Image credit Reuters, story at ITV, click image for story.
Israeli news have a report, also mentions yesterday’s quake there.
Initial report magnitude 5.9, epicentre near Modena.
A few dead, no reports of a major toll.
The region is world famous for historic buildings and many have been damaged, with collapses reported. Given the dire state of Italian finances this bodes ill.
Italian blogger and Talkshop contributor Michele posted this earlier this morning
He wrote on his own blog “4 hours, I was asleep and the bed moved with the same force of the earthquake in Aquila years ago …”
I notice there were preshocks. Â http://cnt.rm.ingv.it/
Been over a dozen aftershocks (10:11 BST, 20th)
First preshock 18/05/2012 19:40:18 (UTC) Â http://cnt.rm.ingv.it/data_id/7222895000/event.html
Main quake 20/05/2012 02:03:52 (UTC) Â http://cnt.rm.ingv.it/data_id/8222913230/event.html
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Posted by co-moderator
Tallbloke's Talkshop 
Earthquakes are terrifying for those caught in them. Our thoughts are with those affected by these events. There seems to have been a big increase in earthquake activity and volcanic activity over the last couple of years in locations widely spread over the whole globe. I think this indicates that there are several factors beyong tectonics involved in their occurrence.
Michele has been working on the planetary and lunar alignments. Historically, there also seems to be a link with low solar activity and more earthquakes.
A brief comment on the reliability of earthquake reporting
A few days ago at about 10pm we were shaken up by a shallow 4.5 quake located about 10km away. I looked for it on the USGS website next morning, but it wasn’t there. So I filed an earthquake report with the USGS, giving the magnitude, epicenter, depth etc. numbers published by the Mexican seismological service. Three days later it still isn’t on the USGS website. One wonders how many other moderate quakes like this never find their way into the statistics.
Now !
Magnitude 5.1 – NORTHERN ITALY
2012 May 20 13:18:03 UTC
It’s a big swarm !
Bondeno (Ferrara)
19-05-2012
The day before
Groundwater rise
Image fixed up by Tim, link to original
“………As the time changes from 00-24 hours, the sum of the earthquake-moon distance and the Sun-Earth-Moon angle changes through 360o, and plotting these two variables for different earthquakes reveals a simple 45o straight-line relationship between them……”
Analysis swarm Modena
Today Sunday, May 20, 2012 – Japan hit by 4 large earthquakes, the strongest was a 6.0 centred off the coast of Honshu. Could it be something to do with the annular eclipse tracking across the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ today?
“Given the dire state of Italian finances this bodes ill.” Naw, don’t you know the immutable Broken Window Principle? Smashed stuff makes for lotsa work and the money circulates faster and the gov’t taxes every step and gets richer!!
>:)
Bit more info on the Japanese earthquakes here…
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/40858-twin-quakes-rock-japan
Big quakes, but luckily seems like no major damage or loss of life.
@Michele: About ground water rise: That region, according to Google-earth, is a low land, going from -2 meters below the sea level to 20 meters.
Was that water sea water?
Whole lot more quaking going on in Japan…
4.7 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 10:39:35 UTC, 202 km ESE of Hachinohe, Honshu
5.1 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 10:17:12 UTC, 209 km E of Morioka, Honshu
4.5 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 06:30:12 UTC, 253 km E of Iwaki, Honshu
5.3 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 03:18:44 UTC, 116 km NNW of Naha, Okinawa
4.5 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 01:03:18 UTC, 252 km ESE of Hachinohe, Honshu
4.5 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 01:11:55 UTC, 225 km ESE of Hachinohe, Honshu
4.8 Mb earthquake occurred at 21 May 2012 00:46:15 UTC, 200 km E of Morioka, Honshu
I’m glad I don’t live in Honshu!
M5.6 2012/05/29 10:55:58 44.859 10.991 9.9 NORTHERN ITALY
M4.7 2012/05/29 08:40:58 44.853 10.990 10.1 NORTHERN ITALY
M4.7 2012/05/29 08:25:52 44.814 10.948 10.0 NORTHERN ITALY
M5.8 2012/05/29 07:00:04 44.814 11.079 9.6 NORTHERN ITALY
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