27 February 2010

Huge quake hits Chile; tsunami threatens Pacific

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Huge quake hits Chile; tsunami threatens Pacific

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By ROBERTO CANDIA and EVA VERGARA, Associated Press Writer – 7 mins ago

TALCA, Chile – A devastating earthquake struck Chile early Saturday, toppling homes, collapsing bridges and plunging trucks into the fractured earth. A tsunami set off by the magnitude-8.8 quake threatened every nation around the Pacific Ocean — roughly a quarter of the globe.

Chileans near the epicenter were tossed about as if shaken by a giant. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Chile in 50 years and one of the strongest ever measured anywhere. President-elect Sebastian Pinerasaid more than 120 people died, but that number was rising quickly.

The quake shook buildings in Argentina's capital of Buenos Aires, and was felt as far away as Sao Paulo in Brazil — 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers) to the east.

In Talca, just 65 miles (105 kilometers) from the epicenter, furniture toppled as the earth shook for more than a minute in something akin to major airplane turbulence. The historic center of town largely collapsed, but most of the buildings of adobe mud and straw were businesses that were not inhabited during the 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. EST, 0634 GMT) quake.

Neighbors pulled at least five people from the rubble while emergency workers, themselves disoriented, asked for information from reporters.

Collapsed roads and bridges complicated north-south travel in the narrow Andean nation. Electricity, water and phone lines were cut to many areas — meaning there was no word of death or damage from many outlying areas.

In the Chilean capital of Santiago, 200 miles (325 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter, a car dangled from a collapsed overpass, the national Fine Arts Museum was badly damaged and an apartment building's two-story parking lot pancaked, smashing about 50 cars whose alarms rang incessantly.

Experts warned that a tsunami could strike anywhere in the Pacific. Emergency officials set off shrieking alarm sirens across parts ofHawaii, which could face its largest waves since 1964 starting at 11:19 a.m. (4:19 p.m. EST, 2119 GMT), according to Charles McCreery, director of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Police and troops in Tonga began evacuating people from low-lying coastal areas and experts warned that tsunami waves were likely to hit Asian, Australian and New Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake. The U.S. West Coast and Alaska, too, were threatened.

Waves 6 feet (1.8 meter) above normal hit Talcahuano near Concepcion 23 minutes after the quake, andPresident Michelle Bachelet said a huge wave swept into a populated area in the Robinson Crusoe Islands, 410 miles (660 kilometers) off the Chilean coast. There were no immediate reports of major damage from the waves.

Bachelet said she had no information on the number of people injured in the quake. She declared a "state of catastrophe" in central Chile but said Chile has not asked for assistance from other countries.

"The system is functioning. People should remain calm. We're doing everything we can with all the forces we have," she said.

Powerful aftershocks rattled Chile's coast — 29 of them magnitude 5 or greater and one reaching magnitude 6.9 — the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

In Santiago, modern buildings are built to withstand earthquakes, but many older ones were heavily damaged, including the Nuestra Senora de la Providencia church, whose bell tower collapsed. A bridge just outside the capital also collapsed, and at least one car flipped upside down.

Several hospitals were evacuated due to earthquake damage, Bachelet said.

Santiago's airport will remain closed for at least 24 hours after the passenger terminal suffered major damage, airport director Eduardo del Canto told Chilean television. TV images showed smashed windows, partially collapsed ceilings and pedestrian walkways destroyed.

Santiago's subway was shut as well and hundreds of buses were trapped at a terminal by a damaged bridge, Transportation and Telecommunications Minister said. He urged Chileans to make phone calls or travel only when absolutely necessary.

In Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city and only 70 miles (115 kilometers) from the epicenter, nurses and residents pushed the injured through the streets on stretchers. Others walked around in a daze wrapped in blankets, some carrying infants in their arms. A 15-story building collapsed, leaving only a few floors intact.

"I was on the 8th floor and all of a sudden I was down here," said Fernando Abarzua, marveling that he escaped with no major injuries. He said a relative was still trapped in the rubble six hours after the quake, "but he keeps shouting, saying he's OK."

