Double 8.6 and 8.2 strike ocean floor off the coast of Sumatra – tsuanmi warnings downgraded

Posted on April 11, 2012 by The Extinction Protocol

April 11, 2012 – INDONESIA – A massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on Wednesday afternoon, triggering a tsunami alert for the Indian Ocean. The quake struck about 434 kilometers (270 miles) southwest of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia’s Aceh province, and had a magnitude of 8.6, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It took place at a depth of 23 kilometers (14 miles). The massive earthquake was followed by a 6.0 in the north Indian Ocean and then a 8.2 earthquake near the main epicenter. The tremor revived fearful memories of the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in the region in 2004 that killed tens of thousands of people. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said Wednesday that it had issued a tsunami watch for the entire Indian Ocean, and the Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said it had put up a tsunami warning. The Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said on local television that there were no reports of casualties or damage in Aceh so far. The areas most at risk of a tsunami are coastal areas of Aceh, particularly the island of Simeulue, Prih Harjadi, an official for the Indonesian geophysics agency said on Metro TV. The earthquake appears to have involved a horizontal movement rather than a vertical movement, so it is less likely that it will generate a tsunami, said Gary Gibson from the Seismology Research Center in Melbourne, Australia. He also said that the tremor took place a long way offshore and was therefore unlikely to have caused much damage itself. The power has gone out in Banda Aceh and residents are moving to higher ground, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency. The authorities in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands have ordered people to move out of low-lying areas.

Katla Volcano – Birth Pains?

This month marks the second anniversary of the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull that left millions stranded across Europe, and cost airlines an estimated €150 million a day for six days. But alarmingly, there are signs of high activity beneath the much larger, neighbouring Katla caldera in Iceland – a possible sign of an impending eruption. This should prompt extensive high-level contingency planning across Europe, as Katla has the potential to be much more damaging than Eyjafjallajökull.

Since Iceland was settled in the ninth century, Katla has erupted on average every 60 years, but has not had a significant eruption since 1918. Ominously, eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull in 1821-23 and 1612 were followed within months by eruptions of Katla. Judged by the historical calendar, an eruption is overdue. 

I have been following the Icelandic volcano activity ever since the Eyjafjallajökull volcano closed the air space over Northern Europe for six days in April of 2010.  As the article above states, Katla is the evil twin and if she erupts it could be devastating, as Katla’s eruption in 1918 produced five times as much ash as the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull.  So why am I posting this story today?  Glad you asked.  Last night a 8.6 earthquake struck off Indonesia.  The 7.0 temblor has become the “new-norm,” and 8.0 quakes and higher, are becoming more frequent.   I believe that these earthquakes in diverse places, famines, pestilence, and volcanic activity, that seem to be growing both in intensity and frequency, are the sign that we are in the birth pains that Yashua/Jesus warns us will precede His second coming.

Read the attached commentaery from Greg Laurie of Harvest Chapel. The time for the church to wake up to the reality of the Lord’s return is now!

Time to Wake Up – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

—Romans 13:11

Every now and then someone comes along and says they know the day of Christ’s return. But don’t ever believe that. The Bible says, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

However, we can know the times and the seasons, the Bible says. But no one can know the exact day or time when Jesus Christ will come back for His people.

But here is the question we might be thinking about: Will He come soon? And will He come in our lifetime?

No one can say with absolute certainty. But there are signs that would say it is getting close. They are on the front pages of our newspapers, on our news websites, and on our favorite television and radio news programs. We will read headlines along the lines of, “Iran Threatens to Annihilate Israel,” “China Builds up Military,” “Another School Shooting Kills 23,” and “Thousands Feared Dead in Earthquake.” These are signs of the times, because they are things that Jesus said would happen in greater frequency prior to His return.

If I were to go outside and notice that it was dark and cloudy and could even see the rain falling in a nearby city, if I saw that a weather system was moving our direction, would you think of me as a genius if I said it may rain soon? Of course not. It is obvious that it will be raining soon. It doesn’t take an act of great intelligence to predict that.

In the same way, signs of the times are all around us, telling us the return of Christ is close. Knowing this should affect the way we live. So let’s wake up. Let’s be ready for His return.

Alaska Dispatch | Feb 19, 2012

• Alaska’s Cleveland volcano begins eruption
• Lava dome continues growing on Alaska’s Cleveland volcano

First it was Alaska’s Mount Cleveland that awoke and threatened to erupt. Now Kanaga, another Alaska volcano is growing restless.

