Indonesian earthquake and Samoan tsunami

Lots of you have come into lessons over the past couple of days talking about the tsunami that struck Samoa and American Samoa and the series of earthquakes around the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.

The events are still in the news, with international relief teams being flown in to help in the rescue and clean-up efforts.

The BBC has lots of information, images and video clips about both - with In Pictures series here for the tsunami and here for the earthquakes.

We picked up all the activity on our seismometer - I haven't managed to get screenshots of the seismographs yet, but when I do, I'll post them on the Swanwick Seismology blog here.

Indonesian Volcanoes...

Not much in the news yesterday about the eruption of Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatau) in Indonesia...Indonesians are more concerned with the prospect of an eruption of Mt Kelud... More here from the Times, and a picture gallery here.

Earthquake in Indonesia...

Reports on the BBC website of another earthquake in Indonesia, which sparked fears of another tsunami.

The earthquake, near Bengkulu on the island of Sumatra, measured 8.4 on the Richter Scale.

More from the BBC here.

Indonesian Earthquake...

Many of you will have heard on the news that there has been another earthquake in Indonesia today. The earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale, struck Padang - on the island of Sumatra (shown on the map below) - at 1049 local time, and it is estimated that up to 100 people were killed.

The BBC site has coverage of the story here and some eyewitness accounts as well as information about how earthquakes occur, and a history of major earthquakes around the world.

How do you make mud tired?

Indonesian scientists think they know the answer to that one...

They are planning to drop 1000 metal chains, each with 4 concrete balls attached into a "mud volcano" on the island of Java. It has been leaking hot mud and gas since May last year, and could continue for years to come if something is not done. The idea is that the mud will flow around the concrete balls and lose energy, thereby stopping the flow...

Other scientists are sceptical...

Click on the picture, read the full story, and leave a comment to let us know what you think... Ingenious idea? Or a bit daft? What would you do?