Marco Vidal, a program director for Grand Circle Travel who was traveling with a group of 34 Americans, was on the 19th floor of the Crown Plaza Santiago hotel when the quake struck.

"All the things start to fall. The lamps, everything, was going on the floor," he said. "I felt terrified."

Cynthia Iocono, from Linwood, Pennsylvania, said she first thought the quake was a train.

"But then I thought, `Oh, there's no train here.' And then the lamps flew off the dresser and my TV flew off onto the floor and crashed."

The quake struck after concert-goers had left South America's leading music festival in the coastal city of Vina del Mar, but it caught partiers leaving a disco.

"It was very bad. People were screaming. Some people were running, others appeared paralyzed. I was one of them," Julio Alvarez told Radio Cooperativa.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center called for "urgent action to protect lives and property" in Hawaii, which is among 53 nations and territories subject to tsunami warnings.

"Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated. It may have been destructive along coasts near theearthquake epicenter and could also be a threat to more distant coasts," the warning center said. It did not expect a tsunami along the west of the U.S. or Canada.

The largest earthquake ever recorded struck the same area of Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude-9.5 quake killed 1,655 people and left 2 million homeless. The tsunami that it caused killed people in Hawaii,Japan and the Philippines and caused damage to the west coast of the United States.

Saturday's quake matched a 1906 temblor off the Ecuadorean coast as the seventh-strongest ever recorded in the world.

25 February 2010

Snow is everywhere

Welcome to my world. Enjoy!

By GEOFF MULVIHILL, Associated Press Writer – 16 mins ago

PHILADELPHIA – The effects of a winter storm began piling up Thursday in the Northeast even before much snow did, as airlines canceled hundreds of flights, schools closed and officials prepared to shut down major roads if needed.

The storm was expected to dump around a foot of snow and bring high winds over a swath of the Northeast from Philadelphia to New York Cityto Albany, N.Y., canceling flights and creating a danger of toppled power lines.

Winter storm warnings stretched into Ohio and along much of theAppalachian Mountains, with snow and wind expected as far south as the Tennessee-North Carolina line. The National Weather Service saidPennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, about 80 miles north Philadelphia, and northwestern New Jersey could get up to 18 inches.

In Allentown, Pa., in the Lehigh Valley, 52-year-old Jim Yourgal put on knee-high snow boats and trudged three miles to his job as a valet at an orthopedic center. He figured he wouldn't be driving home in a foot of snow. His dedication was no big deal, he said.

"What else am I going to do, read a book at home? I can do that on the weekend," he said.

The latest snow comes just as Philadelphia and New Jersey have finally cleaned up from a pair of blizzards more than two weeks ago that deposited more than 3 feet of snow.

For Albany, the storm comes only a day after one Wednesday left 2 feet of wet, heavy snow that clogged snowblowers and stranded pickup trucks trying to plow it out. About 150,000 customers lost power, hundreds of schools were closed and at least three traffic deaths were blamed on the storm.

By Thursday morning, 60,000 homes and businesses in eastern New York were still without power. The hardest-hit areas were in the Hudson Valley and the Catskills. Another 18,000 customers in Vermont still lacked power.

In the snow-weary Philadelphia region, where a seasonal record of more than 70 inches has fallen already since December, most of it in three major storms, there was some denial about the possibility of another whopper.

Scott Bogina of Haddonfield, N.J., was gassing up his car across the Delaware River in Pennsauken, N.J., a little after 5 a.m. and held his hands and watched rain, not snow, land on his gloves.

"I don't see anything yet. I hope it stays like this. I like snow, but it's starting to be a little much," he said.

Not long after that, the precipitation turned to snow.

Philadelphia's public and parochial schools were canceled for the day, as were scores of suburban districts. Some were holding out but anticipating early dismissals as the snow picked up later in the day.

The speed limit on New Jersey's Atlantic City Expressway was reduced to 35 mph and transportation officials in Pennsylvania said they would close interstates in eastern Pennsylvania if conditions got bad enough.

