Massive Earthquake Jolts Northern Chile

At least six people were reported dead after a massive magnitude 8.2 earthquake rocked the northern part of Chile on late Tuesday. Local officials ordered an evacuation of low-lying coastal areas along the northern port cities of Iquique and Arica while President Bachelet dispatched 100 riot police officers and 300 soldiers to assist Carabineros [Chile's national uniformed police force- NANESB!] and local officers in rounding up an estimated 300 inmates who escaped a damaged prison and prevent looting.



Closed circuit TV cameras in pharmacies and shopping centers showed customers running for the doors as the massive temblor shook merchandise from shelves and knocked over displays. Evacuations were ordered for the coastal cities of Arica, Iquique, Tocopilla, Pisagua and Antofagasta. The earthquake was the most powerful to hit Chile since the February 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the central coast of Chile killed more than 500 and caused an estimated US $5 billion in damages. Tremors from Tuesday's quake were reportedly felt as far away as La Paz, Bolivia and tsunami warnings were issued in Peru and parts of Ecuador.



Chile is part of the "ring of fire"- an area of considerable seismic and volcanic activity that essentially circles the Pacific Ocean and also includes Colombia, Mexico, the west coast of the USA, Alaska, Russia's Far East, Japan, the Philippines and Indonesia. The relatively low death toll for such a powerful earthquake was attributed in part to the stricter building codes Chile has enacted since a devastating magnitude 9.5 earthquake off the coast of Valdivia in 1960- said to be the most powerful earthquake ever recorded- as well as northern Chile being sparsely populated compared to the central part of the country.

Two Years Ago Today

Hell on earth came to the other side of the Pacific.

On March 11th 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck some 40 miles off the coast of Tohoku, triggering a deadly wave of massive tsunamis that wiped entire towns off of the map. Accoring to a 2012 Japan National Police Agency report, the number of deaths is an estimated 15,800 with another 2600 missing since the disaster.

Footage that could only be described as a sneak preview of the apocolypse was being filmed live from news helicopters and soon CCTV footage and amateur video filmed by survivors began circulating on the internet- each video demonstrating the ferocity of the massive, unrelenting waves as they swept away cars, warehouses, boats, cranes, tractor trailers, entire homes, shipping containers and even aircraft.



Even worse, the quake triggered a chain reaction that led to the meltdown of Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor, forcing authorities to establish a 20km exclusion zone around the power plant- the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl in the USSR [now the Ukraine- NANESB!].

Debris from the tsunami was swept out to sea and began washing up on the west coast of the USA and Canada, including a high school student's volleyball that was signed by her classmates and a derelict fishing vessel that was sunk by the US Coast Guard off the coast of Alaska.

Debris is still showing up on the West coast and in Hawaii- although not in the massive quantites predicted yet. Some researchers say this may be due to the fact that the anticipated debris field wasn't as large as advertised while others maintain the expected debris hasn't travelled as fast as initially calculated.

Japan marked the second anniversary of the disaster with a series of solemn ceremonies offering prayers to the dead throughout the disaster zone. Twenty four months later, much work still needs to be done in the stricken areas.

Efforts to rebuild the disaster-hit region have been slow. Figures show 315,196 people are still without a permanent home, many in cramped temporary housing units.

Tsunami-hit communities are divided among those who want to rebuild on land that may have been in the family for generations and those who want to move their towns to higher, safer ground.

Police in Miyagi prefecture were Monday continuing their search for those still listed as missing, with a 50-strong team scouring the coastline.

"We haven't found any bodies for a year," police officer Toshiaki Okajima told AFP.

"But there are still 1,300 missing people in Miyagi alone and the feelings of families haven't changed. That's why the police need to keep looking for remains."

The meltdown at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear plant also prompted officals to idle all fifty of Japan's commercial nuclear reacors. Since then, only two have been re-started.

Catch Of the Day- Soccer Ball and Volleyball Washed Ashore on Alaskan Beach May Be First Salvageable Debris From 2011 Tsunami

Japanese Beach Volleyball star Miwa Asao- probably NOT the rightful owner of the volleyball that washed ashore in Alaska this month, but worth a look nonetheless.

