INDONESIA EXPLOSIVE ZONE

Story 1-Indonesia Explosive zone. 2-2 quakes in Koryak. 3-APEC ministers meet.

Chained to quakes and eruptions 30 May 2006 By MATTHEW TORBIT (The Dominion Post)

Don't panic: an apparent surge in earthquakes and eruptions in the southwestern Pacific is par for the course in Earth's most explosive zone. The 40,000-kilometre Pacific Rim of Fire begins in New Zealand and curls its way northward around the edge of the Pacific Ocean to South America, with about 90 per cent of the world's earthquakes and 75 per cent of known volcanoes on its boundary. Nearly 5000 people were killed in Indonesia after a 6.3-magnitude quake struck near Yogyakarta on Saturday morning.

Volcanic activity has resumed at nearby Mt Merapi. Two powerful quakes – even stronger than that which rocked Yogyakarta – struck within 15 minutes of each other near Papua New Guinea and Tonga on Sunday. In Vanuatu, four volcanoes are being monitored after three began spitting rocks, ash and steam. A magnitude-5.5 quake struck the north Philippines on Sunday night.

But GNS Science geologist Cornel de Ronde said the apparent surge of activity in the Pacific Rim of Fire was "perfectly normal. Geological history tells us that these sorts of events have been going all the time in the past, he said. Ultimately all these recent events are linked by virtue; they are all on the ring of fire but you cannot directly connect them as being triggered by one another, or being a precursor to other events. Dr de Ronde said the Rim of Fire was marked by the boundary between the Pacific Plate and some smaller adjoining tectonic plates.

The Pacific Plate was being slowly shunted under adjoining plates on its western edge, causing earthquakes and chains of volcanic activity. As the plate goes down it gets to a point, about 200 kilometres deep, where it melts into magma. As a consequence we get all these earthquakes and volcanoes popping up.

Dr de Ronde said New Zealand intersected a plate boundary and was part of the explosive chain. Lower Hutt is in the Pacific Plate and Wellington is on the Australian Plate. According to the United States Geological Survey, there have been an average of 19.4 quakes of magnitude 7.0-plus in the rim each year, which means the seismic activity of the past few days is comparatively slight. Earlier this month, a 7.8-magnitude jolt off Tonga sparked a Pacific tsunami warning. In March, Conservation Department worker Mark Kearney was killed when Raoul Island erupted.

Dr de Ronde said it was likely a lot of seismic and volcanic activity went unnoticed in the many chains of deep- sea volcanoes – known as arcs – that skirt the Pacific. New Zealand's volcanoes and earthquakes are monitored by the GNS Science GeoNet division, which is funded by the Earthquake Commission. GNS Science seismologist Mark Chadwick said 40 monitoring stations 100km apart fed nonstop seismic information to laboratories in Wellington. New Zealand's volcanoes were also monitored by GPS, which detected subtle movements, and regular checks on crater temperatures. Though the recent swarm of shakes and volcanic activity in the Rim of Fire was not an indication that disaster was pending, Dr Chadwick said the threat of a powerful quake or an eruption in New Zealand was ever present.

Two moderate earthquakes registered in Koryakia over past day

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, May 29 (Itar-Tass) -- Two new earthquakes with the magnitude of 4.5 and 4.8 points on the Richter scale were registered in the Olyutor district of the Koryak autonomous area over the past day. Earth tremors were not felt in settlements. No casualties and destructions sustained, the press center of the Far Eastern regional emergencies center told Itar-Tass on Monday.

The epicentres of the earthquakes were located in the district where the earthquake with the magnitude of 7.9 points on the Richter scale occurred on April 21 destroying buildings and the life-supporting systems in Korf, Tilichiki and Khailino. New earthquakes were registered at 02.12 and 03.57 Moscow time on Sunday. Eighty-eight repeated tremors were registered in Koryakia over the past month. Earthquakes will continue for another year, but will subside gradually, specialists said.

The restoration works are underway in the affected settlements. As many as 166 people and six pieces of machinery, including one aircraft are involved in the restoration works. Rescuers are on duty in the disaster area. They will stay there until October.

Apec Senior Officials Meet Ahead Of Trade Ministers,By D. Arul Rajoo

HO CHI MINH CITY (Vietnam), May 30 (Bernama) -- The second formal Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) began here Tuesday as officials deliberated on, among other things, Apec's role in concluding the current World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations.Other matters on the agenda to lay the foundation for the Meeting of Apec Ministers' Responsible for Trade (MRT), which begins here on Thursday, are ensuring best practices for the signing of free trade agreements (FTAs) and enhancing human security.

One of the key issues to be discussed would be the consideration of input from the Apec Geneva Caucus on current WTO negotiations.Trade ministers of the 21 Apec member countries are expected to reaffirm a commitment to the multilateral trading system and successful conclusion of the Doha round of trade negotiations of the WTO by the end 2006.Malaysia will be represented at the meeting by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz.The MRT is among a series of meetings being held before the Apec Leaders' Summit in Hanoi in November.According to a draft of a statement being finalised, the ministers will
push for a substantial outcome to the agriculture and non-agricultural market access and service negotiations.

Vietnam is expected to sign the conclusion of bilaterial negotiations with the United States on its WTO accession tomorrow, paving the way for the country to be admitted to the WTO by November.Vietnam's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chair of the SOM, Le Cong Phung, said other pressing issues to be considered by the Apec senior officials include improving the quality and transparency of regional trade arrangements (RTAs) and FTAs in the region.It is quite clear that RTAs and FTAs are important components of the regional economy, so Apec is working to ensure that new agreements implemented by member economies are of the highest quality,he said.

Officials would also consider the range of recent Apec issues intended to enhance human security in Asia Pacific, including the latest updates from the Apec Counter Terrorism Task Force, the Apec Health Task Force and the Apec Task Force on Emergency Preparedness.The recent tragic earthquake in Indonesia, the potential for a pandemic influenza outbreak and the ongoing threat of terrorism are all issues that harm the social and economic health of our regional economy,Le said.Business leaders and Apec senior officials met here two days before the SOM to clarify the business relevance of RTAs and FTAs.The 2006 Apec Policy Dialogue on RTAs/FTAs was the first to involve business representatives that included leading executives from FedEx, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and the Mexican Trade Business Organisation Network.

The proliferation of RTAs and FTAs in recent years has seen the signing of 34 RTAs/FTAs in the Apec region and around 325 RTAs/FTAs worldwide that have been presented to the GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and WTO.Of these, more than 200 were agreed to over the last 11 years. By the end of 2005, the WTO estimated that more than 51 per cent of all world merchandise was traded under preferential agreements.-- BERNAMA