Major mag. 7.6 earthquake - New Britain Region, P.N.G. (Papua New Guinea) on Tuesday, 14 May 2019 - information
May 14 13:07: Magnitude recalculated from 7.3 to 7.4. May 14 13:11: Magnitude recalculated from 7.4 to 7.3. May 14 13:17: Magnitude recalculated from 7.3 to 7.6.
Date & time: Tue, 14 May 12:58:26 UTC Magnitude: 7.6 Depth: 10.0 km Epicenter latitude / longitude: 4.14°S / 152.54°E (Papua New Guinea) Nearest volcano: Tavui (38 km) Primary data source: GFZ Estimated released energy: 1.6*10^16 J (4402 GWh / 3.8*10^6 tons of TNT / 236.7 atomic bombs equivalent) [learn more]
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Data for same earthquake as reported from other agencies
Kokopo, ENB, PNG / MMI IX (Violent shaking): Violent shaking the house almost to fall. Kokopo, Kenabot.
Madang / not felt
Gelegele / MMI VI (Strong shaking): Violent shaking and uplift force towards the end. No structural damage to permanent house and have not felt one like this for a long time.Kokopo
Rabaul / MMI VII (Very strong shaking): Was in the house with my family. My wife and two daughters. My daughters 4 and 2 years were fast asleep. My wife was playing game in her phone and I was watching movies. Suddenly the House was shaken and really frightening. I got hold of my big girl and my wife held another, we got out of the house cos we felt the house could be down in any moment.
(13923.3 km NE from epicenter) [Map] / MMI II (Very weak shaking)
(51.3 km WSW from epicenter) [Map] / MMI VI (Strong shaking): I was walking under my house when the earthquake started. At first it was small but it turned quickly into a rather rough earthquake. I literally saw the posts of my house sway. I ran out from under the house ASAP cause it seemed pretty frightening. Dogs and people were awaken and shouting. Small tremors are coming and going at the moment. Report all the way from Rabaul town.
Sydney / not felt
Neumünster / not felt
NONGA HOSPITAL, ENBP / MMI VI (Strong shaking): The whole house shook and things on the shelf and fridge all fell to the floor.
Lihir island / MMI V (Moderate shaking): Started at 22.51 and second trembling 22.59 third at 23.03 all make the house move at Lihir island png
Kavieng, New Ireland (98.4 km WNW from epicenter) [Map] / MMI II (Very weak shaking): slow, swaying shake...like your on a boat . felt rather dizzy, realized it was an earthquake.
Kokopo / MMI IX (Violent shaking)
(118.5 km N from epicenter) [Map] / MMI VI (Strong shaking)
Lihir Island, New Ireland Province / MMI V (Moderate shaking)
St Mary's Hospital Vunapope (36.7 km SW from epicenter) [Map] / MMI VIII (Severe shaking) (via app)
Kabakada Rabaul (44 km W from epicenter) [Map] / MMI VI (Strong shaking): It felt very strong, shallow and moderately violent. (via app)
(3312.2 km S from epicenter) [Map] / MMI II (Very weak shaking): On fifth floor of old concrete Tower.. felt slight movement and heard creaking. (via app)
President Trump on Tuesday said that a deal with China will happen “when the time is right,” and only after the U.S. is allowed to “make up” ground he says was lost after the formation of the World Trade Organization.
“When the time is right we will make a deal with China. My respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited but, as I have told him many times before, this must be a great deal for the United States or it just doesn’t make any sense,” Trump said as part of a lengthy tweetstorm.
The tweets come after the U.S. last week began increasing tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods. China responded by upping tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.
But both sides have expressed willingness to come together and make a trade deal to cool the escalating trade war between the two superpowers. A Chinese delegation was in Washington last week, and while talks broke off Friday, both sides have indicated that further talks will happen.
However, the Trade Representative's Office listed a further $300 billion of Chinese goods for possible tariffs on Monday, while the Chinese government warned it was prepared to “fight to the finish” in response to U.S. action.
Trump has repeatedly said that the trade structure between the two countries is imbalanced, and has sought to rectify that. The Trump administration started placing tariffs on Chinese goods last year. He pointed his finger on Tuesday at the WTO, whose formation he said is at least partly responsible for U.S. losses on trade.
