Earthquake Shakes Costa Rica
[the 5.5 in Panama last night]


Magnitude 5.1 - BOUGAINVILLE REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
2008 August 15 02:36:58 UTC


Magnitude 4.5 - NORTH OF SEVERNAYA ZEMLYA
2008 August 15 03:37:32 UTC


Fresh tremor of 4.9 on R-scale hits southwest Chinas Wenchuan province

From Monday noon to Wednesday noon, three aftershocks from 4 to 4.9 degrees and 570 aftershocks at or below magnitude-3.9 were monitored in the quake zone, according to the China Earthquake Administration. A total of 23,880 aftershocks had been detected since May 12, reported the Chinese news agency.

Magnitude 4.6 - OFFSHORE GUATEMALA
2008 August 16 01:46:38 UTC


Magnitude 5.0 - NEAR THE NORTH COAST OF GREENLAND
2008 August 15 15:52:51 UTC


Magnitude 5.9 - SAMAR, PHILIPPINES
2008 August 15 10:25:16 UTC
Strong quake causes minor damage in Philippines


Disaster Goes Global
The eruption in 1600 of a seemingly quiet volcano in Peru changed global climate and triggered famine as far away as Russia

Many volcanoes, besides killing local residents during their eruptions, have caused indirect deaths by triggering famines in the surrounding regions, says Lee Siebert, a volcanologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In 1783, for example, the clouds of volcanic ash and poisonous gases lofted during the eruption of Laki in Iceland killed more than half of the nation’s livestock, which in turn led to a food shortage that resulted in the death of about one-quarter of the population there. Also that year, an eruption of Asama, one of Japan’s most active volcanoes, may have contributed to a local famine that lasted four years and killed between 300,000 and 1 million Japanese, Siebert says.

The local and regional effects of volcanoes are common and often well-documented. However, the purported long-distance link between Huaynaputina and the subsequent famine and social unrest in Russia marks the only instance besides Tambora in which a specific volcano has been blamed for causing global misery, Verosub says.

Evolving Earth: Plate Tectonics

Some folks gotta work evolution into everything, don't they? Nonetheless, this site has some pretty good maps showing plate tectonics and seismic hazards.

It is interesting to note that an unusual portion of recent quakes are near the north pole, caused by friction along the plate boundary between North America and Russia. How's that for metaphorical?