Doomsday group charging $5000 for spot in end-of-the-world bunker near Tenterfield

A 2012 doomsday group is charging $5000 for admission to a survival bunker in the northern NSW hills.

Massive earthquakes, shifts in the Earth's poles and devastating solar flares will be among events faced by the global community this year, according to the group, which describes itself as a "survival community".

Group organiser, NSW refrigeration mechanic Simon Young, said the entry fee went towards concrete and other materials to construct the bunker, believed to be in mountains near Tenterfield.

The group points to Egyptian texts, Bible passages and a frozen mammoth as evidence the world will undergo massive physical change around December 21.

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Scientists worldwide have refuted 2012 doomsday claims, saying nothing will happen to the Earth this year.

When asked about the bunker project, set to be 1.2km above sea level to avoid predicted catastrophic sea events, Mr Young said he believed it was the best chance of survival.

"It's to get ready for 2012," he said.

"We're trying to get a few more people involved."

The bunker is expected to be completed just before December when the group anticipates sun activity and tectonic shifts to wipe out most life on Earth.

The group's website, which features poems from 16th Century prophetess Mother Shipton, has had more than 28,500 hits as 2012 paranoia mounts.

"It is known that the sun's activity has increased significantly over the past century," the site states.
"It is believed that there is a correlation between the sun's cycle and magnetic fluctuations, and pole shifts."

The site lists the discovery of a frozen mammoth among a body of "evidence" towards the presence of an undiscovered planet in the universe that the group believes could alter the Earth's poles.

NASA scientists in the US have taken to the web to dispell myths about doomsday as December approaches.

"Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012," their website states.

"Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.'

“Whopping” number of earthquakes shake around Hawaii volcano“

HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii: A large number of earthquakes has been rattling the Volcano area on Hawaii Island over the last few days. The quakes have been small, with no damage reported. Still, a handful of those temblors have been 3.0 magnitude and over.

The USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s “Recent Earthquakes in Hawaii” page shows a constant swarm of quakes surrounding the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, home of the active Kilauea Volcano. We took a screen grab of the screen of the USGS HVO earthquake page, and it shows the long list stretching all the way back to Friday, June 1st.

16 earthquakes have already registered on the list before noon on Tuesday, Hawaii time.

On Tuesday, the HVO staff makes mention of the quakes on their Kilauea volcano update page:

The GPS network recorded weak extension overall for the past few months with superimposed contraction and extension fluctuations corresponding to DI tilt events. Seismic tremor levels were generally low, decreasing from a peak around 11 am Sunday. A whopping thirty-three earthquakes were strong enough to be located beneath Kilauea volcano: 4 deep earthquakes below the southwest rift zone, 3 beneath the west edge of the summit area, 7 within and below the upper east rift, 1 north of the middle east rift zone, 7 on south flank faults, and 11 mostly shallow long-period (LP) earthquakes within the Koa`e Fault Zone beneath the Kulanaokuaiki Camp Ground; a quick check this morning showed no obvious new cracking on the surface near the campground.

The rise of the Kilauea summit lava lake level in Halemaumau crater continued with several overflows of the inner ledge. At Pu`u `O`o, scientists report lava also rose within the east collapse pit; to the southeast, lava flows continued to advance on the coastal plain.