4.3 quake felt near Watsonville

UPDATED 7/2/07

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.3 struck the Watsonville area monday afternoon. The quake struck at 12:58 PM and was felt throughout the region and up into the San Francisco bay area.

There have been no injuries and damage has been limited to a few items falling off store shelves.

Two smaller quakes occured in this area last week. CLICK HERE to read our report on those quakes.

If you felt this earthquake and would like to share your story (or read other accounts), please check our message board.

Don't forget to check out our 2007 quake map to see other Northern California quakes in 2007. Our list of previous years quakes can be found on the right side of our web site.

Small Quakes Rattle Watsonville

UPDATED: 7/2/07

A new 4.3 quake has been reported in this area. CLICK HERE for our special report.

Residents in Watsonville were shaken by a series of small quakes late this afternoon. The three quakes, measuring 3.0, 3.2 and 3.0, all occurred within 15 minutes of each other.

The earthquakes were felt within the Watsonville and surrounding communities. The shaking has been described as a gentle rumbling ending in a sharp jolt.

If you felt this earthquake and would like to share your story (or read other accounts), please check our message board.

Be sure to check out our 2007 quake map to see other Northern California quakes in 2007. Our list of previous years quakes can be found on the right side of our web site.

Powerful Earthquake Off the coast of Papua New Guinea

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has occured off Bougainville Island.

The following is a release by the United States Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center: An earthquake occurred about 220 km (135 miles) SSW of Arawa, Bougainville, PNG or about 825 km (520 miles) E of PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea at 8:52 PM MDT, Jun 27, 2007 (Jun 28 at 12:52 PM local time in Papua New Guinea). The magnitude and location may be revised when additional data and further analysis results are available. There have been no reports of damage.

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WIKI:
The Bougainville Province, also known as North Solomons Province, is an autonomous province in Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Solomon Islands group. The largest island is Bougainville Island, and the capital is Arawa. The province also includes the adjacent island of Buka and assorted outlying islands including the Carterets. The population of the province is 175,160 (2000 census). Bougainville Island is ecologically and geographically, although not politically, part of the Solomon Islands. Buka, Bougainville, and most of the Solomons are part of the Solomon Islands rain forests ecoregion. MORE

Strong quake jolts southern part of Java

Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Jakarta - A 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck the southern part of Indonesia's Java island Wednesday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, an official said.

The tremblor shook at about 5:23 am (2223 GMT Tuesday) and was centred in the Indonesian Sea 340 kilometres southwest of Cilacap district in southern coast of Central Java, said Anas, an official at the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta. He said the quake occurred at about 33-kilometres beneath the seabed.

Anas, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said the quake was felt along a wide stretch of the southern Central Java coast, including the cultural city of Yogyakarta, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.

Yogyakarta and nearby regions has been struck by a powerful 7.3-magnitude earthquake on late May 2006, killing more than 5,800 people, injuring thousands of others and destroying and heavily damaging tens of thousands of homes and buildings.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, is prone to earthquakes because the country sits atop Asia's so-called "Ring of Fire" where continental plates collide and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.

Earthquake shakes Northern California Coast

The Eureka Reporter - A magnitude 5.1 earthquake rattled parts of the North Coast Sunday at 7:32 p.m. The U.S. Geologic Survey indicated the temblor was located 41 miles northwest of Eureka at a depth of approximately 6.3 miles. There was no indication that the earthquake caused any major damage or injuries. According to the U.S. Geologic Survey’s 24-Hour Aftershock Forecast Map, as of 8 p.m. Sunday, there was a low probability of aftershocks occurring in the region.

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If you felt this quake and have a story to tell, come on over to our "Quake Stories" board to share and to read other stories about this quake.

Also, be sure to check out the 2007 Earthquake map to see this quake along with other signficant quakes of 2007.

Space Shuttle Brings Sonic Boom

Many people accross Southern California reported feeling an earthquake shortly before 12:45 pm (west coast time). As it turns out the culprit was not an earthquake, it in fact was the expected sonic boom caused by the return of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

The shuttle was expected to land in Florida, but due to bad weather the landing was changed to Edwards Air Force Base in the Southern California desert.

The shuttle's path to the base took it over San Diego and Los Angeles before landing smoothly at 12:49 pm.

Small quake shakes Tennessee

It has been in the works for quite a while: "On the morning of June 19, Tennessee will experience a 7.7 magnitude earthquake inside the New Madrid Seismic Zone near Memphis." What they weren't counting on was a Real quake to strike Tennessee that day.

Tuesday June 19th is the start of one of the states largest emergency response drills. While the main focus of the simulation is the New Madrid Seismic Zone near Memphis, a real earthquake was being felt 170 miles east near the small town of Spencer (about 50 miles North of Chattanooga).

Although the quake was not widely felt, it is a constant reminder that earthquakes can occur at anytime and anyplace and they don't always strike along active fault lines. Tuesdays quake measured 3.3 and occurred at 1:16 PM local time.

If you think that earthquakes never happen in this area, you may be interested in this map which shows all earthquakes in the area (since 1970) with a magnitude of 2.5 or greater.

Here is the map showing the specific location of this quake

Related Links:
New Madrid Seismic Zone
Tennessee Earthquake Information
Tennessee to test earthquake plan