Hazard Roundup--September 2007

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Steve Sobieszczyk

Hello and Welcome. This is the USGS CoreCast Hazard Roundup for September, 2007. I'm Steve Sobieszczyk.

Let's get started. September had quite a few hazards of note. The largest event was probably the seismic activity outside of Indonesia. There were a series of large earthquakes that shook the region on September 12th and 13th. These included large magnitude 8.4, 7.8, and 7.0 quakes on Wednesday, September 12th. The earthquake activity triggered a number of tsunami warnings, including an actual minor tsunami. The seismic activity was eerily similar to the December 2004 event which devastated the region. Thankfully, there was far less damage this time.

Other noteworthy quakes included a 7.2 earthquake near the Santa Cruz Islands on September 2nd. Similar to the Indonesian quakes, this event prompted a tsunami warming. There was also a large 6.8 magnitude quake along the western coast of Columbia on September 10th. Similar to each of these other events, this too prompted tsunami warnings along the northwestern coast of South America. Most recently, just the other day a tsunami warning was issued in the Pacific as 6.7 magnitude quake shook near Papua New Guinea on September 26th.

With Hurricane season in full swing, there were a number of tropical storms and hurricanes in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Hurricanes such as Felix and Humberto formed over the Atlantic, while Hurricanes Henrietta and Ivo made their way along the Pacific. Notable tropical storms Gabrielle, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Gil, and Lorenzo also reared their heads this month.

Looking at land hazards, there were a few eruptions of note. Earlier this month, I'm going to pronounce this wrong, I'm sorry, the Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano in Tanzania erupted. There was also increased activity on Mt. Edna in Italy. Here in the states, the Pavlof Volcano is currently active in Alaska. Also, looks like the 7/21 eruption on Kilauea in Hawaii is still flowing. Also, Mount St. Helens is currently active.

If fires are your thing, there were a few large fires around the U.S. this month. The most recent fire of note is probably the Alaskan North Slope fire. There were also fires earlier this month including the Butler 2 and Moonlight fires in California, and a few fires in both Montana and Idaho.

Well, that's about all I have for hazardous events this month. Thanks for putting aside some time to give us a listen. As always, we appreciate your support. We do have some exiting things planned for the next few weeks, so check back. This has been the USGS CoreCast. The CoreCast is a product the U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. Until next, rock on.

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Music credit:



"Battle at Norfolk", Edgen