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Monday, May 13, 2002
Earthquake Rocks San Francisco Area [Source: Associated Press] By MATTHEW FORDAHL, Associated Press Writer GILROY, Calif. (AP) - A substantial earthquake (news - web sites) shook the San Francisco Bay area on Monday, violently rattling the stands at hockey and baseball games, sending frightened customers running from area businesses and knocking out phone service in parts of San Jose. No injuries or significant damage were initially reported from the quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.2. But the quake caused a low rumbling in San Francisco, where it seemed to last for several seconds and get stronger as it went along, and buildings could be heard rumbling in Watsonville, about 100 miles to the south. The U.S. Geological Service reported that the quake struck at 10 p.m. and was centered 3 miles southwest of Gilroy, outside San Jose. Danny Sharma, a manager at Rodeway Inn in Gilroy, said the motel shook violently. Coffee pots and glasses were knocked from counters. "It was the worst one I've ever felt," Sharma said. "The whole building was shaking and there was just this rumbling sound. It was a bad quake." The temblor was immediately followed by four earthquakes (news - web sites) centered in the same area with magnitudes ranging from 1.4 to 2.5. Police in Gilroy said the quake didn't appear to cause any fires and they had no preliminary word of damage. Customers in nearby businesses ran outside for protection, but no one appeared to be injured, Sharma said. Brent Seidel, a firefighter and paramedic with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said fire engines at the Santa Clara Fire District station in Gilroy rocked back and forth and a firefighter's car alarm sounded, but there was no damage. As a precaution, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system was slowing trains and checking the tracks for damage. "It was a pretty good swing," said a phone operator at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco who was flooded with calls from guests worried about the shaking. "One guy on the 15th floor said his room just started swaying." The quake jolted the Compaq (news - web sites) Center in San Jose, where thousands were watching the San Jose Sharks play the Colorado Avalanche in a National Hockey League playoff game. The arena's upper stands shook strongly for about 10 seconds, and light fixtures continued to sway for several seconds afterward. The game continued uninterrupted, however. "Everything was shaking," said Michel Goulet, vice president of player personnel for the Avalanche, who was sitting in the stadium's upper level. "You start thinking, `Should I run or what?' I wasn't sure what to do." The quake also jolted Pacific Bell Park during a game between the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants. Glass panes in the front of the press box rattled in the ninth inning, but there was no noticeable reaction from the players or the crowd of 36,331 and play was not interrupted. After the bottom of the ninth ended with the score tied, the stadium sound system played Jerry Lee Lewis' song "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On." "I was sitting upstairs and it was a good jolt," fan Jenny Hsin said. "At first I thought it was the guy behind me kicking my chair, then I looked and saw the whole row shaking with me. At one point I was going to turn around and tell him to stop. That's when I saw the whole row." Pacific Bell Park's predecessor, Candlestick Park, was rocked by an earthquake on Oct. 17, 1989, about a half-hour before the scheduled start of the Game 3 of the World Series between the Giants and Oakland Athletics. The quake left cracks in the concrete. The stadium was evacuated and the World Series did not resume until Oct. 27. The 1989 earthquake had a magnitude of 7.0, killed 63 people and caused an estimated $6 billion in damage.