“We have to be allowed to make up some of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on Trade since the ridiculous one sided formation of the WTO,” he said. “It will all happen, and much faster than people think!”
Responding to fears that a trade war with China could hurt American farmers, Trump said that they would in fact be “the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now.”
“Hopefully China will do us the honor of continuing to buy our great farm product, the best, but if not your Country will be making up the difference based on a very high China buy,” he said. “This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us.”
Trump has touted his relationship with Xi, and said Monday he will meet with the Chinese premier during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan at the end of June.
President Trump on Tuesday said that a deal with China will happen “when the time is right,” and only after the U.S. is allowed to “make up” ground he says was lost after the formation of the World Trade Organization.
“When the time is right we will make a deal with China. My respect and friendship with President Xi is unlimited but, as I have told him many times before, this must be a great deal for the United States or it just doesn’t make any sense,” Trump said as part of a lengthy tweetstorm.
The tweets come after the U.S. last week began increasing tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion of Chinese goods. China responded by upping tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods.
But both sides have expressed willingness to come together and make a trade deal to cool the escalating trade war between the two superpowers. A Chinese delegation was in Washington last week, and while talks broke off Friday, both sides have indicated that further talks will happen.
However, the Trade Representative's Office listed a further $300 billion of Chinese goods for possible tariffs on Monday, while the Chinese government warned it was prepared to “fight to the finish” in response to U.S. action.
Trump has repeatedly said that the trade structure between the two countries is imbalanced, and has sought to rectify that. The Trump administration started placing tariffs on Chinese goods last year. He pointed his finger on Tuesday at the WTO, whose formation he said is at least partly responsible for U.S. losses on trade.
“We have to be allowed to make up some of the tremendous ground we have lost to China on Trade since the ridiculous one sided formation of the WTO,” he said. “It will all happen, and much faster than people think!”
Responding to fears that a trade war with China could hurt American farmers, Trump said that they would in fact be “the biggest beneficiaries of what is happening now.”
“Hopefully China will do us the honor of continuing to buy our great farm product, the best, but if not your Country will be making up the difference based on a very high China buy,” he said. “This money will come from the massive Tariffs being paid to the United States for allowing China, and others, to do business with us.”
Trump has touted his relationship with Xi, and said Monday he will meet with the Chinese premier during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan at the end of June.
Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih attends a press conference at the end of the 13th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of OPEC and non- OPEC countries in Baku on March 18, 2019.
Mladen ANTONOV | AFP
DUBAI — Oil prices rose sharply Tuesday morning on reports of a drone attack at oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia.
The incident is an "act of terrorism," Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said according to the state new agency SPA, describing attacks on two oil pumping stations near Riyadh for the country's East-West pipeline carried out with bomb-laden drones.
The fire has since been contained, according to the SPA. Al-Falih asserted that oil production was not interrupted. State oil company Saudi Aramco said that its oil and gas supplies to Europe have not been affected.
"This act of terrorism and sabotage in addition to recent acts in the Arabian Gulf do not only target the Kingdom but also the security of world oil supplies and the global economy," the SPA described al-Falih as saying.
No one has yet been directly accused of carrying out the attack, but a Houthi-run TV channel announced on Tuesday morning it had launched drone attacks on several Saudi installations.
The channel Masirah TV, citing a Houthi military official, reported that "seven drones carried out attacks on vital Saudi installations."
Al-Falih, according to the SPA statement, said: "These attacks prove again that it is important for us to face terrorist entities, including the Houthi militias in Yemen that are backed by Iran."
Saudi Arabia's main stock index, the Tadawul, was down 1.5% at midday London time.
The exchange, which joined the MSCI emerging markets index this year as part of the country's economic diversification agenda, dropped 2.7% on Monday on government reports that two Saudi oil tankers were among four vessels targeted in an unspecified "sabotage attack" off the United Arab Emirates coast of Fujeirah.
The series of incidents have ramped up tensions in the oil-rich region, where the reported sabotage attack on the commercial vessels that took place Sunday has spiked fears of possible conflict with regional rival Iran.
