Aid To Venezuela

 

Samaritan's Purse and World Vision are reputable charities providing critical care.

NY Post: Deaths top 1400, with many thousands missing

EBL: Earthquakes Rock Venezuela

Instapundit: Construction Failures and Risky Geography

😱OMG😱

As of Wednesday, the official death toll had risen to 2,295 people killed and more than 11,200 injured, according to Venezuela’s National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez. The United Nations has warned the toll could ultimately reach 10,000.

These Firefighters were… https://t.co/GtCurXdgVV pic.twitter.com/Gl9xcvzRj3

— Nganji (@TusiJC) July 6, 2026

Earthquakes Rock Venezuela

NY Post: Feared mass casualties in Venezuela, Trump promises help

American Thinker: The terrible wages of socialism

EBL: Aid To Venezuela

Full extent of damage and death unknown, but it seems considerable. Prayers for Venezuela.

Instapundit: Construction Failures and Risky Geography and Earthquake rocks Venezuela, felt in Colombia 

AoSHQ: Morning Report 06.25.26

In Caracas, a whole hotel is leveled. 100,000 + are anticipated dead per the @californiapost. I can’t underestimate the impact this will have on the world. Bookmark this. pic.twitter.com/YjF3u99bQc https://t.co/aL3OW7g3Pe

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 25, 2026

Unbelievable scenes. Truly horrific. pic.twitter.com/jkDTE4ikDL

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 25, 2026

Aerial view of the damage in La Guaira, Venezuela. Devastating! 🙏pic.twitter.com/zptUuClB4x

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) June 26, 2026

😱OMG😱

As of Wednesday, the official death toll had risen to 2,295 people killed and more than 11,200 injured, according to Venezuela’s National Assembly president Jorge Rodríguez. The United Nations has warned the toll could ultimately reach 10,000.

These Firefighters were… https://t.co/GtCurXdgVV pic.twitter.com/Gl9xcvzRj3

— Nganji (@TusiJC) July 6, 2026

8.7 Earthquake Rocks Russia Kamchatka Peninsula

 

Massive Earthquake Rocks Kamchatka and Tsunami Watch 

Alerts in Hawaii and Alaska

NY Post: Waves hit Hawaii and California

Instapundit: Kamchatka: Whole lot of shaking goin on

AoSHQ: Morning Report 07.29.25

Based on the Faytuks new video below.

Pretty much every one of the nuclear submarine piers in this en.rattibha -dot- com photo are going to go underwater.

The Russian Pacific fleet submarine force port infrastructure has been hammered. https://t.co/Ksg5MJE7YM pic.twitter.com/44HvHhtbW6

— Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) July 30, 2025

Death Toll in Turkey and Syria Tops 40,000 😭

 

Death toll tops 40,000

Horrible and a lot of this devestation was avoidable. While Turkey does have Western seismic building codes, they are only as good as they are enforced. There is a lot of political corruption around the world, but Turkey and Syria are known for it. Which is why these buildings failed so catastrophically. 7.8 is a big earthquake, but not so big that these building shouldn't have collapsed as they did.  

EBL: Turkey and Syria Earthquake Death Toll Could Greatly Exceed 20,000 😬 and Violent Earthquake Kills Thousands In Turkey and Syria 🌍😬

AoSHQ: Morning Report 02.15.23

Turkey and Syria Earthquake Death Toll Could Greatly Exceed 20,000 😬

 

The official death toll was over 11,000 yesterday, now over 20,000 today, and that number is expected to rise dramatically.

Rescue operations continue, but collapsed concrete buildings are death traps.

EBL: Violent Earthquake Kills Thousands In Turkey and Syria 🌍😬

Turkish Anger Turned to Erdogan

AoSHQ: Morning Report 02.09.23

After more than 160 hours under the rubble, a 13 years old girl was rescued in Turkey. pic.twitter.com/tCQXAVC6Sq

— Asaad Sam Hanna (@AsaadHannaa) February 13, 2023

Violent Earthquake Kills Thousands In Turkey and Syria 🌍😬

 

A powerful 7.8 earthquake in Turkey, near the Syrian border

The seismic scale is not the only measure of an earthquake's impact, since it matters how deep the quake was, the geology of the region, and of course, the code compliance of structures impacted. This earthquake killed a lot of people--and we likely won't know the full toll for some time. Prayers and condolences to those impacted.  

True!

AoSHQ: Thousands killed in Turkey and Syria and Morning Report 02.06.23

Instapundit: An emergency in an emergency...

Daily Mail: Devastation across region

Canary Island Volcano 🌋🌊😬

 

😬 Something to keep aware of...

France 24: Iceland volcanic eruption longest for 50 years...

La lengua de lava del proceso eruptivo de La Palma arrasa con todo a su paso en su camino hacia el mar. pic.twitter.com/InvtAhgtl5

— Agencia Canaria de Noticias y Audiovisuales. (@ACFIPRESS) September 20, 2021

Canary Island volcano still going strong https://t.co/lf0mKcL3qB

— WilliamTeach2 #refuseresist (@WTeach2) September 23, 2021

Haiti Earthquake 2021 🌎🇭🇹😢

This is a map from the 2010 earthquake, but today's is similar.

