Heat Returns & A Big Shake

A magnitude 6.9 quake rocked a central Indonesia island on Sunday with at least 91 deaths reported. The quake did not trigger a tsunami even though a warning was issued. Damage and the deaths seems to have resulted from buildings collapsing. Quake was originally listed as 7.0 but USGS is now showing 6.9; either way, that's a pretty serious shake.  As mentioned on a recent TOE, the planet was overdue for a sizable quake and the collision of two ocean plates with the edge of the Asian continental plate sets the stage for yesterday's action with more to come - the movement there is about 7 cm/yr. Bet it moved several year's worth yesterday.
Back in the mostly quake free central Va, summer is back. Temps today will be into the low 90's with the usual August humidity. AC and shade are recommended.
The moon is high up in the southwest - right now- as a slim waning crescent which leaves the evening sky quite dark and nice for checking out the galaxy. Early dark will have the Summer Triangle high up in the east and if you are away from light you will notice a hazy region flowing through the triangle, that's the Milky Way. If you have a good look at the southern sky (I really don't) and can see the teapot that is Sagittarius, the Milky Way seems to thicken there...that's the center of our galaxy, about 27,000 light years away. The planets are still lovely and the Big Dipper still hangs high in the northwest with it's handle arcing to bright Arcturus. The pointer stars of the dipper itself, Merak and Dubhe, direct you to the end of the handle of the Little Dipper which is Polaris, the North Star. It was dark enough at my house to actually make out the Little Dipper last night, usually only Polaris and the two stars at the edge of the that dipper are visible. 10 to 11:00pm, some pretty good star/planet gazing these days. But, go out as it's getting dark and you can see Venus, too.
Time for me to get out into the humidity and take a large brown dog for his morning stroll. The noise of the nearby clearcutting continues; wandering into the devastation yesterday revealed a scraped, debris strewn landscape where using the term forest management is a farce. It's a greed based raping of the planet with a complete disregard for the forest, that living, breathing organism that sustains life on this planet; but, pulp prices are up slightly and we sure need to make more paper! And, I'm sure everyone of the butchers (and the land owners) figures, "can't see it from my house". Thanks, sadly I can and I fear the effects the heat sink created by the cutting is going to have in a big negative way on my forest. Better enjoy the cool of the forest while I can, Today On Earth.