Nicaragua is thought to have more geothermal energy potential than any other country in Central America. Two Canadian companies are helping the country increase its geothermal capabilities.
Here is a website where you can download and print an unlimited number of state maps for students. For all fifty US states there are county maps, cities maps and outline maps.
Geologists have discovered some jade deposits in Guatemala that reveal past activity at the Motagua Fault. It appears that the North American and Caribbean plates have collided at least twice.
This article from The New York Times discusses the widening of the Panama Canal. It is a great opportunity for scientists to find fossils and study the unique plate tectonics there.
The fossilized teeth of a three-toed horse, Anchitherium clarencei, have been found in the Panama Canal. Excavations at the canal are providing scientists with the opportunity to examine fresh outcrops and gain new insights about the area.
Earth Observatory has a map that details the plate boundaries and associated faults in the area of this week’s earthquake in the Gulf of Honduras. These features are superimposed on an image that shows the topography and bathymetry of the area.
USGS reports a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in the Gulf of Honduras. It occurred at 3:24 AM local time on Thursday, May 28, 2009 along a transform fault between the Caribbean Plate and the North American Plate. A tsunami is not expected. An early news report of at least one death and building damage can be seen at Yahoo! News.
A 6.2 magnitude earthquake occurred about 40 miles west of Guatemala City, Guatemala on Sunday morning at 11:21 AM local time. There were no news reports of major damage or death.
Jessica Ball has a blog post about volcanoes in Guatemala with lots of photos from her recent trip there. Did you know that Guatemala’s Santa María volcano had a lava dome collapse in 1929 that killed thousands of people? Lava domes are a very dangerous feature of some stratovolcanoes, and are an important focus of volcano hazards studies.
In this article from EARTH Magazine, Nate Burgess writes about a visit to the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica. He made the trip to participate in the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle program, which helps sustain sea turtle populations.
NASA has a new satellite image of the landslide that occurred in northern Guatemala last week. At its source, the landslide is about 1/2 km (1/3 mile) wide.
Here is a YouTube video of a recent landslide in Guatemala. I saw this first at Dave’s Landslide blog, where you can see photos and read some very interesting commentary on this and many other slides.
A 6.1 Magnitude earthquake occurred about 20 miles northwest of San Jose, Costa Rica at 1:29 PM local time. USGS intensity estimates and citizen reports to USGS “Did you feel it?” are up to VII intensity.
A landslide occurred in the Polochic fault zone in northern Guatemala, killing 33 people and leaving up to 60 others missing. The area is prone to earthquakes and landslides.
A 5.9 magnitude earthquake occurred off of the Pacific coast of El Salvador at a depth of about 64 miles. The USGS population exposure maps shows that about a million people felt MMI V shaking. News reports from Reuters and the Associated Press say that no injuries or major damage have yet been reported.
Hundreds of animal fossils have been unearthed by people working to widen the Panama Canal. The fossils may provide clues as to how and when North and South America were joined.
In San Salvador, eruptions of Ilamatepec volcano have wiped out coffee crops and at the same time produced exceptionally fertile soil. This might be a great year for coffee if the volcano cooperates.
The first two named tropical storms of the 2008 season have caused damage in Central America. Tropical Storm Alma was followed hours later by Tropical Storm Arthur on Monday, causing several casualties and flooding.
USGS reports a magnitude 5.9 earthquake off of the southwest coast of Guatemala. It occurred at 6:28 AM local time about 65 miles SSW of Guatemala City and 85 miles SSE of Quezaltenango. Near the epicenter USGS reports estimated intensities of VI in Puerto San Jose and Iztapa.
View a photo slideshow of some of the world’s most destructive storms since 1970. Included are: Cyclone Nargis, Cyclone Sidr, Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Mitch, Tropical Storm Thelma, Super Typhoon Nina, and the Bhola Cyclone, among others.
Philip Klotzbach and William Gray of Colorado State University: “We foresee a well above-average Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2008….. We anticipate an above-average probability of United States major hurricane landfall.”
NASA satellites collect images and data to monitor worldwide volcanoes. In addition to satellite images, they have sensors to detect heat, sulfur dioxide and small changes in the shape of earth’s surface. Here’s a collection of images that show different types of volcano monitoring.
Turrialba Volcano, a stratovolcano in central Costa Rica erupted gas and a thick column of vapor last week. This was its first eruption since 1866. This follows a summer of dying vegetation on the slopes of the mountain.
Concepcion Volcano erupted on Saturday sending columns of ash into the sky. The ash was blown to the northwest, towards the capital city of Managua. Concepcion and another stratovolcano, Maderas, form the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua.
MSN Travel has a photo gallery of thirteen spectacular bridges from around the world. These include: Millau Viaduct, France; Puente de Alamillo, Spain; Kintai-kyo, Japan; Sydney Harbor Bridge, Australia; Golden Gate Bridge, California; Pont Neuf, France; San Diego-Coronado Bridge, California; Vasco da Gama Bridge, Portugal; Tower Bridge, England; Bridge of the Americas, Panama; Oberbaumbr
When Hurricane Felix hit the coast of Central America many of the people there had no idea that a powerful hurricane was coming. They were out in the sea fishing, at work in coastline areas, or taking shelter in stilt homes a few feet above high tide. Many of these people were killed because they took no precautionary actions, but some are now telling their survival stories.
Hurricane Felix has upgraded in strength to a Category 5 storm with windspeeds approaching 165 MPS. It is currently moving west through the Caribbean Sea and heading towards Honduras and Belize where it could arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, as a Category 5 Storm.
Hurricane Felix is just north of South America and is headed towards Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. According to the current predicted path it will pass by the northern coast of Honduras on Tuesday, hit Yucatan on Wednesday morning and back over the warm waters of the Gulf on Thursday.
Heavy rain in Guatemala triggered a landslide on Thursday that slid into a concrete block house. A wall of the house fell inwards killing five children.
Welcome! Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here.
Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive them for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.
Hobart King
Advertising
Popular From Geology.com
The East Africa Rift System: Learn some basics about the East Africa Rift System from this article by James Wood and Alex Guth of Michigan Technological University.
What are Meteorites? Join meteorite hunter, Geoffrey Notkin, as he begins a series of monthly articles on the topic of meteorites.
Marcellus Shale: The most overlooked resource in the eastern United States!
Mineral Rights / Oil & Gas: Who owns the minerals under your land? Have they been sold? Can someone mine without your permission?
