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Attention

Update: Ecuador earthquake of 7.8 magnitude kills at least 77 people

Justin Carissimo
The Independent (UK)
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 07:29 UTC
Ecuador earthquake damage
© REUTERS/PAUL OCHOA
People stand in the rubble of a collapsed building after an earthquake struck Manta, Ecuador
At least 77 people have been killed after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Ecuador's central coast.

Officials have declared a state of emergency in six of the country's 24 provinces and the National Guard. The tremor destroyed homes and collapsed one major overpass.

President Rafael Correa urged the country's 16 million people to remain calm during the crisis.

"Our infinite love to the families of the dead," he said on Twitter. He also announced that he would cut short his trip to Italy to return home.

Vice President Jorge Glas also announced that the number of injured people were not currently available but he admitted that the death toll is expected to rise.

"It's very important that Ecuadoreans remain calm during this emergency," Vice President Glas announced in a televised address.

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Fire

Arizona burning? State officials warn of 'potentially significant wildfire season'

Howard Fischer & Doug McMurdo
Daily Miner
Thu, 14 Apr 2016 06:00 UTC
Arizona fire potential map 2016
© Arizona State Forestry
Arizona could face the most dangerous fire season in years, according to Gov. Doug Ducey and the state's chief forester.

And it's already starting.

"Last year, we burned less than 500 acres" by this time, said Jeff Whitney. "So far this year we've burned over 21,000 acres."

And it's not looking promising.

"Arizona faces a potentially significant wildfire season," the governor said after he had been briefed by Whitney and his staff.

It starts with the fact that there have not been major fires in the last two years. Add to that above-average rainfall and the subsequent growth of vegetation - which is now drying out.

Pinion Pine Fire Chief Joe Jackson said the Hualapai Mountains have seen significant moisture this year.

The upside is, the ground remains damp.

The downside is, the grasses that have grown thanks to rain and snowfall will eventually dry out, said Jackson.

The moisture has not been substantial enough to add more fuels than usual, said Jackson.

"We always have concerns with fuels," said Jackson. "The grass is growing from the rains and that will help carry fire."
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Powerful 5.8-magnitude quake hits Tonga


RT
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 08:55 UTC
Tonga earthquake map
© earthquake.usgs.gov
A 5.8-magnitude has hit the coast of the Pacific island nation of Tonga, USGS reported. The tremor with a depth of 66km, struck 287km from the county's capital of Nuku'alofa.

The part of the South Pacific Ocean where Tonga lies is considered to be one of the most seismically active areas in the world due to convergence between the Australia and Pacific plates, the USGS said.

In March, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Tonga and the Samoa islands, Geoscience Australia and the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The quake occurred just 96km from the town of Hihifo in Tonga.
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Bizarro Earth

Researchers find cracks in ground near epicenter of Japanese earthquake


NHK World
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 14:48 UTC
Slip after Earthquake
© YouTube Screen Capture
Researchers have found a long tear in the earth near the epicenter of a strong earthquake that jolted the southern Japanese prefecture of Kumamoto early Saturday.

They believe the scattering of cracks, which start on a road and run into a rice paddy, trace the line of a fault that caused the tremor.

Hiroshima University Professor Emeritus Takashi Nakata and his team have been examining the area around Mashiki Town since the magnitude-7.3 earthquake.

They found the deviation that runs through a rice paddy is about 1.2 meters wide. The earth on one side of the line is elevated by 50 centimeters.
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Bizarro Earth

7.8 Magnitude earthquake hits Ecuador


Sputnik News
Sun, 17 Apr 2016 02:46 UTC
Ecuador Earthquake
© Flickr
Quito
An earthquake measuring 7.8 occurred off the coast of Ecuador, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The number of victims of the earthquake that shook coastal Ecuador earlier in the day has reached 28 people, local media reported, citing Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.

According to the El Telegrafo newspaper, 16 people were killed in the city of Portoviejo, 10 died in the city of Manta and two others became victims of the quake in the Guayas province.
ecuador earthquake 2016
© USGS
Location of epicenter.
Tremors were recorded at 11:58 p.m. UTC time (02:58 MSK). According to the USGS, the epicenter of the quake was 17 miles away from the coastal town of Muisne and just over 100 miles away from the capital Quito.

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Attention

Huge 100m crack opens up along Jurassic Coast in Dorset, UK


Strange Sounds
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 19:06 UTC
Dorset Jurassic Coast crack
© ITV News
A huge crack running 100m (328ft) opened up on a section of Dorset's Jurassic Coast on April 13, 2016. It appeared between Bowleaze Cove and Redcliff Point at Preston, near Weymouth.

The massive crack splits the land in two on the famous Jurassic Coast in Dorset.

The resulting crevasse measures about 250 yards long, up to 3ft wide and 4ft deep on April 12, 2016.