This weekend, the Alaska Volcano Observatory raised the threat level to yellow on Kanaga, located on Kanaga Island, one of the most southerly of the central Aleutian Islands chain.  

“Somewhat elevated seismicity continues at Kanaga Volcano,” the observatory reported, adding that on Saturday a weak ash cloud may have been detected after a volcanic tremor.

Kanaga Volcano last erupted in 1994-1995. At least two significant ash plumes were recorded over the course of this eruption. The Aleutian community of Adak received a light dusting of ash and air traffic was disrupted due to continuing low-level activity and cloudy conditions, which prevented visual approaches to the Adak air field.

Mount Cleveland threat at orange

Meantime, scientists continue to monitor Mount Cleveland, which is located on Chuginadak Island, a remote and uninhabited island in the east central Aleutians.

Cleveland’s current threat level is orange, with the observatory reporting a new 200-foot-diameter lava dome.

“There have been no observations of ash emissions or explosive activity during this current lava eruption,” according to Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Photos: Mount Cleveland, Alaska

Aug 10, 2011

Aerial photograph of the Mt. Cleveland lava and summit crater on August 8, 2011. Mt. Cleveland is on Chuginadak Island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain.

Photo by Dave Withrow/NOAA

Seismic activity has occurred on and off for nearly 90 years at Cleveland, according to the observatory, though events have become more frequent over the last 20 years. Cleveland’s become rather active over the last eight months, building lava domes and producing what volcanologists call “geothermal activity.” That activity climaxed on Christmas Day 2011 and a few days later, when the volcano spit ash 15,000 feet into the air, threatening international travel.

Bolivia: Unprecedented Size and Longevity of Uturuncu Uplift Means ‘We Could Be Witnessing the Development of a New Supervolcano’

02/20/2012 ICA Leave a comment

By Jean Friedman-Rudovsky – “UTURUNCU VOLCANO, Bolivia — The broad hill at the base of Uturuncu is unassuming. Its gentle arc fades naturally into the Andean landscape.

But the 43-mile-long stretch of rocky soil is now an object of international scientific fascination. Satellite measurements show that the hill has been rising more than half an inch a year for almost 20 years, suggesting that the volcano, which last erupted more than 300,000 years ago, is steadily inflating.

‘The size and longevity of the uplift is unprecedented,’ said Shanaka de Silva, a geologist at Oregon State University who has been studying Uturuncu since 2006.

Taken together with other new research, he continued, the inflation means ‘we could be witnessing the development of a new supervolcano.’

Such a volcano could produce an eruption of ash, rock and pumice 1,000 times the strength of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, the worst volcanic event in modern American history, and 10,000 times that of the Icelandic eruptions in 2010 that paralyzed global air traffic for weeks.”

Japan: Signs of Volcanic Unrest Reported at Mount Fuji, Sakurajima Volcanoes

02/20/2012 ICA Leave a comment

“Reports are appearing about unrest and signs of a possible awakening of Mt Fuji volcano in Japan.

According to a report which includes an unclear photo of the area, a row of new craters, the largest 50 m in diameter, has appeared on the eastern flank of the volcano at 2200 m elevation. Steam was observed erupting from these vents.

The observation joins other signs suggesting a gradual reawakening: A swarm of earthquakes including 4 of magnitude 5 have occurred northeast of Mt Fuji on and after 28 January. An earlier 6.4M quake occurred under the volcano on 15 March 2011. The report also mentions increased activity from a fumarole vent at 1500 m elevation and hot spring areas at the eastern flank observed since 2003.

These locations seem to be aligned geographically, and are probably connected. Dr. Masaaki Kimura of Ryukyu University is quoted to admit that there is an increased risk of and eruption on the eastern flank and that the status of the volcano should be closely monitored.” Source – Volcano Discovery.

The big freeze has caused traffic problems throughout Europe, blocking roads and shutting down airports.

Schools were closed in Rome as Italy struggled to cope with unusually heavy snowfalls.

Ten deaths in Italy have been linked to the extreme winter weather, including two people who were crushed under a collapsed roof south of Rome, and a 91-year-old woman in the northeast port of Trieste.

In the north, stranded people had to be rescued from their homes, with deep snow reaching 3m (10ft) in some areas.

Europe has struggled to cope with a week of bitter cold weather in which the number of dead, most of them homeless, continues to rise every day.

Temperatures have been recorded at -36C in Ukraine, the hardest hit country.

Ukraine’s Emergency Situation Ministry said the country’s death toll had now risen to 135.

Some 2,000 people have been hospitalised suffering from frostbite or hypothermia.

