Earth ChangesS


Satellite

Space station flies through big space storm

Earth Aurora
© Astro_SoichiThe International Space Station flies through Earth's aurora in this photo taken by Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi and posted on April 5, 2010. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is visible docked to the station.
An astronaut has captured the rare view of the International Space Station zooming through a dazzling display of Earth's aurora as the strongest geomagnetic storm of the year hit the planet.

In the stunning space aurora photo, the International Space Station is seen flying 220 miles (354 km) over an Earth lit up by eerie green auroras peppered by red hues. A Russian Soyuz spacecraft is backlit by the cosmic light show in the image.

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi took the stunning photo and posted it Monday on Twitter, where he has been chronicling his six-month mission to the space station under the name Astro_Soichi.

Bizarro Earth

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro's worst rains in history kill at least 81

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© AP Photo/Jadson Marques, Agencia O GloboA rescue worker carry a baby as other victims are helped after a landslide in a flooded area of Campo Grande neighborhood, Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Torrential rains in Rio de Janeiro triggered landslides that killed 81 people as rising water paralyzed traffic and suspended most business.
The heaviest rains in Rio de Janeiro's history triggered landslides Tuesday that killed at least 81 people as rising water turned roads into rivers and paralyzed Brazil's second-largest city.

The ground gave way in steep hillside slums, cutting red-brown paths of destruction through shantytowns. Concrete and wooden homes were crushed and hurtled downhill, only to bury other structures.

The future host city of the Olympics and football World Cup ground to a near halt as Mayor Eduardo Paes urged workers to stay home and closed all schools. Most businesses were shuttered.

Eleven inches (29 centimeters) of frain fell in less than 24 hours, and more rain was expected. Officials said potential mudslides threatened at least 2,000 homes in the city of 6 million people.

"It is not advisable for people to leave their homes," said Paes. "We want to preserve lives."

He told the Web site of the newspaper O Globo that the rainfall was the most that Rio had ever recorded in such a short period. The previous high was nine inches (24 centimeters) that fell on Jan. 2, 1966.

Bizarro Earth

Earth struck by most powerful space storm in three years

Eyjafjallajökull
© Albert JakobssonA curtain of light is the backdrop for Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
The most powerful geomagnetic storm since December 2006 struck the Earth on Monday, a day earlier than expected.

On 3 April, the SOHO spacecraft spotted a cloud of charged particles called a coronal mass ejection (CME) shooting from the sun at 500 kilometres per second. This velocity suggested the front would reach Earth in roughly three days.

"It hit earlier and harder than forecast," says Doug Biesecker of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Fortunately, the storm was not intense enough to interfere strongly with power grids or satellite navigation, but it did trigger dazzling auroras in places like Iceland (pictured).

Such storms highlight the uncertainty in the arrival times of CMEs, which can easily be 15 hours off predictions, Biesecker says. Better modelling of the solar wind, which can accelerate CMEs en route to Earth, could reduce the uncertainty.

Bizarro Earth

Large earthquake hits Iceland volcano site

Volcano
© IceNewsEarthquakes-Myrdalsjokull
An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter Scale shook the area of the erupting volcano next to the Eyjafjallajokull ice cap in South Iceland this afternoon.

The earthquake is the strongest to hit the area since seismic activity began to build at the volcano at the beginning of March.

Steinunn Jakobsdottir, an Icelandic Meteorological Office geologist told Morgunblaðið newspaper that only very few of the regular quakes in the area since the beginning of last month have measured above 3 on the Richter Scale. Jakobsdottir added that it is not yet known if this afternoon's quake is an important development or if it should be considered as a large but normal earth movement. The quake has not had any immediate effect on the erupting volcano - neither has it had an immediate impact on the nearby dormant Katla volcano.

Bizarro Earth

Mexico: At Quake's Epicenter, Water Gurgled From Ground

Guadalupe Victoria -- After the ground shook violently, small cracks formed on the rich soil and cement floors. They quickly became big cracks, spouting groundwater.

That's how the Briseno family watched all seven of their homes sink to ruin on a single block, forcing them to sleep in their cars indefinitely.

The family has one of the more dramatic tales of loss from the epicenter of Easter Sunday's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Mexico that has left many afraid to go inside, whether at home or at work.

"The earth just opened up, like a pencil goes across a sheet of paper, like a stripe goes across the floor," said Diona Garcia Briseno, the oldest of five siblings, who lost a home that she shared with her husband and their two children, 18 and 10.

Garcia Briseno, 38, saw the ground crack and cough up water as she waited out the quake outside her home. After the shaking, she went inside to find that her cement floor was gurgling muddy water from underground. It lasted about six hours.

"It didn't come out with lots of force, but it was constant," she said.

Newspaper

Strong quake kills 2 in Mexico, rattles US states

Mexico quake
© Associated Press/Guillermo AriasMen stand next to cracks on a street in Mexicali, Mexico, early Monday, April 5, 2010, after a powerful earthquake struck. The quake shook buildings in Mexico, California and Arizona
Aftershocks rattled the southwest Mexico-U.S. border on Monday morning in the aftermath of a major earthquake that killed two people, blacked out cities and forced the evacuation of hospitals and nursing homes.

