Quake highlights increase in activity

Quake highlights increase in activity

SPARKS, Okla.

Clouds of dust belched from the corners of almost every room in Joe Reneau’s house as the biggest earthquake in Oklahoma history rocked the two-story building.

A roar that sounded like a jumbo jet filled the air, and Reneau’s red-brick chimney collapsed and fell into the roof above the living room. By the time the shaking stopped, a pantry worth of food had been strewn across the kitchen and shards of glass and pottery covered the floor.

The magnitude 5.6 earthquake and its aftershocks still had residents rattled Sunday. No injuries were reported, and aside from a buckled highway and the collapse of a tower on the St. Gregory’s University administration building, neither was any major damage. But the weekend earthquakes were among the strongest yet in a state that has seen a dramatic, unexplained increase in seismic activity.

Oklahoma typically had about 50 earthquakes a year until 2009. Then the number spiked, and 1,047 quakes shook the state last year, prompting researchers to install seismographs in the area. Still, most of the earthquakes have been small.

Could education be the next bubble?

First the dot.coms popped, then mortgages. Are student loans and higher education the next bubble, the latest investment craze inflating on borrowed money and misplaced faith it can never go bad?

Some experts have raised the possibility. Last summer, Moody’s Analytics pronounced fears of an education spending bubble “not without merit.” Last spring, investor and PayPal founder Peter Thiel called attention to his claims of an education bubble by awarding two dozen young entrepreneurs $100,000 each NOT to attend college.

Recent weeks have seen another spate of “bubble” headlines — student loan defaults up, tuition rising another 8.3 percent this year and finally, out Thursday, a new report estimating that average student debt for borrowers from the college class of 2010 has passed $25,000. And all that on top of a multi-year slump in the job-market for new college graduates.

So do those who warn of a bubble have a case?

The hard part, of course, is that a bubble is never apparent until it bursts. But the short answer is this: There are worrisome trends. A degree is an asset whose value can change over time. Borrowing to pay for it is risky, and borrowing is way up. The stakes are high. You can usually walk away from a house. Not so a student loan, which can’t even be discharged in bankruptcy.

3rd woman dies after chopper crash

NEW YORK

A third woman has died a month after a helicopter crashed into a New York City river during a sightseeing tour.

The New York medical examiner’s office says 60-year-old English tourist Harriet Nicholson died early Sunday of “respiratory complications of near-drowning,” meaning a shortage of oxygen to the brain.

Nicholson was aboard the helicopter with her husband, daughter and her daughter’s partner Oct. 4 when the pilot lost control shortly after takeoff. The helicopter crashed into the East River.

Nicholson’s daughter, 40-year-old Sonia Marra, was found dead in the wreckage. Marra’s partner, 43-year-old Helen Tamaki, died a week after the crash. Tamaki was a New Zealand citizen.

Nicholson’s husband and the pilot survived.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash and hasn’t released a final report.

Associated Press