Thousands of tonnes of earth have given way and will continue to slip away, changing the landscape of the renowned coastline.

It is unknown when the cliff will fall down on the beach, but walkers and tourists are now being warned to steer clear of the chasm.

This gigantic landslip was caused by heavy rainfall in the last few months.

Comment: A 400m section of the Dorset Jurassic Coast between Lyme Regis and Charmouth disappeared in 2008, in what was described as the biggest landslide in Britain in a century. See:

Huge landslide hits Dorset's Jurassic Coast

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Question

Japanese city of Fukuoka, covered in mysterious foam after earthquake (VIDEOS)

Katie Forster
The Independent, UK
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 13:17 UTC
Foam in Fukuoka City
© The Independent, UK
An unexplained carpet of foamy bubbles filled streets in the centre of the southern Japanese city of Fukuoka in the early hours of Saturday morning - shortly after tremors from a devastating earthquake of magnitude 7.3 shook the town.

Twitter users posted pictures of the mysterious foam, with one calling it "disgusting".

"I saw it just after the earthquake," said Kazuki Nabeta, who lives in the busy central district of Tenjin, where the bubbles were found.

Some have speculated that the earthquake may have caused an underground pipe to burst.

"People were posting pictures on Twitter and it was near my house, so I went out to have a look," said Mr Nabeta.
      Read More...
Attention

Update: 32 killed, 70,000 evacuated as Japan hit by 2 powerful earthquakes & devastating landslides (photos & videos)


RT
Sat, 16 Apr 2016 10:42 UTC
Japan earthquake damage April 2016
© Reuters
Local residents look at cracks caused by an earthquake on a road in Mashiki town, Kumamoto prefecture, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo April 16, 2016.
Dozens of people are feared trapped under rubble in southern Japan, as the death toll from two earthquakes has climbed to 32. The search for survivors is in full swing, while 70,000 people have been evacuated from their homes to safer locations.

Over 200 aftershocks have hit Japan following the initial Thursday tremor of 6.5-magnitude, which hit the city of Kumamoto on the island of Kyushu. Officials have warned that the risk of further strong aftershocks will linger for about a week.

About 190 of the injured are in serious condition, the Japanese government said.

Only 24 hours later the same areas was struck by a violent 7.1-magnitude earthquake. The Japan Meteorological Agency briefly issued tsunami warnings for the areas that were still recovering from Thursday's devastating tremors.

At least nine people were killed and more than 850 injured in the first quake. The death toll in the second has risen to 29. All in all, 1,500 people have been injured in the quakes, 80 of them seriously, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. He added that about 70,000 have left their homes.



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Fish

We are rapidly approaching an environmental catastrophe: Plastic waste in the ocean will outnumber fish by 2050

Carolanne Wright
Wake Up World
Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:00 UTC
plastic in ocean
© unknown
A dump truck full of plastic is unloaded into the sea every minute, and experts say the situation is growing worse, with plastic debris expected to outnumber fish by 2050.

With plastic production currently at a twentyfold increase since 1964, generating 311m tonnes in 2014, a new report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has revealed we are rapidly approaching an environmental catastrophe — especially where the world's oceans are concerned. This number is expected to double in the next 20 years and almost quadruple by 2050.

New plastics will use 20% of all oil within 35 years, which stands at around 7% today. And, despite the increasing demand, a mere 5% of all plastics are recycled successfully — with 40% ending up in landfills and a third in delicate ecosystems like the ocean. The remainder tends to be burned to generate energy, which has its own environmental impact not only in the pollution this practice generates, but also because it causes more fossil fuels to be used in order to make new plastic products like bags, cups, tubs and consumer devices.

Comment: See also: Not a fish tale: Thanks to ocean pollution humans are ingesting plastic
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Bad Guys

Sixth Extinction continues: Mass deaths of Saiga antelope in Kazakhstan caused by bacteria

Henry Nicholls
The Guardian
Thu, 14 Apr 2016 13:09 UTC
Saiga antelope deaths
© Anatoly Ustinenko/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Saiga antelope in 2011, before the mass deaths of 2015.
Almost total decimation of Betpak-Dala's population of 200,000 saiga antelopes in 2015 caused by pathogen that led to hemorrhagic septicemia, say scientists

The mysterious mass deaths of about 200,000 saiga antelopes in Kazakhstan last year was caused by a bacterial infection.

As news emerged in May last year of the near-total decimation of the Betpak-Dala population of saiga antelope, there was plenty of speculation but few concrete answers as to what might have been responsible.

Kazakhstan's mass antelope deaths mystify conservationists

One idea was that rainfall had resulted in widespread, mortal bloat. Perhaps there had been some infectious disease that had wiped out herd after herd. Some even blamed poisoning by toxic rocket fuel spread around Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Comment: Mass die-offs of species large and small are becoming increasing common, does it speak to a fundamental shift in the environment?

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