Earth ChangesS


Fish

Dead or dying tuna wash up on the east coast of Malta


The Times of Malta
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 14:33 UTC
Dead tuna
Dead tuna
Dead or injured tuna washed ashore in several areas of Malta's east coast today, a probable consequence of yesterday's Grigalata.

The rough weather also damaged fishfarms and sent a big slick of oily slime along the shore, clinging to seacraft moored in the bays and particularly at the Portomaso marina. Fishfarm operators yesterday denied that the slime had anything to do with them.

The rough sea yesterday was so strong, it even dislodged some tarmac near the old fishmarket in Grand harbour.

Damage was caused to San Giljan waterpolo pitch, the Radisson hotel, several boats and even cars parked close to the sea.

Comment: As well as the pollution and rough weather mentioned above as explanations for this incident, there is a strong possibility it was connected to an undersea earthquake of 4.8 magnitude, 151km east of Malta on the same day. An outgassing event?

The tremor (red dot) was recorded some 151km east of Malta
The tremor (red dot) was recorded some 151km east of Malta


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Cloud Precipitation

Severe flooding hits Eilat, Israel; average annual rainfall saturates city in one night


Ynetnews
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 09:42 UTC
flooding in Eilat
© Meir OchionTractors sent to remove huge quantities of water
Heavy rains swept across Eilat overnight Thursday, causing serious flooding and forcing the local airport to announce an indefinite closure due to dangerous quantities of water on the runways. The airport reported shortly before noon that it would be reopened and resume regular operations.

Booms of thunder accompanied the giant lightning bolts that could also be see lighting up the night skies.

A number of other roads leading to hotels in the popular holiday resort were also closed as tractors were deployed in an effort to remove the huge quantities of water drenching the streets across the city.

Since midnight, 27.7mm of rain fell in the port city, according to facts provided by the National Weather Service, with not less that 21.4mm falling over the course of two hours in the morning.

The amount of rain which saturated the city in just one night therefore, is similar to the entire annual average of rain that usually sunny Eilat sees.

What is more, the torrential rains contrast heavily with the temperatures in the area which are expected to reach up to 31 degrees celsius on Friday.

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Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 5.4 earthquake hits Colombia


Sputnik News
Mon, 31 Oct 2016 06:04 UTC
Colombia Earthquake
© Reuters/Jaime SaldarriagaRescue team members wait outside a clinic that was evacuated after tremors were felt resulting from an earthquake in Ecuador, in Cali, Colombia, April 16, 2016
An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale occurred on Monday in the center of Colombia, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported.

Moscow — The earthquake occurred at 00:20 GMT on Monday at a depth of 44 kilometers (about 27 miles) with the epicenter located in 25 miles of the small town of Colombia. The largest urban center relatively close to the earthquake at approximately 67 miles was Neiva with the population of 352,855.

There have been no reports yet of the damage inflicted by the earthquake.
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Seismograph

6.6 earthquake devastates historic churches and buildings in Norcia, Italy


RT
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 22:50 UTC
norica italy earthquake 2016
© The Monks of NorciaThe Basilica of St. Benedict is destroyed, flattened by most recent earthquake.
The ancient town of Norcia in central Italy is in ruins following the powerful earthquake which knocked its historical 13th century Basilica of St Benedict and other buildings to the ground.

Sunday's earthquake was the latest in a series of seismic events to strike central Italy, and comes just two months after another violent earthquake hit the same area of central and southern Italy, killing 300 people and destroying several towns.


There was widespread devastation, with many buildings, already compromised by earlier quakes, suffering severe damage.

Many of the town's residents had been evacuated after quakes on Wednesday, meaning they avoided the worst of the damage. The Civil Protection agency reported several injuries but no fatalities.
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Question

Scientists have no idea why sharks are congregating off northern New South Wales, Australia

Kirrily Schwarz
news.com.au
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:49 UTC
Great white shark
Great white shark
A surfer has become the 12th person to be attacked by a shark in Australia this year, escaping with bite marks to his leg after hitting the surf on Monday morning at Broken Head, in northern New South Wales.

It's become the most dangerous stretch of coastline in the country for shark attacks, and the phenomenon has mystified scientists.

"It's impossible to pinpoint causation," said Daryl McPhee, a researcher at Bond University.

He told news.com.au shark attacks have been increasing globally for the past 30 years. "There's no one reason globally, it's a combination of factors," he said, listing things such as weather, environment and proximity to food.

"It's very difficult to work out why there's a concentration on the northern New South Wales coast."

