Earth ChangesS


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Truck gets stuck in sinkhole, Wellington, New Zealand

Simon Wong
3news.co.nz
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:39 UTC
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Wellington City Council is urging motorists to avoid the southern end of Main Rd in Tawa on their way home tonight as work continues to fix a burst water main.

This morning, police and the fire service were called to the scene at near Oxford St just after 10am after a rubbish truck got stuck in a sinkhole created by a burst pipe.

The vehicle partially blocked one lane and the road was closed to traffic for a time. A tow truck was called to help remove it.

A council spokesman says both lanes of Oxford St are open, but the speed limit has been reduced to 30kmh while workers repair the broken pipe and the road.

Northbound motorists should consider taking the motorway to Porirua then double back to Tawa.

The water supply is gradually being restored to affected areas, but some properties may not have water back until around 5:30pm.

The truck driver said he noticed a bump in the road and as he drove over it, the back wheels sunk into the ground.

The burst water main sent water gushing into the street.
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Arrow Down

Sinkhole shuts street down in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ryan Luby
kob.com
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 12:50 UTC
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A sinkhole on Central Avenue near UNM has shut the street down in the area.

Crews need to fix a broken water main before the busy street can reopen, and the Water Authority is working tirelessly to get things patched up.

Central is shut down between University on the west, and Yale on the east.

The Water Authority says it will remain that way for at least through Tuesday evening. They hope to have one westbound lane and two eastbound lanes open for Wednesday morning's rush hour.

The Water Authority found out about break earlier Tuesday afternoon. Someone spotted a sinkhole that looked like one big, awful pothole. The water crews quickly discovered that a 10-inch steel water main -- beneath the surface of the road -- gave way. That's when they shut down Central in both directions.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.5 - South of the Fiji Islands


US Geological Survey
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 00:34 UTC
Fiji Quake_260314
© USGS
Event Time
2014-03-26 03:29:36 UTC
2014-03-26 15:29:36 UTC+12:00 at epicenter

Location
26.092°S 179.279°E depth=493.1km (306.4mi)

Nearby Cities
448km (278mi) NW of Raoul Island, New Zealand
786km (488mi) SW of Nuku'alofa, Tonga
884km (549mi) S of Suva, Fiji
938km (583mi) SSE of Nadi, Fiji
1071km (665mi) S of Lambasa, Fiji

Technical Details
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Map

String of 300 quakes in north has Chileans on edge

Luis Andres Henao
Fox News
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 19:18 UTC
earthquakes
© Associated Press File
More than 300 earthquakes have shaken Chile's far-northern coast the past week, keeping people on edge as scientists say there is no way to tell if the unusual string of tremors is a harbinger of an impending disaster.

The unnerving activity began with a strong magnitude-6.7 quake on March 16 that caused more than 100,000 people to briefly evacuate low-lying areas, although no tsunami materialized and there was little physical damage from the shaking.

But the land has not settled down. More than a dozen perceptible quakes were felt in the city of Iquique just on Monday.

"The situation is out of the ordinary. There's a mix of a string of tremors and their aftershocks that make things more complex to evaluate," Mario Pardo, deputy head of the Universidad de Chile seismology center, told the local newspaper La Tercera. "We can't rule out a larger quake."

Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. A magnitude-8.8 quake and ensuing tsunami in central Chile in 2010 killed more than 500 people, destroyed 220,000 homes, and washed away docks, riverfronts and seaside resorts.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded on Earth also happened in Chile - a magnitude-9.5 tremor in 1960 that killed more than 5,000 people.
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Cloud Grey

15-20 mile-wide Haboob moves through Phoenix AZ - rare for this time of year


ABC15.com
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 18:31 UTC
Image
An oddly timed dust storm is moving into the Valley right now. A Dust Storm Warning remains in effect until 5 p.m. for Maricopa and Pinal County as the massive wall of dust moves north along Interstate 10, and into parts of the southeast Valley.

We're all used to dust storms in the summer -- but rarely do they come in March.

