August 2011 New & Full Moons -Astro Events -

August has a reputation for being a power-packed month and that may be down to the prominence of the solar force during it's passage through Leo. Be assured, the fundamental loving, creative and dramatic force of the sun has been shown to have a deep shadow as well, during many past recorded events of global significance that have occurred during the month of Leo. What's particularly important, is to see what other influences impact on the solar output to see what themes arise.


The New Moon heralding in August occurred in Leo on July 30 (Universal Time UTC)  with Jupiter in Taurus in a tight square to sun and moon plus both these are in semisquare-sesquiquadrate aspect to the SAG-GEM lunar nodes.
This looks like some will start to question personal self interest, greed and excess (versus collective, humanitarian issues) and we may see use of social media to spread this message both on local and global levels -an example would be hi-profile entertainers/stars/warm-hearted people (Leo) who feel challenged by their wealth/abundance (Jupiter in Taurus) and wish to help others. (Hello, there is a growing famine in the Horn of Africa)

Space News - via NASA confirms we are currently seeing the biggest sunspot display during this quiet Cycle24. First an M-class flare from sunspot 1261, approaching New Moon in Leo, plus  "Sunspot 1261 has a "beta-gamma-delta" magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares".  
Jupiter enlarges and increases whatever it merges with so in current 90 degrees to the Sun, it's not surprising the sun is very active.


The Full Moon (August 13 UTC) brings Pluto into the picture ( by semisquare-sesquiquadrate) which is fiery, volcanic & destructive, both in personal manifestations and energetically in earth and elemental activity -so expect eruptive, destructive, hot, outpourings. Several volcanoes(Hawaii, Iceland, Chile, Indonesia) have been on the radar recently, so any of these could  be the site of more overt action. People whose planets link to 20Leo in particular will be similarly volatile /vulnerable (coronary risk in some, aggro in others or can attract violent people)


Mars begins to ramp up this Full Moon from Aug 10th & 11th when Mars opposes Pluto and both these are at 90 degree right angles (square) to Uranus. With Mars in Cancer interacting with powerful Uranus and Pluto the risks of domestic violence and houses consumed in fire is elevated locations and people corresponding closely to 5 degrees in Cardinal Signs ( born on or near to March 27, June 27, Sept 29, Dec 28 - any year.

Venus at 20Leo contributes around Aug 13-14th - though not a heavyweight, Venus, (like Mercury ) can be seen to be in close contact during the timing of significant events.

Right at the tail end of Leo this August (23rd) we will see Neptune in Aquarius aligned in exact opposition to the Sun and Saturn semiquare-sequiquadrate this combo.

Firstly: the whole time Saturn is in Libra the big wake-up call is IMBALANCE -a theme we see currently played out in the enduring global financial crisis and weather extremes for example.
When Saturn makes a significant link to another energy, expect considerations of TOO MUCH/TOO LITTLE to be part of the issue at hand.
Sun opposite Neptune is fire versus water and with Saturn in the picture the balance is towards reduced output.
An imbalance related to the Sun/solar activity - the sun's activity may go very quiet (re flares etc)
An imbalance related to Water energy = a drought indicator on our planet
are both implicated around Aug 23.

August 4

Note the Cleveland volcano in Alaska is in active building mode

August 6
The global financial markets have suffered a significant lurch, continuing, as Liam Dann observes, the unresolved global crisis of 2008.
When focussing particularly on this event, the interpretation of the July 30 New Moon would include: the Jupiter in Taurus factor (excess money.greed/possessions, primal survivalism) in conflict with Sun-Moon Leo (warm hearted benevolence); Mercury opposite Neptune (confused, deceived, fuzzy thinking, not at all practical, strongly spiritual/humanitarian, very subconsciously driven) This mix of competing/conflicting energies is likely to underpin the panic aspect, especially when the thinking mode (Mercury) is so non-rational in contact with Neptune: wild imaginings can take hold.
It is evident too that this event has strongly spiritual/humanitarian drivers. We need to move on from basic survivalism, greed and excessively materialistic values towards a more loving, sharing and caring global, national and local environments.
With Mars(28GEM) active in respect of the Galactic Centre (27SAG) an event of global significance is reinforced.
All this of course is within the context of the longer term (for 5 years to come) game-changer combo: Pluto square Uranus -the revolutionary destroyer force which is amassing momentum in the coming week for the first very close contact in this cycle (Aug 11) Other factors will align with a power punch from the 10th as Moon and Mars join the picture, leading into the powerful Aug 13 Full Moon as detailed above.

