Earthquake Advisory Issued For San Francisco Bay Area
October 31, 2007
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In response to Tuesday evening’s magnitude-5.6 earthquake near the junction of the Calaveras and Hayward faults, the following statement was issued by the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, a panel of scientists chaired by the State Geologist that advises the Director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) on the scientific validity of earthquake forecasts and seismic activity in areas where damaging earthquakes have occurred in the past.
“A magnitude 5.6 earthquake occurred at 8:05 Tuesday evening (30 October 2007). The earthquake occurred near the junction of the Calaveras and Hayward faults in the southern San Francisco Bay Area. Both of these faults are known active faults capable of producing large, damaging earthquakes.
“CEPEC believes that this evening’s earthquake has significantly increased the probability above the normal level for a damaging earthquake along the Calaveras and/or Hayward faults within the next several days. However, the overall likelihood of such an event is still low. Scientists will be continuing to monitor the situation and advise OES of any changes.
In response to the CEPEC evaluation of this earthquake, OES recommends that residents of the San Francisco Bay region review their family emergency plans, check their emergency supplies, identify the “safe” and “potential danger” spots in each room, remove breakables from locations from which they can fall and cause injury, and stay tuned to the radio or television for further information. OES also recommends that government agencies and businesses review their plans. The “advisory” applies to the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.
Popularity: 27% [?]
Postal Worker Arrested On Firearms and Bomb Making Charges
October 31, 2007
Good catch by authorities in Indiana.
Authorities haven’t determined how a Carroll County man arrested during a drugs and weapons bust this weekend came to possess automatic rifles that are now being looked into by federal agencies.
But what they do believe is that Jessie W. Snider, 27, was more than an avid sportsman or gun collector.
“Mr. Snider stepped over the line … when he allegedly began manufacturing various bombs and explosive devices,” said 1st Sgt. Dan Dulin of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies held a press conference this morning to share what they found Saturday at Snider’s home and pole barn on secluded property.
Included were 25 firearms, five of which violate firearms regulations; 5,900 rounds of ammunition; several hazardous or explosive compounds that would have been enough to build a bomb; and 16 marijuana plants in a hidden room.
Dulin said they also recovered body armor, thermal imaging equipment and other items investigators suspect were illegally taken from the U.S. military. Snider, a postal worker in West Lafayette, spent 3.5 years in the military.
They also seized anti-government propaganda which Dulin suspects are representative of Snider believing the U.S. government was responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The Carroll County prosecutor’s office filed several felony and misdemeanor charges Wednesday against him in connection to the items that were seized.
The investigation started when conservation officer Todd Penky was looking for wildlife poachers Saturday near Cutler and heard what sounded like someone firing a gun.
Penky said he also heard several people laughing. He went to Snider’s home and was told that 12 people were inside a pole barn on the property. That’s where most of the weapons were found.
“I didn’t know what to think,” Penky said of what he saw that day. “I was mostly shocked.”
Dulin said authorities also found handguns, shotguns and rifles scattered throughout Snider’s home - in drawers, on the floor - none of which was locked up.
“We were told he does this to have fun,” Dulin said.
Investigators declined to say how large-scale of a bomb could have been built with the items recovered.
Deputy Jason Dunning said Snider has lived at the house since April.
Snider is being held in the Carroll County Jail without bond.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Man Who Dodged Security Check At JFK Caught With Razor - Arrested
October 31, 2007
A man who was pulled of a flight at Albany International Airport for sneaking past security at a New York airport had a 4-inch straight razor concealed in his carrying on bag, federal authorities allege.
During an arraignment late this morning in U.S. District Court, William Contreras Ramos, 20, was charged with carrying a concealed, dangerous weapon onto an aircraft.
According to court documents, Ramos was waiting for the Albany leg of a flight from Puerto Rico that had a layover at John F. Kennedy Airport when he went outside to smoke a cigarette.
Ramos admitted that while he was smoking the cigarette he noticed he was running late for his connecting flight and “went through a door opened by a man and ran to the gate where he boarded the flight,” the court documents say.
Authorities in Albany were alerted that a passenger on the flight from JFK had gotten back on a plane without going through security, police said.
Once they found Ramos getting off the plane in Albany, the Transportation Safety Administration investigators searched him and his bag. They say they discovered the straight razor wrapped in a shirt in his bag.
