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US: Geologists closely monitoring surge in central Arkansas quakes

Gavin Lesnick
Arkansas Online
Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:59 UTC
arkansas map
Official: Layout of quakes might suggest larger tremor coming

The Arkansas Geological Survey says it is stepping up its monitoring of seismic activity in central Arkansas after dozens of small earthquakes in the region.

Six minor quakes were recorded Friday near Quitman, the latest of more than 50 temblors in October. The Friday tremors began with a 2.0-magnitude quake around 7:45 a.m. and peaked with a 2.5 quake later in the morning.

The shaking follows more than 1,000 earthquakes centered between Guy and Greenbrier from September 2010 to July of this year, when the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission ordered four gas disposal wells shut down and voted to create a large moratorium area in which no future disposal wells could be drilled.

Geologists said the activity - which involves injecting pressurized liquid into the ground - was likely contributing to the shaking.
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Attention

Canary Islands: Signs of second eruption off coast of El Hierro


Xinhua
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:18 UTC
El Hierro
A second volcanic eruption off the coast of the island of El Hierro could be on the point of happening, scientists warned.

The warning came just over a week after the end of the first eruption, which forced a village on the island to be evacuated.

The offshore eruption began at a depth of over 100 meters below sea level on Oct. 10 off the southern coast of El Hierro, the smallest and most westerly of the Canary Islands, a group of islands off the western coast of Africa, which are governed by Spain.

It led to the creation of a stain caused by emissions of sulphur, pumice stone and magma which extended beyond El Hierro.

Although the first eruption died down and seismic activity began to fade, it has gained momentum again in recent days with El Hierro suffering over 120 earth tremors with the strongest reaching 3.9 on the Richter scale on Sunday.

In contrast to the first eruption, there are signs that a second eruption could happen off the northern coast of El Hierro.
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Bizarro Earth

Researcher Links Fungus To Dropping Bat Population


redOrbit
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:25 UTC
Bats
© redOrbit
A University of Tennessee researcher helped confirm the link between the fungus Geomyces destructans and the dropping bat population.

Over a million bats were killed in North American in 2006, and little has been done to try and save them due to lack of evidence for the alleged killer.

However, a new study has discovered that the fungus Geomyces destructans is the agent of White-noise Syndrome (WNS), which is the fungal disease decimating the bat population.

The fungus has been thought to be the likely culprit because the skin lesions found on the bats are associated with colonization of the fungus.

"Many assumed that fungal infections in mammals only occur if some other pathogen has already weakened the immune system," Justin Boyles, a post-doctoral research associate in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, said in a statement. "Additionally, the recent discovery that G. destructans commonly colonizes the skin of bats in Europe with no major die-offs generated speculation that other unidentified factors are the primary cause of WNS."
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Bulb

Connecticut, US: Power Restoration in Snowy East Could Take Days

Dave Collins
The Associated Press
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:30 UTC
Hartford - Residents across the Northeast faced the prospect of days without electricity or heat Monday after an early-season storm dumped as much as 30 inches of wet, heavy snow that snapped trees and power lines, closed hundreds of schools, and disrupted plans for Halloween trick-or-treating.

Image
© AP/Jessica Hill
Jay Ericson clears snow off branches weighing down on power lines at his home following a snow storm a day earlier in Glastonbury, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011.
Communities from Maryland to Maine that suffered through a tough winter last year followed by a series of floods and storms went into now-familiar emergency mode as roads closed, shelters opened and regional transit was suspended or delayed.

The storm's lingering effects, including power failures and hundreds of closed schools, will probably outlast the snow. Temperatures are expected to begin rising Monday and the snow will start melting, the National Weather Service said.

The early nor'easter had utility companies struggling to restore electricity to more than 3 million homes and businesses. By midday Monday, the number without power was still above 2 million but falling. But officials in some states warned it could be days or even a week before residents have power again.

In Allentown, Pa., tree branches littered yards and residents girded for a long haul without power. Anne Warschauer, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor from Germany, refused to leave her home on a quiet tree-lined street even though the temperature inside had plummeted.
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Bizarro Earth

Rare 'Snowtober' Storm Breaks Local Records


OurAmazingPlanet
Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:03 UTC
Snow Storm
© NOAA/NASA
Snowtober's wrath, seen from space.
The rare October snowstorm that smacked the Northeast over the weekend shattered local records, knocked out power for millions and was blamed for the deaths of at least 10 people.

This morning (Oct. 31), 86 percent of the Northeast was covered in snow at an average depth of 4.4 inches (11 centimeters), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Because the storm hit during the fall, the wet snow piled up on leaf-filled trees and snapped branches onto power lines. About 2.5 million people were without power this morning, according to news reports.

NOAA is investigating the storm to see if it will go down as the 11th billion-dollar weather event of 2011.

