Earth ChangesS


Attention

4.9 magnitude earthquake strikes central Japan, tremors felt in Tokyo

Senior member of Japan Meteorological Agency in a meeting
© ReutersSenior member of Japan Meteorological Agency in a meeting
A 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit central Japan on Sunday morning, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).

The epicenter of the tremor was 6km east of Noda and at a depth of 45km. The local media reported that the quake struck at 7.54am (local time) in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture at a depth of 40km.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the earthquake struck the Kanto region, but there was no tsunami alert. Tremors were felt in Tokyo, the capital of Japan.

However, there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Fire

Large fire at 16-story apartment block in London after a 'series of explosions'

Brixton tower fire
© ITV London / Facebook
Fifty people from a Brixton apartment complex had to be evacuated as a fire spread quickly after what witnesses said was a series of explosions. Three people have been hospitalized with smoke inhalation.

"We were having lunch and heard a small explosion and we saw a black cloud of smoke going up and the growing fire," an eyewitness near to the Canterbury Crescent complex told the London Evening Standard. "Some seconds after the first explosion he heard one or two more, also small. There were some people in the field in front, I guess calling the emergencies."

The local fire station is located about 100 yards from the tower block, and the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said that 72 firefighters and 10 fire engines were dispatched to put out the flame.

Comment: SOTT Exclusive: More mysterious high-rise building explosions - is there a 'cosmic' source of ignition?


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 5 and injure 8 in Bangladesh

Lightning
Lightning strikes kill five people and injures eight others in Bagerhat, Madaripur and Barisal on Saturday, says news agency UNB.

The two people killed in Bagerhat were identified as Alamin Khan (34), who died on the spot, and Ajam Sheikh (48), who died later in Fakirhat Upazila Health Complex.

In Bagerhat, two people were killed and two others injured in separate lightning strikes in Mollahat and Morelganj upazila in the afternoon.

In Madaripur, lighting strike injured Foysal Sardar. He was taken to Shibchar Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared him dead.

An unidentified child died to lightning strike at Kadam Bari in Rajoir upazila.

In Barisal, a vendor, Sobhan (52) was killed by lightning strike.


Six other people were injured in lightning strikes around the upazila.

Snowflake

Rare summer snowfall for Lapland, Finland

Snow in Finland
A storm with high winds which swept across western and northern Finland Wednesday night and during the early hours of Thursday downed trees and cut power supplies to up to 14,000 households. Parts of Finnish Lapland have also seen a "summery" eight centimetres of snow.

Highs winds are expected to die down as evening approaches as the low pressure area responsible for the stormy weather moves eastward.

Residents of northern areas also awoke Thursday to some rare white June landscapes. Snowfall was seen especially on the fells of Lapland and in the Saariselkä region which recorded as much as eight centimetres in some localities.

A Thursday morning scene in Rovaniemi.
© Sauli Antikainen / YleA Thursday morning scene in Rovaniemi.

Comment: See also: Summer snowfall hits China's northernmost province

Global warming? Snowfall in Siberia marks the official start of summer


Cloud Precipitation

Switzerland hammered by heavy rains and floods

The Jura village of Buix flooded after major storms
© RTSinfoThe Jura village of Buix flooded after major storms
Torrential rain, thunderstorms and flash floods have inundated towns and villages, especially in parts of northwest, central and eastern Switzerland in recent days.

Heavy rain over the past few days has caused damage to homes and infrastructure in cantons Solothurn, Aargau and Basel-Country, with numerous cellars and roads flooded. The police and fire services were called out 400 times in Aargau alone, and in several areas civil protection volunteers were out in force. In the town of Stetten 60 millimetres of rain fell in three hours.

Rail services were affected between Lenzburg and Othmarsingen on the Zurich-Aargau line. In Oftringen a barn was set ablaze after being struck by lightning but no one was injured. On Wednesday afternoon the A1 motorway was flooded near Lenzburg causing tailbacks for over an hour.


The village of Buix suffered on Tuesday.
© Laurent Blanchard/Canal Alpha The village of Buix suffered on Tuesday.

Cloud Precipitation

1 missing after 6 hours of torrential rain in Accra, Ghana

Various parts of Accra are flooding.
© Qojo_Bibz WildouVarious parts of Accra are flooding.
Wide areas of Accra, Ghana, are under water after a period of heavy rain that began 09 June 2016. Residents of the city are fearing a repeat of last year's flood and fire disaster which left over 150 people dead. Ghana Meteorological Agency say that more rain can be expected in the coming days.

The country's National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has asked residents of flood prone areas to move to higher ground. They have also asked for residents' co-operation in reporting floods around the city.

