Earth Changes

Chilly in Chile: 280,000 lose power in first Santiago snowfall for 20 years

Sky News
Sun, 16 Jul 2017 06:27 UTC

Up to five centimetres come down in the city's first snowfall for decades, causing havoc in the Chilean capital.

More than 280,000 people have reportedly been left without power in Santiago after a rare blanket of snow hit the Chilean capital.

About 3-5cm of the white stuff came down on Saturday in what some reports say is the first snowfall there for 20 years.

A security guard at a medical facility died from an apparent heart attack while trying to clear snow, according to reports, while trees struck electricity lines.

And two other people - a 15-year-old girl and her grandmother - were thought to have been injured after they suffered electric shocks from a damaged cable.

The snow has also led to treacherous driving conditions.

Comment: Last month snow and heavy rains disrupted mining operations in the desert region of northern Chile.

Shallow 5.3 magnitude earthquake rattles Greek island of Crete

The Indian Express
Sun, 16 Jul 2017 05:44 UTC

Greece lies in an especially earthquake-prone zone and tremors of this magnitude are not considered exceptional. Three aftershocks, each of a magnitude of 3.5, have occurred within half an hour of the main quake.

Greece's Institute of Geodynamics says that a magnitude 5.3 earthquake has rattled the island of Crete. The earthquake occurred on Saturday at 11:30 pm local time off the southern coast of Crete, at a depth of 10 kilometres.

The Institute reported that the epicentre is near the coastal town of Ierapetra and about 60 kilometres southeast of the island's largest city, Heraklion.

Although the temblor was felt strongly in the eastern part of Crete, according to local media, no casualties or damages have been reported so far. Three aftershocks, each of a magnitude of 3.5, have occurred within half an hour of the main quake.

Greece lies in an especially earthquake-prone zone and tremors of this magnitude are not considered exceptional.

Illinois residents brace for possibility of record flooding

David Begnaud
CBS News
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 19:25 UTC

© G-Jun Yam/Associated Press
A man picks up sandbags to reinforce the barrier he built to keep the flood water from reaching his house Friday, July 14, 2017, in Gurnee, Ill. Illinois officials said Friday that several thousand buildings have been affected by “unprecedented” flooding north of Chicago, and the damage is expected to worsen this weekend as water flows down rivers into the state from Wisconsin.

Severe thunderstorms are expected to hit the upper Midwest again this weekend. Parts of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois are already flooded.

Heavy rains have left large swaths of the region under water. Severe flooding has closed roadways and knocked out power.

The flooding is being called unprecedented. Authorities say two months of rain have fallen in just 12 hours in Gurnee, north of Chicago. It's not uncommon to see flooding here, 1.6 trillion gallons of water fell this week on portions of Wisconsin and Illinois, where Bruce Rauner is the governor.

"Folks think because it's not raining anymore, things are just fine or getting better -- they're not," Rauner says.

In Lake County, Illinois, 5,800 buildings have reportedly been damaged by flood water. Forecasters say flooding in the northern Chicago suburbs will get worse over the next few days as water flows down rivers into the state from Wisconsin.

Comment: Northern suburbs of Chicago hit hard by heavy rains, flooding

Going underwater: Moscow city center again submerged after torrential rain

RT
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 19:18 UTC

Heavy rainfall has pounded the Russian capital yet again, with downtown Moscow resembling large lakes and pools. Muscovites took to social media, sharing what appears to have become the new norm this summer.

Friday's downpour flooded the streets of the Russian capital and pictures shared over the Internet showed stairs looking like waterfalls, submerged cars and barefooted pedestrians wading through "puddles."

With many cars immobilized, some netizens mockingly questioned whether it would be more wise to invest in a boat. Some 19mm of rainfall was recorded within just 40 minutes, which is 20% of the monthly norm, according to Moscow's authorities.

Mudslide buries a highway full of cars in Guangxi Zhuang, China

Kyle Cheromcha
The Drive
Fri, 14 Jul 2017 18:55 UTC

Time to go to the carwash

Next time you're sitting in traffic in the pouring rain, cursing up a storm at the back bumper of the car in front, just remember: as bad as it is, at least you're not buried in ten feet of mud.

But for sixteen people, that glib rejoinder became a terrifying reality this week when a mudslide smashed into a traffic jam full of cars and trucks on a highway in China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Wednesday. Incredible dash cam footage shows the wall of earth blast eight vehicles off the roadway, piling them up on an embankment and covering them in liquefied dirt.

Though three people suffered minor injuries, it's astonishing that everyone survived this disaster. According to CCTV, many of the uninjured survivors were able to dig their own way out, with emergency responders helping to extract the rest. The mudslide was reportedly caused by unusually heavy rains in the area.

At least 8 dead after heavy rains hit Jilin, China

Sputnik
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 18:37 UTC

Rescuers repair a damaged road in downtown of Yongji County in Jilin City, northeast China's Jilin Province, July 14, 2017.