Ramos allegedly walked through the exit lane of a security checkpoint at JFK around 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, prompting officials to evacuate two terminals and re-screen all passengers almost three hours later.
Officers developed a description of Ramos and determined he boarded a Delta Airlines flight to Albany. He was taken into custody by Albany County Sheriff’s deputies and federal officers when he landed.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Naperville Ill - Suspicious Suitcase Forces Train Station Evacuation School Lock-down
October 31, 2007
UPDATE: False Alarm
The west side of Naperville’s 5th Avenue train station has been evacuated, trains on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad have been stopped in both directions, and schools in the area have been placed on lock-down as authorities investigate a suspicious package left in the bushes near the station.
Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said at 1:15 p.m. today that the DuPage County Bomb Detection Unit is responding to the scene as well as dogs from the Metra Police Department, which are specially trained for explosives detection.
The package was described as a suitcase, and it appeared several suspects purposely concealed it in some bushes sometime this morning along Ellsworth Street adjacent the 5th Avenue Station, authorities said.
A bomb threat was called in Wednesday morning, the DuPage County sheriff’s office sent its bomb squad to the station, at 105 E. 4th Ave. in downtown Naperville.
At 11:30 a.m., a train headed from Union Station to Aurora was stopped just east of the Naperville depot, and police evacuated the station, Metra officials said. By the 1 p.m. hour, all trains were stopped, including Burlington Northern line Metra trains and freight trains.
A bomb squad trailer was situated in the parking lot, where a suitcase had been spotted in the bushes between the parking lot and the tracks. The suitcase was isolated by the bomb squad and X-rayed on the scene.
It was not known as of 1:25 p.m. if the suitcase contained explosives or other dangerous materials, or if it might have all been a Halloween prank.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Rochester NY - Objects Found In Street Were Explosive
October 31, 2007
Rochester police say two suspicious objects found in a city neighborhood early Wednesday morning were explosive. The discovery prompted two homes to be evacuated.
Police found the devices in the area of Durham and Macbeth Streets after neighbors reported hearing shots or explosions. The bomb squad was called in and destroyed the devices.
Police interviewed several witnesses at the scene this morning but no arrests have been made.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Man Pleads Guilty to Weapons Charges in Alleged Terror Plot to Attack Fort Dix
October 31, 2007
A man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to providing weapons to a group of men accused of plotting an attack on Fort Dix. The plot involved storming the base with automatic weapons and attempting to kill as many soldiers and other personnel as possible.
Agron Abdullahu, 25, faces up to five years in federal prison when he is sentenced Feb. 6.
Federal prosecutors have portrayed the New Jersey resident as having the smallest role among the six men arrested earlier this year in the case. The 27-year-old was born in what is now Kosovo and worked in a bakery.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Bin Ladens Followers Planning Electronic Jihad Cyber Terror Attack On 11/11?
October 31, 2007
Debka has posted this announcement on their site:
In a special Internet announcement in Arabic, picked up DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources, Osama bin Laden’s followers announced Monday, Oct. 29, the launching of Electronic Jihad. On Sunday, Nov. 11, al Qaeda’s electronic experts will start attacking Western, Jewish, Israeli, Muslim apostate and Shiite Web sites. On Day One, they will test their skills against 15 targeted sites expand the operation from day to day thereafter until hundreds of thousands of Islamist hackers are in action against untold numbers of anti-Muslim sites.
DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that, shortly after the first announcement, some of al Qaeda’s own Web sites went blank, apparently crashed by the American intelligence computer experts tracking them.
The next day, Oct. 30, they were up again, claiming their Islamic fire walls were proof against infidel assault.
They also boasted an impenetrable e-mail network for volunteers wishing to join up with the cyber jihad to contact and receive instructions undetected by the security agencies in their respective countries.
Our sources say the instructions come in simple language and are organized in sections according to target. They offer would-be martyrs, who for one reason or another are unable to fight in the field, to fulfill their jihad obligations on the Net. These virtual martyrs are assured of the same thrill and sense of elation as a jihadi on the “battlefield.”
In effect, say DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts, al Qaeda is retaliating against Western intelligence agencies’ tactics, which detect new terrorist sites and zap them as soon as they appear. Until now, the jihadists kept dodging the assault by throwing up dozens of new sites simultaneously. This kept the trackers busy and ensured that some of the sites survived, while empty pages were promptly replaced. But as al Qaeda’s cyber wizards got better at keeping its presence on the Net for longer periods, so too did Western counter-attackers at knocking them down. Now Bin Laden’s cyber legions are fighting back. The electronic war they have declared could cause considerable trouble on the world’s Internet.