New Jersey Transit began its morning rush hour allowing riders to use bus tickets on its commuter trains.

Forecasts called for Thursday's storm to hit much of the East and into the Midwest. The Cleveland area could get 15 inches of snow — enough to close in on but not break the February record there of 39 inches.

New York City was expected to get a mixture of rain and snow through the day, with it turning to all snow in the evening. Up to 10 inches was expected by Friday morning.

Anthony Thomas, who repairs cables for Verizon, maintained a sunny outlook — and a sense of humor — as he headed to work on Manhattan's west side, where snow was falling by 8 a.m. but not sticking.

"We're not going to have a drought," Thomas said, laughing. "Cold is good for killing the germs."

Airlines were telling passengers to call ahead, as hundreds of flights from airports in the Northeast were scratched with threats that the storm would worsen. Airports in the New York City area and Philadelphiareported cancelations.

Philadelphia airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said 15 to 20 percent of flights there were delayed or canceled by 8 a.m. with wind as the big risk, she said, noting that crews weren't worried about clearing the snow.

"We've had good practice," she said.

Vince Mobley, 42, a machinist at the naval shipyard in south Philadelphia, said he wasn't tired of snow falling.

"I'm tired of the cleanup. And I'm tired of the snow days, missing work because of the snow," said Mobley, who lives in north Philadelphia.

"They'll excuse us if it gets really bad," he said, "but that hurts us in the pocket."

It was the opposite for Alan SanFilippo, who lives in the Long Island community of Long Beach and works at the Long Island Rail Road yard in Manhattan. He was expecting overtime to clear snow from the tracks.

"It's easy money," he said.

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Writings/ Scrieri...http://memorii.wordpress.com

