Displaying items by tag: seismic activity

Taal volcano began spewing lava rocks and ash on 13 January, forcing 53,000+ residents to flee. However thousands refused to leave their animals and possessions. Clouds of ash carrying microscopic shards of glass 62 miles cause serious illness if lodged in people’s lungs. Taal is dangerous because 459,000+ people live within an 8-mile danger zone, and a 10.5- mile evacuation zone affects 930,000. Strong, continuous earthquakes rumble, new vents have opened, fresh ash covers towns and the lake’s water temperature has risen. An estimated 25 million people are at risk if the volcano erupts again. Please pray for the thousands in 118+ evacuation centres or with friends and family. Pray for medical teams giving psychological and medical care and for those providing water-tankers, rescue vehicles, and ambulances.

On 17 June buildings collapsed, trapping people underneath in a 6.0 magnitude earthquake in the south-west Chinese province of Sichuan. Thirteen people have died so far, and 4,000+ people have been relocated from damaged and destroyed homes. Landslides damaged major roads. Over 500 firefighters were deployed to the area, and rescue teams are bringing in 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding cots, and other supplies. See  Earlier this year a thousand residents gathered outside government buildings in Sichuan province, blaming recent earthquakes on shale gas exploration in the area. The county subsequently suspended fracking operations. The Seismological Society of America attributed a 5.7 quake in December 2018 and a 5.3 quake in January 2019 to fracking activities in the region. Quake-prone Sichuan has extensive fracking operations, accounting for about a third of China's total shale gas production. Chinese geologists said that over-development of hydropower resources has undermined the seismic stability of Sichuan. Some blame the 2008 catastrophic earthquake on large-scale damming.

Volcanoes are erupting and ground is shaking in Indonesia, Japan, Alaska, the Philippines and eastern Russia. On 23 January, 56,000+ residents in the Philippines were evacuating their homes in anticipation of a major eruption by Mount Mayon volcano. On the same day a volcano north-west of Tokyo also erupted, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred southwest of Jakarta, and another hit Alaska, 173 miles from Kodiak. On 25 January there was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake off Russia's east coast. Indonesia’s Mount Agung continues to spew ash. Pray for all who are currently evacuated or in the process of cleaning up after these events. See also