Your daily Pacific Rim earthquake is in ...

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Matt Tuiasosopo of the Mariners finally located his grandpa, who is safe. A couple of homes damaged in his village, but no serious injuries.

Lots of athletes must be in the same boat--direct concerns.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

That's great news for him. Hopefully there will be plenty more good news for the other athletes.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Ummm. I'm already quite concerned. I don't think it's an end-of-the-world type thing, but it is not normal either.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

And I just heard there's another in the 5.9 range? Damn.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

5.5 hit Samoa an hour ago. Jesus. Hope that didn't knock over any buildings that were weakened by the first temblor.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

I'm sure we were. I, on the other hand, am on vacation in Japan, hoping like hell this dies down right quick.

Haven't heard anything from my folks in Jakarta, which I only assume is good. Hopefully all I'll have to deal with when I get back is sweeping up paint chips.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Sounds like aftershocks, which can be bad in themselves. The tsunami in the Samoas sounded bad, but I'm afraid the Indonesian quake will be much worse.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Death toll from the Sumatra quake so far: 531.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091001/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_earthquake

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Nice to hear from you, Trooper. Hope all is well when you get back.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Just the gods letting us know every now and then who's in charge, and just how insignificant we are.

Scary stuff in any event. Death toll's over 1,100 in Indonesia now. Good to hear from you, Troop.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Apparently there has been a swarm of smaller quakes around Lone Pine, California. USGS says don't worry - but I lived in the state in 1989.

 

Re: 7.9 earthquake off American Samoa (UPDATE: again, 6.9 at Sumatra Island)

Still firing out there ... this dropped five minutes ago.<blockquote>@BreakingNews A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake has hit near Tonga and Samoa in the South Pacific. No tsunami warning issued.</blockquote>Can we start acting concerned yet?