Nearly 4 years after quake, Haitians still in tents

A young woman prepares food on November 1, 2013 at camp Acra in Pétion-ville, Haiti, where victims of the January 2010 earthquake are living in makeshift tents. AFP/Louis-Joseph Olivier

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Eight-year-old Widlene Gabriel has lived nearly half her life in a camp for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the devastating January 2010 earthquake in desperately poor Haiti.

As the fourth anniversary of the disaster approaches, more than 170,000 Haitians are still living in makeshift housing, in extremely precarious conditions and sometimes facing eviction.

Widlene and her family live in a tent on a private lot along a main road linking the capital Port-au-Prince to the eastern suburb of Petionville.

Cracks in Iran’s nuclear reactor facility following quakes – diplomats

A general view of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, some 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran.(Reuters / Mohammad Babaie)

Iran’s only power producing nuclear reactor in Bushehr was damaged by earthquakes which struck Iran over April and May, diplomats told AP. 

Cracks have reportedly appeared in at least one section of the structure.

Cracks of several meters long have appeared in one concrete section of the facility, claimed diplomats from countries monitoring Iran’s nuclear program. Cracks however were not visible around the highly-radioactive reactor core, they said. 

Tehran did not deny or confirm the report with Iran’s chief delegate to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, telling AP: “I know nothing about Bushehr.” 

The safety of the plant was thrown into question following the April quakes, one of which was 7.7, and a subsequent moderate quake in early May. Their severity caused concerns that protective vessels which contain the radioactive material inside the reactors could be cracked. Intense earthquakes can also knock out power and disable cooling systems that prevent overheating and possible meltdown. 

Following the tremors, Iran stated that the plant is technically sound and was built to withstand quakes up to magnitude 8. 

Russian nuclear specialists examined the facility after the April quake that caused much damage in the neighboring Pakistan killing around 40 and wounded hundreds. 

"The earthquake in no way affected the normal situation at the reactor, personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm," an official with Atomstroyexport, the Russian company which built the facility, told RIA Novosti. 

The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also said at the time that Iran reported that earthquake caused no damage to the facility. 

“Iran has informed [the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Center] of the event, reporting that there has been no damage to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and no radioactive release from the installation,” the agency said in a statement, according to Reuters. 

A doll lies on the rubble of a destroyed house as Iranian residents inspect the damage in the town of Shonbeh, southeast of Bushehr, on April 10, 2013.(AFP Photo / STR)

May’s quake was 6.2 on the Richter scale, and was followed by a 5.6 tremor the following morning. Its epicenter was 85 kilometers (52 miles) southeast of the town of Minab, located in the southern Hormuzgan Province off the Strait of Hormuz. 

“What I can say about this is that the center of the earthquake was away from the Bushehr reactor which was designed and built in the 1970s ... in a way that qualifies it to withstand an earthquake of that magnitude,” General Director of International Atomic Energy Agency Yukiya Amano told the Bahrain News Agency after the quake.   

Iran's environmental protection chief also indicated that the country's nuclear facilities were well protected. 

Construction of the plant began in 1975 by German companies, work stopped in 1979. Iran and the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy signed a contract for its completion in 1995, when Atomstroyexport was named as the main contractor, which was tasked with incorporating a pressurized water reactor into the existing Bushehr building.  

RT

Update:

Nuclear Event in Iran on Wednesday, 12 June, 2013 at 03:25 (03:25 AM) UTC.

Iran's Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant has suffered a malfunction in its main generator, the Islamic Republic's ambassador to Moscow said on Monday. Mahmoud Reza Sadjadi did not specify the nature of the malfunction or make clear whether it has caused the plant's shutdown, Russia's state Itar-TASS news agency reported. But he stressed that this fault was not caused by the series of earthquakes that shook Iran in recent weeks. "In close cooperation, our and Russian specialists are undertaking efforts to fix the malfunction," Sadjadi was quoted as saying. He added that the fault "was linked to the work of the generator" and had occurred some time ago, but provided no other details. Bushehr is Iran's only nuclear power plant and is located on the Gulf in the southern section of the country. The plant was officially opened in September 2011. Its initial construction was begun by Germany in the 1975 before being dropped because of Iran's Islamic revolution.

