, 87.898°W
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region ILLINOIS

Distances
* 10 km (6 miles) ESE (103°) from West Salem, IL
* 10 km (6 miles) NE (55°) from Bone Gap, IL
* 13 km (8 miles) N (4°) from Bellmont, IL
* 39 km (24 miles) WSW (239°) from Vincennes, IN
* 66 km (41 miles) NNW (333°) from Evansville, IN
* 204 km (127 miles) E (93°) from St. Louis, MO

Location Uncertainty Error estimate not available
Parameters NST=021, Nph=021, Dmin=263.2 km, Rmss=1.07 sec, Gp=119°,
M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=1

Source

* West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS

Event ID at00851141

* This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Sphere: Related Content

Bridgend, The South Wales Axis Of Suicide

Caroline Davies
Bridgend, the south Wales town thrust into the spotlight after 13 of its young people killed themselves in the past year, is part of a Welsh valleys axis with higher than average levels of suicide, particularly among young men, it has emerged.

Statistics show that Merthyr Tydfil and the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff valleys are also battling with a problem that has, so far, defeated experts. And as police review the spate of recent deaths in Bridgend, The Observer can reveal that far from being an isolated pocket, the rash of suicides has been a concern in the area for some time.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 20 people - the vast majority of them young men - took their lives in the Bridgend area in 2006, while Merthyr Tydfil had 10 suicides and the Rhondda, Cynon and Taff 18. The latest available figures show that the combined area has 9.3 suicides per 100,000 people per year, compared with 8.3 for the rest of Wales.

As detectives look at possible links between the 13 deaths, the most recent being that of a 17-year-old girl, Natasha Randall, found hanged at her home in Blaengarw 10 days ago, a special task force of local agencies, including the police, is questioning speculation that the deaths may be linked to internet social networking sites.

The area falls under the jurisdiction of Bridgend and Glamorgan Valleys coroner Philip Walters. He said: 'I think people are looking for something that isn't there. As far as I can see there is no internet link. But, bear in mind I have concluded only four of the 13 inquests. There are nine still outstanding where I am waiting for toxicology reports.

'The thing that bothers me most about all of these suicides is that you look at each one as an individual, and you cannot get to the bottom of why. The vast majority are men under 30,' he said. 'I really do think we need a national suicide strategy.'

Walters has been so concerned about the increasing number that last year he issued a statement admitting that it was 'quite a high percentage and it seems to be higher in the south Wales valleys than in other parts of Wales'.

Bridgend's Labour MP, Madeleine Moon, said: 'I've been concerned about this for four years. I don't think it can be laid at the door of social deprivation. In all honesty Bridgend is not socially deprived. Perhaps one of the problems is young people need to raise their levels of aspiration.

'I've got two towns and lots of villages. They are very close communities in which everyone knows everyone else. People don't like to move 500 yards to the next village because their whole identity is around the village their families grew up in.

'But there is a downside. I was speaking to a group of girls recently and they were saying it could be claustrophobic. Everything that happens to you, everyone else knows about it, so it can be harder to deal with. You feel much more exposed. So, if you have a relationship break-up it's the gossip of the village. If something happens in your life, everyone knows about it. So there is pressure there.

'I don't know that the internet sites have had any major impact on what's been happening. What concerns me much more is that you have got a situation where all of these suicides have affected lots of young people. They know about them. And young people communicate differently, with texting and emails. That is not how you deal with emotional problems. I think many young people are not used to communicating emotions, actually talking one-to-one about them.'

Dr Jonathan Scourfield, senior lecturer at Cardiff University's school for social sciences, who has conducted research relating to suicides in Wales, said: 'Most suicides are complex. I think cultural and social beliefs are very influential factors. By that I mean if a relationship breaks down, or there is loss of employment, or terrible debts, suicide only becomes an appropriate response because it makes social sense. They have probably heard of other cases where people have killed themselves in those circumstances, so they think "well, that's what you do".

'That's where the copycat theory does have relevance - not that young people are goading each other on via websites - but in a broader sense. The more stories that appear about young people having killed themselves in your area, the more it might appear to you to be a reasonable response to a particular kind of crisis. It's about the culture of suicide.'

