6.4 Magnitude Earthquake in the Philippines

[chad_tukes]

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A 6.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of the Philippines' Batan Islands, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

from CNN.

[jdimpas]

as well as Taiwan right?

[knightcarl]

kuyaw..bag-o ra diay..

[khyle_143]

wen did it happened?

[manick]

krn ra ni?

[rodsky]

Another case of skewed journalism.

The epicenter of the quake was under the sea, between the Philippines and Taiwan. Take note that there are hundreds, if not thousands of quakes, big and small that occur around our seas, because the Philippines is on the Pacific "Rim of Fire", a chain of volcanoes and faults due to the seams of the tectonic plates that the continents float on. Now, why is it that the media only reported this particular quake? Well, we simply don't have enough seismometers to place in every square kilometer of the earth or the Philippines--thus only the seismometers near the area was able to record this, and the media thought it to be newsworthy because:

a) Earthquakes are a popular news story recently, due to the devastation of Chinese quake

b) It was above average (i.e. anything above 5 on the Richter scale is pretty strong, check sources on Richter scale)

What I frown at is the way the news was reported, esp. the headline--Earthquake hits the Philippines--imagine what sort of worry this headline has created for Filipinos abroad who have loved ones back in the Philippines. Good thing that the old media establishment is "dying"--people have cellphones and the internet nowadays, and with "peer-to-peer" media, they can thus confirm that their relatives are safe and sound, rendering news reports like this as silly and irresponsible.

-RODION

[jdimpas]

Magnitude 6.8 quake strikes at sea off Taiwan; no injuries reported

TAIPEI, Taiwan - A powerful earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean off southeastern Taiwan on Sunday, but no damage or injuries were reported.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said the magnitude 6.8 quake hit at around 9:57 a.m. (0157 GMT). It was faintly felt in Taiwan.

The bureau said the epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean about 340 miles (560 kilometers) southeast of Taiwan's capital of Taipei, near the Bashi Channel that separates Taiwan and the Philippines.

The epicenter was as deep as 29 miles (46 kilometers) below the ocean surface.

In Manila, Renato Solidum Jr., head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, gave the quake magnitude at 6.3.

He said the tremor was felt in the Philippines' northernmost province of Batanes but was too deep to cause any major damage or casualties.

No tsunami warning was issued because of the depth of the quake, and seismologists are still determining which fault line caused the temblor, he said.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

However, a 7.6-magnitude earthquake in central Taiwan in September 1999 killed more than 2,300 people, and in December 2006 a 6.7-magnitude offshore tremor south of the city of Kaohsiung severed two undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service to millions of users throughout Asia.

GMANews.TV - Magnitude 6.8 quake strikes at sea off Taiwan; no injuries reported - World - Official Website of GMA News and Public Affairs - Latest Philippine News - BETA

[rodsky]

I actually emailed CNN about the headline, and though I know that if I was the only one who complained about how it was stated, that it would be ignored, it seems daghan ang nagcomplain, not only me! So I think collective efforts paid off--CNN changed the headline--it now reads:

"Earthquake hits off coast of Philippines"

(previously, it read "Earthquake Strikes the Philippines", sayang wala nako na-screenshot ang original)

This is the magic of new media--the power of feedback from the users...the old media needs to retire and die a gentle death--nowadays, Web 2.0 is transforming the web user from being a passive entity to being something called a "prosumer"...a producer and consumer of information.

-RODION

[INFRACTION]

adto tas united states geological survey na site

[ong76win2]

Maayu sa dagat ra nahitabo ang earthquake.