While no one has been accused of the vessel attack, unnamed U.S. officials have suggested it could be Iran or one of its proxies, the Houthi rebels battling the Saudis in nearby Yemen. The Houthis have launched numerous drone and missile attacks against Saudi Arabia and claim to have carried out drone attacks against the UAE.
Iran has denied any involvement or knowledge of the attacks, and called for an independent investigation. Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Tuesday criticized "suspicious developments" in the region he said were aimed at creating tension.
This is a breaking news story, please check back later for more.
The US military is investigating the alleged sabotage attacks on four oil tankers off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a US official has confirmed to Al Jazeera.
The move comes as Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said his country had anticipated an event that would escalate tension in the region.
The four ships - two Saudi, one Norwegian and one Emirati - were allegedly damaged on Sunday in what Emirati officials described as acts of sabotage near the port of Fujairah.
The incident happened 140 kilometres south of the Strait of Hormuz, where about a third of all oil traded by sea passes through.
Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington, said the US military was asked to get involved in the probe.
"A CENTCOM official is confirming to Al Jazeera that, at the request of the United Arab Emirates, the US military is helping with their investigation."
Norwegian-flagged oil tanker MT Andrea Victory off the coast of Fujairah [UAE National Media Council via AP]
The incident comes amid fears in the Middle East that hawks in Washington are trying to provoke a military confrontation between the US and Iran.
Speaking during a visit to India, Zarif said he discussed the oil tanker incident with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, adding that Iran had anticipated "activities to escalate tension" by hardliners in the US and the Middle East.
"We ... talked about the policies that hardliners in the US administration as well as in the region are attempting to impose," Zarif told Iranian state TV in India after a bilateral meeting with Swaraj.
"We raised concerns over the suspicious activities and sabotage that are happening in our region," Zarif added.
"We had formerly anticipated that they would carry out these sorts of activities to escalate tension," the foreign minister said.
Details of the alleged sabotage remained unclear, and UAE officials have declined to say who they suspected was responsible.
But it demonstrated the raised risks for shippers in a region vital to global energy supplies as tensions are increasing between the US and Iran over its unravelling nuclear deal with world powers.
US President Donald Trump has warned Iran that if it does "anything" in the form of an attack it will "suffer greatly".
US military plan
On Monday, the New York Times reported the top US defence official has presented an updated military plan to Trump's administration that envisions sending up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack US forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons.
Citing unnamed administration officials, the Times said Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan presented the plan at a meeting of Trump's top security aides on Thursday.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon declined to comment.
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Tensions between Iran and the US have intensified since Trump pulled out of a 2015 international deal to curb Iran's nuclear activities and imposed increasingly strict sanctions on Tehran.
Trump wants to force Tehran to agree to a broader arms control accord and has sent an aircraft carrier and B-52 bombers to the Gulf in a show of force against what US officials have said are threats to US troops in the region.
Iran has said the US is engaging in "psychological warfare", called the US military presence "a target" rather than a threat and said it will not allow its oil exports to be halted.
The Times said among those attending the Thursday meeting were Trump's NSA John Bolton, CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford.
A team of U.S. military investigators has made an initial assessment that Iran or groups it supports was behind an alleged sabotage attack on 4 tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
President Trump, asked about the incident on Monday, said "it's going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens."
The White House has ordered a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group and 4 B-52 bombers to the region as tensions with Iran soar.
Images of the ships show little apparent damage, apart from a large hole in one of the tankers, but U.S. officials say each vessel sustained similar damage.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Four oil tankers anchored in the Mideast were damaged by what Saudi and U.S. officials say were "sabotage" attacks, though images of the ships have shown clear visible damage to only one of the vessels. Details of the alleged sabotage to two Saudi, one Norwegian and one Emirati oil tanker on Sunday remained unclear, and none of the nations to which the vessels belong had assigned any blame.
However, on Monday American officials told CBS News senior national security correspondent David Martin that the initial assessment of a U.S. team sent to investigate the incidents was that Iran or Iranian-backed proxies had used explosives to blow holes in the four ships.
The incidents demonstrated the raised risks for shippers in a region vital to global energy supplies as tensions soar between the U.S. and Iran in the wake of President Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the nuclear deal agreed by world powers and to impose harsh new sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Asked at the White House about the incident on Monday, President Trump responded: "It's going to be a bad problem for Iran if something happens."
Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, who is currently holding talks with his counterpart in India, said that the U.S. "has been escalating the situation unnecessarily."
"We do not seek escalation but we have always defended ourselves," he said.
The U.S. had warned sailors of the potential for attacks by Iran or groups it backs on commercial sea traffic just days before the alleged sabotage, and regional allies of the United Arab Emirates condemned the incidents as the tankers were off the coast of the UAE port city of Fujairah.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the Mideast and operates from a base in Fujairah, has repeatedly declined to comment.
Saudi Arabia claims "sabotage attacks" on oil tankers
The Trump administration has already sent four B-52 bombers to the Persian Gulf to counter alleged, still-unspecified threats from Tehran, and the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group is also headed for the Gulf.
Spanish ship backs out
On Tuesday, Spain temporarily pulled one of its frigates that's part of a U.S.-led combat fleet from near the Persian Gulf because of mounting U.S.-Iran tensions. The Ministry of Defense said the Méndez Núñez, with 215 sailors on board, would not cross the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf together with the USS Abraham Lincoln.
The Ministry declined to elaborate on the reasons for the sudden change.
Spanish media, citing government sources, said Spain was concerned that it could be dragged to an unwanted conflict as a result of the crisis between Washington and Teheran surrounding the unraveling nuclear deal.
The Spanish frigate was the only non-U.S. vessel in the fleet.
Damage to ships unclear
The scale of the alleged sabotage remained unclear. A statement from Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said two of the kingdom's oil tankers, including one due to later carry crude to the U.S., sustained "significant damage." However, a report from Sky News Arabia, a satellite channel owned by an Abu Dhabi ruling family member, showed the allegedly targeted Saudi tanker Al Marzoqah afloat without any apparent damage.
The oil tankers were visible in satellite images provided Tuesday to the AP by Colorado-based Maxar Technologies. A boom surrounded the Emirati oil tanker A. Michel, indicating the possibility of an oil leak. The other three showed no visible major damage from above.
The MT Andrea Victory, the fourth allegedly targeted ship, sustained a hole in its hull just above its waterline from "an unknown object," its owner Thome Ship Management said in a statement. Images on Monday of the Norwegian-flagged Andrea Victory, which the company said was "not in any danger of sinking," showed damage similar to what the firm described.
Port officials take a photo of the damaged Andrea Victory tanker at the Port of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, May 13, 2019.
REUTERS
A U.S. official told the Associated Press that each ship sustained a 5- to 10-foot hole, near or just below the water line, suspected to have been caused by explosive charges. Emirati officials had requested the team of U.S. military investigators aid them in their probe.
Splash247.com, a shipping and maritime news website, quoted officials at the port in Fujairah as saying "limpet mines" were the suspected weapons used to cause the damage. They are magnetic bombs that can be stuck onto steel-hulled vessels by anyone who can get close enough on a small boat, or by divers in the water.
"Our aim is not war"
Citing heightened tensions in the region, the United Nations called on "all concerned parties to exercise restraint for the sake of regional peace, including by ensuring maritime security" and freedom of navigation, U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Shortly after the Saudi announcement that two of the country's tankers had been attacked, Iran's Foreign Ministry called for further clarification about what exactly happened with the vessels. The ministry's spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as warning against any "conspiracy orchestrated by ill-wishers" and "adventurism by foreigners" to undermine the maritime region's stability and security. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are staunch opponents of Iran's government.
Tensions have risen since Mr. Trump withdrew America from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Last week, Iran warned it would begin enriching uranium at higher levels in 60 days if world powers failed to negotiate new terms for the deal.
Mulvaney says U.S. "not going to war in Iran" amid rising tensions
European Union officials met Monday in Brussels to thrash out ways to keep the Iran nuclear deal afloat. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had traveled there for talks.
"We're not going to miscalculate. Our aim is not war," Pompeo told CNBC in an interview. "Our aim is a change in the behavior of the Iranian leadership."
Speaking before the Brussels meeting on Monday, Britain's Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt warned of the risks of an "accident" sparking a conflict between the United States and Iran.
"We are very worried about the risk of a conflict happening by accident with an escalation that is unintended," Hunt said.