Instapundit: Massive Haitian Earthquake, Thousands feared dead...

It was a 7.2 earthquake. While significant, that is not a "massive" earthquake. How damaging an earthquake is depends on a number of different factors (depth of the earth event, soil types, etc.), but building construction is a huge issue. 

Guess what, building construction in Haiti generally sucks. It is too bad since if the country had more reinforced concrete, it would work both for earthquakes and hurricanes. Concrete is expensive in developed countries because it is labor intensive, but Haiti has very inexpensive labor. There is no excuse for most buildings to be reinforced concrete. You can even re-use masonry rubble in new concrete.   

I am sure BLM and MSNBC are right on this...

Tragic Geology?  You mean like most of the American West?  Engineering probably can't resist giant earthquakes (such as a 9+), but a 7 should not cause massive deaths (the Richter scale is exponential, so a 9 is 100 times bigger than a 7).

This is just after the January 2010 quake and about five years later...

Clintons: Tanned, Rested, Ready to Grift!

At least 1200 dead in Haiti from a giant earthquake, yet, that's not the lead story, as something like that would normally be. Sleepy Joe's Afghanistan failure is https://t.co/I60lUZf8wH

— WilliamTeach2 #refuseresist (@WTeach2) August 16, 2021

Fore Shocks? Remember that when it comes to earthquakes "the big one" will eventually come...

San Andreas Fault

DRUDGE REPORT : 7.1 EARTHQUAKE

USGS: Ridgecrest

Eventually a really bad earthquake will come, be it California, the Pacific Northwest, Western Canada, Alaska, Hawaii or Guam, the Rockies, the Mid West and Missouri, Caribbean, Mexico, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, or some place we thought was immune to such events. We can't stop earthquakes and we can barely predict them, but we can prepare for them.  

If appropriate, seismically upgrade your home, if you can. At a minimum, make sure you have emergency supplies, just in case. Practice situational awareness.  

Instapundit: California earthquakes spark Yellowstone fears and Fore Shocks?

LA Times: Second stronger quake in Ridgecrest

TOM: In The Mailbox: 07.05.19

The Coming Destruction of the Pacific Northwest

Ghost Forest: Coastal Washington (stumps don't lie)

Michael Totten (an Oregon raised son) addresses the big earthquake that will eventually come. It is not if, only when. It will be a reckoning. It will be utter devastation on the cities of the Pacific Northwest. It will be a logistical and financial disaster for the United States and Canada.  

EBL: The Big One: British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon all facing a reckoning, Anchorage Earthquake (just a baby in comparison), Mexico City, New Zealand, Italy (all nothing compared to what is coming).   

h/t: AoSHQ: Morning Report 03.11.19

TOM: In The Mailbox 03.11.19

Anchorage Earthquake

Today's was a 7.0 earthquake.  The big one in in 1964 was a 9.2. That is more than 100x stronger. 

Think about that.  

Lem's Place: Alaska Earthquake (during and afterwards)

VIA DRUDGE REPORT:

7.0 MAG QUAKE ROCKS ANCHORAGE...
People run from offices, shelter under desks...
'ANARCHY'...
'MAJOR' DAMAGE...
Roads Buckle...
MAP...
PHOTOS...
VIDEO...
PALIN: Family Intact, House Not...
Tsunami warning canceled... 

Billy Joel: Say Goodbye To Hollywood

LA Times: 800 Buildings In West Hollywood Could Collapse In An Earthquake

Better late than never: Motion picture academy expels Bill Cosby — and Roman Polanski https://t.co/UcfLlcc4gR pic.twitter.com/dnI8Imv5DH

— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) May 3, 2018

Flashback: The #AcademyAwards and #RomanPolanski Don't buy their #MeToo nonsense, it is a bunch of lies. Hollywood mostly still loves Polanski and Weinstein's crime is (in most of their minds) only getting caught. @TheNewPunks https://t.co/oZ4lxrDTLa

— Evi L. Bloggerlady (@MsEBL) May 3, 2018

Instapundit: Hollywood finally excommunicates Roman Polanski (given that they booted Bill Cosby, their hypocrisy finally caught up to them) and Feminism is Stupid

EBL: May The 4th Be With You

A desperate race to find survivors in Mexico City...

The Guardian: 230 reported dead, as rescue efforts continue

With collapsed buildings and time running out, the search for survivors continues in Mexico City.  Crews race to save survivors. Mexicans have a common goal, and the search for survivors goes on. Assistance is flowing in from the USA, Israel and elsewhere, but time is the enemy.

AoSHQ/J.J. Sefton:  Mexico search for survivors, Puerto Rico starts to recover, Mueller and the Deep State do what they do... and Rescue K911 Dog Rescuers

WSJ: Hundreds of people still missing after Mexico City's earthquake

CNBC: Puerto Rico's power grid destroyed by Hurricane Maria

Cows stranded after New Zealand Earthquake

Cows stranded after New Zealand Earthquake

NPR: Tourists, Residents and Cows Stranded in New Zealand

More cows stranded

Over seventy dead in Central Italy after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake near Amatrice Update: Death toll well over 200, search for survivors continues

CNN: Search for Survivors after 6.2 Earthquake in Central Italy

Frantic Hunt for Survivors

NYT: Powerful Earthquakes in Italy kills dozens, shatter towns

While significant, I would not consider a 6.2 magnitude earthquake to be "powerful." Still, tell that to the victims in Italy. Three towns in central Italy were devastated.  

The Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 was a 6.7 (which would make it approximately five times more powerful than the earthquake in Italy). The Northridge earthquake killed about seventy people and damage was well into the tens of billions of dollars.  

The Richter Scale, while relatively precise means of measuring the power of a particular earthquake in some ways, does not necessarily translate to the damage caused by a particular tremor on the surface. That depends on how deep the fault was, the soil and geological conditions, how building are constructed and other factors. Seismologist use other scales, such as the Moment Magnitude Scale, to try to capture some of that.   

Given how geologically active Italy is, you would think existing buildings would be more robust if only because many of the buildings are old and they have been exposed to big earthquakes in the past. Then again, building codes in Italy are probably not followed the same as they are in California. 

My prayers and best wishes to the survivors.  

EBL: It might be time to get that earthquake resistant pedestal for the David statute in Florence

Update: 

Death toll exceed 120.  Search for survivors continues...

Scientific American: Why the earthquake in Italy was so destructive

Jawa Report: Video from Italy

Daily Mail: Dramatic Rescue of a child, death toll rises above 240

Hot Air: Death Toll Over 250

Hillary Clinton isn't the only one with bad ankles...

New York Times: Michelangelo's David has a serious flaw...

I found this to be a very interesting, if a bit disconcerting, article. Sam Anderson does a great job.  I enjoyed the mix of history, art, kitsch, bureaucratic inertia, and potential disaster.  

Here is another story about sculpture that I enjoyed:

Monstrance for a Grey Horse: James Acord, the sculptor, was the subject of a forty-thousand-word Profile by Philip Schuyler, published in The New Yorker in two parts in 1991. You have to be a New Yorker subscriber to get it, but essay describes Acord's inspiration and creation of his sculpture (while not Michelangelo's David, had its own technical challenges, such has carving Barre, Vermont granite).

Acord wanted to create a piece to mark a nuclear waste site that could last 10,000 years.  Hence his choice of the most durable (and some of the hardest) carving stone available. Acord did all the carving with hand tools.

Sadly James Acord committed suicide in 2011

Can't say I am a big fan (as art) of these Trump statues or paintings or these Hillary paintings, or this one, Hillary down under street mural or Hillary Bust, but since I referenced Hillary's cankles I have to link them.

Instapundit: What would the media say, Virginia Postrel: Michelangelo's David had the right to bear arms and Arthritic Hands?

T.S. Elliot: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Why the small penis? 

The Big One: British Columbia, Washington and Oregon will one day be facing a reckoning...

 The New Yorker: The Really Big One

When the next very big earthquake hits, the northwest edge of the continent, from California to Canada and the continental shelf to the Cascades, will drop by as much as six feet and rebound thirty to a hundred feet to the west—losing, within minutes, all the elevation and compression it has gained over centuries. Some of that shift will take place beneath the ocean, displacing a colossal quantity of seawater. (Watch what your fingertips do when you flatten your hand.) The water will surge upward into a huge hill, then promptly collapse. One side will rush west, toward Japan. The other side will rush east, in a seven-hundred-mile liquid wall that will reach the Northwest coast, on average, fifteen minutes after the earthquake begins. By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable. Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our operating assumption is that everything west of Interstate 5 will be toast.”

EBL: There is always Wyoming...oh wait!
Earthquake Retrofits
Instapundit: Everything west of I-5 will be toast (from the Canada border down to Northern California), don't forget about New Madrid, yes, it could really happen, and the Eternal City is falling apart too (just like the Emerald City, but in slow motion)

Earthquakes don't kill people, (poorly built) buildings kill people…

Rest In Peace to those who died and our prayers and assistance to those who lived.  A 7.8 earthquake is significant and would have caused massive damage (and possibly deaths) anywhere, but this disaster demonstrates (as most disasters demonstrate after the fact) why engineering and building codes matter.

Making earthquake resistant houses on a tight budget (these principals could apply anywhere earthquakes are prone)

The Nepal Earthquake was a man made disaster, not a natural one…

NYT: Though many have worried about the stability of the concrete high-rises that have been hastily erected in Katmandu, the most terrible damage on Saturday was to the oldest part of the city, which is studded with temples and palaces made of wood and unmortared brick.

Photos of Nepalese Landmarks, Before and After

American Power Blog

Google exec killed in Nepal, 100s of tourists missing
WFB: Israel an early responder to Nepalese Earthquake
Instapundit: The tragedy of Nepal and cheap earthquake warning systems
AmPowBlog: Nepal's Seismic Time Bomb and Terrifying Account
Wombat: Death Toll Could Reach 10,000

6.0 Earthquake rocks Napa Valley, North of San Francisco

Quake centered on American Canyon

SCEC
Decoded Science

Update:
American Power has some interesting video