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Monday, March 28, 2011 – Daily News – 5B Study: Big quakes don’t set off others far away NEW YORK (AP) — Here’s some good news in the wake of Japan’s disaster: A new study says big earthquakes don’t set off other dangerous ones around the globe. Big quakes do trigger local aftershocks, but researchers found no sign of setting off moderate-sized events beyond about 600 miles away. That won’t surprise most experts, said lead study author Tom Parsons. But it’s different from his prior research, which did find a global effect for set- ting off small quakes, said Par- sons, of the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif. Parsons and Aaron Velasco of the University of Texas at El Paso reported the work online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. They looked at worldwide earthquake records for the 30 years ending in 2009. There were 205 big earthquakes, with magnitude of 7 or more, and 25,222 moderate ones with magnitudes between 5 and 7. Then the researchers looked at the timing of these events for evidence that the larger quakes triggered the moderate ones. They checked for delays of up to 24 hours, long enough to let the seismic waves from the big quakes peter out. They did find an increase in moderate quakes, but only with- in about 600 miles of the initial event, and nearly all within 375 miles. At distances beyond 600 miles, the number of moderate quakes after a big event was no higher than normal. While the study didn’t look The game that kills ORLANDO, Fla. (MCT) — David Cody Hudson, just 12 years old, died after his sisters found him unconscious on his bedroom floor with a karate belt tied around his neck in October 2007. After the medical examiner pointed out the marks on his neck were inconsistent with sui- cide, Leesburg police detectives determined David's death was the result of the "choking game." At least seven minors have died in Central Florida under similar circumstances resem- bling suicides since 2000, but experts say their deaths were the result of playing the choking game: a risky practice that restricts blood and oxygen flow to the brain to achieve a high. And the deadly game is gaining popularity among children and teens. Despite news reports and national studies on the choking game, many parents are unaware their children could be playing it. The choking game should not be confused with erotic asphyxi- ation, which is a similar practice restricting oxygen flow to the brain, and mostly performed by adults, for sexual pleasure. Those who play the choking game are doing it solely for the euphoria that can result. "(David) learned it from friends at school," his grandfa- ther Jim Hudson of Fruitland Park, Fla., said. "He was a little daredevil and curious. If some- one dared him to do something, he would do it." David's case illustrates what experts are saying about the dis- turbing trend: that kids are learn- ing about it from friends at school, at parties and on YouTube. "The amount of children who know what the choking game is greatly outnumbers the parents who are aware of it," said Kate Leonardi, founder of The Dan- gerous Behaviors Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks choking- game deaths. "Parents need to include a chat about the choking game in the same conversation about the dangers of drugs, alco- hol, sex and other risky behav- iors." Leonardi lost her 11-year-old son, Dylan Blake, to the choking game in October 2005 in St. Augustine, Fla. She had never heard of it until three weeks after his death, and learned from fam- ily and Dylan's friends that he had played it before. Fourteen-year-old Izaac d'Aquin of Miami died playing the choking game in October 2010. "You need to become very aware about this very horrible thing that is attacking our youth today," his father, Santiago Dobles, wrote on his martial arts blog shortly after his son died. "You will soon realize it is worse than drugs, highly addictive, easy to do and legal." More than 100 youths across the nation have died from the choking game since 1995, according to a 2008 report com- piled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The count is based on news reports and advocacy organiza- tions. Most who died were boys, at an average age of about 13. But experts think there could be hundreds more because med- ical examiners often classify choking-game deaths as acci- dental asphyxia from hanging. The CDC's mortality reports also do not specify "choking game" as a cause of death. The website for the nonprofit G.A.S.P., which stands for Games Adolescents Shouldn't Play, estimates that 250 to 1,000 young people die in the United States and Canada each year because of the game, thought most are reported as suicides. Dr. Jan Garavaglia, chief medical examiner at the Orange- Osceola Medical Examiner's Office, agrees the number of deaths from the choking game is likely underreported. "Law enforcement investi- gators and doctors in other states may not be as familiar with the choking game to iden- tify it," Garavaglia said. "A huge red flag is the age. Sui- cides in that age group are extremely rare." Garavaglia gave details of David Cody Hudson's death in a 2008 episode featuring the chok- ing game on her show, "Dr. G: Medical Examiner" on the Dis- covery Health Channel. A 2008 study by the Oregon Public Health Division —con- sidered one of the most scientif- ic to date — surveyed awareness and prevalence of the choking game among eighth-grade Ore- gon students. The results showed 1 in 3 students had heard of it and knew someone who had done it. About 6 percent admit- ted they had played the choking game. The Oregon survey showed many of the students who played the choking game also partici- pated in other risky behavior, such as substance abuse. Friends of 18-year-old Alexander Quimby, who was found hanging from the closet of his father's Orlando condo in November 2009, told his family the Maine teen "had struggled with drugs during the last days of his life," the police report of his death shows. Friends also said Quimby played the choking game "to achieve a euphoric high because he didn't have access to drugs" while staying in Orlando. 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Anyway, since the world averages only about seven quakes at magnitude 7 or above per year, any such effect would have been noticed already, he said. The new result agrees with what most seismologists believe just from experience, said Klaus Jacob of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. ‘‘It’s nice to see it confirmed with a thor- ough study,’’ Jacob said. Parsons said that after the magnitude-9 Japan event on March 11 he watched the glob- al map of earthquakes to look for any distant effect. He saw none. ‘‘It appears to fall in line with what we’ve seen before,’’ Parsons said. ——— Online: Nature Geoscience: http://www.nature.com/ngeo 2011 major quakes: http://1.usa.gov/cMcbG9 n A C A o l l S D i t e A c n D u s N Y t s C A S r ' G C N A I N P N A ✄ ✄