Earth ChangesS


Attention

6.1 earthquake strikes off southern Australia

EARTHQUAKE MAP
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake has struck near Australia, according to Geoscience Australia.
Mag 6.1 Western Indian Antarctic Ridge, 25 July 2016, 18:58 (AEST). Lat/Long 49.36S, 126.0E. Depth 15km. Info is preliminary.
— EarthquakesGA (@EarthquakesGA) July 25, 2016
It was previously reported that the earthquake was "potentially tsunamigenic," meaning it could cause a tsunami. However, that information has since been retracted.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) has put the quake at a 5.9, with a depth of 10km (6.2 miles).

Bizarro Earth

2nd earthquake in 3 days rattles parts of North Carolina

North Carolina eartquakes
The location of the earthquakes on a map from the US Geological Survey. The one on the left (furthest west) happened Thursday, while the other quake hit Saturday night.
An earthquake shook parts of North Carolina near the Virginia border in Wilkes County on Saturday night.

The 2.4 magnitude quake hit around 9:50 p.m. and was at a depth of 5.1 kilometers, according to the US Geological Survey.

The quake on Saturday night happened just two days after 1.9 magnitude earthquake struck Thursday at Plumtree, N.C. in Avery County — about 60 miles west-southwest of the Saturday quake.

The Saturday night quake was right along US 421 and was closest to Millers Creek, N.C. — which was 3 miles from the center.

There were no reports of damage.

The quake was also about 4 miles west of Wilkesboro and north of W. Kerr Scott Lake.

Fire

Out-of-control California wildfire grows to more than 33,000 acres in Santa Clarita Valley

Santa Clarita wildfire
© YouTube/Associated Press (screen capture)
The brush fire raging in the rugged mountains of the Santa Clarita Valley grew by more than 10,000 acres on Sunday, scorching an estimated 33,172 acres by the late evening as the blaze continued to threaten hundreds of homes while firefighters battled to keep flames from spreading, authorities said.

Fueled by 20-mph winds and hillsides carpeted with tinder-like chaparral, the wildfire was burning in hills toward Acton by late Sunday afternoon. Hundreds of residents were ordered to evacuate.

Mandatory evacuations were still in place Sunday for about 1,500 residents in parts of Sand and Placerita canyons, as well as for others along Little Tujunga Canyon Road.

So far, at least 18 structures have been destroyed and one damaged in the Bear Divide and Sand Canyon areas, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. One fatality has been reported, but it is not yet clear if it is fire-related.

The 14 Freeway in the Santa Clarita Valley was closed in both directions late Sunday afternoon but was later reopened.

At least one drone was spotted over the fire near the Bear Divide area, about 2,000 feet above Lake View Terrace, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The sighting of a drone over a wildfire typically prompts officials to ground aircraft for 30 minutes. The Forest Service said that those caught flying private aircraft or drones could face criminal charges.


Evil Rays

Altered EMF environment: A killing field for marine mammals

Fin whales are second only in size to the blue whale and can grow up to 24 metres in length.
© Callum Lilley
Our oceans are fast becoming a killing field for many marine mammals and other sea dwellers. Beachings are occurring with more frequency than ever. Mass fish kills are a common occurrence. Scientists are calling this the "Sixth Great Extinction Event". Yet, few are correlating these changes to increases in energy and perturbations in the electromagnetic spectrum. Modern technology is having a profound impact on marine life, the likes of which hasn't been witnessed by modern man.

Comment: The earth has its own electromagnetic field, and the vast majority of species on Earth rely on these electromagnetic forces to remain relatively stable so that they can exist and can function properly. Organisms are extremely sensitive to any alteration in this field, and find it difficult to adapt to changes. In the past 100 years, humans have drastically altered the electromagnetic environment on the surface of the earth, and this is now having some serious adverse effects on the health of everything inhabiting this planet.

Although man-made EMF may not be solely responsible for all of the changes we are seeing with regard to crazy weather, mass animal die-offs, and other strange phenomena... it is still clearly a significant contributing factor.


Tornado2

Southern Manitoba tornado was an 'exceptional' storm, Environment Canada says

Manitoba tornado damage
© Rachelle Baer via Canadian PressDebris is scattered across the New Rosedale Hutterite colony southwest of Portage la Prairie, Man. on Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Weather agency seeking eye witness accounts, pictures of Wednesday's storm


Environment Canada is looking for photos and eye witness accounts of the "exceptional" storm which ripped through Southern Manitoba last week.

Several communities were left cleaning up after a huge tornado-producing storm plowed through the province on Wednesday, ripping out trees, snapping hydro lines, flipping vehicles, and damaging buildings.

Environment Canada has given the tornado a preliminary Enhanced Fujita Scale 1 — or EF 1 — rating but said that additional experts and witnesses are being consulted and the rating might change.

The tornado touched down west of Long Plain First Nation, Man., just before 7 p.m., according to the weather agency. It headed east through the community causing extensive damage, including lifting a house off its foundation.

The tornado went further east across the Assiniboine River and through the southern part of the New Rosedale Hutterite Colony, damaging grain bins and destroying farm sheds.

The twister finally lifted near Highway 240 around 7:20 p.m., Environment Canada said.