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Over 4000 homeowners file damagereports due to earthquakes in The Netherlands

Holland is mostly known for it's tulips, wooden shoes, redlightdistricts & legal marijuana but not so much for earthquakes due to gasproduction.

The Dutch Petroleum Company (NAM) has received last weeks in total around 4200 damage reports from home owners in response to the many earthquakes in Groningen ,North of The Netherlands recently. Over six hundred of them have been completed, let the NAM know friday 14th februari 2013.

The NAM has made 2170 visiting appointments so far with appraisers , more than nine hundred damagedetectors/homeowners have already received a valuation. To the large number of reports NAM uses extra additional appraisers.

Just this month the earth trembled in Groningen certainly thirteen times.

Many people are worried about the increasing number & severity of the earthquakes. Investigations revealed earlier this month that the earthquakes caused by gas production will be stronger in the future than previously thought.

Secretary of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp (VVD) announced yet not wanting to limit the gasproduction.

Last months the NAM and Dutch Government announced they will increase the number of drilling locations in the North-East of The Netherlands & on the Northsea near the coast.




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The Earth’s Magnetic Poles Are Shifting



I’m sure that many of you have heard the ‘concept’ that the Earths magnetic poles (North and South) are shifting, or that some kind of a rapid pole shift is going to occur.

A pole shift is when the Earth’s magnetic fields switch places, so that the North Pole is now in the South, and vice versa. This is no longer a concept, but an actual fact. Some of us may have been led to believe that the poles would rapidly shift on December 21st, 2012. Obviously, this theory was untrue. However, the poles are shifting and have done so many times in the past, but the theory that the poles could shift instantly at any moment is just that, a theory.

The Earths magnetic poles reverse every 200,000 to 300,000 years, and a complete reversal usually takes thousands of years to complete. Although, it has been twice that long since the poles have last reversed. Scientists now say that the poles are shifting at a rate of 40 miles per year, which is actually quite a long distance if you think about it, but maybe not that much when you think of how big the Earth really is. In my own opinion I think that this definitely has something to do with the climate change that has been happening over the past few decades. When I say Climate change I do not mean ‘Global Warming.’ I mean climate change. Remember it did snow in Rome for the first time in 40 years last year!

Research suggests that this shift in the magnetic poles could very well be a factor in what has been causing the increased number of earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis that have been frequently happening around the world. Another potential factor for these weather and Earth changes that is often talked about is the increased use of HAARP. (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program.) Which presumably can magnify and direct some of this sever weather.  It would make a lot of sense considering that these poles are moving pretty quickly, but it appears it has not been fully proven up to this point. There have been many so-called ‘prophets’ in the past that have predicted these extreme cases of weather. How did they know? Is it because of the ancient evidence that proves that these pole shifts have occurred?

”Weather patterns will change dramatically all over the world. The winter months will be colder and in many areas wetter. The ocean currents will be changing, and the magnetic fields of the Earth will be moved about. The animals on the land and in the sea will be dying off in great numbers…” - Mother Mary
 “…the polar regions were once turned to where they occupied more of the tropical and semi-tropical regions.” – Edgar Cayce
“The last half of the twentieth century will see much seismic and volcanic activity. Atmospheric disturbances will increase… and destructiveness as the century draws to a close.” - Richard Kieninger

I feel this is may be Gaia’s way of cleansing herself. Yes, there have been some devastating events that have occurred that may or may not be the result of the shifting poles, but this is a great time of change and transformation, for us, and our beautiful planet Earth. There is nothing to be afraid of as deep down we know we will be where we need to be should we need to experience something. This may also serve as a wake up call to the planet collective as it appears we are in need of one.





Alanna Ketler