clinging to the wreckage: Did the earth move for you, too, dahl-ing?

Monday, 7 January 2008

Did the earth move for you, too, dahl-ing?

Oh-er! I woke up in a bit of a panic just before midnight to the sound of crashing from the dock and the boat being shaken as if by a giant hand. Was it a dream, had we hit a reef....

No! TBH rolled out of bed and announced that it was an earth tremor (of course he has been in them before!). A quick look around outside, one or two other boaters appeared from hatches like startled gophers, and seeing that the docks were still in place it was back to bed.

We had a small shake when in Trinidad but nothing as strong as this. I found an interesting website on which you can report the tremors you feel and they draw a map and try and classify the event. Turns out there have been two tremors already this week in Guatemala, to the south west of here centred on the Pacific Coast.

This map shows the report of the tremor that occurred on 5th January, there was another reported on 6th January.
There is some fascinating stuff on the site about the phenomena. This bit particularly interested me as I though the motion we experienced was pretty strong, not at all like a rolling motion.

The actual time it takes for a fault to slip depends on the size of the earthquake. A magnitude 5 earthquake slips for about a second; a M6 for a few seconds; a M7 for several seconds. The duration of shaking you actually feel from an earthquake depends in part on the distance you are from the epicenter of the earthquake. If you are close, the shaking will be more violent, "faster", and may not last as long. If you are further away, the high-frequency "fast" shaking will have been "absorbed" into the earth's crust, you will feel are the longer-period, more rolling motions, and they may be of longer duration. In short, the duration is different in different places, even for the same earthquake. In addition, observers in the nearby locations may describe different directions depending on the type of building they are in, and how each perceives the shaking.

Magnitude	4.2
Date-Time	Monday, January 07, 2008 at 05:51:50 UTC Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 11:51:50 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	15.599°N, 88.910°W
Depth	10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region	GUATEMALA
Distances	40 km (25 miles) WSW of Puerto Barrios, Guatemala 95 km (60 miles) W of San Pedro Sula, Honduras 205 km (125 miles) ENE of GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala 1170 km (720 miles) ESE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 15.1 km (9.4 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	Nst= 24, Nph= 24, Dmin=245 km, Rmss=0.82 sec, Gp=191°, M-type=body magnitude (Mb), Version=Q
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2008lxag

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Cuban-style shrimps with rum

100ml rum
few drops tabasco sauce
zest and juice of 1 lime
2tsps worcester sauce
2.5tbso plain flour
pinch of ground cumin
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
24 large shrimp,peeled and deveined
10z butter
80ml olive oil
4 large cloves garlic,crushed
1tbsp chopped parsley
1tbsp chopped coriander(cilantro) leaves

Mix rum,tabasco,lime juice and zest and worcester sauce in a small bowl.
Mix flour with cumin,nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.Dip the shrimp in the mix before cooking.
Melt half butter with half oil in large saute pan, when hot add half garlic and half shrimp. Cook until prawns are pale pink and lightly golden. Lift on serving plate, keep warm. repeat with remaining butter,oil, garlic and shrimp.
Pour rum mix into pan and allow to bubble for a minute or two, stirring.
Mix with parsley and ciltrano.
pour over shrimp and serve with rice as a main dish or alone as a starter.

Delicious!

Caramalised Onion,Fruit and Nut Pilau

2tbsp Ghee
2 large onions, sliced
2tbsp Ghee, extra
1tsp hot chilli powder
1tsp ground black pepper
1/4tsp saffron threads
4 cardamon pods, crushed
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp salt
2 cups basmati rice, washed and drained
4 cups water
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, shelled

Heat ghee in large pan. Cook the onions until caramelized. Remove from pan.

Add extra ghee and spices to same pan, cook stirring, until fragrant. Stir in salt, rice and onions.

Add water, bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cover until rice is tender and all water has been absorbed.Stir in fruit, cover and stand 5 mins.

Just before serving stir in nuts.

Carrol Shelby's Chili Recipe.

1/4	lb suet or 1/4 cup cooking oil
1	lb beef round steak, coarse chili grind
1	lb beef chuck, coarse chili grind
8	ounces can tomato sauce
12	ounces beer
2	tablespoons crushed red chili peppers
2	medium garlic cloves, minced
1	small onion, finely chopped
1 1/4	teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican)
1/2	teaspoon paprika
1 1/2	teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/4	teaspoons salt
1/8	teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4	lb monterey jack cheese, grated

Melt suet or heat the oil in a heavy 3-quart (or larger) pot over medium-high heat.
Remove the unrendered suet and crumble meat into the pot. Break up any lumps with a fork and cook, stirring occasionally. until meat is evenly browned.
Add tomato sauce, beer, crushed red chile, garlic, onion, oregano, paprika, 1 teaspoons of the cumin, and salt. Stir to blend and bring to a boil.
Lower heat and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.
Taste and adjust seasonings, adding cayenne pepper.
Simmer uncovered 1 hour longer.
Stir in the cheese and the remaining 1/2 teaspoons cumin.
Simmer 1/2 hour longer, stirring often to keep cheese from burning.
I serve the chili with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese to garnish, and warm cornbread on the side.
The cookbook actually called for 1/4 cup of crushed red chile pepper, but unless you have a taste for fire, use less! I use half that amount, and I really like hot food.