Remember that derelict Japanese fishing vessel that was washed out to sea during the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that the US Coast Guard sank off the Alaskan coast earlier this month? Many experts predicted it would be the first of many items to show up off the western coast of the USA and Canada after a substantial debris field made up of boats, buoys, vehicles and battered structures began forming in the Pacific Ocean after the catastrophic disaster that struck north-eastern Japan.

Turns out they were right, although not all of the items showing up in the waters off of Alaska and British Columbia are the size of the Ryou Un Maru.

An Alaska man beachcoming on Middleton Island in the Gulf of Alaska southeast of the Kenai Peninsula found a soccer ball with Japanese script on it back in March.

Dave and Yumi Baxter displaying their Catch of the Day

David Baxter, a radar technician, told the AP by e-mail that when he first saw the ball, he immediately thought it might've come from the tsunami zone.

Baxter's wife, who is Japanese, was able to translate some of the messages written on the ball and with the help of a Japanese reporter was able to identify the soccer ball's owner as 16 year old Misaki Murakami.

Murakami, from the town of Rikuzentakata, is surprised and thankful the soccer ball has been found more than 3,000 miles away.

“It was a big surprise. I’ve never imagined that my ball has reached Alaska,” Murakami told public broadcaster NHK. “I’ve lost everything in the tsunami. So I’m delighted,” he said. “I really want to say thank you for finding the ball.”
He was particularly glad because all furniture and sentimental items in his home had been washed away in the March 11, 2011, tsunami.

The ball, which also had messages of encouragement written on it, was given to him in 2005, when Murakami was in third grade, as a goodbye gift when he transferred to another school.

Two weeks later, Baxter said had discovered a volleyball washed ashore on the same island. NHK reproted that the owner been tenatively identified as a 19 year old girl from Iwate perfecture.

The Baxters say they plan on travelling to Japan in May to return the balls to their rightful owners, although they said they were reluctant to visit Murakami directly, claiming they didn't want to raise too much of a commotion.

Although both the Ryou Un Maru and a number of basketball-sized buoys thought to be from Japanese oyster farms have turned up on shore or off the Alaskan coast, the NOAA belives this is the first instance of debris from the Tohoku Earthquake and tsunami showing up in American waters and being returned to the rightful owners in Japan.

US Coast Guard Shells Japanese Vessel Off Alaskan Coast

Reuters photo

Just thought I'd recycle some headlines from 1942, however misleading.
A derelict Japanese fishing vessel that was washed out to sea during last year's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan has drifted into waters off the coast of Alaska in the last year or so.

Officials from the United States Coast Guard made the decision to sink the abandoned vessel with heavy weaponry after determining the 164 foot Ryou Un Maru was a navigational hazard.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter unleashed cannon fire on the abandoned 164-foot Ryou-Un Maru on Thursday, ending a journey that began when last year's tsunami dislodged it and set it adrift across the Pacific Ocean.

It sank into waters more than 1,000 feet deep in the Gulf of Alaska, more than 150 miles from land.

The crew pummeled the ghost ship with high explosive ammunition and, soon after, the Ryou-Un Maru burst into flames, began to take on water and list, officials said.

A huge column of smoke could be seen over the gulf.

The Coast Guard warned mariners to stay away, and aviation authorities did the same for pilots. A Coast Guard C-130 plane crew monitored the operation.

In about four hours, the ship vanished into the water, said Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow in Juneau.

Officials decided to sink the ship, rather than risk the chance of it running aground or endangering other vessels in the busy shipping lanes between North America and Asia.

The ship had no lights or communications system and its tank was able to carry more than 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Officials, however, didn't know how much fuel, if any, was aboard.

"It's less risky than it would be running into shore or running into (maritime) traffic," Webb said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the problem and decided it is safer to sink the ship and let the fuel evaporate in the open water.

The vessel was in Hokkaido, destined for the scrappers torch when it was swept out to sea in the devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011.