Underlying the regional risk, the general-secretary of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council described the alleged sabotage as a "serious escalation," and said "such irresponsible acts will increase tension and conflicts in the region and expose its peoples to great danger."
Two crashes of Boeing 737 Max airliners within five months claimed 346 lives, people who were unlucky enough to fly in jets cursed with a combination of faulty sensors, flawed automatic anti-stall software, and dysfunctional warning systems.
The unsafe aircraft dealt a devastating blow to the reputation of Boeing, revealing the once-iconic American corporation as callous, careless, secretive, ill-governed, arrogant, and averse to accountability. And it shook public confidence in the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency that’s supposed to watchdog air travel but allowed the 737 Max into the skies and then was slow to ground them after the crashes.
Boeing’s lapses leading up to crashes may result in criminal charges — the Justice Department is investigating. But even if the company escapes punishment, Boeing and its regulator need to recognize that rebuilding public confidence will take decisive action.
For starters, the bungles leading up to the two crashes should cost Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s all-too-powerful president, CEO, and board chairman, his job. Boeing is no ordinary private company; it has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the flying public. But asked recently if he had considered resigning over the company’s missteps, Muilenberg dodged the question with this comment: “I am very focused on safety going forward. It is important that as a company we have those clear priorities, that we are taking the right actions, that we have the right culture.”
Even though the planes’ anti-stall systems apparently caused the fatal dives, Muilenburg has tried to deflect blame, saying that safety “procedures were not completely followed” and problems with that system were part of a larger “chain of events.” There, he again seemed to be suggesting that the pilots were at least partially at fault. Speaking about the software fix Boeing is preparing, Muilenburg added: “This will make the airplane even safer.” Even safer? That will surely come as great comfort to families who lost loved ones in these two crashes.
Despite Muilenburg’s spin, the list of Boeing’s malfeasance, miscues, and mistakes is long, and they occurred on his watch. The company knew back in 2017 that an alert to warn pilots that the plane’s angle-of-attack sensors were transmitting conflicting information — the situation that apparently prompted the anti-stall system to push the airliners’ noses down — did not work without an optional indicator, which many customers hadn’t purchased. Without that warning, pilots wouldn’t quickly be alerted to the likely cause of the dive. Still, Boeing didn’t tell its customers in a timely way of that problem, nor was there a sense of urgency it needed to be fixed.
Only after the October 2018 Lion Air crash, which cost 189 lives, did Boeing inform its customers of that glitch. Yet even after that first crash, Boeing insisted an inoperative warning system wasn’t a safety problem. No one on the company’s board of directors raised concerns, according to the Washington Post. Indeed, Boeing doesn’t count any safety experts among its members.
After that initial crash, Boeing could have saved lives if it had voluntarily grounded the 737 Max. It didn’t. Amazingly, Boeing was reportedly reluctant to accede to grounding the plane even after the second crash, this one of an Ethiopian Airlines jet in March, which cost 157 lives. Only after a Canadian source revealed that anti-stall system had been activated before that crash as well, did Boeing call the White House to recommend that the plane be grounded. Shortly thereafter, President Trump announced that he was ordering the airplane grounded.
It’s also disturbing that the administration and the FAA only came to that decision after Boeing’s call. That suggests the regulatory agency, which has been inadequately funded over time, and has had an acting administrator for 16 months under Trump, is subservient to the corporate behemoth. Congress should better fund the FAA and put a premium on strengthening the agency’s independent expertise.
In addition to the federal criminal probe, the FAA’s inspector general is reviewing the process by which the agency certified the 737 MAX as safe, and congressional committees are investigating. It’s hard to know where the criminal inquiry will go, but both DOJ and Congress should demand that Boeing’s governance be restructured so that the president and CEO doesn’t also chair the board of directors. That board also needs an airplane-safety committee with the expertise and authority to ask tough questions. The FAA should resist pressure to certify the 737 Max safe until Canada and the European Union also agree.
Once the 737 Max is recertified to fly, Boeing reportedly plans a public-relations campaign to reassure customers that it’s safe. But accountability and action will speak far more persuasively than words when it comes to blundering Boeing and its star-crossed airliner.
(Papua New Guinea)
