With so much travel news raining down on us, we don't always have time to give every story its own forecast. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Rare Megamouth Shark Can't Escape the Same Fate as Less Exotic Fishes: Fishermen in the Philippines catch one of 40 remaining megamouth sharks and eat it, despite warnings from an international conservation nonprofit. Animal overlords once again, are pissed. [National Geographic]

· San Diego on Earthquake Alert: There have been more than 450 quakes near the area's Salton Sea since March 21. While a major quake hasn't struck in 300 years, but everyone is on alert. [KFMB]

· New Zealand is Pretty: Gadling's Grant Martin is fresh back from his trip to Kiwiland and has some pretty photos to show. [Gadling]

· 'Friends and Family' Code from Fairmont Hotels: HotelChatter has gotten their grubby hands on a sweet promo code for swanky Fairmont Hotels. [HotelChatter]]]> juliana 2009-04-07T18:12:56-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/4/6/91821/02842

Ninety-two people are believed to be dead after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck towns and cities across central Italy yesterday. The closest city to the epicenter of the quake was L'Aquila, a town about 60 miles away from Rome in the Abruzzo Region.

According to news reports, between 3,000 and 10,000 buildings in the medieval city may have been damaged. Between 40,000 and 50,000 people overall are believed to have lost their homes.

The quake struck around 3:30 a.m. and could be felt as far away as Rome, some 95 miles to the west, where it rattled furniture and set off car alarms. Part of a student dormitory, a church tower and other historic buildings collapsed in L’Aquila, and the town’s cathedral was damaged.

The city of L'Aquila is described as a "Walled city with narrow streets, lined by Baroque and Renaissance buildings" with none of the older buildings built to withstand earthquakes. Right now, the city is focusing on rescuing any survivors who may be trapped in buildings or rubble. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has also declared a state of emergency as power lines are down throughout the affected region and some bridges and roads have been closed as a precaution.

Italy has had three major earthquakes in modern history, the last of which occurred in 2002 in the southern town of San Giuliano di Puglia which killed 28 people. Another deadly quake in the Umbria region in 1997 killed 10 people and destroyed Assisi's famed basilica.

Related Stories:
· Powerful Italian quake kills many [BBC]
· At Least 92 Die in Earthquake in Italy [NY Times]

[Photo: New York Times]]]> juliana 2009-04-06T09:23:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/12/30/104639/27

Probably the only thing we remember from our tours of Yellowstone a couple years ago are guides telling us about the supervolcano that formed the caldera that covers a large chunk of the national park. You can't have geysers and bubbling mudpots without lots of geothermal activity underground, and so Yellowstone is used to the occasional quake. But a recent batch of hundreds of mini-earthquakes, has scientists scratching their heads.

Though even the strongest of the tremors, at magnitude 3.8, is just strong enough to be easily noticed without seismic equipment, the fact that more than 250 quakes have occurred in the past few days has geologists on high alert, one University of Utah professor tells the AP:

This is an active volcanic and tectonic area, and these are the kinds of things we have to pay attention to. We might be seeing something precursory.

Could it develop into a bigger fault or something related to hydrothermal activity? We don't know. That's what we're there to do, to monitor it for public safety.

While it's good to know someone's watching out for park visitors, it's not exactly clear what precautions could be taken if a massive earthquake were to suddenly hit. In 1959, a huge quake triggered a landslide that killed 28. The good news is that these quake swarms happen pretty often, so it could just be a little something to add some edginess to your national park visit.

Related Stories:
· Scientists Eye Unusual Swarm of Quakes [AP, via Google]
· Recent Quakes in Yellowstone National Park [University of Utah]
· Earthquakes coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: trialsanderrors]]]> pbb 2008-12-30T11:00:39-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/11/18/1950/2588

Six months after the earthquake, China's Sichuan province is more-or-less ready for visitors.

They've even got earthquake tourism started with an earthquake relic park now open in Qingchuan County, the hardest hit region. Instead of six villages they've now got 36 lakes in this area; tourists can visit for free although they're considered charging in the future.

As far as tourism is concerned, Sichuan officials were pretty pleased that no World Heritage Sites were seriously damaged--they also breathed a big sigh of relief that none of the 55,000 foreign tourists there at the time were killed. (We might point out that 88,000 Chinese people were, but apparently that's not on the agenda of tourism officials.) And as odd as it might be, they're probably expecting a boost in tourist numbers now that we all know where kung pao chicken actually comes from.

Related Stories:
· Quake Relic Park Opens in Sichuan [Shanghai Daily]
· Where Is the Epicenter of the China Earthquake? [Jaunted]
· China Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: Shanghai Daily]]]> amandak 2008-11-18T09:30:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/30/111136/214

Travel industry personality Chris McGinnis, who's worked everywhere from CNN Headline News to Expedia, had a particularly travel-y LA earthquake experience yesterday:

I was in the security screening area at LAX and my bag was in the x-ray machine. All of a sudden every machine and magnetometer started beeping and blinking red wildly and the overhead monitors were shaking and the TSA folks were yelling "STOP, STOP, ALL STOP."

We all sorta looked at each other as the quake rolled by. I was ready to jump under the metal table it if got any worse. The Japanese lady with her two kids in front of me with Hello Kitty bags looked at me like "So what's the big deal here?"

About two minutes went by, and the machines came back on and my bag popped out and I packed up, put my shoes on and carried on. Everyone was shaking their heads and saying things like "Welcome to California, folks."

Where did McGinnis publish his first-hand account? Facebook, obviously.

Related Stories:
· My LAX Earthquake Experience [Facebook]
· Where Was the LA Earthquake? [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-07-30T11:15:02-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/29/153455/327

At 11:42 local time, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook up Los Angeles, making us glad that the White Knight Two reveal was yesterday instead of today. We don't like hiding under desks!

The epicenter, mapped above, was just two miles from Chino Hills and 29 miles from the LA Civic Center downtown. While 5.8 isn't that strong, it did manage to shake up buildings and locals alike. There were no serious injuries reported, but Disneyland has closed its rides for inspections.

As for people trying to flee LA, they're in luck: Flights out of LAX continue to operate normally.

Related Stories:
· Earthquake Details from the USGS [Official Site]
· Earthquake Rocks Los Angeles [CNN]
· Moderate Earthquake Shakes LA [Reuters]
· Google Maps/Where Is... coverage [Jaunted]]]> pbb 2008-07-29T15:39:26-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/6/27/85230/4540

And out of disaster comes... a new tourist destination. Thanks to the May 12 earthquake, Beichuan county got a large new lake, and Chinese scientists and government officials are already figuring out how to maximize its tourism potential.

Tangjiashan Lake was formed after the side of a mountain fell in and blocked a river. It's already been decided that it's safe and stable, so the next step is to decide how to keep it a scenic spot ripe for tourists.

We see plenty of potential for poorly-translated Chinglish signs here and perhaps a few new rules for tourists to follow. Or, here's an idea, let's just have a pretty lake with a few picnic tables. How about it, China?

Related Stories:
· China Quake Lake to be Tourist Spot [AP, via Google]
· Where is the Epicenter of the China Earthquake? [Jaunted]
· China Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Karen from Michigan]]]> amandak 2008-06-27T08:52:30-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/