© The Guardian, UK
Earth Changes
© U.S. Geological Survey
This image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the USGS forecast for damage from natural and induced earthquakes in the U.S. in 2016. Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it man-made as byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has the nation’s highest with a 1 in 8 chance of damaging ground shaking in 2016, passing California.
This image provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows the USGS forecast for damage from natural and induced earthquakes in the U.S. in 2016. Federal scientists say the chance of damaging earthquakes hitting east of the Rockies has increased significantly, much of it man-made as byproduct of drilling for energy. Oklahoma now has the nation’s highest with a 1 in 8 chance of damaging ground shaking in 2016, passing California.
Parts of Oklahoma now match northern California for the nation's most shake prone. One north-central Oklahoma region has a 1 in 8 chance of a damaging quake in 2016, with other parts closer to 1 in 20.
Overall, 7 million people live in areas where the risk has dramatically jumped for earthquakes caused by disposal of wastewater, a byproduct of drilling for oil and gas. That is mostly concentrated in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado and Arkansas. Natural earthquake risk also increased around the New Madrid fault in Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Illinois.
In a first-of-its-kind effort, the U.S. Geological Survey on Monday released a map for risks of damaging quakes in the current year. Past efforts looked at 50-year risks and didn't include man-made quakes. The new risks are mostly based on increases in quakes felt last year.
© Youtube/NRT English
[Courtesy of webcamsdemexico.com]
© Craig Jackson
Pavlof Volcano was seen steaming on March 25 at 10:50 a.m
Pavlof Volcano was seen steaming on March 25 at 10:50 a.m
The agency says the Pavlof Volcano, which is about 600 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted at 4:18 p.m. local time. The agency says the eruption also led to tremors on the ground.
The USGS has raised the volcano alert level to "Warning" and the aviation warning to "Red."
The agency says the volcano, which is about 4.4 miles in diameter, has had 40 known eruptions and "is one of the most consistently active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc."
The USGS says that during a previous eruption in 2013, ash plumes rose 27,000 feet. Other eruptions have generated ash plumes as high as 49,000 feet.
The community closest to the volcano is Cold Bay, which is about 37 miles southwest of it.
Source: Associated Press
© A Bola
The deceased were identified as Masum, 15, a resident of Agia village, Rafat, 15, of Giriasha village, and Masum, 15, of Ghagra Charpara village. All of them are students of Ghagra Chourasta Fazil Madrasah, according to a news agency report.
Abdur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Purbadhala Police Station, said the trio was struck by the thunderbolt around 9:00pm as they went out of the dormitory of their madrasah to respond to the call of nature, leaving them dead on the spot.
Source: SRS
According to information from the Alaska Earthquake Center, Sunday's brief temblor was centered just 7 miles southeast of Eagle River and 17 miles east of Anchorage, at a depth of 16.7 miles. It occurred at 8:18 p.m. The center initially assessed the magnitude at 4.0, but later revised the estimate downward.
It could be felt in Alaska's largest city.
Sunday's earthquake just happened to fall on March 27, the same day as the magnitude-9.2 Good Friday earthquake that struck 52 years earlier. That quake was the second-strongest ever recorded.
© Hulton Archive
American Pit Bulls are among the dogs banned in Britain
American Pit Bulls are among the dogs banned in Britain
The number has hit a record high despite tough new laws against devil-breed owners , after a series of horrific deaths.
Among the mangled children rushed to A&E last year were 39 babies, 611 toddlers aged one to four and 528 children aged between five and nine.
The 1,733 traumatised kids were among 7,332 dog-attack victims needing hospital treatment, a Sunday People investigation has discovered.
© Oklahoma forestry services
Hundreds of firefighters were battling a wildfire this week that spread from Oklahoma to Kansas.
Hundreds of firefighters were battling a wildfire this week that spread from Oklahoma to Kansas.
Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the Kansas national guard were deployed in the efforts to contain the persistent prairie blazes that since Tuesday have charred at least 620 square miles in Oklahoma and southern Kansas.
At least two homes and some livestock have been destroyed. No serious human injuries have been reported.
Each helicopter has a 660-gallon bucket that will be used to dump water from local sources on to the flames, said Ben Bauman, a spokesman for the Kansas adjutant general's office. The national guard also was contributing a fuel tanker truck and another ground support vehicle.
© Department of Fisheries and Oceans / Paul Cottrell
A dead killer whale calf floats in the water near Sooke, B.C.
A dead killer whale calf floats in the water near Sooke, B.C.
DFO spokesperson Paul Cottrell said the carcass was spotted earlier this week near Sooke Point but was only located today. The southern resident population of about 85 killer whales has seen a baby boom in recent years, with nine orcas being born since December 2014.
One calf from J-pod went missing in February and is presumed dead. Researchers are still working to determine which pod the orca found Friday was from.
"We have taken photographs of the dorsal fin and sent that to experts as well to see if they can determine where it's from because they're quite a catalogue of all the new calves we have around," said Cottrell, Marine Mammals Coordinator for the DFO.
He described the animal as a young female that was just over two metres in length.
Dr Tom Knott, Professor Mike Branney and Dr Marc Reichow, from the University of Leicester's Department of Geology's Volcanology Group, conducted the research with a team of international collaborators from the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark and Idaho State University.
Using a multi-technique approach, including whole-rock and mineral chemistries, palaeomagnetic data and radio-isotopic dates - the team has been able to 'fingerprint' individual eruption deposits and correlate these over vast regions covering over 620 sq. miles (1000 km2).