August 9

A worsening of global economic stability as turmoil infests the markets. Along with the powerful planetary mix we have to add in the massive output from the sun last week, which resulted in a high level geomagnetic storm on earth. This disturbs both people and places. The planets alone have been enough to upset the markets, but add in the sun's intensifying effect and we have a hi-profile period featuring riots in several London towns
Starting with collective anger (Uranus in Aries) over Police conduct (Pluto in Capricorn) it is not surprising that fire (Aries, Leo), destruction (Pluto) anarchy (Uranus) have featured prominently. London in particular is resonating strongly with the big stress pattern generated by Pluto in it's closest, near 90 degree link to Uranus in this cycle. There will be other people/places, but this is headlining the global news - and the pattern still has building momentum -exact on Weds Aug 10
It is fascinating to come across the ways in which the manifold keywords of the planetary energies get expressed in different people/places which share that resonance/vibration.
In NZ in the past week of Aug 2011 there have been two tragic deaths, both involving men testing powerful air generating (Uranus) engines. One was killed by the propellor of a hovercraft, the other by being sucked into a jet engine. The Uranus-Pluto force led to their very violent deaths.
In addition in Afghanistan a US Chinook helicopter was shot down, (Uranus in Aries) losing (Pluto) all 38 military (Aries) on board.

August 10

Surprisingly, so far, in this cycle period, seismic and volcanic activity, though grinding and bubbling away, has yet to have a noticeable breakthrough, showing how hard these things are to consistently accurately predict ahead of time. Many observers will be surprised, within the context of various precipitating factors, that there hasn't been a significant quake over M7.0 somewhere in the world this week. Still this is a building phase for the next event - the Full Moon weekend - which has an after affect momentum period of a few days - so let's watch this week ahead from today to see if earth activations join with the big human activations of the past week.

August 12
The main seismic focus is coastal Japan, with a recent build up of events M5+

August 27
The coming New Moon in Virgo (Aug 29 UT) is surrounded by turbulent energy related to the declination of the Moon crossing the path of several powerful planets in a short time frame. This is because so many are positioned from the equator southwards.
On  the 29th the Moon will join forces with Uranus on the equator; next Moon will be in a parallel position to Saturn on the 30th. Into September, on the 1st Moon joins with Neptune; on the 2nd Moon joins with Pluto. Moon then, alone, reaches maximum south declination on Sept 5. Next Moon heads north again, reaching Pluto on Sept 7-8, on a path of reverse order, passing Neptune (9th), Saturn (11th) as it climbs again to cross Uranus on the equator on Sept 12.

This combo is likely to correspond not only with Hurricane Irene, which we all know the tracking for  (this link will expire) but also extreme weather, increased seismicity & aggravated human behaviour in places/people resonating to those vibrational signatures.

July 30 New Moon 2011 - astro analysis

It's a New Moon in Leo exact at 7LEO16 at 6.41 am NZ time on July 31st 2011.
The Auckland chart gives 24CAN12 ASC & 15TAU32 MC.

In Auckland NZ, its a first house Leo New Moon, with various interactions - emphasising self interest, self indulgence vs humanitarianism and generosity, survivalism vs compassion, cold heartedness versus warm fuzzies .

Many of these aspects wilbe global, giving people tests to see which direction they are chossing during the month of influence -August -when situations or issues will arise giving people opportunity to reflect upon what sort of relationship they have to others.

Pluto and Jupiter both in earth (material, money) signs means issues around finance, the economy, what you own or want to have, will be hi profile issues. not surprising the American debt crisis is right on the agenda as this New Moon has been developing.
Interesting too that this is hovering around Obama's birthday -August 4, embroiling his energies with the spirit of the times: conflict and challenges over money management

Jupiter in Taurus is an indulgent, hedonistic, pleasure principle type of energy, but of course it is not isolated and any connections it has to other energies, serve to modify that expression. Pluto links to Jupiter bringing the reform of institutions -since bedrock systemic change is really what is required, and what will unfold due to Pluto's continued link to revolutionary Uranus, extending over the next 5 years
Saturn in Libra -the indicator of the need for rebalancing the system does not figure in the NZ New Moon chart as a strong significator during August, but is likely to in nations more in the balance right now.