Live video feed
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Snowflake Cold

STILL not done - Massive March Nor'easter bigger than Hurricane Sandy expected to bring winds, snow, cold blast to Northeast

Anthony Watts
Watt's Up With That
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 15:56 UTC
March came in like a lion, and it looks like the lion isn't leaving, but you can't blame the "polar vortex" this time.

As a massive winter storm at sea known as a Nor'easter prepares to skirts the Northeast coast of the USA, bringing with it high seas and bitterly cold weather in its wake, Dr. Ryan Maue writes:
Massive Nor'easter will develop a warm-core thru a seclusion process.

Compare previous image w/Hurricane Sandy - same 850-mb Wind speed & MSLP. Nor'easter wind field much stronger/larger.

[It is] maybe 4 times more powerful than Sandy based on integrated KE of wind field.
The image of the storm is quite stunning for it's sheer size.
March Nor’easter
© ECMWF
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Attention

BP does it again: refinery malfunction dumps crude oil into Lake Michigan

Sarah Fruchtnicht
Opposing Views
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:04 UTC
oil refinery
© unknown
A malfunction at a BP refinery in Whiting, Ind., spilled crude oil into Lake Michigan before it was discovered.

The malfunction was found around 4:30 p.m. on Monday, according to BP spokesman Scott Dean.

The problem caused oil from the Whiting Refinery's "cooling water outfall" to spill into the cove between the wastewater treatment plant and the steel mill.

It is unclear how much crude oil was spilled. No one was injured.

"The discharge has stopped," Dean said, "and BP and its response team have deployed boom, containing the oil to a cove."
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Cow Skull

Aurochs horn discovered at beach after storms in Gwynedd, Wales


BBC
Mon, 17 Mar 2014 15:29 UTC
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Aurochs became extinct when a female animal died in a forest in Poland in 1627
An animal horn thought to be 3,000 years old has been found on a beach in Gwynedd after the recent storms.

Engineer Derfel Hughes from Rhos Isaf made the discovery while walking at Dinas Dinlle, near Caernarfon.

Mr Hughes checked with museum experts who reckon it belonged to giant wild cattle called aurochs which became extinct in the 17th Century.

He gave it to a friend at the Greenwood Forest Park tourist attraction in Y Felinheli where it could go on show.

"Finding it was a total fluke," Mr Hughes told the Daily Post.

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time
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Attention

Earth opening up: 150 Sinkholes in five months in and around Kaski village, Nepal


The Himalayan Times
Mon, 24 Mar 2014 14:44 UTC
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Another sinkhole in Armala, locals terrified

The land cave-in that appeared at Thulibeshi Phant of Armala, Kaski, today morning, has further terrorised locals.

The sinkhole has destroyed Krishna Prasad Paudel's cowshed. According to Paudel, the sinkhole appeared suddenly at 4:00 am today. "We evacuated a buffalo to a safe place. Otherwise, it would have been killed," said Paudel.

After a sinkhole appeared on land deemed safe by locals, they have been terrified.

"My family members did their best to fill the sinkhole with soil, but the cave-in has not stopped, Paudel said.

"The cave-in at the upper portion of the land has taken away our sleep," Parbati Acharya said. "The sinkhole has endangered the entire settlement. Wherever we step, there seems to be a cave-in. How can we save our property?" Acharya wondered.
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Snowflake

Experts warn the brutal weather that forced the cancellation of today's search for MH370 could continue for months

Candace Sutton
Daily Mail
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:36 UTC
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Rough seas ahead: the HMAS Success has now left the target area, with severe weather and huge swells forcing it to abandon the search.
Unstable weather and dangerous conditions caused by an Antarctic cold front hitting warm tropical air 2,500kms off Australia's west coast is expected to severely affect the search for MH370 over the coming weeks and months.

An aviation meteorologist and an air and sea consultant have both predicted rough times for the planes and ships in the Indian Ocean, and an 'on and off' mission at best as the area's eight-month-long winter brings brutal swells and high winds to the search area.

Aviation safety consultant, Geoffrey Thomas of airline industry business publication airlineratings.com, warned today's weather was merely 'a taste' of conditions which would soon close in over the search area.
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