2. 1994 Bolivia earthquakeThe 1994 Bolivia earthquake occurred on June 9, 1994. The epicenter was
located in a sparsely populated region in the Amazon jungle, about 200 miles from
La Paz.
The rupture was located on the Nazca plate where it is being pushed beneath the
mantle of the South American continent.It shook the ground from Argentina to
Canada and its oscillations were the first to be captured on a modern seismic
network.Light damage to buildings was felt in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Toronto,
Ontario, Canada.
The quake also disproved scientists' opinions on deep earthquakes. According to
the squeeze theory of earthquakes, pressures and temperatures at the depth of
200 to 400 miles should be so great that rock should not undergo frictional sliding.
Most geologists had believed that the crushing pressures and increasing heat,
below a certain depth, compressed rocks into deeper forms, creating huge cracks
in the Earth's surface.The Bolivian earthquake was 395 miles below sea level and,
according to geologist Paul G. Silver, the earthquake "looks and acts and talks like
these shallow earthquakes. But it shouldn't exist.
3. Andean Condor
Andean condors are truly impressive in size, as tall as 1.2 meters and with
the largest wingspan of any living bird, measuring as much as 3 meters.
These huge birds can weigh up to 26 pounds—that’s massive for a flying
creature. In order to get around efficiently with all that bulk, the Andean
condor prefers to roost high up on the bare cliffs of the Andes, where it can
catch a strong thermal updraft in the warm morning air. Under good
conditions, the condor can fly as far as 300km in a single day, soaring as
high as 16,400 feet.
Due to the increasing human impacts on critical habitat corridors in the last
half-century, the Andean condor is now in serious danger of extinction, with
populations across South America in severe decline. Poaching and
poisoning by both ranchers and recreational hunters alike have devastated
wild populations, and low reproduction rates have meant even greater
population instability. The viability of young condors has also been
compromised by increasing pesticide concentrations throughout the food
chain.
