Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Earthquakes Pose Threat to Mississippi

When you think of earthquakes, west coast states like California usually come to mind. So should folks here in Mississippi be concerned?

The truth is that several Mississippi counties are at risk for a severe earthquake in the future. That's why governor Haley Barbour made January 26th through 30th, Mississippi's Earthquake Awareness Week.

There are only illustrations of perhaps the worst series of earthquakes to hit the New Madrid seismic zone back in 1811 and 1812. That zone consists of a series of faults that cross the Mississippi and Ohio rivers; stretching 40 miles wide and 200 miles long.

Bizarro Earth

Japanese Volcano Erupts, Mt. Redoubt Groans

Town covered in fine ash dust after eruption.

A geologist said it looks like Alaska's Mount Redoubt wants to erupt.

In fact, she said odds are higher that it will than it won't. Groans and steam continue to come from the mountain, prompting officials at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage to move five C-17 cargo planes to McChord Air Force Base in Washington.

For Japan's Mount Asama, it's a different story. That volcano did erupt early Monday morning, sending fine, powdery ash on to Tokyo, which is about 90 miles away.

Bizarro Earth

At least 12 killed by floods, waves in Indonesia

Three Indonesians died after huge waves washed them away on a beach on Java island, while nine people were killed in floods and landslides in other parts of Java and Sulawesi, officials said on Sunday.

The bodies of three high-school students had been found on Parangtritis beach south of the city of Yogyakarta, a rescue official said, while two people were still missing after they were swept away on Saturday while waiting to watch the sunrise.

The beach is a popular tourist area but known for its dangerous currents and big waves.

Cloud Lightning

Canada: Residents cleaning up after wind storm blows through Prairies

Edmonton - Carol Quiring had to fish about three metres of eavestroughing out of her hot tub after winds gusting up to 100 kilometres per hour tore through parts of Alberta Friday night.

It was part of a storm system that was also being blamed for blasting out windows and flinging construction debris around in Winnipeg Saturday.

Ms. Quiring, who lives in a north Edmonton neighbourhood, looked out her back door Saturday morning and noticed that the cover on her hot tub had slid several centimetres.

When she looked more closely, she could see a three-metre long chunk of metal eavestroughing sticking out of the pool.

Thinking that the wind had blown her neighbours' eavestrough down, she knocked on a few doors looking for the owner.

Frog

Many New Species Discovered In Hidden Mozambique Oasis With Help Of Google Earth

Chamelon
© Julian Bayliss/KewScientific surveying Mount Mabu -- Mozambique - found a wealth of wildlife including Pygmy Chamelons.
Space may be the final frontier, but scientists who recently discovered a hidden forest in Mozambique show the uncharted can still be under our noses. BirdLife were part of a team of scientists who used Google Earth to identify a remote patch of pristine forest. An expedition to the site discovered new species of butterfly and snake, along with seven Globally Threatened birds.

The team were browsing Google Earth - freely available software providing global satellite photography - to search for potential wildlife hotspots. A nearby road provided the first glimpses of a wooded mountain topped by bare rock. However, only by using Google Earth could the scientists observe the extent of woodland on the other side of the peak. This was later discovered to be the locally known, but unmapped, Mount Mabu. Scientific collections and literature also failed to shed light on the area.

Bizarro Earth

US: 4.4-Quake Rattles Area Near Bakersfield, California

A small earthquake struck the desert area of Kern County Saturday, it was reported.

A preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey said the 4.4-magnitude quake hit at 1:09 p.m. It was centered eight miles from the sparsely populated town of Randsburg.

Bizarro Earth

Pequannock Residents Witness Earthquake

Three vacationing in Costa Rica report they were near epicenter.

Joan Ackerman, 79, Mary Stuermer, 87, and Irene Stevens, 84, of Cedar Crest retirement home in Pompton Plains, had just sat down to eat in a ramshackle roadside restaurant just north of San Jose in Costa Rica when their vacations were abruptly interrupted by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that shook the country, killing at least 23 on Jan. 8.

The family-owned eatery was close to the epicenter of the earthquake, the Poas Volcano.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Strikes Off Eastern Japan

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake struck off large areas in eastern Japan, including Tokyo, early today, but there were no immediate reports of any damage, officials said.

The country's meteorological agency said there was no risk of a tsunami.

Phoenix

Scientist see holes in glacier at Alaska volcano

Anchorage - Geologists on Saturday spotted expanded holes in the glacier that clings to the north side of Alaska's Mount Redoubt, and rivulets of water streaming down its side, as they closely monitored the volcano for a new eruption.

Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory on Friday flew close to Drift Glacier and saw vigorous steaming emitted from a football field-size area on the north side of the mountain. By Saturday, they had confirmed the area was a fumarole, an opening in the earth that emits gases and steam, and that it had doubled in size overnight.

Stormtrooper

Kentucky deploys full Army Nat'l Guard for storm cleanup

Mayfield - Gov. Steve Beshear deployed every last one of his Army National Guardsmen on Saturday, with his state still reeling after a deadly ice storm encrusted it this week.

More than half a million homes and businesses, most of them in Kentucky, remained without electricity from the Ozarks through Appalachia, though temperatures creeping into the 40s helped a swarm of utility workers make headway. Finding fuel - heating oil along with gas for cars and generators - was another struggle for those trying to tough it out at home, with hospitals and other essential services getting priority over members of the public.