                             Image courtesy COSMOS  SOA Encyclopedia of Astronomy

Looking at the planets in a more astronomical perspective, a New Moon requires that the Moon is travelling in the space between the sun and earth. Hence a direct line, or alignment occurs while the earth views the seeding moon, dark, unilluminated on the earth-facing side.
This Moon being in Leo is geometrically close to 90 degrees from the current position of Jupiter in Taurus. A right angle(square) is a stressor angle, bringing strong activation. This time it is Earth energy at odds with Fire. Add in Pluto in Earth (Capricorn), also at odds with the fire New Moon and Uranus in fire (Aries) energising the whole mix and it seems likely that seismic/volcanic activity will be significant in vulnerable, resonating zones around the New Moon and during August, since these natural events are the consequence of fire/earth activity triggered by stressor forces. Many consider sun-moon gravitational forces to be very important, but they alone do not account for all major earth events.
Watch though the coming Moon on the equator, heading South on August 2, coinciding with its perigee position in respect of Earth. ( I had a dream premonition about a week ago re August 2 as a significant Pacific tsunami date)
These lunar positioning factors are also considered as triggers.

Other factors can contribute before as early precursors ( even months before) and event triggers.These "other factors" are numerous including several other planets, -hence the difficulty in consistent prediction. No one has yet perfectly cracked it. Refer to several of my prior blog posts. on these subjects and look at space weather -the powerful magnetically charged transmissions from the sun which can cause considerable earth turbulence.
On You Tube, thebarcaroller forecasts using space data and UK astrophysicist Piers Corbyn uses similar data in written forecasts

check back for updates:

Note: recent significant (M6+) seismic events clustering around this New Moon (26 July-August 4)
Fiji                   M6.7   July 29    Universal Time (UTC)
Japan              M6.4   July 30
Vanuatu          M6.2   July 31
North PNG      M6.8   July 31
Japan             M6.2    Aug 1


Visit the excellent interactive online solar system programme with user controls for full screen viewing in realtime - here
 Plus, a lot of solar monitoring data in one site 


Update August 2
See also prior post on the recent New Moon

NASA Sunspot Predictions - from Maximum to Minimum

If the Sun had ramped up it's magnetic energy from 2007 and was on target to reach dizzying heights in sunspot numbers by 2012, we could expect to get nervous about the sorts of impacts forewarned in You Tube videos on Solar Storm Warnings, coinciding with 2012.
Instead the Sun confused NASA scientists and failed to kick into Cycle 24 until 2009. Since then, the results have been far from spectacular, leaving many to switch forecasts from Maximum to Minimum.
Many online reports say NASA issued a 2010 warning re flares and a huge space storm whilst also declaring a Deep Solar Minimum and the two conditions are not mutually exclusive. A recent NASA news release (June 2011) still talks of such a storm, which is possible even in a below-average sunspot cycle - since one happened before (1859 Carrington Event). As for confirming a date. No such luck in this uncertain area of science.
Also,if we do observe very low sunspot levels in 2012-2014, seen in the last similar era the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1715, very cold winters could be the result.
Read how NASA has made a series of predictions for Solar Cycle 24 - here
The following History Channel video discusses a coming solar storm and reiterates NASA's original forecast for a possible 2012 event ( which now seems too early)  It is shown here for educational purposes.

Update August 2 2011

Solar data to die for the Solar Terrestrial Activity Report in depth with great graphics
Sunspots 1261 and 1263 are expected to harbour X-class flares
James Marusek Impact website -a nuclear physicist worth listening to re solar activity:
 "the sun has entered a changed state" he says.
At length he describes the systemic breakdown that will occur if a major geomagnetic storm knocked out power grids for an extended period

Update April 26 2012 

Read also post on Solar Cycle 24 is Odd

Picking up Dog Poop with Sigourney Weaver

                                                  Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

 Sigourney and I had engaged in an enjoyable conversation at the gathering we were both attending. It was a film industry event held in New Zealand, in a location away from the city.
We found ourselves on a sloping hillside amongst thick mounded rows of freshly cut green grass. Suddenly, Sigourney let out an anguished cry, as befits one with such impeccable skills. In her bare feet, she had stood on dog poop, as I discovered when I rushed over to her assistance. The droppings looked suspiciously like those of my own dog, Pablo - small, thin and moist, caramel-coloured, in a little heap. So many times I had collected up deposits like this.
Of course, I had plastic bags available, but the enormous heaps of grass served well to scoop up the poop and clear it away beyond a rocky border. Whew!
That drama over, we spoke of an associate's new project and that I was disappointed he  hadn't made a fuller reveal at the conference. Sigourney pointed out that there was a risk that GLEE would latch onto his ideas if he didn't keep the project under wraps. How true.
Sigourney looked at me with tenderness. Was she reading my innocent kiwi schmuck persona ? She reached out her hand to touch my face. I sensed more was to come. I woke up.

