5.9 magnitude earthquake

UTC time: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 09:45 AM

Your time: Tuesday, January 12 2016 9:45 AM

Magnitude Type: mb

USGS page: M 5.9 - Southwest Indian Ridge

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 0 people

At least 45 small whales (short-finned pilot whales), part of the lot which washed ashore in Tiruchendur in Tamil Nadu on Monday evening, have died. More than 100 whales were found on the 16km stretch from Alanthalai to Kallamozhi coastal hamlets on Tuesday morning. Thirty six of them have been rescued by fishermen.

"The whales started reaching the shore in groups around 5pm. It is very strange. In 1973 when we were boys, we witnessed same phenomenon. However, not these many washed ashore then," said Rajan, a fishermen in Manapad.

Ditto Mascarenhas of Kulasekarapattinam said if local fishermen had not kept a vigil, many more whales would have died. The fishermen remained awake the whole night to keep the whales in water by pulling them back to the sea.

Tuticorin district collector M Ravikumar inspected the coast. He said officials were investigating the reason for such a huge number of whales reaching the shore.

A team from the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park in Ramanathapuram has rushed to the spot.

Tremors were also felt in Azerbaijan as an earthquake of 4.6 magnitude struck Iran Jan.12.

The earthquake was recorded in Iran 20 km north from Azerbaijan's Yardimli district at 6:38am local time, the Republican Seismic Survey Center of told APA.

The earthquake that occured at a depth of 27 km was also felt in 3.0-magnitude in Azerbaijan.

Severe frosts have hit the Russian province of Siberia with temperatures hitting minus 32 degrees Celsius. The city of Irkutsk on Monday was covered with a cold mist as residents wrapped up and hurried to work on the first day after a long New Year holiday break.

The extreme cold had taken many residents by surprise. "We of course were not prepared for such frost. It's cold. How else can one feel when it is that cold? Certainly, fresh. But still cold," said one Irkutsk resident. "You must wear a hat, a scarf and some warm coat like a sheepskin ...," said another resident.

Some residents, however, were more tolerant towards the cold claiming it was all good. "It's Siberia! It's normal. It's not a frost at all. All is good, nothing to be scared about," he said.

A year of astonishing weather events and devastating natural disasters came to a dramatic end last month, ruining Christmas celebrations for many. Unusual atmospheric conditions and a severely looping northern jet stream brought record warmth to the Arctic and Western Europe, where back-to-back storms pummeled the UK, Ireland and Norway with record-breaking rainfall and hurricane-force winds. A similar situation developed on the opposite side of the globe, where, for the second year running, the most intense North Pacific storm ever recorded slammed into Alaska and brought intense flooding to the US Northwest.

December 2015 was a 'tale of two USAs', with the western half generally experiencing record cold, record snowfall, and ice storms, while the eastern states experienced record warmth, fatal tornado outbreaks and record flooding. Incredibly, it was warmer on Christmas Day in Boston and New York City than it was on July 4th. Severe flooding affected all continents, with over 100,000 people displaced in the capital of Congo, Kinshasa; another 160,000 displaced in central Latin America; and 300 killed by 'the worst flooding in over a century' in southern India.

There were also multiple volcanic eruptions last month, spectacular meteor fireball sightings, gaping sinkholes swallowing homes, and localized storms of such intensity that falling hail turned streets into rivers of ice in northern Argentina, while tornadoes touched down in New Zealand. The animal kingdom is also feeling the effects of global upheaval: mass fish kills continue apace; enormous whales continue washing up on sea shores; and, for the second time in 5 months, a giant squid was filmed coming up to the surface... Does something stir in the deep?

These were the signs of the times in December 2015.

6.1 magnitude earthquake 75 km from Rishiri Town, Hokkaido, Japan

UTC time: Monday, January 11, 2016 17:08 PM

Your time: Monday, January 11 2016 5:08 PM

Magnitude Type: mwp

USGS page: M 6.1 - 75km S of Rishiri Town, Japan

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Reports from the public: 1 person

A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake occurred on Monday some 247 kilometers (153 miles) south-east of Sarangani, Philippines, the US Geological Survey reported.

The tremors were registered at 16:38 GMT at a depth of some 101.6 km (63.1 miles).

No reports of damage or casualties have been received so far.

According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, "based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected."

This is the amazing moment a couple appear to kiss on a Sydney beach, just moments before the entire beach is overwhelmed by a huge wave.

The rogue wave hit the beach at Sydney's Royal National Park, leaving some people with serious injuries.

As other beach-goers and swimmers are running away from the water and to safety, the couple apparently pause to kiss before being pushed apart by the crashing water.

The man filming the scenario can be heard screaming: "Get out!"

The western municipality of Merikarvia shoveled its way into history books on Saturday with a new Finnish record for snowfall in a single day. Local residents were in high spirits because of the chance notoriety, despite the wintry chaos.

The inhabitants of the municipality of Merikarvia in Western Finland were stunned overnight when their town became the site of a new Finnish record. At 8 am Saturday, meteorologists measured that more than 70 centimetres of snow had accumulated in a single 24-hour period, or close to two and a half feet.

Thankfully the white stuff was the light and fluffy kind, and not wet and slushy, as heavy snow drifts in such quantities can potentially cause significant damage.

"It was astonishing!" local Sirkka Puolitaival says. "But we had to believe it when nearly a metre of snow piled up on our outdoor trash cans."

For Puolitaival and many others, the snow work resulting from the record-breaking blizzard gave them a real workout.

"I'm sweating through my clothes; there's no need to visit the gym. If only I could dig out our garage and get my skis!"

A powerful explosive eruption occurred at the volcano during 4-6 January. It began with a series of at least 4 powerful explosions between 20:50 on 4 Jan and up to the next morning, producing tall ash plumes that rose 4-6 km above the volcano and drifted north.

At least some of the explosions also triggered pyroclastic flows reaching the southern base of the summit cone. Moderately strong ash fall of 1-2 cm occurred in villages about 10 km to the NE of the volcano.

Apart from significant damage to farmland because of the ash cover, no injuries or damage to infrastructure were reported. The airport of Manado had to be closed for 2 days.

In the course of the second day (5 Jan), the activity at the volcano changed to violent lava fountaining from a fissure vent at the summit of the cone, producing lava flows that descended the cone. Activity ceased after around 6 January.