Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Major 8.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Papua New Guinea


BNO News
Sun, 22 Jan 2017 05:02 UTC
PNG Quake
© USGS
A major earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 8.0 has struck Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands, prompting a tsunami alert for both the islands and the wider region, seismologists say. Only few details are available.

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The earthquake, which struck at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, was centered about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northwest of Panguna, a town on Bougainville Island that is located northeast of mainland Papua New Guinea and is geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, which put the preliminary magnitude at 8.4, said the earthquake struck at a depth of 168 kilometers (104 miles), making it a relatively deep quake. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) put the preliminary magnitude at 8.0.

As a result, a tsunami alert has been issued for Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Pohnpei, Kosrae, Vanuatu, and Chuuk. "Based on the preliminary earthquake parameters, widespread hazardous tsunami waves are possible," the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.

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Igloo

Freak snowfall brings winter to New Zealand resorts in summer!


Stuff
Sun, 22 Jan 2017 00:44 UTC
Snowfall in Summer
© Ewan MackieGuests awoke to 30 centimetres of fresh snow on Sunday morning.
Guests at Cardrona Alpine Resort, near Wanaka, have woken to a winter wonderland - in the middle of summer.

Light snow began falling on Saturday afternoon, but increased to heavy falls overnight, leaving a 30-centimetre base, Cardrona marketing coordinator Matt McIvor said. The white stuff was still falling on Sunday morning.

In five years at the resort McIvor said he had never seen these conditions in January.
Snowfall in Wanaka
© Ewan MackieFreak snowfall in January has brought winter to Cardrona Alpine Resort near Wanaka.
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House

Tennessee couple lose home to large sinkhole

Bill Mitchell
WDEF
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 18:13 UTC
East Brainerd, TN sinkhole
© Cecilia Lanzar
Most of us don't expect to suddenly lose access to our home and belongings because they fell into a sink hole.

But that's what happened to Cecilia Lanzar and her husband who live in East Brainerd last December.

They are now stuck in limbo as their insurance company and engineers figure out what to do next.

Cecilia Lanzar had been hearing "creeking" noises in her home for several weeks, but on December 1 st she never expected to see what was happening that morning.

CECILIA LANZAR, HOMEOWNER "So, I opened the blinds and the deck was tilting." A big sinkhole had opened up almost overnight. She knew that water had been flowing across her lawn from a broken water pump that belongs to Amberleigh Apartments on the hill above her home. And, according to city inspectors it had weakened her lawn .
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Sun

Double sun halo captured in Fairbanks, Alaska

Space
The Earth Chronicles of Life
Sat, 21 Jan 2017 15:08 UTC
Double sun halo in Alaska
Winter storm walked through the city of Fairbanks in Alaska. During its peak, "he left a lot of ice crystals in the air," says a local resident Bernard Marsha. "We saw a beautiful sight — a sun halo, including a double, January 17," he says.

The inner ring — a common 22-degree solar halo, which was formed by passing sunlight through ice crystals in the form of hexagonal prisms. The outer ring — something a little more exotic. "This is the 46-degree halo, explains atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley. — They are more rare than is written in the textbooks and on websites".

And 22-degree and 46-degree halos are formed due to the same ice crystals in the form of hexagonal prisms, but the 46-degree halo is very dim, and they are almost always impossible to see. Therefore, when the outer ring is seen, usually it's some other phenomenon. "Upper tangent arc, halo, — defines Cowley. — They are formed when the hexagonal columnar crystals arranged in a horizontal row in the air, and can impersonate the 46-degree halo."
Sun halo rings
© Bernard Marsha
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Seismograph

Series of eight earthquakes recorded in Colorado overnight

Chris Sorensen
Kiowa County Press
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 14:17 UTC
GRAPH
Eight earthquakes rocked the mountains in Pitkin and Gunnison County area Thursday night according to the United States Geological Surey.

The first occurred shortly after 8:00 p.m., and was in Pitkin County 17 miles south of Carbondale. It measured 2.8 on the Richter Scale and occurred about three miles beneath the surface.