Research Notes:
Sigourney Weaver, born October 8 1949, Manhatten, New York City, is a Libran.
She wisely renamed herself Sigourney in 1963, after a character in F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gadby ( Born Susan, Alexandra)
I have enjoyed Sigourney in many movies, including the Alien series, Gorilla's in the Mist, Death and the Maiden, Ghostbusters, Avatar.
Though highly regarded in the sci-fi genre, Sigourney pulls off Oscar worthy performances in drama & her comic touch is evident in numerous lighter roles.
Her birth chart  for a 6.15pm birth gives Moon and ASC in Taurus, a very useful Jupiter in Capricorn on the midheaven ( fortunate career) and trine the ASC = more luck and protection -so more Earth energy than you'd imagine - but Neptune placed right conjunct to the Sun gives the ability to inhabit any role. Mars and Pluto together tightly in Leo gives the capacity for powerful performances - especially the tough persona roles as in the Aliens movies. Venus is an important indicator for Librans and with Venus in Scorpio, Sigourney has a big dose of charisma. Definitely an unconventional thinker, with Uranus square Mercury - and Mercury retrograde gives a highly imaginative mind. The 6th house emphasis will give her more of a Virgo persona at times.
( hard-working, analytical, self-critical, even a shy side)
Uranus aspecting the ASC gives more unconventional traits than a typical Taurean would display so that's why we are not seeing a shorter, rounder physique: Juptier and Uranus both incline to height and well-toned or at least leaner bodies.
Saturn provides a counter-point to any tendency to go too Jupiterian or Uranian -in other words Sigourney is able to achieve balance by using these opposing energies in measured amounts -reflected so clearly in her movie choices. Librans are all about learning balance and this chart is a classic in terms of the potentials given for going too far in either direction, only to face the need for correction. Truly symbolic of our age - a zeitgeist example for planet earth and its inhabitants. Thankyou Sigourney. Looking forward to your next movie release.

p.s. it turns out Sigourney LOVES dogs -see this special pic

Celestial Geometry: The Mystery of Crop Circles

Whatever you believe about crop circles, the persistently graceful, highly symbolic celestial geometry is undeniable. This one was documented on July 26 2011 at Windmill Hill, near Avebury, an historic location in south-west England. Some people consider the symbols to be a communication regarding events and changes on a galactic scale, impacting on our planet. If so the question remains whether the message is being sent as a subconscious transmission, rather than a code to crack intellectually.

                                To explore more visit the Crop Circle Connector                

July 2011: Amy Winehouse & Oslo Events -astro-analysis

Recent News July 2011: Amy Winehouse Dead. Massacre in Oslo.

               AMY JADE WINEHOUSE  September 14 1983-23 July 2011
                                Born and died in London, UK. 
Here's a very useful link to start looking at the inner demons facing
Amy Winehouse
Viewing her chart it is immediately evident how Mutable (changeable) her energies are, bolstered by a big dose of Fire signs.
The intensity of the groupings and their interactions means she was an extreme version of all of the relevant mutable signs: Virgo, Pisces, Gemini, Sagittarius,  and the fiery Aries, Leo. Not surprising that she is known for flamboyance, creativity & drama (Leo), drugs (Pisces), excess (Sag), assault charges (Aries) and the Virgo and Gemini qualities would have expressed through her writing and were likely to have been evident to those who knew her best. The big mix she was dealing with means she was certainly not a poster girl for the sun sign she was born under, Virgo.
Her mother Janice says: “Amy was a beautiful child, always busy, always curious"(Gemini). “She was always very cheery (Sagittarius) but she was also shy."(Virgo)
Amy was also quoted in the UK Telegraph March 2011:
"I'm my own worst critic and if I don't pull off what I think I wanted to do in my head, then I won't be a happy girl,"  (self-criticism is very Virgo)
"I'm a natural singer, but I'm quite shy, really." (Virgo=shy)

