This Day That Year

1840 - 1st postage stamps (Penny Black) issued (Great Britain)
1915 - German U-20 sinks Centurion SE of Ireland
1919 - Paris Peace Conference disposes of German colonies; Ger E Africa is assigned to Britain and France, German SW Africa to South Africa
1941 - Joseph Stalin became premier of Russia
1955 - West Germany joins NATO
1967 - Zakir Hussain elected 1st Moslem president of India
1988 - Graeme Hick scores 405 for Worcs v Somerset 35 fours 11 sixes
1991 - Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) lands
1994 - Nelson Mandela and his ANC, finally confirmed winners in South Africa

Tale of Two Cities

The Tale of Two Cities is the story of Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the aftermath.

Chernobyl

On April 25th -26th, 1986 the World's worst nuclear power accident occurred at Chernobyl in the former USSR (now Ukraine). The Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev had 4 reactors and whilst testing reactor number 4 numerous safety procedures were disregarded. At 1:23am the chain reaction in the reactor became out of control creating explosions and a fireball which blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid.

The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius, 135,00 people had to be evacuated.

Also watch the BBC report at http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/progs/02/earth_report/26apr.ram

Suryakirans

The team has a total of 13 pilots of whom only 9 are flying at any given time. The pilots are selected from the fighter stream of the IAF. Presently there are pilots with experience on the Mirage 2000, Jaguar, MiG-23 and MiG-27. All are experienced QFIs with about 1000 hrs of experience on the Kiran itself. Besides the pilots the team has an administrator of Adm Branch and a Kiran qualified technical officer. The administrator, other than looking after administrative requirement of the team, also does the job of commentator during public displays. The Technical Officer, the ‘Spanner’, who, along with fifty accomplished technicians has the onerous task of maintaining and servicing the Team’s aircraft. What with three sorties a day during the training season and usually two a day whilst on display, it is a very demanding job. But between all the grease, diesel and grime a flash of that cocky smile is what comaraderie and Team spirit is all about!

Pope John Paul II Part 2

Pope John Paul II

Life and Tribute to Pope John Paul II

Four Seasons in Norway

Eirik Solheim of Norway pointed a camera out of his living room window and photographed an entire year's worth of changing seasons. This is beautiful.

I Promise Africa

Moved by this film? Please take action at Keepachildalive.org.

Bush Meets Bush

George W. Bush is joined by Bush impersonator Steve Bridges at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner. Mild hilarity ensues!
The Most Powerful Man on Earth is the Most Powerful Man on Earth. He can do things which you didnt imagine. Good Work Mr. President.

Today in History

1914 - China's 1st president Yuan Shikai wins dictatorial qualification
1925 - Cyprus becomes a British Crown Colony
1930 - Bradman scores 236 Aust v Worcs, his 1st f-class innings in Eng
1931 - Empire State Building opens in NYC
1935 - Boulder Dam completed
1940 - The 1940 Olympics are cancelled
1942 - Radio Orange calls to defy order to wear "Jewish star"
1943 - German plane sinks boat loaded with Palestinian Jews bound for Malta
1949 - Gerard Kuiper discovers Nereid, (2nd satellite of Neptune)
1952 - Marines take part in an atomic explosion training in Nevada
1957 - Larry King's 1st radio broadcast
1960 - India's Bombay state split into Gujarat and Maharashtra states
1961 - 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba
1963 - 1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest
1964 - 1st BASIC program runs on a computer (Dartmouth)
1967 - Priscilla Beaulieu and Elvis Presley wed in Las Vegas
1971 - Amtrak Railroad begins operation
1991 - Angola's civil war ends
1993 - Bomb attack on Sri Lankan president (26 die)
1997 - Toni Blair elected PM of UK

Dramatic Examples of Creep

One of the most dramatic examples of creep is to be found in a residential area north of downtown Hayward at the corner of Rose and Prospect Streets. Photographs taken over twenty years show the offset of the curb by creep.

The first picture was taken in 1971.

