Quake of 7.1 magnitude strikes off Honduras

A powerful earthquake of 7.1 magnitude struck northeast of Roatan in Honduras early on Thursday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The quake that hit 39 miles northeast of Roatan, Islas de la Bahia, had a shallow depth of 6.2 miles. It struck at latitude 16.783 and longitude 86.166, USGS said.

A tsunami watch was in effect for Honduras and Belize, Guatemala, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. “There is a possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than 100 kilometers from the earthquake epicenter,” the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on its Web site.

There are at least five confirmed deaths reported in Honduras and there is heavy damage to the Democracy Bridge in El Progresso. There are also, reports of major structural damage to buildings in San Pedro Sula.

In Belize, at least three homes have been destroyed and a water tower collapsed in Indepence Village down South. Roads are cracked and sink holes are appearing all over Belize and it's outlaying islands.

There are now reports coming in from Roatan of major structural damage to many structures and three unconfirmed reports of deaths.

The quake was originally reported to have a 7.4 magnitude.

UPDATE - MAY 29th, 2009

Two more earthquakes have occurred in Honduras as of this morning. One inland south of the port town La Ceiba another west of Utila island in the Caribbean Sea. The quakes were a magnitude of 4.8 and 4.6 respectively.

The major earthquake from the day before has now been upgraded to a 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this..

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight. WHY? Because we were always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?

CONGRATULATIONS!

R.I.P. Baby Gegg - the Cancer has taken her life!

These pics were taken about an hour before my Baby went off to doggie heaven. My mother took pics of us, I'm so grateful for this. If you have been following my blog you might know that Baby has been suffering with mast cell tumors, which were malignant and at stage 3 of 4. After two operations and removing the tumors they only seemed to become more aggressive and spread. I had looked into an alternative medicine which some say cures cancer in Humans, a product called Xango, a juice made from the mangostein fruit, but maybe it doesn't really work or maybe it was just too late.Baby had stopped eating entirely and was basically living on the Xango which i was feeding her with a syringe orally. She refused to even have that as of Tuesday night, May 5th. Ironically because of her condition, she couldn't walk, eat or use the rest-room, my family suggested that I put her out of her misery and the vets came over that same day. I was far too emotional to make that decision and could not go through with it. They told me that i needed to take her into consideration because the quality of her life had completely diminished, they said they thought I was keeping her with me because it hurt too much to let her go. The vets told me that she would probably let me know what she wanted to do, that same evening she refused the xango, to my distress. On Wed morning she started vomiting her insides, masses of yellow bile and black bloody looking chunks, my poor little girl just faded away in front of my eyes.

I find that many people don't understand my torture of the situation and love for animals. Baby Gegg was my oldest and lived a beautiful decade of doggie years. Nine years ago I adopted her from the ASPCA in Houston, Texas, where she lived with me and me alone. Baby was my only companion for years and I spent every second with her, walking, driving around, training. She became very human like to me and was the funniest lil girl ever. My memories of her are simply beautiful. When ever I was sad she knew and made it better. She always related to my feeling and always knew just what to do to make mommy feel better. She was also a very obedient and good girl, she never used the bathroom in the house, when she wanted to go out she used to do the cutest little growl and dance. It was the cutest thing ever. She also never needed a leash and was the smartest little girl. I was very blessed to have had her in my life. The sadness has been overwhelming but i know I need to pull myself back together for the sake of my 6 other beautiful dogs. I feel that when Baby was ill I neglected the rest of the pack and know that I need to just let her go and hold on to my precious memories. God bless you my Baby Girl. R.I.P.