Drivers are being urged to watch out for icy conditions and freezing fog on the roads with temperatures forecast to drop to as low as -10C in parts of Britain later.

Luke 21:16-17, “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me.”

 “A former member of an Islamic extremist group in Uganda who converted to Christianity after claiming to see visions of Jesus is hiding in Kenya, his movements severely restricted following threats to kill him.

Hassan Sharif Lubenga, 54, was a sheikh and said to be member of Buk Haram, a violent group of Islamists whose name suggests the Bible is corrupt and therefore forbidden (not to be confused with the more well-known Boko Haram extremist group). Originally from Chengera, seven kilometers from Kampala, the husband to four wives began his conversion process four years ago; in June 2011, he said, after various dreams and visions in which Jesus appeared to him, he made a full commitment to follow Christ.

Lubenga fled to Kenya last July 10 after hostilities peaked, and upon returning to Uganda in September he received messages on his cell phone from mujahidin – Islamic fighters – threatening to kill him, he said. He reported the threats to Chengera police, who told him they would investigate, but in October a friend told him that he’d heard in a Chengera mosque that his former colleagues were enraged and planning to kill him.

‘My heart got troubled, but the voice of Jesus continued whispering to me to witness for Jesus without fear,’ Lubenga said.

When Lubenga felt like giving up on his new faith, he said, he received a call from Bishop Umar Mulinde, his former pastor at Gospel Life Church International who was scarred in a Christmas Eve acid attack by Muslim extremists. Mulinde told him the church was praying for him, and Lubenga was deeply heartened, he said.

‘All my family members have deserted me,’ he said by telephone. ‘The Muslims are looking to kill me. I need protection and help.’

The Islamic extremists who had declared war on ‘infidels’ such as Lubenga had been threatening him since 2007, when he first began to speak of dreams and visions of Christ. Dangers peaked in 2010, when he was seen visiting a church in Uganda. By April 2010, one of his four wives had poisoned him because of his budding faith in Christ, leaving him unconscious, he said. After his recovery, he fled Chengera to a village 25 kilometers from Kampala, Kiwangala.

In 2007, he said, he told his jihadist friends that he had seen Jesus in a dream. He said they had warned him, ‘Do not make such a mistake again – we are ready to help you. If you continue with this move, then we will destroy you. You know that you are a sheikh.’”

Alot of earthquake activity over the last 7 days. And in diverse or different places. Keep looking up!

Update time = Fri Jan 27 16:02:39 UTC 2012

Here is a collection of stories showing just how close we really are to the return of Jesus! All the signs He tells us in Scripture, the Birth Pains, are happening all around us. Keep looking up!

25 Volcanoes Showing Abnormal Activity: Presidential Aide
January 15, 2012

Padang, West Sumatra. Twenty-five volcanoes in Indonesia are now showing abnormal activity or have been put on alert or watch status, presidential special aide Andi Arief said here on Saturday.

“According to official data, 25 volcanoes are now under alert or watch status and they must be given priority with regard to disaster mitigation planning at district or city levels,” he said at a workshop on journalists’ role in disaster management.

He said in West Sumatra there were two volcanoes that need to be closely watched, namely Mount Marapi and Mount Talang, as they are still under alert status.

Mount Marapi is located in Agam and Tanahdatar districts and rises 2891 meters above sea level, and Mount Talang (2597 meters above sea level) in Solok district was located around 40 kilometers from the provincial capital Padang.

Apart from the two volcanoes, the government and regional disaster management agencies were also giving priority attention to Mount Papandayan in West Java, Mount Karangetan and Lokon in North Sulawesi, Mount Ijen in East Java, Mount Gamalama in North Maluku, Mount Krakatau in Banten and Lampung and Mount Lewoloto in East Nusa Tenggara.

He said “it is not impossible that volcanoes that are now still normal could change to become abnormal due to earthquakes that have happened to trigger magma in the mountains to increase their activity, and therefore alertness and readiness of the people must continue to be maintained.”

Andi said earthquakes below five on the Richter Scale could trigger magma in the volcanoes to rise and so people must not only be alert over big but also small tremors.

The 4.4 magnitude earthquake like the one in Singkawang, West Kalimantan, is one of the examples, where people had never predicted before that it could happen there, he said.

“The small magnitude quake is now being studied by researchers with regard to minimizing the damage in case an eruption happens in the country as there are a lot of volcanoes in Indonesia,” he said.