Graphic courtesy

Vancouver Sun

The derelict fishing vessel was first spotted off the northwestern coast of Vancouver Island on March 20th. The ship continued drifting north before it was spotted off of Forrester Island in southern Alaska at the end of March. A Canadian fishing vessel had claimed salvage rights to the Ryou Un Maru but the US Coast Guard announced they would go ahead with plans to sink it if the Canadians were unable to secure the ghost ship. When the Canadian crew was unable to secure the vessel, the Coast Guard waited for them to clear the area. Once clear, the crew of the cutter USCG Anacapa opened up on the derelict with 25mm high explosive rounds.
Japan's Oceanic and Meteorological Agency estimates that nearly 5 million tons of debris were swept out into the Pacific Ocean after the tsunami. While most of that was concrete, Japanese researchers estimate that 30% of the debris is still afloat in the form of homes and boats that were docked at the time of the tsunami. Scientists in Japan and experts from the University of Hawaii's International Pacific Research Center are designing a complex computer model to try and predict where the ocean's currents will pull the remaining debris. The Ryou Un Maru is believed to be part of the advance guard of the massive debris field, which some estimate to be as large as 3100 by 1200 miles.
Residents in southeastern Alaskan towns such as Ketchican and Sitka have reported finding basketball-sized buoys washed ashore- the buoys are thought to be from Japanese oyster farms. The first known landfall of the debris in Alaska was back in January of this year near Yakutat.

One Year Ago Today- Northern Japan Devestated by Quake, Tsunami and Nuclear Meltdown

It was a year ago today that Japan got a taste of hell on earth after a massive magnitude 8.9 earthquake off the Sendai region in the northeastern part of the main island of Honshu. Immediately following the quake, a wall of water reaching a height of 70 feet in some places smashed ashore and up coastal inlets, wiping out farms, ports and entire towns.


To make matters even worse, the impact of the tsunami knocked the nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi offline, triggering the worst nuclear meltdown and release of radiation since the 1986 disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in what is now the Ukraine. To this day, a 20km exclusion zone remains around the site of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.



Cleanup around the nuclear plant site continues to this day. An estimated 18,000 people were killed and another 3100 missing between the quake, tsunami and meltdown. Another 87,000 individuals were displaced in the aftermath of the quake, tsunami and meltdown.



A firsthand account translated into English from a Tohoku University Professor who survived the Sendai quake and tsunami can be found here.



On Sunday, ceremonies were held throughout the country at 14:46 local time to mark the exact moment the quake struck.

Pilot projects to make land inside the Fukushima Daiichi exclusion zone inhabitable have gotten under way, using shovels and chemicals added to high pressure water guns to attempt to absorb the radiation. However, such efforts are considered a longshot.

Magnitude 6.8 Earthquake Strikes Off Shore of Northeastern Japan; Money Continues Washing Ashore After Deadly March Tsunami

Japan's Meteorological Agency is reporting a quake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 struck the northeast coast of Japan.

A tsunami warning was issued by the agency for the Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures on Friday morning, but the advisory was lifted about a half hour later.

Tokyo Electric Power Co reported that there were no abnormalities and that key equipment in the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant continued operating normally while key employees positioned outside were evacuated as a precaution.

Interestingly, nearly 6 months after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami which is thought to have killed at least 20,000 people in Northeastern Japan, survivors and volunteers have turned over to the authorities the equivalent of nearly US$80 million in cash that has washed up on shore or in the ruins of homes and apartments.

In the five months since the disaster struck, people have turned in thousands of wallets found in the debris, containing $48 million in cash.

More than 5,700 safes that washed ashore along Japan's tsunami-ravaged coast have also been hauled to police centers by volunteers and search and rescue crews. Inside those safes officials found $30 million in cash. One safe alone, contained the equivalent of $1 million.

The National Police Agency says nearly all the valuables found in the three hardest hit prefectures, have been returned to their owners.

"In most cases, the keyholes on these safes were filled with mud," said Koetsu Saiki with the Miyagi Prefectural Police. "We had to start by cutting apart the metal doors with grinders and other tools."

Determining who the safes belonged to, proved to be the easy part. Saiki says most kept bankbooks or land rights documents inside the boxes, containing their names and address. Tracking the owners down, was much more challenging.

With some police stations running out of room in their lost property areas, police are attempting to cross reference names and phone numbers documents found in safes and lockboxes with survivors of the quake and hoping to track down what shelter they were staying in.

Keeping cash at hand is fairly common practice in Japan, as many Japanese prefer to keep their money at home. A police spokesman explained that the number of boxes and safes that have been recovered seems especially high because many fishing companies in northeastern Japan also prefer to do business and pay employees in cash.

