Earth ChangesS


Attention

4.6 magnitude tremor shakes Zambia

Earthquake information
Zambia experienced a 4.6 magnitude on the richter scale an earthquake/earth tremour at 03;05, (05:05 Zambian time) 74km South of Lusaka and 38km from Kafue on January 9, 2015.

This comes a day after a heavy downpour following a dry spell claimed nearly seven lives in the capital Lusaka. A building on the outskirts of the city's Central Business District also collapsed, but there were no casualties.

Attention

4.2 magnitude earthquake strikes Southern Fars province, Iran

earthquake
An Earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale jolted the town of Bairam in Fars province, Southern Iran, on Saturday morning, IRNA reported.

The Seismological center of Fars province affiliated to the Geophysics Institute of Tehran University registered the quake at 00:14 hours local time.

The epicenter of the quake was registered at 53.5 in longitude and 27.4 in latitude.

There has yet been no report on the possible number of casualties or damage to properties by the quake.

Iran sits astride several major faults in the earth's crust, and is prone to frequent earthquakes, many of which have been devastating.

Black Cat

Signs and Portents: Cougar with odd head deformity shot near Weston, Idaho

Deformed mountain lion
© Idaho Fish and GameThis Dec. 30, 2015, photo released by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), shows a deformed mountain lion with teeth growing out of its forehead. Biologists are trying to determine what caused the strange growth on the animal, which was legally killed by a hunter in southeast Idaho near the Utah border.
Idaho Fish and Game officials were left a little perplexed when a conservation officer sent photos of a mountain lion's odd deformity to them last week.

The cougar was shot near Weston by an unidentified hunter and appears to have a separate set of teeth growing out of its head. It's simply something Fish and Game biologists have never seen before.

There's no clear consensus about what the abnormality is, but there are a few theories.

First, it could be a teratoma, a rare type of tumor capable of containing hair, bone, teeth and even parts of limbs or organs.

Cloud Grey

Spectacular mammatus clouds photographed over York, England

Mammatus clouds
© Karen Winship/ York Weather StationAwesome Mammatus clouds over Clifford’s tower in York.
These spectacular mammatus clouds engulfed the sunset sky of York, England on January 7, 2015.

Watch some amazing pictures and learn more about their formation below.

Mammatus are pouch-like clouds that protrude down from the bottom of a thunderstorm's anvil cloud.

 Mammatus clouds
© Russ @Alien_OrificeAnd with the light of the sun setting, these weird clouds are become magical.
The storm's anvil consists of ice crystals but, as it spreads out at the top of a thunderstorm, some of the ice begins falling and cools the clear air below.

Arrow Down

Sinkhole partially swallows backhoe in Bedford, Massachusetts

Backhoe in sinkhole
© Bedford Police DepartmentBackhoe in sinkhole
A backhoe was partially swallowed by a sinkhole in Massachusetts while responding to a report of a water main break on Thursday.

Bedford police shut down roads near Wiggins Avenue after a water main break caused a 10-foot-wide sinkhole on nearby Summer Street that partially consumed a backhoe heading toward the scene.

No one was injured during the incident after the water main break washed away much of the ground beneath the pavement.

"I guess it gave way and engulfed one of those backhoes," Bedford police Sgt. Ron Undzis told the Boston Globe.

Fireball

Unexplained loud booms: A compilation from 2015

mystery booms
The following video, produced by the Enigma Seeker Youtube channel, is a compilation of news reports about loud booms heard across the US in 2015. They're often unexplained, or the explanation provided by the authorities falls short of actually explaining the cause of the booms.

Meteor fireball and seismic activity has increased dramatically in recent years, so we suspect a that number of these booms can be attributed to overhead meteor explosions or are earthquake-related.


Comment: See also:

NASA space data supports citizens' observations: Meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically


Fish

Rare deep-sea ragfish found dead on coast of Gustavus, Alaska: 4th for the state in 3 years

ragfish
© NOAA A ragfish is shown in this undated photo from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
A type of big, deep-ocean fish rarely seen at the water's surface was found washed ashore Thursday in Gustavus in Southeast Alaska, the National Park Service reported.

A ragfish, measuring 65 inches long, was spotted near the dock in Gustavus, the town that serves as the headquarters for Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, officials said.

The discovery was made by a state transportation worker, said Craig Murdoch, a Park Service fisheries biologist.

"He was checking the dock and he noticed what he thought was a halibut," Murdoch said. "He went and checked it out, and it was a fish he had never seen before."

Comment: See also: Rare ragfish washes up on Alaskan Beach

Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?


Tornado2

Waterspout filmed in Iskenderun, Turkey

Waterspout
Tornado / Waterspout in Iskenderun, Hatay, Turkey


Christmas Lights

Spectacular multi-colored 'light pillars' illuminate skies in northern China

light pillars over China
© NewsflareThe natural phenomenon creates an amazing spectacle by creating pillars of light

Sun pillars form when falling ice crystals reflect sunlight during low temperatures


Mesmerizing multi-colored pillars of light appeared in the sky above a city in northern China last week.

Residents were dazzled as the beams appeared to burst from the ground in Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, on Wednesday night.

The phenomenon is called a sun, light or solar pillar, reports People's Daily Online.

According to NASA, the rare spectacle occurs when falling ice crystals reflect sunlight as the sun rises or sets during extremely low temperatures.

"Ice sometimes forms flat, six-sided shaped crystals as it falls from high-level clouds. Air resistance causes these crystals to lie nearly flat much of the time as they flutter to the ground," NASA wrote on its website. "Sunlight reflects off crystals that are properly aligned, creating the sun-pillar effect."

Temperatures in Xilinhot plummeted to -20.2F on Wednesday, reports the Daily Telegraph, meaning it was the perfect condition for the natural light show.


Comment: This rare phenomena has been observed recently over Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States in the past month.


Binoculars

Wrong time, wrong place: Rare tropical bird found dead in South Dakota

Great Kiskadee
© Terry SohlThis photo of a Great Kiskadee was taken on December 2nd, 2015 near Volga, South Dakota
Members of the state's birding community were astonished in November when they spotted a in South Dakota, the first confirmed sighting in the state.

The bird is plentiful in Mexico and the tropics and typically found in the United States in only extreme southern Texas.

The sighting in South Dakota was near Volga during the South Dakota Ornithologists' Union fall meeting in Brookings, so there was no doubt about its veracity. Members of the community speculated about how it ended up here, and in the story above, South Dakota State University ornithologist K.C. Jensen predicted the tropical birds wouldn't have a good chance to survive South Dakota's brutal winter.