Anyone with significant planets in the late degrees of mutable signs would have been strongly aware of Amy Winehouse as an artist, and likely to be very aware of her pain - and certainly with Neptune and Chiron now close in Pisces (July 2011) in the band 0-4 degrees, the transiting square to Amy's natal Chiron at 3 Gemini indicates how lost in her pain she was. Already overwhelmed by natal Neptune aspects, she succumbed under this extra flooding of her system. Other factors always apply in a major event like death, so the precursor eclipse at 24 SAG (June 15 2011) set off her natal mutable t-square with 5 factors including planets and nodes, all triggered in the 20-26 degree range of her mutable points. There will be more indicators but these 2 underlined indicators show the immense challenge she has faced in respect of mutable energies - the hardest challenge in our present-day world on account of the spiritual drives being so easily ensnared in addiction and the culturally approved endorsement of money, fame and power over service, devotion and modest goals ( the latter being true Virgo-Pisces impulses). These opposing drives would have been of considerable pain to a conflicted Amy Winehouse.
The response to her death reinforces that many loved and supported this talented woman, who was unable to love and support herself.
Read the Rolling Stone coverage
Updates July 26-30 2011
This text has been edited and expanded to reflect the latest information available, being a 10.25pm actual birth time. The rising sign is still mutable ( adding more Gemini energy) but the Moon shifts from an estimated Sagittarius to early Capricorn. With a 5th house Sun and Mercury covering Virgo-Libra, Amy's musical creativity is emphasised. Any strong Leo/5th house emphasis will also bring Aquarian tendencies. Amy has Aquarius at the top of her chart, the Midheaven -hence the strong rebellious, unconventional qualities.
Scroll to end of next section, for further update

The Oslo Massacre in Norway
This horrific slaughter of innocents at the hands of a right wing extremist has occurred as Pluto and Uranus come to their closest square in the first half of August 2011. The perpetrator, his victims and the locations of the events would share a very strong resonance to 4-5 degrees of Cardinal signs (Aries-Libra, Cancer-Capricorn) In calendar terms this means being born on the days on or close to March 26, June 26, October 28,  December 27. In addition people's individual birth charts with the focal degrees and signs on the Ascendant at birth (aka Rising Sign) or opposite that point - or the Moon positioned there, or another important planet like Venus, Mars or Saturn. So there are a lot of strong resonating factors which will enhance a person's potential to be caught up in such an event. What is extra powerful is the collective karma  that is involved in mass events, whether positive or negative. Everyone who dies in a shared location in a certain time frame is very strongly karmically connected and their collective experience is very likely to resonate with an historic event in that same location. Karma is not simple, so it cannot be assumed that the dead in 2011 in Oslo, all previously died together in some ancient war on the island of Utoya,  nor that they were collectively perpetrators of such an atrocity. Their connection, however ancient or recent, is now strengthened.
The offender in these present events has apparently reacted in an extreme-right response to multi-culturalism and immigration. He wore a policeman's uniform to fool his victims.
 Breivik's online manifesto against the "Islamization of Western Europe," published just hours before the bloody attack, echoes anti-Muslim sentiment that has found a renewed voice on the fringes of mainstream politics across the region. -source article

The Pluto-Uranus combination in the signs Aries-Capricorn completely sums up the sudden, unexpected violence (Uranus in Aries) fuelled by an intense feeling of disempowerment (Pluto in Capricorn). Breivik lives in a nation that has little taste for  extreme right wing politics. Lacking systemic support, he chose to act alone (Aries). Not surprising though, he chose to hide behind the uniform of control (Pluto) used by the system (Capricorn).  Saturn in Libra contributes with loss of relationships for the bereaved.

This dark side of the Pluto-Uranus revolutionary/anarchic impulse is likely to rear its head again in other resonating people and places, as the two forces remain locked in evolutionary change mode until early 2016. The system is being radically restructured across many nations but some will resort to force and violence (the old way) in this process -  instead of the responsible use of power ( the new way)

Amy: Update July 27

Another writer has picked up on a factor I overlooked -  the trigger effect of Mars now in late Gemini, reaching 22-23 degrees as the deaths of Amy Winehouse and the Norway victims occurred. This late Gemini position of Mars is an energising/aggressive activator of the 24 degrees GEM-SAG lunar eclipse in June. (Energy has power as it builds to exactitude, as well as at the exact and waning phase, and various triggers can be involved to set off the combined energy effects)

Recent Pacific Quakes 2011 Ring of Fire

                         Video from thebarcaroller -see details on July 27 Update


The USGS map and data list shows a seismic battering going on in the South Pacific, in a region known for a lot of activity.

