Asteroid 2002 AU4 Could Cause Earthquake On December 21, 2012

Home » Earthquake » Asteroid 2002 AU4 Could Cause Earthquake On December 21, 2012 NASA’s NEO Earth Close Approach tables include Near Earth Objects making approaches within 0.5 AU of our planet.

Each day there are usually two or three NEOs that make the cut and are included in the database.On December 21, 2012 there is just one.

It is a good sized asteroid called 2002 AU4. It’s size is estimated at 750 meters and it has a long history of making close approaches.

On December 21, 2012 Asteroid 2002 AU will be only 0.102 AU from earth, which could cause a major earthquake.

What is interesting is it’s, most recent close approach history:

Date                    Distance

Feb 27, 2010 -  0.4446 AU
Jul 15, 2009   -  0.48 AU
Dec 17, 2008 -  0.197 AU
Mar 05, 2006 -  0.296 AU
Aug 09, 2005 -  0.493 AU
Dec 24, 2004 -  0.432 AU

Source : http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2002%20AU4;orb=1;cov=0;log=0;cad=0#orb

Anything happen when 2002 AU4 came close on these past dates?

Feb 27, 2010

The 2010 Chile magnitude 8.8 earthquake occurred off the coast of central Chile, the sixth largest earthquake ever to be recorded by a seismograph. It triggered a tsunami which devastated several coastal towns in south-central Chile and damaged the port at Talcahuano. Tsunami warnings were issued in 53 countries, and the wave caused minor damage in the San Diego area of California and in the Thoku region of Japan, where damage to the fisheries business was estimated at $66.7 million. The earthquake also generated a blackout that affected 93 percent of the country's population. 525 people lost their lives, 25 people went missing, and about 9% of the population in the affected regions lost their homes. (There was also a 7.0 quake in Japan)
The 2009 Fiordland earthquake was a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck the South Island of New Zealand on 15 July 2009. The earthquake was centered in the remote region of Fiordland. It is the largest New Zealand earthquake since the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, which also had a magnitude of 7.8. 
The 2008 Papudo earthquake hit affecting all of Chile between Illapel and Rancagua. The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.8 and lasted about 1 minute. 
USGS global database shows one quake hit each day over these 3 days including magnitudes 6.1, 6.2 and 6.2

Aug 09, 2005

USGS global database shows two  6.1 magnitude quakes on August 9 plus a magnitude 5.0 in New Mexico was in the news August 10.

Dec 23, 2004

A massive magnitude 8.1 earthquake (one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded) hit north of Macquarie Island yet is largely unknown as it fortunately occurred near a remote subantarctic island half way between Australia and Antarctica. It was followed 3 days later by the tragic Sumatra magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami. 
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake was an undersea megathrust earthquake that occurred at 00:58 UTC on 26 December 2004 off the west coast of Sumatra. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake. The resulting tsunami is given various names, including the Boxing Day tsunami. The quake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis along the coasts bordering the Indian Ocean, killing over 230,000 people in 14 countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters high. It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. With a magnitude of 9.1–9.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.

Update:

 Magnitude 5.0 Earthquake Hit Honshu, Japan On December 21, 2012

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UFO Sighting in Salem, Oregon on May 15th 2012 - Rotating black ovoid cylinder seen, then disappeared behind tree and could not be found again

I work in disability services and at the time I was walking with a client to play basketball at a nearby middle school. The sky was overcast and the temperature was neither overly warm or cool. As we were walking, we came to an intersection and I was looking to make sure it was safe to cross the street. As my gaze returned to what was in front of me, I saw on object hovering in the air. I was immediately curious as to what it was, as it wasn't making any sounds that I could determine, or if it was, it was either too far away for me to hear, or was drowned out by other sounds. I looked at it for a moment, while the realization dawned on me that I had no idea what I was looking at. It appeared to be a dark grey or black cylindrical oval. At first the points of the oval were pointing vertically, but the object was rotating counter clockwise along the more narrow axis, and the points of the oval moved from vertical to horizontal to vertical multiple times. The object was slowly moving to the East (left from my perspective) and eventually disappeared behind a large fir tree. I walked around the tree in an attempt to continue watching the object, but I was unable to find it in the sky a second time. As I was watching it, I felt very calm, but also energetic (yet not in a restless way). Once I had lost track of it, for the rest of the day I could not stop thinking about it and trying to analyze what I had seen. The client I was with saw it as well, but did not seem interested by the object.

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Solar Storm Could Cause Spacequake, Which Could Trigger 6+ Magnitude Earthquake In Next 72 Hours

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Recently we had reported "USGS is preparing citizens for coming solar Storms"
In latest development, a giant blast of plasma spat from the sun at as much as 4 million miles per hour Tuesday -- by some measures the largest solar event since late 2006 -- and it could lead to serious issues on Earth - Cause Spacequake, which could trigger 6+ magnitude earthquake, forcing some planes to reroute, knocking out power grids, and blacking out radios.The sun unleashed the cosmic double whammy late March 6, erupting with two major flares to cap a busy day of powerful solar storms, Space.com reported. One of the flares is the most powerful solar eruption so far this year.
Both of the huge flares ranked as X-class storms, the strongest type of solar flares the sun can have. They followed several weaker, but still powerful, sun storms on Tuesday and came just days after another major solar flare on Sunday night.

“By some measures this is the strongest one since December of 2006,” Kunches explained. Solar activity has already led to an R3 level radio blackout on NOAA’s space weather scale, he explained, a midstrength event on a scale that reaches to R5. Such effects are caused by X-ray emissions from the sun.

The bigger effects will hit the planet over the next 24 hours.

For one thing, geomagnetic storms -- disturbances in the geomagnetic field that surrounds the planet -- should hit the G3 level, midway up the scale. That could lead to surges in power lines (a major problem for power companies) and issues with satellites.

“Power grid operators have all been alerted, as well as the regulatory agencies that all pay attention to this,” Kunches said.

GPS users will also be affected because of the highly charged atmosphere; it’s very possible that certain types of applications will be interrupted, specifically highly precise calculations and the high-frequency communications that airplanes rely upon.

Indeed, some polar flights have already been affected, he said.

“Some have already taken action to reroute to ensure their [high-frequency communication],” Kunches said.

Solar radiation storms could reach as high as S4, he noted, which could cause astronauts on the International Space Station to seek shelter from the heightened radiation levels associated with such a storm.

These effects should last about 24 hours, probably lingering overnight into the early morning hours on Friday, pending another eruption -- “and we think there will be more coming,” Kunches said.

Update 1:

Vanuatu
Magnitude: 6.7
Depth: 31.70 km
Time: Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:09:53 GMT
Source: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usb0008e4z.php

Update 2:

Alaska Peninsula
Magnitude: 5.6
Depth: 9.90 km
Time: Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:10:39 GMT

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