A second quake, less than 10 miles away, occurred about 45 minutes later, also measured 2.8, at a similar depth. It was in Gunnison County ,17 miles west of Snowmass Village.

Fifteen minutes later, another quake, measuring 2.3 in nearly identical location to the second, struck the area.

Comment: Update: Colorado earthquake count rises to 12 in 36 hours

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Snowflake Cold

Animals struggle with heavy snowfall, winter weather in Idaho


The Spokesman-Review
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 12:06 UTC
Two juvenile elk wander in a field
© Jerome A PollosTwo juvenile elk wander in a field
While Idaho residents are lamenting heavy snowpack and icy roads, wildlife in the state has been struggling in the backcountry.

Idaho Fish and Game officials told the Post Register that the tough winter will likely mean higher mortality rates for elk and deer that are coping with heavily crusted snowpack.

The deep snow makes it harder for game to move around, with each step requiring more energy and sapping more of the animals' fat supplies, Idaho Fish and Game Regional Wildlife Manager Curtis Hendricks said. The crusted snow also makes it hard for deer and elk to uncover winter forage, further depleting their fat stores.

In Valley County, more familiar animals are struggling due to the snow. A pair of horses has become stranded in a remote area near Boulder Lake. The Valley County Sheriff's Office is working to save the animals, KTVB-TV reported.


HORSES
© Valley County Sheriff's OfficeHorses stranded
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Binoculars

Chinstrap penguin makes rare 1500-kilometre trip from Antarctica to Macquarie Island

Cate Grant
abc.net.au
Sat, 21 Jan 2017 10:43 UTC
The chinstrap penguin
© Kim KlistaThe chinstrap penguin
What makes a tiny penguin set out on an epic journey through a vast ocean with seemingly little hope of returning home in one piece?

Antarctic researchers are not actually sure, but when one little chinstrap penguin made a very rare appearance on remote Macquarie Island recently there was great excitement.

The chinstraps are cousins of the more common adelie penguins, but the nearest colony of chinstraps is about 1,500 kilometres south of Macquarie Island

There have only been five chinstrap sightings on "Macca" since 2013, and 44 since 1953.
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Blue Planet

14 buried in central China landslide


Xinhua
Sat, 21 Jan 2017 08:51 UTC
14 buried in central China landslide January 2017
© Xinhua
Around 14 people were buried in a landslide which hit part of a hotel in a central China town on Friday night, local authorities said.

The landslide hit the hotel at the town proper of Nanzhang County, Hubei Province around 7:30 p.m. Friday.
14 buried in central China landslide
© XinhuaA landslide hit part of a hotel in Chengguan town of Nanzhang on Friday night. The casualties are still unclear.

Comment: Also see:

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Cloud Lightning

Man has an incredible escape as lightning strikes in the same place twice in Singapore

Kara O'Neill
Daily Mirror
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 21:35 UTC
It hits twice in the same spot
© CENIt hits twice in the same spot
A man had an incredibly lucky escape when he was metres away from a lightning bolt - that struck twice in the same place.

Delivery driver Fahrol Razi, 30, sitting in his van in the Sim Lim Tower car park in Singapore, had already witnessed one bolt of lightning strike nearby.

He got out his phone to video the scene when another bolt struck in almost exactly the same place.

The clip shows a frightening orange blaze of light and a large chunk of a tree being blasted off the trunk and into the car park, with splinters of wood sprayed widely.

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Attention

Dead whale washed ashore on Outer Hebrides, Scotland


The Press and Journal
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 08:26 UTC
Humpback whale
Humpback whale
The public are being warned to stay away from a dead giant whale that washed ashore in the Outer Hebrides yesterday amid fears that it could explode.

The badly-decomposed animal is believed to be a humpback whale.

Humpback whales were once hunted to the brink of extinction in Scottish waters, but in recent years the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust has noticed an increase in the number of sightings. Though still relatively rare there were more than 20 last year.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said a member of the public had raised the alarm at 9.40am after coming across the whale on a beach in Benbecula.
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