© YouTube/RT (screen capture)
Earth Changes
The Unified Police Department told local media that it was alerted to the avalanche about 11:40 a.m. after receiving a faint distress call from an avalanche beacon in Millcreek Canyon near Salt Lake City.
The skier-triggered avalanche swept up eight people in their early twenties to late thirties who were in two groups touring the backcountry, Unified Police Sgt. Melody Cutler told the Salt Lake Tribune. The avalanche took place at an elevation of 9,800 feet, the Utah Avalanche Center said.
Comment: In addition recently: Avalanches leave 9 people dead in past week across U.S.
Here is footage of the avalanche, apparently taken by one of those caught in it - and who we hope survived it.
Warning: Some viewers may find this video distressing
© Peter Gercke
A Deutsche Bahn employee clears snow on a platform at the main station in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.
A Deutsche Bahn employee clears snow on a platform at the main station in Magdeburg, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021.
The German Weather Service DWD urged people to stay at home and authorities brought homeless people into warm shelters amid the sub-zero temperatures.
National train operator Deutsche Bahn said main train routes between Hamburg and Hannover, Berlin and the west were canceled as snowdrifts piled up on the tracks and power lines. Some train connections in the east were also canceled, though most of the snow came down in the northwest.
12 inches of snow
Police in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia said early Sunday they had counted 222 accidents due to the bad weather conditions since Saturday afternoon. They said two people among the 28 were severely injured.
© Vincent Jannink ANP
Snow ploughs in action on the A1 motorway on Sunday morning.
Snow ploughs in action on the A1 motorway on Sunday morning.
The snow and strong winds are expected to continue for most of the day, but it could be well into evening before it stops in the north, weather forecasters say.
The transport ministry's roads authority has sprayed 17 million kilos of salt on the roads since Saturday evening in an effort to keep them clear. Nevertheless, there have been a string of accidents due to the difficult conditions and the slip road between the A15 and the A4 was closed for a time after a lorry jack-knifed.
Many are comparing this winter to the 'big freeze' of 2010, but there seems to be more snowfall so far than that famously cold, but rather dry winter.
The country's five commercial ski centres are all currently closed as part of the Scottish lockdown and that currently looks set to be the case for the rest of February at least.
The bridge that connects Tekwane South , eNtokozweni and KaNyamazane just collapse due to this heavy rainfall outside Nelspruit.
As heavy rains continue to wreak havoc in different parts of Mpumalanga, the cooperative governance (CoGTA) department has said it fears the death toll due to the floods may rise.
The persistent rain has caused damage and flooding since tropical storm Eloise spilled over to South Africa from Mozambique.
Areas including Mbombela, Bushbuckridge, and Nkomazi were severely affected.
At least eight people died due to the heavy rains on Saturday, and CoGTA spokesperson George Mthethwa said they fear the number of fatalities could rise.
Glacier breaks in Uttarakhand's Joshimath
"The actual number has not been confirmed yet," but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, chief secretary of Uttarakhand state where the incident occurred, told Reuters.
A witness reported a wall of dust, rock and water as an avalanche roared down a river valley.
"It came very fast, there was no time to alert anyone," Sanjay Singh Rana, who lives on the upper reaches of Raini village, told Reuters by phone. "I felt that even we would be swept away."
Comment: The Indian Express reports that just two days earlier, an avalanche occurred at the glacier. Which doesn't bode well for the Barry Glacier in Alaska where it's predicted that a landslide induced mega-tsunami 'could happen at anytime'.
With the above in mind, a recent study revealed that melting icebergs are a key feature of an ice age.
For more, check out SOTT radio's:
- MindMatters: The Holy Grail, Comets, Earth Changes and Randall Carlson
- Behind the Headlines: Earth changes in an electric universe: Is climate change really man-made?
- Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: Interview with Laura Knight-Jadczyk and Pierre Lescaudron
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 7 Feb 2021 3:45 pm (GMT +10)
Magnitude: 6.3
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 3.56°S / 145.92°E (Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea)
Nearest volcano: unnamed (91 km / 57 mi)
© Phivolcs
In an earthquake bulletin, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, or Phivolcs, said the tremor struck 6 kilometers southeast of Magsaysay at 12:22 p.m.
It had a depth of 15 kilometers and was tectonic in origin, indicating it was caused by a movement in the Earth's crust.
Intensity 5, rated by Phivolcs as "strong," was felt in Kidapawan City, Arakan, Carmen, Kabacan, Makilala and M'Lang, North Cotabato; City of Koronadal and Banga, South Cotabato; Matalam, Cotabato; Bansalan, Hagonoy, Magsaysay and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Intensity 4 or "moderately strong" was recorded in Davao City; Banisilan and Midsayap, North Cotabato; Don Carlos, Bukidnon; Polomok, Sto. Nino and Norala, South Cotabato South Cotabato; Alabel, Kiamba and Malapatan, Saranggani; Palimbang and Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat.
It has been a dynamic pattern establishing across Europe this week, with a persistent upper-level High over the Arctic region and northern Europe. But to the south, an atmospheric river is dragging storm systems from the Atlantic into the southern parts of Europe.
One of these systems has deepened across southwestern Europe this weekend and turned the jet stream into south-southwesterly directions. This means the flow comes directly from the Saharan desert and it normally raises the potential to receive Saharan Dust particles across the European continent.
This time, the result is the significant advection of Saharan Dust into the Mediterranean region and into central Europe. Including the Alps and areas further north where reports of orange snow and skies are coming from the public.
Comment: Lava spews from Italian volcano Mount Etna in series of explosions