At least eight people ended up dead and one went missing due to heavy rains that hit the Chinese province of Jilin.

Heavy rains claimed the lives of at least eight people and one person went missing in China's northeastern province of Jilin, local media reported on Saturday.

The strongest precipitation was recorded in the central county of Yongji, where the disaster reportedly killed five people, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Torrential rains have been reportedly hitting the province starting from Thursday, prompting evacuation of over 120,000 people.

Two bizarre massive fish wash up dead on Chinese beach

Tom Michael
The Sun (UK)
Mon, 10 Jul 2017 14:38 UTC

Residents of Liu’ao Township in China found this colossal sunfish washed up

Residents of a Chinese village have been spooked after two colossal and bizarre fish washed up on their shores in the space of just three days.

Residents of Liu'ao Township in Zhangpu County, Fujian, East China, first found a large ocean sunfish (Mola mola) before coming across an oarfish lying on the sand.

Both the strange-looking creatures were dead by the time they washed ashore, and it is unclear what might have caused them to die.

Local authorities were called on both occasions and confirmed the species of the two unexpected visitors, which are now being kept for research purposes.

Assam flood, India: 3 more deaths, toll climbs to 52, over 1,700,000 affected

Samudra Gupta Kashyap
The Indian Express
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 13:34 UTC

Partially submerged houses in Morigaon district of Assam, Friday

The flood situation in Assam showed little improvement on Friday. Official sources reported the death of three more persons, taking the death toll in the calamity to 52. The water level in the Brahmaputra dropped below the danger mark in Dibrugarh district, but the river continued to flow above the danger mark in Jorhat, Tezpur, Guwahati, Goalpara and Dhubri. Over 17 lakh* people spread over 25 of the state's 32 districts, have been affected by the floods. More than 25,000 people are lodged in 122 relief camps, while more than a lakh have taken shelter on highways and other highlands. The three deaths reported on Friday occurred in Dhemaji, Dhubri and Nagaon districts.

Preliminary reports have put the number of houses damaged so far at about 15,000. The State Disaster Management Authority has said in its daily report that villagers had lost a large number of cattle, poultry and other animals that are linked to their livelihood. Friday's report put the number of big animals (like cattle) affected at 5.39 lakh, and small animals (like pigs and goats) at over 3.46 lakh. Apart from this, over five lakh poultry birds have been affected, said the report. An official of the Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary said that about 73 animals were killed in the calamity, three of them rhinos.

5.9 Magnitude earthquake recorded off Gorontalo, Indonesia

Earthquake Track
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 12:59 UTC

5.9 magnitude earthquake 115 km from Gorontalo, Gorontalo, Indonesia

2017-07-15 12:12:21 UTC

USGS page: M 5.9 - 37km WSW of Tilamuta, Indonesia

USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Environment Canada confirms 2nd tornado touched down in Alberta

Phil Heidenreich
Globalnews.ca
Sat, 15 Jul 2017 05:42 UTC

© Brandi Lafreniere
An image of a cloud formation during Thursday's storm, taken east of Drayton Valley on Thursday, July 13, 2017.

After already confirming a tornado touched down near Breton, Alta. on Thursday, Environment Canada has confirmed a second tornado touched down on the same day near Athabasca, Alta.

"On July 13, a low pressure system moved through central Alberta triggering widespread thunderstorms, many of which became severe," the weather agency said in its summary of the storm posted to its website on Friday evening.

According to Environment Canada the first tornado touched down about 10 kilometres northwest of Breton at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. They gave it a preliminary rating of EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which ranges from the weakest (EF-0) to the strongest (EF-5). The twister's estimated wind speed was between 135 km/h to 175 km/h.

On Friday morning, Environment Canada said it received a report of a second tornado that touched down the same afternoon as the Breton one. It was spotted at 5:56 p.m. over an open field near Athabasca and the weather agency confirmed it did touch down.

Comment: The Weather Network reported almost baseball-sized hail battered homes in Alberta with reports of a tornado touching down near Breton.

Quote of the Day

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- Carroll Quigley

Centuries ago, the prophet St Malachie spoke of the end times, as culturally being a grotesque buffoonery. Here we are. To those who are...

dom38

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dom38

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ROEL

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DeliciousTears

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ROEL

Earth Changes

Chilly in Chile: 280,000 lose power in first Santiago snowfall for 20 years

Shallow 5.3 magnitude earthquake rattles Greek island of Crete

Illinois residents brace for possibility of record flooding

Going underwater: Moscow city center again submerged after torrential rain

Mudslide buries a highway full of cars in Guangxi Zhuang, China

At least 8 dead after heavy rains hit Jilin, China

Two bizarre massive fish wash up dead on Chinese beach

Assam flood, India: 3 more deaths, toll climbs to 52, over 1,700,000 affected

5.9 Magnitude earthquake recorded off Gorontalo, Indonesia

Environment Canada confirms 2nd tornado touched down in Alberta

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