The next was in 1974, note the red paint overspray

In 1979, there was about two centimeters or nearly an inch of creep movement that has offset the curb

Note the change in the position of the curb from 1987 to the location in 1993 in the next picture

Location in 1993

Hayward Fault at Downtown Hayward

The best way to experience the Hayward fault is to walk a section of the fault. An excellent and very accessible place to follow the fault is through downtown Hayward. However, the features seen in Hayward are visible at sites all along the fault.

Picture shows an alley lined by brick buildings that face B Street. Gutter along the alley is clearly offset right laterally.

One fault trace runs directly under old City Hall. This building was abandoned because of the damage to the structure due to fault creep

Two traces or branches of the Hayward fault are visible crossing D Street. These can be recognized by the right-lateral bends in the curbs

The side of Uncle Roy's Restaurant between C Street and B Street shows the walkway and curb which are clearly bent right-laterally

On C Street, evidence of damage due to creep can be seen in the corner of the brick building. This whole building has been bent by creep.

Hayward fault at South Hayward

A small gully on the hillslope above has been Holy Sepulchre Cemetery has been offset by fault movement nearly 3 meters as illustrated by the red stakes. This offset probably represents surface displacement in the 1868 Hayward earthquake and accumulated creep, plus possible offset in an unknown earthquake before 1868.
Continuing northward , this old fence at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in south Hayward has been offset by fault creep more than 3 feet since it was built in the nineteenth century.

On undeveloped hillslopes, the fault trace is marked by streams that are bent, almost at a right angle, by right-lateral movement of the fault. Right-lateral means that the land on the far side across the fault moves to the right. The stream channel was originally straight. But thousands of years of fault slip and creep have moved the stream eighty meters or about 260 feet to the right.

In places, the Hayward fault can be observed at the surface as a line of green vegetation when the grass on the hills dries out in the springtime. The line of vegetation remains green because of seeps and springs formed along the fault.Springs form because the rock in the fault zone has been pulverized by fault movement and altered to clay. This pulverized rock and clay, called fault gouge, forms an underground dam. Water moving underground accumulates against the fault and comes to the surface as seeps, springs, or ponds.

Hayward Fault

The Hayward fault extends from San Jose 120 km or about 74 miles northward along the base of the East Bay Hills to San Pablo Bay. Two types of fault movement occur along faults. One type is the catastrophic rupture of the ground that generates large earthquakes. A large earthquake, estimated to have been about magnitude 7, occurred on the Hayward fault in 1868 and was the "great" earthquake of the Bay Area prior to 1906. Descriptions from the 1868 Hayward earthquake report a meter or about 3 feet of fault rupture in the City of Hayward. The other type is a very slow movement of the fault, a few millimeters or a fraction of an inch a year that does not generate earthquakes. This slow movement, called fault creep (or tectonic creep) can easily be observed where cultural features such as streets, curbs, and buildings straddle the Hayward fault and are deformed by the slow movement. Fault creep is most easily recognized where curbs and other structures are bent in a specific direction called right-lateral offset. Right lateral describes the horizontal movement of one side of the Hayward fault relative to the other side of the fault. This can be observed when you sight down along the curband the curb is bent to your right. These right-lateral offsets or bends produced by creep line up street after street, identifying the precise location of the Hayward fault

The above is the hayward fault seen in a large pit dug 15 feet into the ground in the central park of Fremont.
Number of people witnessed the fault on this day, the 29th of April 2006.
Clear evidence of fault creep is found in Fremont where Gardenia Way crosses the Hayward fault near Ivy. A sequence of fractures or shears forms diagonally across the asphalt pavement in the street.
The close-up of the fractures in the asphalt on Gardenia Way. These are an excellent example of left-stepping en echelon shears, where the next set of fractures is to the left of the last set. These result from right-lateral slip on the Hayward fault.


The Hayward fault can be identified in several locations crossing the streets in Fremont. Note the bend and break in the curbs at Rocket Drive.