Simi Valley Emergency Prepardeness Expo photos now online [Source: Tracy Justus]  Click here for more photos
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IMPLEMENTS ADVANCED FLIGHT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON ITS WEBSITE [Source: PASSUR]  (Greenwich, CT, April 29, 2002) - Megadata Corporation (OTC: MDTA) announced the launch of its Internet flight- tracking system, AirportMonitor™, on the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) website today. AirportMonitor provides residents of neighboring communities concerned about aircraft noise with information on planes landing and taking off at LAX. Designed specifically for LAX, the new AirportMonitor program can be found at www.lawa.org (then click on "Noise management"). The program is designed to be used by the public through widely distributed web browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Netscape) and a basic home computer. The program is convenient and easy to use, with all the tools needed immediately available on the computer monitor. AirportMonitor is based on Megadata's web-based PASSUR™ (passive surveillance) flight-tracking and flight information system, which is used by more than 20 airports including LAX and seven major airlines in the United States. The PASSUR system provides an independent source of live and historical flight graphics and data. Unique to LAX's program is an Internet tracking system that provides an instant and comprehensive replay capability, allowing residents to view flight traffic and flight events at their convenience. The AirportMonitor program allows users to: - See detailed traffic patterns and flight paths (flight tracks are delayed approximately 10 minutes for security) - Learn about the way aircraft typically flow around Southern California - Identify specific flights of interest - View all LAX arrivals and departures, and all in-transit traffic in the region including general aviation (private and charter) traffic - Replay flight events immediately, as well as review up to three months of past flight activity - Identify airline and flight number, altitude, aircraft type, and airport of origin and destination (some information is available in replay only for security purposes) - View aircraft activity at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 96 miles around LAX. "Airlines and airports benefit from the high degree of accuracy and reliability we provide with our information services," said G.S. Beckwith Gilbert, chairman and chief executive officer of Megadata Corporation. "Now the citizens of one of our nation's most important cities can benefit from a version of those services created specifically for them and designed to meet their needs. We are proud to be providing LAX and its communities the benefits of our system." Community residents can use flight-tracking information from the AirportMonitor system in conjunction with LAX's on-line Noise Complaint Form also found in the "Noise management" page of the airport's website. Or residents can call the long-established LAX Noise Complaint Hotline at (310) 64-NOISE (646-6473). Los Angeles World Airports is a department of Los Angeles City that owns and operates LAX and three other Southern California Airports -- Ontario International, Van Nuys and Palmdale Regional. LAWA expects to install the AirportMonitor system covering flight activity at Ontario and Van Nuys in the future for use by residents of those communities. Sunday, May 12, 2002
IN MEMORIAM: NEW YORK CITY, 9/11/01 [Source: HBO] This HBO Documentary features audio recorded by Robert Sanford of Bay Area Scanner Recordings on September 11th, 2001. It began as an ordinary late-summer day and ended as a day that changed the world forever. This powerful documentary provides a historical record of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 through a uniquely personal collection of video and still photographs shot by more than 100 people in and around New York City. The film follows the Honorable Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and his senior staff from their first realization of the unbelievable tragedy that had occurred, through the despair and tears they experienced, to a newfound strength that would emerge in the spirit of a new America.
Fast-moving fire burns thousands of acres at national forest near Los Angeles [Source: The Associated Press] ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. (AP) -- A fast-moving wildfire that has charred 3,200 acres forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents and threatened dozens of homes Saturday on federal forest land, fire officials said. About 1,000 firefighters were assigned to the blaze as flames quickly spread through dry, hilly terrain north of Santa Clarita. There were no reports of injuries. Two small buildings, an outhouse and a shed, were destroyed. Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies helped evacuate 150 residents from the 110 cabins that dot the canyon area, said Gayle Wright, an Angeles National Forest spokeswoman. By 9:15 p.m., the fire was 15 percent contained as it continued to burn through light to heavy brush. No additional cabins or other buildings were threatened. Shelby Shively, who works in a cafe several miles from the fire, said she could see ashes the size of dimes floating in the air. "The sky looks orange-yellow, and fire trucks have been passing by like mad since 11 o'clock," she said. "It's getting hazy around the mountains, too." The fire was first reported about 10:30 a.m. By 11 a.m., officials began evacuating residents after a 15 mph wind pushed the blaze over a road toward homes. Flames got within 20 feet to 30 feet from some homes before hitting a firebreak created by firefighters, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Brian Jordan said. "These are people living in the forest," he said. "There are homes directly threatened." The cause of the fire was unknown. Santa Clarita is 22 miles north of Los Angeles. Also Saturday, firefighters said they had contained a wildfire that forced dozens of people to evacuate a small Navajo community, and that another blaze near Santa Fe was nearly contained. A 740-acre fire near Toadlena, N.M. was declared contained by firebreaks late Friday, information officer Chadeen Palmer said. "When we got ahold of it, we really got ahold of it. Our crews were able to put it to sleep," she said. All the families who had been evacuated from the small Navajo community in the Chuska Mountains of northwestern New Mexico had been allowed to return to their homes Thursday night. The fire was started by a campfire on Monday and burned two outbuildings. Charges were pending against the person suspected of starting it. About 15 miles east of Santa Fe, crews contained an 800-acre fire in the Santa Fe National Forest, said fire information officer Jack Horner. In Colorado, a 200-acre wildfire that forced 2,400 people from their homes west of Denver was declared under control late Friday. It had been contained on Wednesday. The fire was reported Monday and burned to within a quarter-mile of one house and within two miles of a subdivision. |