Rising Sun Update- Japan Rattled by Strong Aftershocks 1 Month Later; Crisis Level At Fukushima Daiichi Plant Raised

Barely a month past the strongest earthquake on record in Japan and the devastating tsunami and ongoing crisis at a stricken nuclear power plant, the northern and eastern sections of the country were jolted by a series of powerful aftershocks that rocked Tokyo and the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The earlier magnitude 6.4 quake was thought to have killed at least 3 people in Iwaki, north of Tokyo, after it triggered a series of landslides and buried homes.

Meanwhile, Japanese officials had raised the nuclear alert, putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union.

TOKYO -- Japan raised the severity level of the crisis at its crippled nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing cumulative radiation leaks contaminating the air, tap water, vegetables and seawater.

Japanese nuclear regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 -- the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- after new assessments of radiation leaks from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant since it was disabled by the March 11 tsunami.

The new ranking signifies a "major accident" with "wider consequences" than the previous level, including widespread health effects, according to the Vienna-based IAEA.

The revision came a day after the government added five communities to a list of places people should leave to avoid long-term radiation exposure. A 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius already had been cleared around the plant.

Officials from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the cumulative amount of radioactive particles released into the atmosphere since the incident had reached levels that apply to a Level 7 incident. Other factors included damage to the plant's buildings and accumulated radiation levels for its workers.

"We have upgraded the severity level to 7 as the impact of radiation leaks has been widespread from the air, vegetables, tap water to the ocean," NISA official Minoru Oogoda said.

Not surprisingly, the strong aftershocks suspended the ongoing emergency repair work at the stricken Fukushima plant.

The overheating reactors at Fukushima Daiichi have two layers of backup functions in case of a power cut—diesel-powered generators and emergency fire pumps—so they can continue receiving cooling water. But these functions require workers to turn them on manually. This became a problem Monday as a tsunami warning forced all workers to move to a shelter on the plant grounds

One of the aftershocks struck shortly after regional memorials that took place on the 1-month anniversary of the quake and tsunami took place.

Japan Update: Trouble Persists at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant; More Dramatic Video Surfaces; Death Toll Mounts as Rescuers Still Finding Survivors

Workers attempting to bring the damaged reactors at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant under control were evacuated temporarily on Monday after a plume of grey smoke rose from the plant's reactor #3.

The news came after TEPCO confirmed power cables had been connected to all six nuclear reactors at the stricken power plant

The last two reactors to be hooked up to power from the main grid today were reactors No. 3 and No. 4, the two most badly damaged units, company officials told a briefing.

The company, meanwhile, is checking for damage to the plant's reactor cooling systems and other plant machinery before attempting to power them up.

It is operating equipment using grid power at reactor No. 5 only, one of the least damaged reactors, the officials said.

The cooling systems - designed to protect the plant's six reactors from a potentially disastrous meltdown - were knocked out by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and engineers have been battling rising temperatures ever since.

Workers had been struggling all week to shut down the quake damaged reactors after the strongest quake in Japan's recorded history and subsequent tsunami damaged some of the backup power and cooling systems. While the surrounding 12 miles of the plant were evacuated, some 200 Volunteers have been working in shifts of 50 each to operate the equipment, monitor gauges and clear obstructions from the various pipes in the facility.

The JSDF had also been called in last week to use Chinook helicopters to dump seawater and a compound consisting of boron onto the overheating reactors. This step was considered a 'last resort' by many observers as the salt water would be highly corrosive, meaning that the reactors could never be used again. The JSDF had also brought in at least six fire trucks capable of continuously pumping seawater onto spent fuel rods and overheating reactor #3.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Japanese government had reported that higher than normal levels of radiation were found in spinach and milk at farms in the vicinity of Fukushima- some farms as far as 100km away. While positioned off of Japan's east coast, the USS Ronald Reagan had detected increased levels of radiation last week and 17 crew members had to undergo decontamination after returning to the carrier from search and rescue duties.

ELSEWHERE IN JAPAN: As the situation unfolds in Fukushima Daiichi, more eyewitness video is surfacing demonstrating the staggering impact of the quake (which the USGS has officially changed to 9.0) and subsequent tsunami. This video embedded below shows black, churning water cascading over a seawall at Miyako in the Iwate prefecture while boats and cars caught up in the wave getting tossed around like bathtub toys



Another videotape has surfaced that was filmed from inside a car driving right next to the coast when the tsunami hit.

