Earth Changes

1 dead, over 90,000 affected by floods in Semarang City, Indonesia

Richard Davies
Floodlist
Fri, 26 Feb 2021 19:08 UTC

© BPBD Semarang City
Heavy rain triggered landslides in Samarang City, Indonesia, Late February 2021, with emergency workers carrying out rescues.

Flooding has affected over 90,000 people in Semarang City, Central Java, Indonesia over the last few days. One person died after flood waters caused parts of a wall to collapse.

Flooding began on 23 February 2021 after heavy rainfall during the previous days. Floods affected the districts of East Semarang, North Semarang, West Semarang, Pedurungan, Genuk, and Gayam Sari, with flood water 75cm deep in some areas.

According to local disaster authorities, 90,590 people from over 18,000 families have been affected. As many as 9,169 houses were inundated.

One fatality was reported in Tegalsari after flood waters caused a wall or fence to collapse, Semarang City Disaster Management Agency (BPBD) reported. The heavy rain also caused several landslides in Gajahmungkur, where emergency workers rescued at least 3 people trapped under mud and rubble.

As of 26 February flood water remained in Genuk but had mostly subsided in other areas.

Spectacular eruption at Mount Etna for the 7th time recently

Atolo Kecil
YouTube
Sun, 28 Feb 2021 18:30 UTC

Mount Etna is at it again! This is the 7th outbreak in the last few weeks.

Living up to its name as one of the most active volcanoes on Planet Earth

Eruption at Sakurajima Volcano, Japan on February 28

Volcano Time-Lapse
YouTube
Sun, 28 Feb 2021 10:25 UTC

Sakurajima Volcano

With all the cameras on Sakurajima, this is the only one that caught this eruption at 10:00 JST.

Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts with ash plume 15000 ft high

Volcano Discovery
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 18:15 UTC

Explosive activity continues. Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) Washington warned about a volcanic ash plume that rose up to estimated 15000 ft (4600 m) altitude or flight level 150.

The full report is here.

Comment: Guatemala: There's nowhere to hide - hundreds of thousands live in the shadow of 3 erupting volcanoes

Body of dead humpback whale on Maryland beach being removed

Baltimore.cbslocal.com
Tue, 23 Feb 2021 15:32 UTC

Crews are working to remove the body of a humpback whale that was stranded along the Maryland coast last week.

The whale, which the state's Department of Natural Resources said was a Gulf of Maine humpback whale named Pivot, was found stranded Thursday night.

Officials are still working to determine what led to Pivot's death, adding Tuesday the whale's body was being removed from the surf.

In a Facebook post, the Assateague Island National Seashore urged people not to go near it, adding whales can spread diseases to humans and pets.

Dead humpback whale calf washes ashore in West Cork, Ireland

Steven Heaney
Irish Examiner
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 15:18 UTC

The male whale measured 10 metres in length and the IDWG said it was not an individual previously documented in Irish waters.

© IDWG via Robbie Shelly and Helen Tilson of SchullSea Safari
The male whale measured 10 metres in length and the IDWG said it was not an individual previously documented in Irish waters.

A young dead whale has washed up and been stranded off the West Cork coast.

The humpback whale came ashore off Coney Island, west Roaringwater Bay yesterday afternoon.

While humpback sightings are rare, they have been increasing in recent years.

Humpback strandings are very rare, however. According to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) only eight have been recorded in Ireland since 1893.

This is only the second such stranding of a humpback ever recorded in Cork.

The humpback whale recently washed up in Roaringwater Bay. IWDG hope to visit the stranded whale today. Images courtesy of Robbie Shelly and Helen Tilson of @SchullSeafari pic.twitter.com/N9lUDQbIN4
— Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (@IWDGnews) February 25, 2021

At least 4 people killed, 5 injured by landslide in Himachal Pradesh, India

The Tribune (India)
Sat, 20 Feb 2021 12:24 UTC

Photo for representation. — iStock

Four people were killed and five sustained grievous injuries in a road accident under Aut police station in Mandi district on Saturday evening.

According to police, nearly 12 people were travelling in a jeep on Kalhani-Thunag link road under Seraj assembly segment of Mandi district, when a landslide occurred at Kashaud. The debris hit the vehicle, pushing it off the road and down the hill.

It is believed that all victims were natives of Mandi district.

Population of Mexico's monarch butterflies falls 26%, conservationists find

KiniTV
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 11:57 UTC

The population of monarch butterflies that arrived in Mexico's forests to hibernate this winter fell 26% from a year earlier, the country's Commission for National Protected Areas and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Thursday.

Millions of orange and black monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico on a 2,000-mile (3,220-km) journey each year from Canada across North America.

But the butterflies occupied only 2.1 hectares in December 2020, compared with 2.8 hectares the previous winter season, the conservationist group WWF said in a statement.

Comment: Monarch butterfly population getting closer to extinction - less than 2,000 of western population counted wintering in California

Late February snowfall in Kashmir brings back cold wave-like conditions - up to 18 inches falls

Hindustan Times
Sat, 27 Feb 2021 11:40 UTC

People walk past stranded vehicles on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during heavy snowfall, at Qazigund in Anantnag district of South Kashmir.

© PTI
People walk past stranded vehicles on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway during heavy snowfall, at Qazigund in Anantnag district of South Kashmir.

Fresh snowfall was reported from most parts of Kashmir, including Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.

Fresh snowfall in Kashmir on Saturday brought back cold wave- like conditions in the valley where the day temperature for the past week was several degrees higher than normal for this time of the year, officials said.

Fresh snowfall was reported from most parts of Kashmir, including Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the officials said.

Macchil and Z-Gali areas in remote Kupwara district recorded snow between one foot to 18 inches, while places like Gulmarg, Baramulla and Sonamarg recorded up to seven inches of snow, they said.