A police spokesman said: 'To date there is no evidence of a suicide pact and that theory did not come from the police. At this stage, we have not established any link that is common to all.'

Sphere: Related Content

Palo Verde Nuclear Power Station Under Pipe Bomb Threat

Security officials at the nation's largest nuclear power plant detained a contract worker with a small pipe bomb in the back of his pickup yesterday, and investigators were searching his apartment, authorities said.

Guards stopped Roger William Hurd, 61, at the entrance to the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station when they spotted the bomb. He was detained about a half mile from the containment domes where the nuclear material is stored. Officials pulled his security clearances and placed the facility on lockdown.

"The guards were attentive and alert and took the appropriate action when they identified something suspicious," said Victor Dricks, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will review the incident.

Doug Walters, senior director of security for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's trade group, said Palo Verde's response was exactly as it should have been.

"We have a checkpoint for this reason," Walters said. "They were able to identify a suspicious item in the truck. I don't know what they could have done differently."

The Department of Homeland Security said there was no known terrorism link to the incident at Palo Verde. Hurd, of Goodyear, Ariz., told investigators he did not know how the bomb got in his truck and was released Friday afternoon.

Authorities described the device as a six-inch capped explosive made of galvanized pipe that contained suspicious residue. Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said it was likely homemade.

"If this thing went off in the bed of the truck, it certainly would put a hole in it," Mangan said. "It was rather crude in construction, but it could certainly injure somebody."

Capt. Paul Chagolla with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said the pipe was not hidden. He said Hurd normally drove a motorcycle to work but was in a truck Friday because of the cool weather.

Sheriff's officials rendered the device safe.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said investigators searched Hurd's home but found nothing helpful. Hurd was not arrested, and Arpaio said he expects Hurd to help with the investigation.

Nobody answered the door at Hurd's apartment in Goodyear. Messages left by The Associated Press at numbers listed for Hurd in Arizona and Hartsville, S.C., were not returned as of late Friday night.

Hurd worked as a procurement engineer, responsible for evaluating equipment purchases for the plant, Palo Verde officials said.

He had access to protected areas but had not been in any such area since Aug. 21, said Randy Edington, the chief nuclear officer for plant operator Arizona Public Service Co.

Edington said Hurd would have had access to the reactors but officials did not know the last time he would have been near the reactors.

The incident was considered an "unusual event" — the lowest of four emergencies the plant can declare, said Jim Melfi, an inspector with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

There was no threat to the public and the station operated normally Friday, McDonald said.

McDonald wouldn't say which company employed Hurd. Like everyone who has access to the plant, Hurd submitted to a background check.

Workers also must pass through two security checkpoints to get inside one of the plant's three containment domes, which house the radioactive nuclear material. One of the checkpoints includes an automated system that sniffs workers for the presence of bomb-making materials, McDonald said.

Palo Verde, operated by Arizona Public Service Co., is the nation's largest nuclear power plant both in size and capacity. Located in Wintersburg about 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, the plant supplies electricity to about 4 million customers in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California.

Sphere: Related Content

Farm Aid Change Focus To Environmental Awareness This Year

The assault on the environment cannot be effectively controlled, but must be prevented. Although some laudable progress has been made, it has mainly been cosmetic, addressing symptoms rather than causes. In view of this, NYC is using Farm Aid's 22nd anniversary concert to raise awareness about recycling and composting.

Farm Aid organizers are requiring food vendors to provide biodegradable plates, cups, and flatware. Fifty recycling stations will be set up on the grounds on Randalls Island. David Hurd, director of the city's Office of Recycling Outreach and Education, says he's organized 400 volunteers to help concertgoers do the right thing.

They'll just be making sure people are putting things in the right receptacles and to make sure the wrong things like saran wrap and cigarette buts aren't going into the compost pile.

Hurd says the composting will be done at a farm upstate.

Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews are among those scheduled to perform at Farm Aid.

The Farm Aid concert was founded in 1985 to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land.

Sphere: Related Content