Earth ChangesS


Seismograph

Shallow 'severe' 5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes off New Zealand; part of aftershock sequence

New Zealand earthquake
© GeoNetThe quake was centred 75km out to sea off Te Araroa
This morning's big earthquake off the coast off the East Cape coast is an aftershock of the 7.1 quake that hit a month ago, a GNS seismologist says.

The shallow, 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck about 75km out to sea off Te Araroa, at 8.41am. It was at a depth of 7km.

The quake, rated 'severe' by GeoNet, was widely felt along the North Island's east coast and as far north as Kerikeri, with a scattering of reports in the South Island as well.

Two smaller tremors followed - of 3.1 and 2.8 - centred 20km and 15km from Te Araroa.

Tornado1

Updated Pielke graph: Major hurricane landfall drought reaches 4001 days

Days between Hurricane landfalls chart
© Pielke 2014, NOAA
Despite the fact that he's "given up on climate writing" thanks to the bizarre treatment he got writing at Nate Silver's "538", Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. has done one very important climate thing today - he's updated his now famous graph of hurricane drought.

He writes on Twitter:
Pielke tweet

Comment: Unwilling to be censored and sacrifice academic truth for popularity, Pielke has been chastised and smeared by MSM for his more common sense views of weather, in conflict with the party line of global warming and gross misinformation.


Seismograph

Shallow 5.6 magnitude earthquake recorded off the Mariana Islands

Chart
© Reuters
5.6 magnitude earthquake

2016-10-08 18:10:13 UTC

UTC time: Saturday, October 08, 2016 18:10 PM

Your time: 2016-10-08T18:10:13Z

Magnitude Type: mb

USGS page: M 5.6 - 180km NE of Agrihan, Northern Mariana Islands

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 0 people

2016-10-08 18:10:13 UTC 5.6 magnitude, 10 km depth

Mariana Islands

Attention

Black bear attacks couple in their backyard in Squamish, Canada

Officials say a black bear wandered onto a property in Squamish, B.C., and attacked two residents.
© Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian PressOfficials say a black bear wandered onto a property in Squamish, B.C., and attacked two residents.
Two residents of Squamish, B.C. were left with cuts and bruises after a "territorial" black bear attack on the back steps of their home.

The Conservation Officer Service and the District of Squamish said the attack took place Thursday at about 8 p.m. PT in the Garibaldi Estates area south of Garibaldi Way.

Conservation officers said they have set a trap for the bear, which is still at large.

"Territorial bear attacks are rare in Squamish," said Wild Safe B.C. in a Facebook post.

"Leading up to the attack, the bear was seen in fruit trees and unsecured garbage. Now that the fruit trees are no longer producing fruit, food resources are becoming more scarce."

The District of Squamish said the competition for food has led to "extremely high" black bear activity in the area.

Officials are warning Squamish residents to be cautious and to secure garbage and other bear attractants from their homes.

Attention

20ft whale washes up on beach near Hornsea, UK

Minnie the dog surveys a whale has washed up on a beach between Hornsea and Mappleton
Minnie the dog surveys a whale has washed up on a beach between Hornsea and Mappleton
Dog walkers got a shock today when they came across a large whale that had washed up on the beach after a high tide.

The whale, possibly a minke, washed up earlier today between Hornsea and Mappleton and appears to have been dead for some time.

Julie Haggitt, of Hornsea, posted photographs of the whale on Facebook.

She said: "I was just walking my dog Minnie along the beach between Hornsea and Mappleton when I came across the whale.

"I could see three massive gashes in the body and the tail was missing. It looks like it may have got caught in a ship's propeller. It was quite big when you got up close and it must have been about 15 to 20ft long.

Attention

Dead Bryde's whale found on beach in Maharashtra, India

Dead Bryde's whale.
Dead Bryde's whale.
A decomposed body of a 35-40 long Bryde's whale was washed ashore at the Guhagar beach in Ratnagiri district on Friday morning. The body of the whale was spotted by the local villagers who informed the forest department about the same.

An official from the forest department confirmed the same said, "On Friday morning, the body of a whale was ashore on the Guhagar beach."

It should be noted that over the years there has been an increase in the number of marine creatures dying at various beaches in Maharashtra. The autopsy was also not conducted on these animals. The NGOs working in the field of wildlife and environment have been demanding that there needs to be a better coordination and experts should be appointed to conduct the autopsy so that the main reason behind the death of these marine creatures is revealed.

