Japan hit by 6.9 magnitude Earthquake as tensions in Korean Penisula continues

As tension in the Korean Penisula continues after North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong, a South Korean island with artillery fires on Tuesday, 23rd November 2010, nearby Japan was also jolted by a powerful force, exactly a week after the North Korean attack.

But it was not North Korean bombs or missiles, but rather a 6.9-magnitude earthquake.

The earthquake struck off Japan's southern coast Tuesday, 30 November 2010, shaking a broad swath of the country and swaying buildings in downtown Tokyo.

The Associated Press reported that no damage or injuries were immediately reported, and Japan's meteorological agency said there was no danger of a tsunami.

The temblor hit at 12:25 p.m. local time (0325 GMT), with the epicenter near the Ogasawara Islands, about 500 miles (800 kilometers) south of the main Japanese island, the agency said.

It struck at a depth of 300 miles (480 kilometers).

Japan's meteorological agency reported a magnitude of 6.9, however, the U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was 6.6. The reason for the discrepancy was not immediately clear.

The Ogasawara are known as the Bonin Islands outside of Japan.

Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In 1995, a quake of magnitude 7.2 killed 6,400 people in the western port city of Kobe.

Meanwhile tensions in the Korean Penisula continues, a week after Kim Jong Il attacked Yeonpyeong island, killing 2 South Korean Marines personells.

Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, 30th November 2010 reported that South Korea's military plans to toughen its rules of engagement with North Korea in a way that gives its troops greater leeway to determine the intensity of a counterattack by the level of damage and threats received, the defense ministry said Tuesday.

The revision plans came amid mounting public criticism in South Korea that the country's military responded too slowly and too weakly to North Korea's Nov. 23 artillery strike on Yeonpyeong Island, which killed four people, including two civilians, and wounded 18 others.

The envisioned change, reported to the National Assembly, will free South Korean forces from the existing regulations that stipulate they should respond to an enemy attack with the same kind of weapons and the same amount of firepower the enemy used.

"We plan to make supplements to guarantee conditions for punishing the enemy," the ministry report said.

The military also plans to give greater leeway to field commanders in counterattacks and give more power to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in order to help the military respond to an enemy attack in a timely manner, the ministry said.

"We plan to differentiate the levels of responses to attacks on the military and attacks on civilians," the ministry said. Revision of the rules of engagement will be made in consultation with the U.S.-led United Nations Command and the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command, it said.

The military also said it plans to seek a 360 billion won (US$310 million) additional increase in its budget for next year to beef up firepower on Yeonpyeong and other front-line islands, including deploying K-77 armored vehicles and K-10 ammunition supply vehicles.

Multiple rocket launchers and anti-artillery radars have already been deployed to Yeonpyeong. In case of further provocations by North Korea, the UNC will provide support, the ministry said.

Its Hot yet its Cold..!! Global warming???

Global warming and Green House effect?

Could that be the reasons for the extreme weather conditions that are now creating havoc in the northern and southern hemisphere?

In the northern hemisphere continents such as USA, Canada and Europe – the weather is extremely cold.

In contrast, it is now terribly hot in the southern hemisphere, for instance Australia….

In the US, at least 23 deaths were reported as a result of a destructive winter storm and the extreme cold, with temperatures dropping to record lows in parts from Minnesota to Vermont.

Some places recorded temperature as low as minus 48 degree Fahrenheit (minus 44 Celsius)...!!!

A glaze of ice and snow caused widespread power failures from the southern and central United States to the East Coast.

Authorities said it could be a week before some communities have electricity again.

Air travelers hunkered down as airports in much of the central and eastern
United States announced flight cancellations or delays.

Tree limbs encased in ice tumbled onto roads and crashed onto power lines
in hard-hit Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma on Tuesday and overnight.

In Arkansas -- where ice was 3 inches (nearly 8 centimeters) thick in some places, people huddled next to portable heaters and wood-burning fires as utilities warned electricity may be out for a week or more.

Northwest Arkansas has been hit hard, all schools and universities were closed throughout state.
In Michigan, a man found in the snow Monday became the eighth person in 9 days to be found dead in that state.

Thomas Pauli, 52, was discovered at an auto salvage business in Grand Rapids.

In Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, more than 300,000 homes and businesses were in the dark as ice and snow coated parts of the states.

In Arkansas, about 300,000 customers lacked power Wednesday morning.

At least 470,000 were in the dark in Kentucky.

That’s pretty cold right.

However in the southern hemisphere, it is totally the opposite.

Australia for instance recorded the highest temperature in a century, up to 43 degree Celsius...!!

Among the most badly affected were the world top tennis players currently taking part in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year – The 2009 Australian Open at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

Serena Williams of the US may have escaped the extreme cold in her country, but she was caught in the sweltering heat in Melbourne.

Serena - a 3 time Australian Open champion and chasing her 10th Grand Slam singles titles, nonetheless reached the final after beating, Elena Dementieva, 6-3, 6-4 today.

In the final, Serena will face Russia’s Dinara Safina who beat another Russian, Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-6 in the other semi final.

Despite her fine run so far, Serena, like many other players, complained about the extreme heat – which is bad for any outdoor sports.

"Before they closed the roof I was having an out-of-body experience, it was so hot. I felt I was watching someone play in a blue dress, and it wasn't me, because it was so hot out there." She said after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter final.

“Yeah, absolutely. It was really, really hot today. And, uhmmm, it was really hot today.” She bemoans again after beating Dementieva in the semi final.

A beaten Elena Dementieva gives thanks for the Rod Laver Arena roof as temperatures soar past 40C in Melbourne. “We couldn't survive outside in this temperature."

"It was hot for everyone, you know. They were ready to die, not to survive a day like that." Dementieva expresses her sympathy for the moths which plagued the exposed Rod Laver Arena

"If you tell me now, I will go to the fridge. I will put myself in for few days." Spain’s 15th seed player Fernando Verdasco plans a new way to cope with the Melbourne heat.

Ok, hot or cold – I wish Roger Federer or Fedex good luck…

Please win your 4th Australian Open Titles and 14 Grand Slam singles titles overall – to equal Pete Sampras record......

Federer advanced to the final of the 2009 Australian Open with a straight sets win over Andy Roddick 6-2 7-5 7-5.

Go Federer Go… I hate Nadal…..!!!!!!!!! sorry Nadal fans out there... no hard feelings...