Over the past few years Northern NSW has been the location of the majority of shark attacks.
© news.com.auOver the past few years Northern NSW has been the location of the majority of shark attacks.
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Attention

2 children injured by bear in Poonch, India

Ishrat Butt
Greater Kashmir
Sun, 30 Oct 2016 19:19 UTC
bear print
Reports said that Muhammad Ilyas, 12, and his sister Sobeya Bi,7, were injured after bear attacked them in Loran area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.

A 12-year-old boy and his younger sister were injured in a bear attack in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Reports said that Muhammad Ilyas, 12, and his sister Sobeya Bi,7, were injured after bear attacked them in Loran area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.

The duo were out to fetch water when the attack took place.
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Attention

Bear mauls man to death in Himachal Pradesh, India


The Times of India
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 18:45 UTC
bear print
In yet another death arising out of the growing cases of man-animal conflict in Himachal Pradesh, a bear mauled a 31-year-old man in a remote village in Kullu district on Wednesday morning.

Though the group of people accompanying Jeet Kumar back to Kehsan village in the district's Anni sub-division scared the animal away by shouting and blowing whistles, Jett succumbed to injuries on the spot. Anni deputy superintendent of police Baldev Thakur said Jeet had returned to the village after selling vegetables in the main market of Anni.

"The bear suddenly came out of the bushes when Jeet along with few others was near the village. He sustained deep injuries around the neck and throat in the attack that just last a few seconds. His body has been handed to his family after the post-mortem," he said.
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Cloud Precipitation

Floods force thousands to evacuate in Gorontalo, Indonesia

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Thu, 27 Oct 2016 17:49 UTC
Floods in Gorontalo, Indonesia, October 2016.
© BNPDFloods in Gorontalo, Indonesia, October 2016.
Further flooding has been reported in Indonesia, this time in the province of Gorontalo, on the island of Sulawesi.

Earlier this week, one man died and thousands of homes and businesses were left damaged after floods in the city of Bandung, West Java. Reports said that 77 mm of rain fell in just 1.5 hours.

Gorontalo

Indonesia's National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) reports that heavy rain in Gorontalo since 25 October triggered several rivers to overflow, causing floods that left at least 1,500 homes damaged. Several landslides also occurred in some places, causing damage to roads and bridges. Around 4,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes. No deaths have been reported at this time.

BNPD says that the Boyonga, Marisa, Meloopu and Bulota rivers all broke their banks around the same time during the evening of 25 October. The flooding affected the districts of Limboto, West Limboto, Pulubala, and Tolangohula. In some areas the flood water has already started to recede.

In some areas the flood water was up to 1 metre deep. Over 100 patients had to be evacuated from a local hospital, and moved to a hospital in the city of Gorontalo.
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Cloud Precipitation

Flash floods hit Penang, Malaysia

Phuah Ken Lin
New Straits Times
Sat, 29 Oct 2016 15:23 UTC
Penang flash flood leaves thousands stranded
Penang flash flood leaves thousands stranded
For the second time in two months, flash floods brought Penang to its knees, halting traffic and submerging homes in various parts of the city.

The floods, which have become a perennial problem on the island, also meant that a bleak Deepavali was on the cards for the Hindu community.

In Jalan P. Ramlee and arterial roads at Bandar Baru Air Itam, more than 100 houses were submerged in knee-deep water, forcing residents to salvage whatever they can.

Several roads in Lebuhraya Thean Teik and Jalan Thean Teik were also badly flooded, leaving dozens of cars submerged and their owners ruing the damages.

Floods waters also struck Jalan Masjid Negeri, one of the island's main arterial roads. Water levels rose quickly, reducing traffic to a crawl. Several cars which later attempted to brave the flood waters ended up stalled halfway.

The water also seeped into the common area on the ground floor at a densely-populated block of flats in Bandar Baru Air Itam.


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Snowflake

Record snowfall freezes northeastern British Columbia grain harvest


cbc.ca
Fri, 28 Oct 2016 10:49 UTC
Snow on crops
© Dave Gilson/CBCRick Kantz of the B.C. Grain Producers Association says snow has forced farmers across the Peace region in northeastern B.C to leave anywhere between 10 to 20 per cent of their crop in the fields.
A record snowfall is forcing grain farmers in northeastern B.C. to halt their harvest.

On Oct. 1, Fort St. John received 23 centimetres of snow, The old record for the day was six centimetres set in 1954.

"This is probably the most severe one-off weather condition that I can remember in the last 40 years," said Rick Kantz, president of the B.C. Grain Producers Association.

Kantz said harvest had already been difficult this year.

"[The fields] were extremely wet before the snows came ... so instead of travelling across the surface, you're sinking in."

He said it's been raining and snowing since then, and the weather has forced grain farmers to leave anywhere between 10 to 20 per cent of their crops in the field.

"You're down 20 per cent of your income ... you might have enough to cover expenses but it doesn't leave much for wages to carry on," he explained.
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