A "slushy coating" of 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) was forecast for the big northeastern cities. New York City bested that prediction with 2.9 inches (7.4 cm) of snow over the weekend, topping its previous record of 0.9 inches (2.3 cm) for the month of October. New York City has had 65.75 inches of precipitation this year, the third most in the city's history, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
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Radar

Powerful earthquake hits off northeastern Taiwan; no reports of casualties or damage


The Washington Post
Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Agence France-Presse
A powerful earthquake has struck off northeastern Taiwan, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau says the quake registered magnitude 6.5, while the U.S. Geological Survey puts it at 5.5.

The earthquake struck Sunday morning at sea, about 88 miles (141 kilometers) east of the Taiwanese county of Keelung. Keelung is about 17 miles (28 kilometers) east of the capital, Taipei.

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage.

However, a magnitude-7.6 earthquake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.

Source: The Associated Press
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Info

Canada: A Mysterious Virus Threatens Salmon in the West


The Atlantic Wire
Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Getty Images
A virus that devastated farm-raised salmon populations in the Atlantic may be appearing among wild fish in the Pacific, a potentially devastating threat to fisheries there.

Scientists reported on Friday that the virus, infectious salmon anemia, had been found for the second time among wild salmon in British Columbia. That could suggest that the disease, now found among farmed salmon in Atlantic waters, has made the jump to wild fish populations, The New York Times reports.

There is no cure.
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Igloo

US: Snowstorm causes power outages, more than 600K in New Jersey affected


NJ.com
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 07:30 UTC

Image
© Frances Micklow/The Star-Ledger
Lynn Sutter shovels her driveway so she can get to the hospital in the morning for work as the first snow storm of the season hits Butler.
More than 600,000 homes and businesses are without power this morning after yesterday's powerful Nor'easter dumped up to 19 inches in parts of New Jersey, snapping trees and bringing down power lines across the state.

"I can't even begin to tell you how many trees and lines we have down throughout the township. Too numerous to mention," said Bridgewater police Lt. Robert Wilt.

Officials warned it could be days before many see electricity restored.

The combination of heavy, wet snow, leaf-laden trees and frigid, gusting winds brought down limbs and power lines. At least three deaths were blamed on the weather, and states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York.

PSE&G reported 271,000 customers without power as of 8:30 this morning. Crews have been working overnight however some customers in Bergen and Essex Counties may not get power restored until Wednesday, the company said.

About 260,000 JCP&L customers are without power, said spokesman Ron Morano, noting that Morris County suffered widespread outages.
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Bulb

US: Early Snowstorm Leaves Millions Without Power

Barbara Goldberg
Reuters
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Adam Hunger
A view of a pumpkin patch covered in snow is seen in Portsmouth, New Hampshire October 30, 2011.
More than 3 million households in the Northeast lacked power Sunday as a rare October snowstorm bedeviled transportation and killed at least five people.

The record-breaking snow was heaviest in the western Massachusetts town of Plainfield, where 27.8 inches fell according to the National Weather Service. Northwest of New York City, in West Milford, New Jersey, 19 inches of snow fell.

"It's too scary -- the windows are rattling too loud," a terrified Sophia Band, 6, said, her father recalled, during the crushing storm in Conway, Massachusetts overnight.

The snowy, windy weather that began Saturday was expected to exit Maine later Sunday, but not before dumping up to a foot of snow on northern New England, particularly southern Vermont, the National Weather Service said.

Howling winds and heavy, wet snow snapped enormous trees like twigs, downing power lines from West Virginia to Massachusetts.

By midday Sunday, there were close to 3.2 million households without electricity across the Mid-Atlantic and New England, according to Weather.com.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said the state experienced the largest number of power outages in its history. Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey all said they did not expect service to return to normal for several days, while in Connecticut it could be more than a week.
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Cloud Lightning

Early snowfall, rain pounds Atlantic Canada as U.S. storm moves north


The Canadian Press
Sun, 30 Oct 2011 00:00 UTC
Image
© Environment Canada
Environment Canada has issued wind and rain warnings for the various parts of the Maritimes Saturday night and into Sunday.
An unseasonably early snowstorm that has pounded the U.S northeast is making its way through parts of Atlantic Canada.

Heavy rainfall soaked much of the Maritimes while snow fell in parts of New Brunswick, as far south as Saint John.

Meteorologist Jeffrey Hilliard says the major concern is a mix of rain, snow and high winds that are causing hazardous driving conditions in some areas.

The City of Saint John sent out a notice urging drivers to use caution as crews were heading out to sand and salt the city's roads.

RCMP in eastern Prince Edward Island reported that a driver was killed near Pooles Corner on Route 3 early on Sunday.

Police say road conditions were a factor in the death, along with the lack of a seatbelt and the high speed of the car.

In addition, the Confederation Bridge sent out an advisory that due to strong winds the bridge was closed to cars towing trailers, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, trucks and buses.
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