Earth ChangesS


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

Read More...
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
Read More...
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.
Read More...
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:

Read More...
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.

Read More...
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.
Read More...
Snowflake

Several parts of Morocco to be hit with large drops in temperature

Robert
Ice Age Now
Thu, 19 Jan 2017 19:33 UTC
Morocco cold snap
© libe.ma
Several parts of Morocco will be hit by a great drop in temperature until the end of this week, according to the Direction de la Météorologie Nationale (DMN).

These are the provinces of Midelt, Tinghir, Azilal, Al Haouz, Béni Mellal, Boulemane and Ifrane where low temperatures will vary between -11 and -5 ° C, and max temperatures will range between -3 and 0 ° C.

(...) It is the poor and deprived population of the regions, particularly the mountainous massifs of the Atlas and the Rif, that suffer from this great drop in temperatures.
Read More...
Ambulance

Up to 30 people feared dead as Italian hotel is buried by avalanche after four earthquakes hit the region (UPDATE: 10 people found alive)

Gareth Davies
Daily Mail (UK)
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 23:28 UTC
Italy avalanche rescue
Rescue teams are still battling to access the hotel - a task made more difficult by huge snow drifts in the area.
Up to 30 people have been killed after an Italian ski hotel was buried by an avalanche during a series of earthquakes.

Rescue teams are still battling to access Hotel Rigopiano, in Pescara, a province in the Abruzzo region, which has been hit by heavy snowfall in the last week.

The search operation was launched after four powerful earthquakes hit central Italy - in regions already reeling from deadly quakes last August.

There are reports this morning that as many as 30 people have been killed at the hotel.

'There are many dead,' Antonio Crocetta, the head of a group of Alpine police that was trying to reach the cut-off hotel, was quoted as saying.

Twenty firemen, two mountain rescue teams, six ambulances and local police were heading for the site last night, but the weather conditions were expected to cause major delays, a civil protection agency spokesman said.

Italy was hit by four earthquakes in four hours on Wednesday, killing one and bringing terror to snowbound mountain areas still recovering from last year's series of deadly tremors.

The quakes, all measuring more than five magnitude, struck close to Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by an August earthquake that left nearly 300 people dead.


Comment: Update: Miraculously, ten people have been discovered alive after being buried in snow for two days. They reportedly were kept warm by the snow, which insulated them "like an igloo."

Read More...
Snowflake Cold

Cold Temperatures Set Records Throughout Manitoba

Mike Koncan
Global News
Fri, 20 Jan 2017 19:40 UTC
Riding National Park in Manitoba
© Debra Crammond
It's been two straight days of record setting temperatures across Manitoba and more will likely fall before the weekend.

Since Manitoba has been stuck in the 'extreme cold' a week ago, mild, Pacific air has warmed up the province considerably and brought about record setting temperatures January 15, 17, and 18, with nearly the entire province getting above 0 C on Wednesday.

While the province hasn't taken the title as the country's 'hot spot,' McCreary Man., has consistently been the warmest in the province registering temperatures well above freezing since Sunday. McCreary registered it's highest temperature Wednesday at 9.2 C. The warmest place in the country Wednesday was Violet Grove Alt., at 13.2 C.

Thursday could be a record breaker as well with temperatures getting up near 5 C in some areas. Winnipeg will stay closer the freezing mark, below record levels.

As the weekend approaches, the forecast will start to change. Southern Manitoba will continue to see mild temperature but rain and snow will likely show up a few times on and off Friday night and through the weekend. Temperatures are expected to start to cool off close to the middle of next week.

January 18 records (and previous records):

Comment: Winnipeg also reported its snowiest December in more than 100 years.

Read More...
Arrow Down

Sinkhole threatens to swallow car in Reading, Pennsylvania

Amanda VanAllen
WFMZ 69 News
Wed, 18 Jan 2017 18:08 UTC
Sinkhole in Reading, PA
© WFMZ
A sinkhole opened and a six-inch water main broke Wednesday on Fairmont Avenue, near Bruckman Avenue, in the Reading's Northmont neighborhood.

The hole, estimated to have an opening of about 18 feet long, threatened to swallow a car that was parked on Fairmont, adjacent to the Quadrant corporate office.

"Another employee came flying in the office like, "Oh my God! Your car is almost in the sinkhole," and I was like, 'What? You've gotta be kidding me,'" said Elanie Diana, the owner of the almost-doomed car.

But it was no joke. When Diana got outside, she saw her car holding on by a thread, teetering over the sinkhole.

"Oh my God. It's almost paid for, and now it's gonna end up in a hole," she said.

Soon, a tow truck driver was able to get it out. Diana started her car, and was on her to find a safer place to park.

"It's a major sinkhole, a major water main break here on a 6-inch line," said Ralph Johnson of Reading Public Works.
Read More...