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Homeland Security Sees Small Boats As Terror Threat
October 30, 2007
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week called for the screening and inspection of small boats for bombs as a new anti-terrorism initiative. He said: “Are there going to be some squawks? Absolutely.” He said that the Department of Homeland Security intends to launch its small boats initiative with a pilot program in San Diego.
Chertoff said that although a lot of effort has been expended on screening cargo containers for bombs, “I haven’t heard anybody talk about small boats….And a nuclear bomb on a small boat can do just as much damage as one in a container.” He pointed to the small vessel used by al-Qaida in the suicide bombing of the guided missile destroyer USS Cole in October, 2000.
The nation’s 17 million small boats are facing increased scrutiny from the Homeland Security Department, which fears they could be used in a nuclear attack or a lethal explosion at a U.S. port.
USA Today has more.
The Coast Guard is seeking a new federal requirement that all boat operators carry identification wherever they are on the water so it can build a database of boaters found in restricted areas. The agency also wants to require state boating courses to teach security protocols such as avoiding cruise-ship terminals and military facilities.
Although new mandates would apply to operators of state-registered boats usually those with an engine the Homeland Security Department is focused on protecting major ports near large cities.
Boat operators, represented by the Boat Owners Association, support the effort as long as they don’t have to get separate ID cards or install costly tracking devices, association lobbyist Margaret Podlich said.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Police Add Dirty Bomb Detectors To Arsenal In War On Terror
October 30, 2007
Police in New York and New Jersey have been meeting over the past year as part of the “Securing the Cities” project, which will arm them with training and radiation detectors to help sniff out weapons that might be smuggled in through the suburbs.
The “Securing Our Cities” initiative is designed is to assist regional collaborations of municipalities to set up a detection and interdiction ring around the region with the goal of preventing nuclear weapons or radioactive materials from entering densely populated areas. The New York City metro area is the first location that the Administration has selected to launch this groundbreaking program.
Local law enforcement authorities in and around New York City are planning to install a network of stationary and mobile detection devices on highways, sea lanes, bridges and tunnels throughout the City, Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley, and New Jersey. The Securing the Cities project has the strong support of law enforcement in New York City and the surrounding counties, and it is sorely needed to combat the threat of a nuclear or radiological attack against the city.
Currently, more than 100 highly sensitive radiation detectors have been distributed to state police. Nearly as many will go to officers in Bergen and six other counties collected into a federal Urban Areas Security Initiative region.
Once DHS’ $80 million initiative is up and running, nearly 200 police departments within a 45-mile radius of Manhattan will have a variety of detection tools, including radiation-detecting “portals” through which commuter traffic will pass.
Such gateways – similar to ones being used at New Jersey seaports to scan ship containers – will be set up at highway tollbooths and weigh stations leading to New York City.
“We’ve brought together quite a capability in a short period of time that’ll be a model for the rest of the country,” said Jonathan A. Duecker, assistant commissioner of counterterrorism for the New York Police Department.
The best locations for the fixed portals are still being decided, federal and state officials said Friday. In Bergen County alone, authorities have identified at least 26 “hot spots” along the county infrastructure that could best snag a radiological device.
Until the portals are installed, police will make do with equipment distributed by the DHS’ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Monroe Pa.- Homemade Explosive Discovered On I-80 Clarion Exit Ramp
October 30, 2007
The Clarion exit of Interstate 80 was shut down for nearly four hours Monday after PennDOT workers discovered what appeared to be a homemade explosive device along the eastbound off-ramp to Route 68 around 11 a.m., state police said.
The device was a liquid filled plastic bottle with batteries attached using duct tape and wires leading between the batteries and the liquid, police said. A state police explosives unit from Harrisburg was flown in to the scene and the Erie Bomb Squad also responded to the scene, police said.
The explosives units worked to detonate the device, but the device failed to detonate and was collected as evidence, police said. Clarion Fire Department and Clarion Hospital Ambulance personnel assisted at the scene as well. The roadway was reopened to traffic at 2:45 p.m., police said.
Pa. police remove explosive from Clarion-area I-80 ramp
Popularity: 16% [?]
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