Searchers and rescue workers have discovered survivors in the rubble or washed out to sea in the week following the quake, including a 4 month old baby girl in the town of Ishinomaki, an 80 year old woman and her 16 year old grandson were pulled from the rubble of their home in the same town nearly a week later and a 60 year old man was rescued after being stranded on the roof of his demolished home that was washed 10 miles out to sea.

Ring of Fire Update- Pacific Island Chain of Tonga Rocked by Magnitude 6.1 Quake; Explosion Reported at Japanese Nuclear Plant

The 'Ring of Fire'- the seismic and volcanically active reigon encirling the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand's South Island to Russia's Kamchatka peninsula to Chile's Tierra de Fuego- has been unusually active this month.

TONGA: Not even a day after the massive earthquake in Japan that triggered deadly tsunamis, a magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck the Pacific archipelego nation of Tonga early Saturday morning.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake hit south east of Tonga at 1:19pm local time (2:19 NZT), the US Geological Survey has reported.

The quake was at a depth of 10.9 kilometres, 106 kilometres south east of Hihifo, Tonga, 2528km west of Auckland.

An aftershock of 5.7 magnitude followed two minutes later.

A meteorological officer on Niuatoputapu, one of the northern most islands of Tonga, said he had not felt the earthquake.

No shaking was felt further south by residents in the islands of Vava'u or on Tongatapu, the Matangi Tonga website reported.

The low-lying Tongan island island of Niuatoputapu was hit hard by a tsunami spawned by an undersea magnitude 8.1 earthquake in the Samoan islands back in 2009. That tsunami killed 10 people and destroyed 90% of the structures on the island, although no tsunami warning was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.


JAPAN: As I was updating the news out of Tonga, this story just broke out of Northeastern Japan.

An explosion was reported at the site of the Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Saturday.

An explosion at a nuclear power station tore down the walls of one building Saturday as smoke poured out and Japanese officials said they feared the reactor could melt down following the failure of its cooling system in a powerful earthquake and tsunami.

It was not clear if the damaged building housed the reactor. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the utility that runs the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said four workers were injured but details were not immediately available.

Earlier, Japanese government officials said that radiation levels at that facility were at 1000 times the normal level.

Japan has issued a state of emergency for four other nuclear facilities as well. Shortly after it was learned of the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Tokyo Electric Power co warned that it had lost cooling ability for another reactor at their nearby Fukushima Daini site, prompting the evacuation of nearly 14,000 nearby residents.

3/12 UPDATE: Although the official death toll from Friday's quake tsunami has been tallied at 574, officials expect that number to rise. More 9,500 residents in the remote fishing village of Minamisanriku- to the north of Sendau- are unaccounted for in the aftermath of the disaster according to the Japanese Kyodo news agency. As of 2004, the town's population was an estimated 19,000.

3/12 INDONESIA: The Jakarta Post is reporting that Indonesia's Mount Karengateng on the island of Sulawsei has erupted, spewing lava and sending searing gas clouds down the mountainside. There have been no immediate reports of casualties or property damage there, although four people were killed when the volcano erupted last August. Closer to Indonesia's capital, the Mt. Merapi volcano on the densely populated island of Java unleashed a series of eruptions in October 2010, reportedly killing 122 people. Around the same time, the western coast of the earthquake prone island of Sumatra was rocked by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake, triggering a tsunami. It was estimated that 430 people were killed in between the tsunami and actual quake, with a number of people still missing.

Eastern Japan Hit By Magnitude 8.9 Quake, Tsunamis- Warnings Issued Throughout Pacific

The most powerful earthquake in Japan's recorded history triggered tsunamis reportedly as high as 25 feet that swept up cars, boats, houses and bridges while surging inland shortly after it struck on Friday afternoon.



The magnitude 8.9 quake- even more powerful than last year's Chilean earthquake- struck at around 2:45 PM local time on Friday in Japan. According to the USGS, the epicenter was some 80 miles to the east off the coast of Sendai and 230 miles from Tokyo. Te prefecture of Sendai was hardest hit.



Japanese oficials say that the death toll from the quake and tsunami is at 32 and expected to rise. Although no derailments were reported, Shinkansen (high speed rail) lines across the country were shut down as a precautionary measure. The expressways in and around Tokyo were shut down Friday afternoon as well.

