Earth ChangesS


Arrow Up

USGS: 6.2 magnitude earthquake hits Pacific island of Vanuatu

Vanuatu quake map
There are no immediate reports of damage.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Tuesday (Jun 14), the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties, and no tsunami warning was issued.

Vanuatu is part of the "Ring of Fire", a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

The quake struck at a depth of 131 kilometres (81 miles), 92 kilometres northwest of the town of Isangel on Tanna island, USGS said.

Vanuatu has been rocked by a series of quakes this year, including some that prompted tsunami warnings.

Source: AFP/hs

Cloud Lightning

Farmworker killed by lightning in Manatee County, Florida

lightning
Authorities are investigating after they say a farmworker was struck and killed by lightning in Florida.

News agencies report the Manatee County Sheriff's Office says the man was struck Monday evening.

Deputies say the 47-year-old victim, who worked at the Falkner Farm, was helping two other farmworkers load a truck when the storm began just after 5 p.m.

Authorities say all three workers were struck by lightning and taken to the hospital, where one of them was pronounced dead.

The victim's name has not been released.


Source: Associated Press

Cloud Precipitation

Man filmed clinging to car roof as floods sweep through southern China

Vehicles come to a standstill at a flooded crossroad in Pingba, Guizhou province, China
© ReutersVehicles come to a standstill at a flooded crossroad in Pingba, Guizhou province
Rains continue to lash southern China as residents struggle to get onto dry land, including one man who can be seen clinging to the roof of his car as it gets washed away.



Video: Reuters

Snowflake Cold

Summertime June snow in Alaska, Finland, China, Russia, New York State

June snow
© YouTube/Adapt 2030 (screen capture)
Rare Snowstorms abound across the planet. Mid-June and every continent received snow across both hemispheres. Record snows in Argentina/Chile, New York state, Russia, China, Finland


Comment: Snowfall records smashed across US as northern hemisphere struggles into 'summer'


Wolf

Hyena attacks four youngsters in India

Striped Hyena
Striped Hyena
Four teenagers suffered bite wounds in what they claimed was an attack by a hyena in Tarsadi village near Kosamba early on Monday.

The four young boys were slepping outside their house when they were attacked by the wild animal. The victims claimed that it was a hyena that attacked them but forest department officials said that they are still verifying this as hyenas were not spotted here before.

The victims Sabir Shabbir Shah, Azim Shaikh, both aged 13 and Imran Shah and Abdul Gani Ali Mansuri, both 19-year-old, were sleeping outside their house in Chisti Nagar. In the early morning, the animal tried to drag away Sabir who suffered severe injuries in one eye. The animal escaped after the boys raised an alarm. The family members of the victims said that they boys went to sleep outside house after power failure at around 11 pm on Sunday.

Arrow Down

8 dead after heavy rainfall triggers landslide in Chocó, Colombia

A general view of a landslide in the sector El 20 of the rural area of Quibdo, department of Choco, Colombia
© COLOMBIA'S FIRE DEPERTMENT/AFP/Getty A general view of a landslide in the sector El 20 of the rural area of Quibdo, department of Choco, Colombia
Civil defence officials in Colombia say that a deadly landslide occurred at around 14:00 on 10 June in Chocó Department, between Quibdó and Medellín.

Colombia's agency for disaster risk management (Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres - UNGRD) report that 8 people have died, 5 are missing and 4 injured. The President of Colmbia, Juan Manuel Santos, offered his condolences to the victims. Teams from the Red Cross and Defensa Civil Colombiana are carrying out searches in the area.

The landslide was triggered by heavy rain that has affected wide areas of Colombia over the last few days. Istmina, about 130 km south of Quibdó, recorded 170 mm of rain in 24 hours between 08 and 09 June.

The vital communications route between Quibdó in Chocó department and Medellín in Antioquia has been blocked by the slide.

Attention

Sizable 4.3 magnitude earthquake hits west of Yellowstone

Graph
© Dimas Ardian, Getty Images
A sizable quake rattled the mountains west of Yellowstone Park Monday morning, registering a 4.3 magnitude.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake hit at 6:14 a.m. Monday with the epicenter about 32 miles west of West Yellowstone.

That would put the quake's location north of the Continental Divide, in the Centennial Valley.

The area is sparsely populated, and even an hour after the quake only a couple of people had reported feeling the quake to U.S.G.S.

The region on the west side of Yellowstone frequently has several small quakes per month, but Monday's quake was larger than usual.

Snowflake

June snowfall for Barrow, Alaska

Snow in Barrow
Snow in Barrow
A record 1.7 inches of snow fell Thursday in Barrow, shattering the old daily snowfall record for June 9. The previous record was .5 inches, set in 1992.

Though it is a little unusual for it to snow in Barrow during June, it's not unheard of. Barrow has a record of snow falling during every month of the year. The record for a daily snowfall amount during June is 3.2 inches, which fell on June 7, 1981.

Cloudy skies are expected in Barrow Friday with a high temperature of 37F degrees and 47F degrees Saturday. Based on weather camera pictures, much of the snow has already melted.

Attention

Thousands of red tuna crabs wash up around Mission Bay, California; second time for the area within a month

Red tuna crabs wash up
Red tuna crabs wash up
Thousands of red tuna crabs washed ashore Tuesday morning in Mission Beach.

Visitors in the area around the South Shores Park Boat Launch found beaches covered with the carbs. Red tuna crasbs are typically found off the coast of Baja California, however, El Nino weather patterns have pushed them north and onto Southern Californian beaches.

Last month, thousands of crabs also washed ashore in Imperial Beach. They have also been spotted on Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach and in Orange County.


Comment: See also: Thousands of tuna crabs found in Imperial Beach, California


Cloud Lightning

Rare 'red sprites' burst out of supercell storm in Texas

rare red sprite over Texas
© YouTube/RT NEWS (screen capture)
Very rare 'Red Sprites' shoot out of the tops of supercell thunderstorms near Amarillo, Texas.


Comment: Red Sprites - A strange and beautiful form of lightning