Eye 2

Signs and Portents: Two-headed snake discovered in Moscow, Idaho

Sword swallower, Brad Byers, found the two-headed reptile slithering around the parking lot of the University of Idaho campus on September 16
Sword swallower, Brad Byers, found the two-headed reptile slithering around the parking lot of the University of Idaho campus on September 16
A sideshow performer in Idaho discovered a rare two-headed snake while working in a university parking lot.

Brad Byers shared video of the wandering garter snake with two heads, which he found while driving a forklift.

"I found this two headed baby snake slithering across the parking lot. At first glance I thought it was injured by the forklift I was driving at the time," he said. "I got down and got a closer look at the tiny little guy and found he had two heads!"

Byers works on the University of Idaho campus but also holds a world record for most swords swallowed, according to KTVB.

"What's the odds of a sideshow guy finding a snake like this slithering along?" Byers said.

Byers said the snake was just a baby when he first discovered it on Sept. 16, and that he plans to raise it to adulthood.


Tornado1

Nearly 900 killed and 350,000 in need of urgent aid in hurricane-stricken Haiti (VIDEOS)

Jérémie, Haiti destroyed by hurricane
© Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters Jérémie, Haiti, where 80 percent of buildings were destroyed by the storm.
The number of victims of Hurricane Matthew, which has wrought havoc in Haiti, neared 900 on Friday as reports from hard-to-access remote southwestern areas continued coming. A total of 350,000 Haitians require immediate assistance, the UN says. The death toll from the Category 4 hurricane, which has shaken the Caribbean nation, has been climbing with scores of people still missing.

As of Friday, 870 people were reported killed in the calamity, Reuters reported, citing local officials.


Comment: This is the worst disaster to hit Haiti since the devastating earthquake in 2010. Just over two weeks ago the former Senate President of Haiti Bernard Sansaricq told a crowd of Donald Trump supporters that the Clinton Foundation stole "billions" from the Haiti relief fund following the tragic earthquake that left some 316,000 people dead due to the cascade of weakly supported structures and an outbreak of cholera. See: Hurricane Matthew to show horrific cost of Clinton Foundation theft from Haiti


Bizarro Earth

Mount Aso erupts in Southern Japan

Moutn Aso
© Perth NowJapan's meteorological agency has warned Kyushu residents to stay away after Mount Aso erupted.
Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture erupted early Saturday, belching a column of ash 11,000 meters into the air in the latest eruption in one of the world's most volcanically active countries.

The explosive eruption occurred around 1:46 a.m. on one of the peaks of the 1,592-meter mountain, the Meteorological Agency said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

It was the first explosive eruption at that particular peak since January 1980.

The agency raised the alert level for the volcano to level 3 on a scale of 5 and urged people not to approach the mountain.

Footage on NHK public television showed orange flames billowing from several locations on the mountaintop as the volcano emitted thick gray smoke into the sky.

There are no houses within the off-limit area and no injuries or major damage have been reported in nearby towns, though buildings and cars were covered with thick ash. No flights were affected.

A window at a youth center just a few kilometers away from the mountain suffered a crack apparently from volcanic rocks.

Masaaki Yamamoto, a manager at the center, told NHK that he heard small volcanic rocks hitting the exterior of the building, and found a crack in the window along with nearby chunks of volcanic debris about the size of golf balls.


Cloud Precipitation

Hurricane Matthew threatens Florida to North Carolina with dangerous flooding; three dead and more than 1,000,000 without power

hurricane matthew path
© The Weather ChannelClosing in: At 11pm on Friday the storm was 70 miles east of Savannah in Georgia, having brushed past Jacksonville and made its way up the coast toward the Carolinas
Hurricane Matthew finished with Florida Friday night and began its onslaught of Georgia. The part of the storm with the fastest winds remains just off the state's eastern shore as the storm moves north.

The National Hurricane Center reports that Matthew is a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, making it somewhat less powerful than the 140-mph Category 4 monster it was Thursday. But it remains the most powerful storm to strike central or northern Florida in living memory, and it continues to pose the threat of severe flooding to northern Florida, coastal Georgia, South Carolina, and parts of North Carolina through the weekend.


Comment: Hurricane Matthew has been blasting through records