Floodwaters flowing into Masjid Jamek due to heavy rain in Kuala Lumpur.
Earth Changes
Floodwaters flowing into Masjid Jamek due to heavy rain in Kuala Lumpur.
Fires have broken out in a number of agricultural areas in western Syria, Russia Today (RT) reported yesterday.
A video showing the fires went viral on social media.
Fires have been raging in recent days across a number of large agricultural lands across Syria's western parts. The fires were intensified in the Slunfeh forest, which extends along the Latakia portal city to the Masyaf Mountains in Homs.
More flooding has affected parts of Niger, where almost 330,000 people have been affected by flooding since July. Meanwhile the government in neighbouring Burkina Faso the number of fatalities has increased to 13. On 09 September the government declared a state of emergency in response to flooding which has affected the country since late August.
Niger
The flood situation has worsened in Niger after further heavy rainfall and the failure of a dam / embankment along the Niger river near the capital, Niamey.
According to the latest figures from the government in Niger, 329,958 people have been affected, over 31,960 houses severely damage or destroyed, along with 5,768 hectares of farmland. As many as 65 people have died as a result of flooding in the country which began in July this year.
© Phil McCarten / Reuters
A 6.5-magnitude earthquake has struck near the coast of Northern Chile. No tsunami alert has been issued.
No possible casualties or damage have been reported so far.
Chile is situated in the easternmost part of the Ring of Fire, a seismically active zone in the Pacific Ocean, where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur, including powerful ones.
© USGS
Seismic activity near Yellowstone Lake has seen a big increase over the past 24 hours.
Seismic activity near Yellowstone Lake has seen a big increase over the past 24 hours.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone experiences about 1,500 to 2,500 located earthquakes per year, many occurring in swarms, or earthquakes that cluster in time and space. Most swarms are small, containing 10-20 earthquakes, and short, lasting for one to two days.
Today's seismic activity is a little abnormal in that as of 4 pm Thursday, 93 earthquakes, and counting, have occurred all within this area of Yellowstone Lake since Wednesday night, according to USGS data. All but seven of the earthquakes have been under 2.5 magnitude. None have reached 3.0 magnitude.
In the same area depicted in the map below, 108 earthquakes have been recorded over the past 30 days, including today's activity. That means only 15 earthquakes were recorded in the area before today.
© Getty Images
Hundreds of homes in Phoenix, Oregon (mobile home park pictured), have been lost due to wildfires in the state
Hundreds of homes in Phoenix, Oregon (mobile home park pictured), have been lost due to wildfires in the state
A Northern California wildfire became the state's deadliest of the year Thursday when authorities announced seven more deaths. Officials said the number may rise as searchers looked for 16 missing people.
Three other deaths have been confirmed in Oregon and one in Washington state, authorities said.
Authorities in Oregon said Thursday night that more than 500,000 people statewide were forced to evacuate due to wildfires. The latest figures come from the Oregon Office of Emergency Management. That's over 10 per cent of the state's 4.2 million population.
More than 1,400 square miles have burned this week in the state. Authorities say the wildfire activity was particularly acute Thursday afternoon in northwestern Oregon as hot, windy conditions continued.
Two violent thunderstorms hit Cagliari in the space of a few hours on Thursday turning the streets of the Sardinian capital into rivers.
Cagliari and the surrounding area were swept by thunder, lightning, cloudbursts and a gale-force northwesterly wind.
Three people, including two school students, were killed in separate lightning incidents in Gazipur.
One of the incidents took place at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium, killing the two footballers on the spot. In the other incident, a person was killed while he was fishing at a waterbody in Bipraborta at around 12:30pm on Thursday.
The young footballers were killed in the lightning strike when a group of schoolboys were playing football in Gazipur Shaheed Barkat Stadium.
The incident took place in the area under Varla police station limits, where the victims took shelter in the makeshift house during the rains, sub-divisional magistrate of Sendhwa Tapasya Parihar said.
Four persons were killed and as many were injured when lightning struck the house, she said.
The deceased have been identified as Shantabai (35), Leelabai (25) Neerabai (23) and Azad (5), all residents of Khapada village, the official said, adding that the injured were referred to a hospital in Sendhwa.
Source: PTI
The police report that Ricardo Fisher, 14, from the community of Keynsham in the parish and Sheldon Caine, 30, a farmer from the neighbouring parish of Clarendon, were picking avocados when they were struck by lightning.
Fisher and Caine suffered severe burns and died on the spot, while the third man, who was wearing water boots, escaped with minor injuries.
Comment: Less than a week ago a M6.2 earthquake hit Chile. There has been an increase in seismic activity worldwide recently.