The tornado was considered exceptional because of the damage and also a "swath of 10 to 20 kilometres wide of straight-line wind damage affecting a significant part of the region," Environment Canada said. Some of the winds gusted to 140 km/hr.

Binoculars

Ultra-rare bird from Eurasia seen over Newfoundland, Canada

Common swift (Apus apus)
© Wikimedia CommonsCommon swift (Apus apus)
The anything but common Common Swift spotted over Cape Race

In birding, like in any other sport, they say you have to be good to be lucky but sometimes nothing explains a great event other than pure simple luck.

A rare glimpse of a common swift, winging its way over Cape Race, NEwfoundland and Labrador.

Due to a compounding series of events Ken Knowles and I were driving through Portugal Cove South on the southern Avalon Peninsula at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday. There is a dead zone for cellphone reception between Renews and Portugal Cove South. The smartphoned chimed as we arrived back into the land of cellphones.

In the time it took to drive from Renews to Portugal Cove South a storm of emails and texts had been flying back and forth between birders in response to a photograph of a bird that Cliff Doran had taken at the Cape Race lighthouse. We checked out the picture on Cliff's Facebook page.

It was a swift. A somewhat blurry photo with the tail cut off.

Swifts are worldwide group of birds built for flying at breakneck speeds in search of airborne insects. They tend to hunt high above swallows and other fly-catching birds.

There are no swifts native to Newfoundland and Labrador.

Fire

Wildfire burns almost half of Antelope Island, Utah

Firefighters work to set a back fire as favorable winds allow for the strategy on Antelope Island, Saturday, July 23, 2016.
© Scott SommerdorfFirefighters work to set a back fire as favorable winds allow for the strategy on Antelope Island, Saturday, July 23, 2016.
Fanned by steady winds, a wildfire had burned 13,740 acres of Antelope Island by Saturday night — nearly half the acreage at one of Utah's best-known landmarks.

No injuries were reported Saturday, nor were there reports of fire consuming any of the island's iconic mammals.

"The total acreage for Antelope Island is 28,000," said Jeremy Shaw, manager of Antelope Island State Park. "We're approaching half the island pretty rapidly. The wind's not helping us right now."

The blaze has been dubbed the West Antelope Fire. It is spreading north and east, was 35 percent contained as of Saturday evening. Ground crews and aircraft battled the blaze throughout the day.

Cloud Precipitation

Floods kill seven with over 20,000 marooned in Assam, India

Flood batters Assam
Flood batters Assam
The overall flood situation continued to be grim in Assam with over six lakh people affected across 14 districts till Sunday evening while one person died in Lakhimpur on Sunday taking flood-related death toll to seven this year.

An Assam Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) official said that the flood have inundated large areas in Tinsukia district on Sunday, besides Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Morigaon, Jorhat, Dhemaji, Sivsagar, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Nagaon, Dhubri, Dibrugarh and Chirang districts, which have remained flooded since last few days.

"As on today (Sunday), 6,41,043 people in 1,206 villages in the 14 districts remained affected due to the current flash of floods. The concerned district administrations have opened 81 relief camps in the flood hit districts housing 21,931 marooned people," an ASDMA official said.

One person died due to floods in Lakhimpur district on Sunday, the ASDMA officials said. Two deaths - one in Lakhimpur and another in Morigaon - due to floods were reported on Saturday.



Fire

Update: Charred corpse found at 'Sand Fire' site as raging flames consume 20k acres (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

California fire
© brian_obrien / InstagramFire fighters have 10 percent containment of the fire.
A charred corpse has been found in an area of Santa Clarita, California, under threat from wildfires that have consumed over 20,000 acres. Firefighters are struggling to contain the fire that has raged since Friday.

The body was found on Iron Canyon Road, an area of Santa Clarita that authorities had ordered to be evacuated. A resident in the area told KTLA that the deceased man was found burned in a car after being separated from his partner.

Comment: See also: Wildfires force mass evacuations north of Los Angeles,California, prompt warnings of extreme danger


Bizarro Earth

Scientists warn Great Barrier Reef in Australia is undergoing a complete ecosystem collapse

Great Barrier Reef
© ReutersAn aerial view of Australia's Great Barrier Reef
Australia's Great Barrier Reef is so damaged it is undergoing a "complete ecosystem collapse," scientists monitoring the area have warned.

Parts of the Queensland reef are still bleaching even in the Southern Hemisphere's winter, and fish populations are disappearing. The Great Barrier Reef has suffered from bleaching in as much as 93 percent of the reef, with 80 percent enduring severe bleaching, Climate Central reported in April.

Coral Watch's Justin Marshall spent a week surveying reefs near Queensland's Lizard Island and said the lack of fish was the most shocking discovery. "I was seeing a lot less than 50 percent of what was there [before]. Some species I wasn't seeing at all," he told the Guardian.

Coral bleaching is the result of warming sea water which causes coral to release algae in an effort to cool. The algae give coral its color. When the coral is unable to cool down and find new algae, it dies and turns a white color. The dead coral then attracts dark algae which give it a brown appearance.

This dark, or 'turf', algae block the fish from food and shelter, which causes fish populations to deplete through dying or relocating to more promising food sources.