Earth ChangesS


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98 dead and 9 missing as landslide hits village in Philippines (UPDATED)

Volunteers assist residents being evacuated to safer grounds following a landslide at their village at Maco, Davao de Oro province, south Philippines
Volunteers assist residents being evacuated to safer grounds following a landslide at their village at Maco, Davao de Oro province, south Philippines
A landslide has left at least seven villagers dead and 48 others missing, including miners waiting in two buses for a ride home, in a gold-mining village in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Army troops, police and volunteers rescued 31 villagers who were injured when the landslide hit the mountain village of Masara in the remote town of Maco in Davao de Oro province on Tuesday night.

They resumed the search on Wednesday morning after suspending it the night before due to fears of more landslides, officials said.

More than 750 families have been moved to evacuation centres since the landslide struck, disaster response officials said.


Comment: Update February 9

BNN reports:
In the southern Philippine province of Davao de Oro, a devastating landslide near a mining site in Maco town on Tuesday has led to the death of 27 people, with 89 others still unaccounted for. The local government has confirmed the successful rescue of 32 individuals.

The landslide, which occurred near a gold mining site, swallowed several homes and two buses used to transport miners. The Maco municipal government is leading the ongoing search and retrieval operations, with rescue workers tirelessly navigating the treacherous terrain in a race against time.

Torrential rains that have battered Davao de Oro in recent weeks are believed to have triggered the landslide. The region's topography, combined with mining activities, might have exacerbated the disaster's impact.
Update February 12

The BBC reports:
At least 68 people are now known to have died after a landslide swept through a goldmining village in the Philippines almost a week ago.

Officials say there are still 51 people missing following Tuesday's disaster in Davao de Oro province, but rescue workers admit there is little hope of finding any more survivors.

A three-year-old girl was the last person pulled alive from the mud.

Her rescue - after more than 60 hours buried - was described as "a miracle".

Edward Macapili, a disaster agency official of the Davao de Oro province, said at the time it have given "hope to the rescuers".

But on Monday, those hopes appeared to have faded.

"It is almost a week after the incident and... we are assuming that no one is alive there," Mr Macapili told AFP news agency. "There is already a foul smell in the area now so there's a need to fast-track the retrieval."
Update February 18

The Sun Star reports:
The number of retrieved bodies from the landslide that hit a village in Maco town in Davao de Oro has reached 98, local authorities said Saturday afternoon, February 17, 2024.

In a press conference, Leah Anora, head of the management of the dead and the missing cluster, said as of 12 noon on Saturday, of the 98 bodies retrieved, 88 have complete body parts while 10 bodies were incomplete.

She said 79 of them have already been identified.

Anora said nine individuals are still on the list of missing persons; four were residents of Barangay Masara; four from Maria-Socio General Services Inc. (MSGSI); and one from APEX Mining.

Incident Commander Engineer Ariel Capoy said retrieval operations are ongoing for the missing individuals.
This latest incident is in addition to similar recent events, see also: At least 20 killed due to floods, landslides in southern Philippines


Cloud Precipitation

Thousands of gas cylinders swept away by floodwater caused by heavy rain in Latakia, Syria - 5 inches in 3 hours

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Heavy rains lashed several parts of Syria today, February 17.

A video going viral on social media shows massive rain in Syria's Latakia caused the flood water to enter a large fuel store.

As the video moves further, the flood water is seen sweeping away thousands of gas cylinders.

A user who shared the video on X, formerly Twitter, said that heavy rain exceeding 130 mm fell within three hours on Saturday night and dawn. "Floods uprooted the gates of one of the domestic gas cylinder filling plants," the user stated.


Question

Groundwater upsurge floods homes in Libyan coastal town

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Much of Libya is bone-dry desert but one Mediterranean coastal town is suffering the opposite problem — its houses and fields have been inundated by a mysterious upsurge of groundwater.

Stagnant water and squishy mud have flooded houses, streets and palm groves around the northwestern town of Zliten, spreading a foul smell and creating breeding grounds for mosquitos.

Many locals have fled their homes, where walls have cracked or collapsed, amid fears of a worsening environmental crisis in the area about 160 kilometers (100 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.

"Water began coming out two months ago and still continues to rise and submerge our wells," Mohamad Ali Dioub, owner of a farm some 4 kilometers from Zliten, told AFP. "All my fruit trees — apple, apricot and pomegranate trees — are dead."


Doberman

Man mauled to death by his dogs in Compton, Los Angeles

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A 35-year-old man died after he was attacked by multiple dogs in the backyard of a home in Compton.

Authorities and paramedics responded to the scene around 7 a.m. on Friday after receiving a call from a woman who said her boyfriend was attacked by several dogs.

