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Attention

Rorqual whale found dead on Mexico beach

Image

Marine experts are dwarfed by the whale
A specimen of the tropical rorqual whale (Balaenoptera edeni) was found dead on Puertecito Beach in the municipality of Maria Colotepec, in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, the Profepa environmental protection agency said.

Profepa said in a bulletin that it has taken over the case and has applied the measures laid down in the protocol for dealing with stranded marine mammals.

The large whale, measuring 10.8 meters (35 feet) long and weighing approximately 8 tons, was observed by personnel of the federal delegation of Profepa in the agency, in coordination with the University of the Sea, or UMAR.

Attention

Thousands of dead seabirds turn up on Alaskan freshwater lake

Dead common murres
© Mark Thiessen
Dead common murres
Lake Iliamna in Alaska is North America's eighth-largest lake, but nobody would mistake it for the Pacific Ocean. Not even a seabird.

So when thousands of common murres were found dead at the southwest Alaska lake, as part of a massive die-off of a species whose preferred winter habitat is at sea,” seabird experts were puzzled.

"We've talked about unprecedented things about this die off. That's another one," said John Piatt, research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geological Survey.

Murres occasionally land in fresh water, Piatt said.

"You figure it's a misguided individual. To have 6,000, 8,000 birds in the lake is pretty mind-blowing, really," he said. "I've never heard of any such a thing anywhere in the world."

Hourglass

Risk of massive landslide forces evacuations near Wenatchee, Washington state

Wentachee earth crack
© Kiro7
The Chelan County Sheriff's Office is warning residents in the Wenatchee Heights area about the risk of a massive landslide.

Huge cracks are developing in the ground in a neighborhood near the Mission Ridge Ski Area. Water and power have been shut off to the Whispering Ridge Neighborhood.

The Chelan County Public Utility District notified the county after a geotechnical firm they hired raised concern that the soil is unstable, and a landslide can occur without warning.

The county went door to door to warn residents. The residents most at risk live on Whispering Ridge Road and Squilchuck Road, according to the Chelan County Sheriff's Office.

Two houses have been red-tagged, deemed unsafe to live in. The ground has shifted enough to cause structural damage. Other residents on Whispering Ridge have been advised to evacuateas well as residents insix houses in an area below the potential slide area.

The county says the recent storms and snow melt caused by rising temperatures are adding to the risk; The record rainfall has the ground more saturated than it has been in decades, according to the Chelan County Sheriff's Office.


Comment: Three killed by massive landslide in Oso, Washington state


Ice Cube

Blizzard to swing through central U.S. for the first week of Spring

Snowfall central US
© AccuWeather
A dramatic swing in temperatures will bring both a taste of late spring and then a blizzard to the central United States for the first week of spring.

The upswing in temperatures will cause record highs to be challenged during the first half of the new week, while the return of colder air will set the stage for snow and blizzard conditions to sweep from the northern Rockies to the Upper Midwest at midweek.

"As is expected in the spring, a volatile pattern is shaping up through the new week across the central U.S.," AccuWeather Meteorologist Ed Vallee said.

"After some chillier air this weekend, a dome of high pressure will control the weather through midweek. This will usher in much warmer air with some places experiencing high temperatures nearly 30-40 degrees higher than this weekend."

Highs across most of the north-central states will trend from the 30s and 40s on Saturday to the 60s and 70s early in the new week.
Weather changes
© AccuWeather
In the southern Plains, temperatures will swing from the 50s and lower 60s this weekend to the 70s and 80s. Some communities in the southern High Plains will even flirt with or crack the 90-degree mark.

The warmth will erase the snow that recently whitened Denver and will challenge record highs in Pueblo, Colorado; Dodge City, Kansas; Oklahoma City; and Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas.

As quickly as the warmth makes a comeback, colder air will be advancing southward.

Calculator

Magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes southeast of Ust'-Kamchatsk, Russia

Location

Kamchatka earthquake
© USGS
54.333 °N 162.799 °E depth=31.3 km (19.5 mi)
Time
  1. 2016-03-20 22:50:20 (UTC)
  2. 2016-03-20 18:50:20 (UTC-04:00) in your timezone
  3. Times in other timezones
Nearby Cities
  1. 211km (131mi) S of Ust'-Kamchatsk Staryy, Russia
  2. 309km (192mi) ENE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
  3. 317km (197mi) ENE of Yelizovo, Russia
  4. 329km (204mi) ENE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia
  5. 2733km (1698mi) NNE of Tokyo, Japan

Attention

Another earthquake hits near Atka Island, Alaska; magnitude 6.0

Location
Atka, Alaska earthquake
© USGS
51.513 °N 174.234 °W depth=17.0 km (10.6 mi)