Several fires had also flared up in the aftermath of the earthqauke, including an inferno at the Cosmo oil [Nikkei: 5007] refinery in Chiba and another fire in the turbine building of the Tohoku Electric Power co's [Nikkei: 9506] nuclear plant outside of Onagawa.

Meanwhile, authorities in Hawaii have begun preparing across the islands for an impact with tsunamis generated by the Sendai earthquake.

A tsunami warning was issued at 9:30 p.m. for Hawaii as a result of a 8.9-magnitude earthquake near the east coast of Honshu, Japan. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed at least 32 people in Japan.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami watch at 7:56 p.m. after the quake struck 231 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Chip McCreary, director of the warning center, said the latest forecast models show "wave amplitudes of up to 2 meters (6 feet) beyond normal sea levels in Hawaii.

"What these waves look like is an elevation of sea level, where the sea level will rise above its normal level and stay high for 10 or 15 minutes before they recede," McCreary said, explaining the difference between tsunami and regular waves.

Because of the long length of tsunami waves, "they wrap around our islands very efficiently" so there is no point of impact that may see higher waves than other areas.

The waves are expected to impact in Hawaii at 3 AM Hawaian time (8AM Easter).
A Tsunami warning has also been issued for Taiwan, Russia, the Philippines, southern Alaska, British Columbia, the entire West Coast of the USA, Mexico as well as Central and South America and New Zealand.

3/11 UPDATE: Police in Northern Japan have discovered 200-300 bodies in the vicinity of Sendai- the capital of Myagi prefecture and closest major city to the epicenter of the earthquake.

3/11 UPDATE #2: Japanese authorities have issued an official emergency for the Tokyo Electric Power Co's [Nikkei: 9501]Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma after problems were reported with the plant's cooing systems. The plant had automatically shut down after the earthquake and authorities have ordered the evacuation of more than 2000 in a 3km radius from the plant.

The tsunami impacted the California coast at 10 AM Pacific Time, sweeping at least one man out to sea and damaging boats and docks in coastal cities like Santa Cruz and Crescent City.

Indonesian Islands Hammered by Quakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis

Authorities in Indonesia are attempting to cope with no less than two disasters that have struck seperate parts of the country. Television reports from Java indicate that at least 28 people were killed when the 9700 ft Mt. Merapi volcano erupted, unleashing a plume of toxic gases and superheated ash throughout the reigon.

At least 11,000 people scattered thoughout small villages live at the foot of the volcano. Authorities have tried setting up a 4-mile exclusion zone around Merapi, but locals can easily circumvent it with a network of footpaths that lead back to their properties ignoring official warnings to check on their houses and livestock.

Vulcanologists have indicated that pressure is building up under a lava dome inside of Merapi, a likely precursor to a larger and more devestating eruption. The volcano is located in the Yogyakarta province of Indonesia's most populous island.

Meanwhile, about 800 miles to the west, at least 154 people are dead and another 500 missing off of Sumatra's west coast after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake triggered a tsunami on Monday. The quake took place along the same fault line that started the devestating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

Rough seas, bad weather and the remote location of some of the stricken areas have hindered relief efforts, leaving survivors to make do with what they could salvage for two days. Fishermen were scouring the waters for survivors while corpses littered beaches and roads in some parts of Sumatra. Cargo planes carrying tents, food, fresh water and medicine were expected to arrive in the area later on today.

7.6 Earthquake Strikes Vanuatu, Tsunami Warning Issued

Authorities in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu have warned residents to seek higher ground after a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck at 4:24 PM local time on Tuesday. Although there are no reports of damage in the capital city of Port Villa, local police warned residents to take refuge in the hills fearing that the tremors could spawn a sizable tsunami.

Residents say that there was considerable shaking for about 15 seconds, but no apparent signs of damage. A warning was issued by the NOAA's Pacific Tsunami warning center, although it was considered unlikely that any tsunami generated by the quake would reach the west coast. Vanuatu sits on top of an active seismic and volcanic reigon that's part of the 'Ring of Fire' circling the Pacific. The island chain lies between Australia's northeastern coast and Fiji.

Earlier this year, plans were made to evacuate nearly 3000 villagers from Torba Province in the northern part of the country after the Gaua volcano there bombarded nearby towns with ash, sulfur and molten lava. Like the Icelandic volcano earlier, ash spewing from the Gaua volcano threatened to play havoc with international air travel.