“Totally drug-resistant” tuberculosis strain worries Indian doctors

(CBS/AP) Totally drug-resistant tuberculosis? That’s what doctors are calling the long-feared and virtually untreatable form of the killer lung disease that’s striking people in India.

It’s not the first time highly resistant cases like this have been seen. Since 2003, patients have been documented in Italy and Iran. It has mostly been limited to impoverished areas, and has not spread widely. But experts believe there could be many undocumented cases.

The airborne disease is mainly transmitted through close personal contact and isn’t nearly as contagious as the flu. Most cases of this “drug-resistant” TB have not been from person-to-person infection but mutations that have occurred in poorly treated patients. No one expects the Indian TB strains to rapidly spread elsewhere.

Is this particular disease actually drug-resistant? There is still debate within the public health community – the World Health Organization hasn’t accepted the term, calling the cases “extensively drug-resistant TB,” or XDR. But Dr. Paul Nunn, a coordinator at the WHO’s Stop TB Department in Geneva, said there is ample proof that these virtually untreatable cases do exist.

“It is concerning,” said Dr. Kenneth Castro, director of the CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. “Anytime we see something like this, we better get on top of it before it becomes a more widespread problem.”

Ordinary TB is cured easily with six to nine months of antibiotics. But if that treatment is interrupted or if the dose is cut down, the stubborn bacteria battle back and mutate into a tougher strain that can no longer be killed by standard drugs, making the disease both more difficult and more expensive to treat.

Doctors in Mumbai have reported a total of 12 patients who failed initial treatment and also didn’t respond to other medication given over an average of two to three years. One doctor, Zarir Udwadia, said in a phone interview that there is little hope for the surviving nine patients, all poor slum dwellers living in the community. He criticized the testing and treatment methods of the Indian government’s TB program, saying, “It was a given that this would happen. They have had no help from the Indian TB system. They are the untouchables, so no one is making a fuss. They don’t have the power to vocalize. There’s going to be more family contacts. It’s going to spread for sure.”

India’s Health Ministry did not respond to phone calls and written requests for comment Monday and last week.

“For there to be another report coming out from India is no surprise at all. Indeed, in a sense, it’s surprising it’s taken so long,” said WHO’s Nunn. This is “yet another alarm call for countries and others engaged in TB control to do their jobs properly.”

In 2003, two Italian women died of  highly resistant tuberculosis and there were 15 cases reported from Iran in 2009. That same year, The Associated Press reported on a case of a Peruvian teenager who was infected at home but diagnosed while visiting Florida. He was successfully treated for a year and a half with experimental high doses of medicines not typically used for TB, costing about $500,000.

Tuberculosis is an age-old scourge that lies dormant in an estimated 1 in 3 people. About 10 percent of those people eventually develop active TB, which kills roughly 2 million a year, according to WHO. Each victim infects an average of 10 to 15 others every year, typically through sneezing or coughing.

At least 20 dolphins found dead in Cape Cod area

By Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley, CNN

January 17, 2012 — Updated 0626 GMT (1426 HKT)

 Between 40 and 50 dolphins have been found stranded close to shore near Cape Cod since Thursday.

 (CNN) — At least 20 dolphins have died after washing up near several Cape Cod towns, an International Fund for Animal Welfare spokeswoman said Monday.

Between 40 and 50 common and Atlantic white-sided dolphins have been found stranded close to the shore since Thursday, and the number will likely rise, said IFAW spokeswoman Kerry Branon. Some animals were released Monday near Provincetown, bringing the total number of animals saved to 19.

“It may not sound like a high success rate, but when you consider that 27 were alive when they washed up, I think we’re doing pretty well.” The remaining eight that were stranded alive died.

Stranded living animals are given full health assessments, including ultrasounds and hearing tests; dead animals are given CT scans and necropsies, Branon said. Five released dolphins have been equipped with satellite tags on their dorsal fins to track their location and to see if they’re surviving.

Despite January-April being “high season” for dolphin stranding near Cape Cod, IFAW experts aren’t exactly sure why so many dolphins are appearing now.

One theory is that the animals get caught in currents when they come close to land to feed. Another theory is that, as social animals, if one dolphin is sick or injured, the whole group will stay with that animal. Finally, the topography of Cape Cod may create areas where the dolphins can get stuck.

Katie Moore, a Cape Cod dolphin rescue veteran of 15 years, says that this is only the second time she has seen this many dolphins washing ashore.

“Sometimes they come up one at a time, other times we see them 10 at a time,” said Moore, manager of IFAW’s rescue team.

The six-member rescue team is on-call 24/7 and will continue searching this week.