Comment: Another earthquake struck 51 miles (82 km) south of Atka on March 12:

Strong tremor strikes off Atka Island, southwest Alaska



Time
  1. 2016-03-19 01:35:12 (UTC)
  2. 2016-03-18 21:35:12 (UTC-04:00) in your timezone
  3. Times in other timezones
Nearby Cities
  1. 76km (47mi) S of Atka, Alaska
  2. 1549km (963mi) SSE of Anadyr', Russia
  3. 1834km (1140mi) WSW of Anchorage, Alaska
  4. 1847km (1148mi) E of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia
  5. 2595km (1612mi) W of Whitehorse, Canada

Hardhat

30-foot wide sinkhole appears overnight in Lanarkshire, UK

Lanarkshire sinkhole
© Presstream Scotland
The enormous sinkhole suddenly developed just yards from the front doors of three detached properties.
The enormous hole suddenly developed just yards from the front doors of three detached properties in Plains, Lanarkshire

Homes have been evacuated after a massive sinkhole appeared in their street overnight. The enormous hole suddenly developed just yards from the front doors of three detached properties in Plains, Lanarkshire. The crater covers a large section of road in Moffat View in the village and is estimated to be 30ft wide and 10ft deep.

Residents have been told to stay away from their £130,000 properties until work is carried out to assess and fix the damage. Locals have speculated a former mineshaft had collapsed following heavy rains. The cul-de-sac had been closed off since Wednesday morning and was being inspected by workers today. However homeowners have blasted North Lanarkshire Council and claimed they had highlighted concerns over the area last month.

John Riley, 61, said he was now living in a hotel as work was carried out. He took to Facebook to complain, adding: "All three residents evacuated at short notice by Fire Service. "Emergency team told us we usually get the evacuees into the local school for a few hours and give them telephone and Internet access, refreshments and any other support until they can be safely rehoused or make other arrangements."

"My insurance has put us up in Premier inn for two weeks," John continued. "I refused the 4th floor flat in Holehills whose condition was "unknown". "After seven weeks of pleading with North Lanarkshire Council, including the offer of sharing the geo-tech info I had obtained and was refused.

Attention

Unusually strong Gulf of Bothnia earthquake felt in Finland, Sweden

Bay of Bothnia
© Rista Degerman/YLE
Ice on the Bay of Bothnia.

Comment: The Local reports that this is the biggest earthquake in 100 years for northern Sweden.


According to the University of Helsinki's Institute of Seismology, Saturday's relatively strong 4.1 temblor beneath the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia lasted about ten seconds. The epicentre of the quake was located about 45 kilometres off the coast of the town of Raahe.

The tremors prompted people in both Finland and Sweden to report they had felt the vibrations via social media.

Reports of people in Finland feeling the earthquake came from Oulu, Kemi, Pietarsaari and Vaasa.

Fire chief Marko Hottinen told Yle that there were no reports of damage and emergency services were not required in Finland.

Reports from people in Sweden who said they felt the quake came from the northern coastal towns of Umeå up to Piteå.

Bay of Bothnia
© Google Maps

Tornado1

Giant hail pounds Dallas-Fort Worth area, damaging buildings and killing zoo animals

hail texas
© CBS-DFW
Giant hail turned streets into rivers of ice in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
A severe thunderstorm hit the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area on Thursday, March 18, 2016. The storm first hit about 04:00 (local time) and then again just before 09:00, dropping surprisingly large hailstones that busted in windshields, damaged houses, killed several animals at the Fort Worth Zoo and caused traffic chaos. The hailstones varied in size from blueberries to tennis balls.

According to media reports, a local ambulance provider was severely hampered by hail damage. They were out servicing the many accidents on the roads when they became victims of the storm. Matt Zavadsky of MedStar, said 50 vehicles suffered extensive damage. 11 ambulances were brought out of service because of busted windshields.

National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Stalley said they warned that there could be a few severe storms but "they were more widespread than we anticipated."


Sun

Triple sun dog appears over Kazan, Russia

Russian triple sun dog
© Newsflare
Sundogs appear as duplicate suns in the sky over a Russian city.

Comment: This is the second time in 2016 that this optical illusion has appeared in Kazan:

3 suns phenomenon seen in Kazan, Russia


A rare optical illusion giving the appearance of three suns in the sky was caught on camera over a Russian city where ice crystals gathered in the atmosphere.

The video shows what appears to be three suns in the sky over the city of Kazan, but the "suns" to the left and right of the middle star are actually optical illusions known as "sundogs."

A sundog is created when the light from the sun is reflected by ice crystals in the atmosphere.

The triple sun, recorded in January, featured illusion suns much larger than those recorded in December over Winnipeg, Manitoba, following a large snow storm.