KCAL flew over the the scene, which appeared to be a breeding operation for large dogs.

Investigators believe the attack happened around 7 or 8 p.m. on Thursday evening.


Fish

Giant 12-foot 'Harbinger of Doom' oarfish spotted bloody and disfigured on beach in Philippines, igniting natural disaster fears among locals

A rare 12.5 foot oarfish which was discovered bloody and disfigured on the shore in Leyte province, Philippines
A rare 12.5 foot oarfish which was discovered bloody and disfigured on the shore in Leyte province, Philippines.
A rare 12.5-foot oarfish, which was discovered bloody and disfigured on the shore in Philippines, has ignited fears of an impending natural disaster.

The ribbon-shaped fish, which is also known as the 'Harbinger of Doom', was spotted to be heavily bleeding with severe injuries to its face by fisherman on Wednesday.

Its discovery has sparked fear amongst locals, as the more superstitious believe the sighting of the animal signals an impending earthquake.

In Japanese mythology the long creature are notorious for being a bad omen, dubbed 'ryugu no tsukai' or as messenger's from god's palace in the sea.

Around a dozen oarfish were washed ashore between 2010 and 2011 prior to the Tohoku earthquake which killed more than 20,000 - an argument many mystics used to support the theory.


Comment: A day later: Dead oarfish found in the seas off Phuket, Thailand


Black Cat

Wild leopard launches shocking attack on forest rangers in village in Uttarakhand, India

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A wild leopard went on a terrifying village rampage in Haldwani, Uttarakhand State, India, attacking multiple forest rangers on February 10.

The big cat aggressively fought off officers, causing injuries to at least three of them before being tranquilized and taken back to the Corbett National Park.


Fire

Sakurajima volcano erupts in Japan - no immediate reports of injuries

The eruption of a volcano on Sakurajima
The eruption of a volcano on Sakurajima in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday.
A volcano on Sakurajima in Kagoshima Prefecture erupted Wednesday, with plumes rising to 5,000 meters above the summit crater for the first time since 2020, a local weather observatory said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries and damage to buildings, the prefectural government said, while the Kagoshima Meteorological Office maintained the volcanic activity alert level at three, urging people not to approach the volcano.

The Japan Meteorological Agency forecast volcanic ashes to fall in parts of Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures.


Seismograph

Strong shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake - Philippine Sea

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A very strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake occurred under the sea 163 km (101 mi) from Micronesia Wed, Feb 14, 2024 11:40 GMT.

The quake had a very shallow depth of 10 km (6 mi) and was not felt (or at least not reported so).

No significant damage or impact is expected from this quake and no particular alert was issued.

EARTHQUAKE DETAILS

Date & time Feb 14, 2024 11:40:21 UTC
Local time at epicenter Wednesday, Feb 14, 2024, at 11:40 am (universal GMT +0)
Status Confirmed
Magnitude 6.0
Depth 10.0 km

Cloud Precipitation

6 dead, over 190 rescued as heavy rains lash Oman

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Heavy rains in several governorates on Monday led to the tragic deaths of six individuals, including three children, while rescue operations saw more than 190 people saved from perilous conditions. The bad weather affecting many governorates, attributed to a low-pressure trough, is expected to continue on Wednesday.

The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) led rescue efforts, responding to over 224 reports since the onset of adverse weather on Sunday. The authority rescued individuals stranded in overflowing wadis and inundated buildings.

Late Monday night, CDAA announced that three children who were swept away in the overflowing Wadi Bani Ghafir in Rustaq were found dead.

Rescue teams of CDAA in Dhahirah managed to save one of two persons trapped in a vehicle swept away in Wadi Ghayya in Yanqul on Monday. The body of the second person was found on Tuesday morning.

The authority also reported the death of a woman following a tragic accident involving a vehicle being swept away in a wadi in Izki on Tuesday.


Seismograph

Chile: Magnitude-6.0 earthquake occurs just offshore of far southern Atacama Region

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A magnitude-6.0 earthquake occurred just offshore of far southern Atacama Region at around 22:31 Feb. 13. The epicenter was about 83 km (52 miles) west-southwest of Vallenar, Chile.

The tremor occurred at a depth of about 22 km (14 miles), and light shaking was probably felt throughout parts of southern and central Atacama and northern and central Coquimbo regions in Chile and northwestern San Juan Province in Argentina.

There have been no initial reports of damage or casualties as a result of the earthquake, and significant damage is unlikely. It could take several hours until authorities can conduct comprehensive damage assessments, especially in remote areas.

Aftershocks are likely over the coming days. The event has not prompted any tsunami advisories.