Earthquake a Warning

NZ earthquake 'a warning to North America'
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Washington, Feb 23 (ANI): The terribly destructive New Zealand earthquake that killed dozens and caused heavy damage is a warning to cities up and down the West Coast of North America, according to a researcher.

Even though Tuesday's 6.3-magnitude earthquake was weaker than last year's event, it was much shallower, was situated directly under Christchurch, hit during the lunch hour when more people were exposed to damage, and shook sediments that were prone to 'liquefaction', which can magnify the damage done by the ground shaking.

The 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck the nation last September near the same area killed none.

Robert Yeats, a professor of geology at Oregon State University and an international earthquake expert, said that same description matches many major cities and towns in Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia.

"The latest New Zealand earthquake hit an area that wasn't even known to have a fault prior to last September, it's one that had not moved in thousands of years. But when you combine the shallow depth, proximity to a major city and soil characteristics, it was capable of immense damage," said Yeats.

"The same characteristics that caused such destruction and so many deaths in Christchurch are similar to those facing Portland, Seattle, parts of the Bay Area and many other West Coast cities and towns," he said.

"And it's worth keeping in mind that New Zealand has some of the most progressive building codes in the world. They are better prepared for an earthquake like this than many U.S. cities would be," he added.

According to Yeats, the risks from comparatively shallow 'crustal' faults are often given less attention compared to the concerns about the major subduction zone earthquake facing the Pacific Northwest in its future, or other major quakes on famous plate boundaries such as the San Andreas Fault.

Associated with that is the risk of liquefaction - the characteristic of some soils, particularly sediments deposited over long periods of time, to become saturated with water and quiver like a bowl of gelatin during an earthquake.

Such motions can significantly increase building damage and loss of life.

Like much of the West Coast, Yeats said, New Zealand sits near a major boundary of the Earth's great plates - in this case, the junction of the Australia Plate and the Pacific Plate.

Despite intensive seismic studies in that nation, no one had yet identified the related fault that devastated Christchurch.

"We can learn about earthquakes and help people understand the seismic risks they face But it's still an inexact science, the exact timing of an earthquake cannot be predicted, and the best thing we can do is prepare for these events before they happen," said Yeats. (ANI)

Community Supper

Digby Neck Community Pot Luck Supper

6 p.m. Thursday March 10, 2011

Little River United Baptist Church

Please bring your favourite dish to share and enjoy a delicious meal and conversation in warm fellowship with friends. If you don't have time to prepare something come anyway. There is always plenty of good food. Invite your neighbours.

Everyone is welcome.

Please put it on your calendar!
_________________________________________________________
Due to increasing postal costs (now over $50 per mailing), notice of the suppers will be by email, telephone and the Digby Courier Events column.
We are trying to notify everyone who has attended previous suppers and don't want to leave anyone out so please tell your neighbours and seasonal residents and visitors.
The location of the suppers and the day of the week are rotated so that everyone will have an opportunity to attend.
The suppers are organized by volunteers. If you are willing to help in any way with planning, notification , set up or clean up on a regular or occasional basis, please call Susanne at 834-2969

Fight Loud Commercials

Dan Mills has provided this very useful link and contact information if you are bothered about the rise is volume during commercials. Pls read to the end to get the contact information to send your letter/comment to. The only way things change is if people-you and I- tell them that it needs to change.


If you dislike the volume sky rocketing during commercials on T.V/radio etc you can register your complaint to the following site and you can read the following
mail that was sent to me..Perhaps we have a chance to stop this harassment so please submit your 2 cents worth in mail and we might accomplish something,

wayne




Dear Mr. Spinney:

Thank you for your message to the CRTC regarding the loudness of commercial messages.



In response to comments similar in nature to yours, the Commission has initiated a public process seeking comment on possible measures that television broadcasters and other elements of the Canadian broadcasting system can implement to control the loudness of commercial messages relative to adjacent programming. We invite you to participate in the review by submitting your comments at



https://services.crtc.gc.ca/pub/Intervention/Submission-Soumission.aspx?lang=e&EventNo=2011-102&EventType=Notice#Step0.



Comments must be received on or before April 18, 2011. Note that all information you provide as part of this public process, including any personal information, becomes part of a publicly accessible file and will be posted on the Commission's website. We also include links to the CRTC news release http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2011/r110217.htm and to Broadcasting Notice of Consultation CRTC 2011-102 http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-102.htm for your information.



On behalf of the CRTC, thank you for taking the time to share your observations with us.



IMPORTANT NOTE: Please do not reply to this message using the email address indicated above as we cannot receive e-mail at this address. To reply or to add to your submission, please click here and follow the prompts: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/rapidsccm/landing.asp?lang=E&caseid=523112&key=40992.6427564815

Regards,

Andrea Mullin
Client Services

1-877-249-2782 / télécopieur/facsimile (819) 994-0218
Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes / Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission / Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
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