The Odaw River has overflown and drainage channels including the Onyasia, Odaw and Nima are full. Local media say that flooded areas of greater Accra include Kwame Nkrumah Circle, parts of Teshie, Airport Residential, Dzorwulu, Achimota and Tse Addo.

Personnel from the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), the Ghana Police Service (GPS), the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Ghana National Fire and Rescue Services (GNFRS), are working in the flooded areas. Earlier today, President Mahama thanked them for their efforts.




floods all over Accra.
© Joy 99.7 FMFloods in Accra.

SOTT Logo Media

SOTT Focus: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - May 2016: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

Meteor US May 2016
© Sott.netMeteor fireball seen, heard and felt from across southeastern Canada and northeastern US, 17 May 2016
More and more people are starting to notice that something unusual is going on with the weather (and the planet as a whole). While vaguely acknowledging that all these extreme weather events occurring simultaneously points to their being somehow connected, mainstream media reporting about this, however, remains mired in complete absurdity. CNN, for example, recently reported that "[2016 was] the second year in a row Texas has been hit by one-in-500-year floods."

Last month, more volcanoes erupted during one week than would typically erupt during an entire year in the 20th century. Hailstones the size of tennis balls fell across southeast Asia, while the Indian subcontinent roasted in a record-breaking heatwave for the second year running. Europe experienced record-late snowfall in many places, followed by tornado outbreaks, devastating flash-floods and hailstorms that required snowploughs to clear streets. Wildfires raged across vast expanses of sub-Arctic regions, notably in central Canada, where the population of an entire city was forced to flee.

Month after month, the rain falls harder, the winds blow stronger, and the meteors come closer. Devastated homes can't be rebuilt fast enough before the next waves of natural disasters hit. The leaders of the free world, while waging more wars, plundering more resources, and causing ever more death and suffering, are telling us we've never had it so good.

Based on this snapshot of global environmental upheaval in May 2016, Mother Nature apparently begs to differ...


Arrow Up

Philippines' Mount Bulusan erupts spewing 2,000 meter high ash plume

Mt. Bulusan eruption June 2016
© PHOTO FROM PHIVOLCS’ TWITTER PAGEMt. Bulusan in Sorsogon province spewed a 2-kilometer ash column around 11:35 a.m., Friday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.
Mt. Bulusan erupted at around 11:35am on Fri, Jun 10. The eruption is expected to affect several villages in Casiguran, Sorsogon, specifically the western part of the province.

"The phreatic explosion (also called a steam-blast eruption, which happens when magma heats ground or surface water) was confirmed by Raffy Alejandro, director of the Office of Civil Defense in the Bicol Region. It lasted for five minutes," reports ABS-CBN News.

As indicated in the eruption notification released by Phivolcs' Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division (VMEPD), Mt. Bulusan spewed an ash plume that went up to a height of around 2,000 meters.

Prior to this, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) recorded at least 113 volcanic earthquakes around Mt. Bulusan in the past 24 hours.

"The local government units and the public are reminded that entry into the four-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone (PDZ) is strictly prohibited due to the possibility of sudden and hazardous steam-driven or phreatic eruptions," the advisory noted.

Snowflake

South American blizzard drops up to 10 feet of snow - main mountain pass between Chile and Argentina closed

Andes blizzard
Paso Los Libertadores, which links Santiago, Chile and Mendoza, Argentina, is completely buried and shut down after 10+ feet of snow.
David Owen from Powderquest shared this incredible photo of a classically monstrous Andean blizzard, which just dropped over 10 FEET of snow across large swathes of the Andes, all but closing down the main pass between Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina in the process.

A huge snowstorm slammed into the Central Andes ski resorts of Chile and Argentina, dropping close to 10 feet in some areas late last week and into the weekend. The main mountain pass between the two countries, Los Libertadores, is burred in over 10-12 foot drifts and remains closed to all vehicles due to high avalanche danger and crews trying to move the snow.

Comment: Keep in mind the tremendous floods that have plagued countries all over the world lately. If such an amount of precipitation were combined with much lower temperatures due to volcanic eruptions or other causes, snowfalls of this magnitude may become much more common, and more widespread.


Wolf

String of likely bear attacks claims fourth victim in Japan

Asiatic black bear
Asiatic black bear
The corpse of a person who appeared to have been attacked by a bear was found in a forest in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan on Friday, police said, possibly the fourth victim in a string of bear attacks in the area.

The body was so severely mauled that the police have yet to identify the victim. But the police were looking for 74-year-old Tsuwa Suzuki in the area where they found the body in a mountain forest in Kazuno, Akita, after she was reported missing the previous day.

Near the spot where the body was found, the police found a car Suzuki had apparently used as well as a mobile phone and food inside the vehicle. Suzuki, who lives in Towada in neighbouring Aomori Prefecture, is believed to have gone to the area to pick edible wild plants.