OKLAHOMA Posted on 2015/06/27 Eram in America, in toamna anului 2009, cind, am calatorit cu autocarul interstatal „Greyhound”.Am pornit din Falstaff, Arizona, in sud vestul Americii si a fost o experienta deosebita, dar, foarte obositoare… La inceput, cred ca ar trebui a spun citeva cuvinte despre acest autocar. Este aidoma unui autobuz , mai mare, cu toaleta, care transporta calatori, in toate statele Americii. Majoritatea ofera servicii de transport pentru cei care nu au masina personala, sau, care doresc sa mearga dintr-un stat in altul. Este ca si autobuzul nostru, obisnuit, care opreste in diferite locuri, doar ca in acest caz, statiile sunt in state diferite… Si, mare mi-a fost mirarea, cind, urcindu-ma in greyhoud (ogar), sa vad persoane care, pe linga bagaje, aveau si o pernuta la ele. N-am inteles de ce, insa, am aflat mai tirziu, cind am vazut cit de bune erau…Pentru ca, trebuie sa spun ca autocarul ruleaza tot timpul, zi si noapte. Se schimba doar in statii foarte importante, cind, oamenii isi schimba si rutele de calatorie. Astfel, in Oklahoma, am ajuns cam pe la ora 2 p.m., si urma sa asteptam un alt autocar, care sa ne duca in Michigan. Era foarte cald! In sala de asteptare, am vazut trei femei, imbracate mai ciudat: aveau rochii lungi, pina la glezne, largi in partea de jos, strinse pe corp in partea de sus si inchise pe linga git. Erau de un albastru intens. La guler si la mineci, aveau dantela alba. Pe cap, aveau palarii albastre ca rochiile, cu un cozoroc amplu, ce inconjura intreaga fata, cu dantele albe pe interior. Cind s-au asezat pe banca, in fata mea, si-au pus palariile in cutii speciale, cu capac. Toate miscarile erau bine studiate. In picioare, aveau pantofi negri, fara toc. Una dintre femei era cam de 50 de ni, iar celelalte doua, probabil surori, cam de 20-25 de ani. Aveam impresia ca „aterizasem” in secolul XIX, desi eram in secolul XX. Mi-am dat seama ca sunt din comunitatea Amish. Cu mult timp in urma, pe cind eram dascalita la o scoala generala la Cugir, am avut intr-un manual de limba engleza, o lectie cu aceasta comunitate. Desi stiam de ei, cind le-am vazut pe cele trei femei, am avut un soc… Credeam ca visez… Cam o ora, ma straduiam din rasputeri sa nu le privesc tot timpul… Apoi, seful statiei din Oklahoma, a venit special, sa le conduca pe cele rei femei, la autocarul pe care il asteptau… Dupa inca o ora, a venit si Greyhound-ul nostru…Am calatorit mai departe, am trecut si prin Chicago, si, seara, am ajuns in Detroit. Am stat acolo , in statie, toata noaptea, iar a doua zi, la ora 6 dimineata, am urcat pe autocarul care mergea in Ann Arbor! In sfirsit, eram acasa, dupa o saptamina de aventuri de tot felul! Amish people, Chicago Greyhound StationChildhood/Copilarie Imi amintesc cu mult drag, de perioada in care inca nu eram la gradinita...Aproape tot timpul eram singura sau cu parintii. Dar, ei aveau un serviciu care le rapea aproape tot timpul. Asa ca, eram singura. Uneori, stateam la bunica mea, Rojica, mama tatalui meu. Locuia tot in Cugir, impreuna cu fiica sa, Laura si ginerele ei, Mircea. Erau citeva blocuri,fara etaj, dar cu 2 camere mari, doua intrari, o pivnita mare, in care imi era frica sa intru si o gradina mica, cu zarzavaturi... pe strada Nicolae Balcesu, acolo unde acum sunt citeva cabinete medicale, iar in spate, este un servis auto. La poalele Cetatii, linga un piriu. Eram , deci, cam de 4 , 5 ani si pe straduta dintre blocuri, ne-am adunat citiva copii: Nicusor si Mioara Boieru (de care nu mai stiu nimic, Emil Pacurar (daca mai tin bine numele de familie), Tori Ileasa si fratii ei, Ani Levai (locuieste in Deva, acum) si, Gigi Balint , un copil al prietenilor matusii mele Laura si a sotului ei. Noi, copiii, adesea ne ascundeam prin imprejurimi, sau ne jucam in nisip...Ne intelegeam bine. Mioara era mai mica decit mine, ca si Emiluca, insa Nicusor si Gigi, erau mai mari.De multe ori mergeam cu totii la "rampe", cum le spuneam noi, locuri in care masinilor li se schimba uleiul sa erau reparate.Erau doar doua pasaje, sa spun asa, cu un loc mai jos intre ele, minunate pentru jocurile noastre. Cind ne plictiseam, ne indreptam spre piriu, care era mic, dar mai curat decit acum, cind iti este frica sa treci pe acolo. Mioara si Nicusor, au primit o tricicleta, pe care se dadeau cit era ziua de lunga. Nici Mioara nu prea ajundgea la ea, pentru ca, stiti si voi, baietii au intietate. Asa a fost si va mai fi pe meleagurile noastre.Ma uitam cu "jind", cum se plimbau...Cind o ceream si eu, era sau ocupata sau era in casa...Si uite asa, am ramas cu dor, pina intr-o dupa-amiaza de vara: a fost inorat, dar totusi au iesit cu tricicleta. M-am rugat din nou sa mi-o dea, si, cind a inceput sa picur, o ploaie marunta, au cedat! Mi-au dat-o si mie pentru doua ture...Chiar daca ploua, eram triumfatoare: in sfirsit, am ajuns sa "stapinesc" tricicleta! M-am urcat repede pe ea, si, cu viteza, m-am indreptat spre straduta (neumblata de masini pe atunci...). Doamne, ce mindra eram, si goneam cit puteam de repede! Ploua, dar mie nici ca imi pasa! Era a mea pentru doua ture si trebuia sa le fac repede...Nici nu am terminat de facut turele, ca mama lui Mioara a stigat sa ia tricicleta si sa intre in casa...Da, dar am reusit! Pe atunci parintii mei nu isi permiteau sa-mi cumpere una...

Aldenn's photos

27 February 2010