Earth ChangesS


Blackbox

Quake scientist predicts Iran will shake in late April

Catherine Brahic
New Scientist
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:28 UTC
We wrote last year about the attempts of two Chinese researchers to predict earthquakes several weeks in advance using unusual cloud formations. One of the researchers, Guangmeng Guo of the Remote Sensing Center at Nanjing Normal University in Jiangsu province, eastern China, recently emailed me with an update.

He says his team has detected the same unusual clouds above Iran. They predict that there will be a magnitude 5.0 to 6.0 earthquake at the end of April in southern Iran.

Comment: See: Italian earthquake expert's warnings were dismissed as scaremongering.

Read More...
Arrow Down

At least 30 feared dead in Peru landslide


RIA Novosti
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:22 UTC
Up to 60 people are feared dead after a landslide engulfed 25 houses in the region of La Libertad in northwestern Peru, the country's RPP radio said on Friday.

The tragedy occurred in the Sanchez Carrion Province, some 750 km (466 miles) from the capital Lima.
Read More...
Arrow Down

All bodies recovered after Kyrgyz landslide


RIA Novosti
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:05 UTC
Kyrgyzstan landslide
© Unknown
The bodies of the 16 people who died when a landslide hit a village in south Kyrgyzstan's Jalal-Abad province have been recovered by rescue workers, an emergency services spokesman said on Friday.

The landslide occurred early on Thursday, and buried five homes in the village. Nine children were among the dead.
Read More...
Ambulance

22 dead in earthquakes in Afghanistan


The Hindu
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:11 UTC
Image
© Agence France-PresseReduced to rubble: An Afghan man stands amid the destroyed houses in Sherzad, following an earthquake in the districts of Khogyani and Sherzad in Nangarhar province, on Friday.
Bhezad Kheil - Two earthquakes shook eastern Afghanistan early Friday, collapsing mud-brick homes on top of villagers while they slept and killing at least 22 people.

The quakes hit four villages in the high mountains of the eastern province of Nangarhar, about 50 km from the Pakistan border.

Afghanistan's Hindu Kush mountain range is hit by dozens of minor earthquakes each year. Many Afghan homes are made of dried mud, so even moderate earthquakes can cause many deaths and major damage to infrastructure. The poverty-stricken nation is also battling a strengthened Taliban insurgency and another four people were killed in attacks on Friday.

Shafiqullah, from the village of Bhezad Kheil, said 21 people were buried in a cemetery following the quake, including two of his young neighbors. Nijad, 10, and Sima, 7, both died after the roof above their second-story bedroom collapsed, raining down wood beams and chunks of mud, he said.

"There were two shakes," said Shafiqullah, 30. "The first shake was very strong, when everyone was asleep. The first shake destroyed everything. Then the crying and the shouting started."
Read More...
Bell

Two more quakes hit Indonesia


United Press International
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:09 UTC
Two more earthquakes, both 5.3 magnitude, hit South Pagai on the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia's West Sumatra early Friday, weather officials said.

The quakes followed a 6.0-magnitude tremor Thursday that shook island residents but caused no injuries or damage, as also was the case on Friday, the Jakarta Post said.
Read More...
Target

USGS: 6.0 quake strikes off coast of Chile


Associated Press
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:07 UTC
The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that a strong earthquake struck off the coast of Chile.

The USGS says the temblor had a magnitude of 6.0 and hit a little after 10 p.m. local time Thursday (0200 GMT Friday).
Read More...
Target

Earthquakes reported in Israel, Lebanon, West Bank


Ma'an
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:59 UTC
Ten small earthquakes hit northern Israel, southern Lebanon and parts of the northern West Bank Friday afternoon, the largest of which measured 4.2 on the Richter scale.

The Geophysical Institute of Israel (GII) said the largest of the quakes occurred at 2:04pm. No damage has been reported.
Read More...
Bulb

EPA Proposes Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:16 UTC
Image
© Unknown
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal today finding greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a determination that could trigger a series of sweeping regulations affecting everything from vehicles to coal-fired power plants.

In a statement issued at noon, EPA administrator Lisa P. Jackson said, "This finding confirms that greenhouse gas pollution is a serious problem now and for future generations."

She added, "This pollution problem has a solution - one that will create millions of green jobs and end our country's dependence on foreign oil."

Comment: While the emissions produced by unregulated industries do cause real and painful impacts on peoples' health and the environment, their disputed impact on "global warming" neglects a huge piece of the puzzle:

Forget About Global Warming: We're One Step Away From Extinction!

Read More...
Footprints

New Bigfoot activity noted in Siberia


Mosnews
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:03 UTC
More evidence of the abominable snowman (more politely known as a Yeti or Bigfoot) has been uncovered in Russia's Kemerovo Region in southwestern Siberia, the Moscow newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reports.

Image
© www.dolgopyat.ru
Vladimir Makut, a local administrator in the Tashtagol district of Kemerovo Region, noted in an interview with the newspaper that sightings of unusual large creatures in the area date far back into Soviet times, when the area contained several prison colonies. The creatures inspired such dread that the prisoners sometimes refused to go out to work. The local native people, the Shors, also have numerous legends about wild "dark people." Specialists note, however, that, historically, more yeti activity has been recorded in neighboring regions. The Soviet Academy of Sciences even set up a commission to investigate those reports in 1958. It concluded that Altai, which Tashtagol borders on, is a breeding ground for the creature. There the yetis have been sighted in pairs and yeti children have been seen.
Read More...
Wolf

Wolf that traveled 1,000 miles to Colorado found dead

Jeffery Wolf
KUSA
Fri, 17 Apr 2009 03:44 UTC
Denver - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Colorado Division of Wildlife says a gray wolf that wandered into Colorado from Montana has died, but they are still trying to figure out what happened to it.

The female wolf was being tracked by a GPS collar as it traveled from Montana through three other states, a journey of nearly 1,000 miles, before it ended up in Colorado. She was only 18 months old when she separated from her pack just north of Yellowstone National Park in September.
Read More...