Geology experts ... is recent quake linked to severed cables?

[eppur_se_muova]

The Afar Depression is a plate tectonic triple junction where the spreading ridges that are forming the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden emerge on land and meet the East African Rift. The central meeting place for these three pieces of Earth's crust is around Lake Abbe. The Afar Depression is one of two places on Earth where a mid-ocean ridge can be studied on land, the other being Iceland.

from Wiki entry on 'Afar Triangle'

I believe that problems w/undersea cables have been interpreted as harbingers of earthquakes before, but am only dredging that up from memory ... do not have links ...

[Warpy]

1. Cable breaks are a result of quakes, not a harbinger of things to come

However, there have been no quakes in the region sufficient to do the damage.

I could believe one was an accident, but two was the beginning of a bad habit and the third one was definitely not an accident.

Consider that the Iranian oil futures market was just about to open this week.

[lvx35]

2. Iranian oil futures? Was that by chance tied to Euros? nt

[LeftCoast]

3. FYI - I believe there have now been 4 cable breaks!

I don't have a link handy, but I'm pretty sure people were discussing this yesterday.

[Warpy]

4. I'd heard elsewhere that it had gone to 4

but the only one I could confirm if someone demanded a website was 3.

Still, it's no accident. Anybody who thinks it is just isn't thinking straight.

[CGowen]

5. There was talk about a 6th cable between Turkey and Italy

I only found something from Turkey and can't translate it. And I don't know if it was included before

http://www.ehabir.com/content/view/917/10/

Denizaltı fiber optik kablo arızası
Metin Yıldırım /- Pazar, 04 Şubat 2007

Türkiye İtalya arasındaki MEDTÜRK Denizaltı Fiber Optik Kablo Sisteminde arıza meydana geldi.

İSTANBUL - Türk Telekomünikasyon AŞ’den yapılan yazılı açıklamada, MEDTÜRK Denizaltı Fiber Optik Kablo Sisteminin 28 Ocak 2007 Pazar günü Marmara denizinde hasara uğradığı bildirildi...

Açıklamada, uluslararası internet bağlantısının bir bölümünü sağlayan hasar nedeniyle kullanıcı tarafından fark edilebilir bir aksaklık meydana gelmediği belirtilirken, yaşanması muhtemel kayıpların yedek internet kapasitesinden karşılanması için gerekli önlemlerin alındığı kaydedildi.

Açıklamada, “Arızanın doğası nedeniyle yurt içindeki internet iletişiminde herhangi bir sorun bulunmamaktadır. Söz konusu kablonun onarımı ve arızanın en kısa süre içerisinde giderilmesi için gerekli girişimler başlatılmıştır” denildi.