Sunday's 7.2-magnitude quake, centered just south of the U.S. border near Mexicali, was one of the strongest earthquakes to hit region in decades, shaking at least 20 million people.

Blackbox

'Oriental yeti' discovered in China

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© Photo: CENThis bizarre creature dubbed the oriental yeti has baffled scientists after emerging from ancient woodlands in remote central China.
A creature dubbed the 'oriental yeti' is being examined by scientists after emerging from ancient woodlands in remote central China.

The hairless beast was trapped by hunters in Sichuan province after locals reported spotting what they thought was a bear.

Hunter Lu Chin explained: "It looks a bit like a bear but it doesn't have any fur and it has a tail like a kangaroo."

Meteor

Best of the Web: Cosmic Climate Change: Space Shuttle Discovery - STS 131 leaves spectacular dragon trails in the sky

Space shuttle Discovery left Earth this morning at 6:21 am EDT in a spectacular dawn launch from Cape Canaveral. The combination of sunrise colors and the comet-like appearance of the departing shuttle astonished onlookers. "It was an awesome sight," says Michael Fertic, who sends this picture from Spring Hill, Florida:
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© Michael FerticThe sky is changing; more evidence that our upper atmosphere is loaded with comet dust

The show continued even after the shuttle was out of sight. Tiny ice crystals in Discovery's lingering exhaust caught the rays of the rising sun and formed an artificial noctilucent cloud of startling brightness. Even veteran observers were impressed. "It was the most incredible launch I have ever seen," says long-time shuttle watcher and part-time NASA medic Dr. Mark Staples of Shands Hospital. "Definitely, it was one of the most spectacular!" agreed Jim Burchfield of nearby St. Cloud, Florida. And Terry Allshouse of Leesburg, Florida, ranked it as "the best of the ten I have witnessed." More images of the launch from photographers:

Comment: Remember this?

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© Rex FeaturesStrange spiral: Residents in northern Norway were left stunned after the lightshow, which almost looked computer-generated, appeared in the skies above them
The Russian ICBM launch failed, forcing the rocket into a spin as it burned through the atmosphere.

The meteor that turned night into day in Utah, Idaho and Nevada last November left a "noctilucent", or night-shining trail suspended in the space-dust laden sky, which high altitude winds later twisted into this spaghetti formation:

meteor's aftermath
© SLTrib/ Les AshwoodA photo believed to be depicting the meteor's aftermath, taken at 7 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009, from Clive, in western Tooele County, looking east toward Salt Lake City.



Bizarro Earth

US: California/Mexico Border Still Shaking - Latest is 5.1 Magnitude Earthquake

Aftershocks from Easter's magnitude-7.2 earthquake in Baja California were felt in San Diego County today.

As of 4:15 a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said five earthquakes stronger than magnitude-5.0 and dozens of smaller temblors have been recorded since yesterday's main event, which was struck about 3:40 p.m. and was centered 37 miles south-southeast of Mexicali. As of this morning reports indicate at least two people had been killed and about 100 injured.

On Sunday, reports indicated minor damage around San Diego County included jammed exit doors, water leaks, cracked walls and broken windows, authorities said.

A Julian resident got a lump on the head when something was shaken off a shelf in a store, and person was hurt when he fell while running out of his Chula Vista home.

Pat Abbott, a professor emeritus of geology at San Diego State University, said San Diegans should brace themselves for perceptible aftershocks for at least 72 hours after the initial quake.

Comment: Hundreds of aftershocks have occurred in less than 24 hours. See a complete list from USGS here.


Bizarro Earth

US: Police patrol quake-damaged California border town

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© AP Photo/Jorge RiveraThis photo provided by Jorge Rivera aka 'cimarron98' via Twitter shows structural damage to the Escomex business school building after an earthquake in Mexicali, Mexico, Sunday, April 4, 2010. The 7.2-magnitude quake struck at 3:40 p.m. in Baja California, Mexico, about 19 miles southeast of Mexicali, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Calexico - Inspectors found a landscape of smashed windows and caved-in roofs in this struggling border city's historic downtown on Monday after a deadly Easter earthquake in nearby Mexico.

The 7.2-magnitude temblor struck just south of the U.S. border near Mexicali, killing two people and destroying dozens of businesses and homes there and severely injuring another in the neighboring California town of El Centro.

In Calexico, the hardest-hit U.S. city, the quake damaged nearly 80 percent of the city's historic downtown area, authorities said. Three tanks holding the city's water supply were damaged, City Manager Victor Carrillo said.

City officials asked residents to limit water use to essential bathing, cooking and washing.

The quake was the latest blow to a region struggling with the state's highest unemployment rate, said Hildy Carrillo, executive director of the Calexico Chamber of Commerce.