For the past month the Kermadec Islands region has had multiple events over M5.0, the largest M7.6 on July 6, the latest July 21 M5.0,
Samoa, Fiji, Tonga  feature on the list with the latter two oceanic zones being very frequent along with the Kermadec region. -see data list

In addition, the following recent sea-floor regional events: Dates are Universal Time UTC
July 20 M6.0 Solomon Islands
July 22  M6.0 Fiji
The regional activity at the July 6 Kermadec event - shown in close-up view below -source USGS

In this highly seismicly active region, with the plate boundaries accompanied by the Solomons Trench,
New Hebrides Trenches, Tonga Trench, Kermadecs Trench -  a huge area of connected territories are involved, right down to New Zealand.

This blog will update with any further significant activity in 2011

As a side note, Alaska also has a strong seismic profile being part of the Ring of Fire and recent ( back from July 23 2011) USGS data shows the frequent AK listings . The Aleutian Islands area of Alaska is home to the Cleveland volcano, on the uninhabited island of Chuginadak. This volcano is under watch due to "thermal anomalies". As in 2001, if this one blows, aviation disruption will be the result. -see full source

Update July 27

Vdeo added from You tube channel thebarcaroller, an Australian researcher who uses the technique of solar mirroring to detect co-ordinates for earth events ( quakes, volcanoes) Intriguing and worth following.

Update July 29

A M6.7 event south of Fiji around 7.30 pm, followed quickly by 2 M5+.
The deep events - 521-538 kms undersea send a shudder down the Kermadec trench, setting off several quake drums in NZ, especially the Urewera drum which seemed like a local M5 event.

Update August 1

recent summary of events over M6+ clustering around New Moon  (S) = seafloor
Fiji                   M6.7   (S) July 29    Universal Time (UTC)
Japan              M6.4   (S) July 30
Vanuatu          M6.2   (S) July 31
North PNG      M6.8   (S) July 31
Japan             M6.3    (S) Aug 1 

Updates August 4

                                  thebarcaroller forecast July 30-Aug 4 2011

                          Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons

                          Indonesia is added in due to Ring of Fire connection

Fiji                 M5.8    (S) Aug 2

Fiji                two M5+ (S) Aug 3
Kermadecs    M5.0    (S)  Aug 3
Indonesia     three M5+(S) Aug 3
PNG              two M5+(S) Aug 3
Vanuatu        M5.1 (S)   Aug 3
Santa Cruz   M5.3 (S)   Aug 5
PNG              M5.0 (S)  Aug 5
Kermadecs   M5.3 (S)  Aug 5
Sumatra       M5.7 (S)  Aug 6
Japan           M5.3 (S) Aug 6
PNG              M5.1 (S)  Aug 6
Kermadecs   M4.9 (S)  Aug 6

Fiji                M5.4 (S) Aug 7
Indonesia    M5.0 (S)  Aug 7
PNG              M5.2 (S) Aug 8
Solomons     M5.1 (S)  Aug 8
Kermadecs   M5.0 (S) Aug 8
Taupo NZ     M5.0       Aug 9
August 4
Space Weather is following the powerful sunspot1261 in particular amidst the largest display during Cycle 24. This sunspot is emitting numerous flares plus an earth-directed Coronal mass ejection (CME) of charged material. Watch the animation on their website  
"The size and broiling movement of these sunspots just boggles the mind. You could fit every planet in the solar system with all of the known asteroids neatly inside the largest group...wow!" 
Listen to the NOAA space weather report for Aug 4  2011 and coming days

 

 

August 7-11

This blog post will be updated with any relevant events (M6+) after August 9 

August 18

After a recent lengthy period of  only lower magnitude events the first global quake over M6.0 listed by USGS was in Japan -seafloor east off Honshu
August 19 M6.2 Fiji region , deep seafloor
After an extended quiet period, this is the first event over M6 in the south Pacific since July 31 2011
plus another over M6 in Japan today -M6.5 seafloor off Sendai  

August 21

Before waking, dreamed of an undersea volcano, then came online around 10.30 am to find Vanuatu is going off. - with  9 seafloor events M5-M7.1 since Sat Aug 20. (USGS has the data but this will expire from the main list within a month from today)
Vanuatu region continues to add to recent south Pacific activity in Fiji-Tonga regions. By 2pm NZ time there have now been 3 further M5+ events around Vanuatu. No damage reports and no widespread tsunami. So far the maximum depth of all 12 events since Aug 20 is only 53.8 kms. This reference gives some idea of the geology at different depths.

August 25

Vanuatu continues to be of interest - with this data from USGS

M6.2 AUG 24 + noting that Vanuatu has had 7 M5+ events on August 25 Further updates are found on the August 2011 blog post tracking quakes over M6