Earth Changes
Quake measured at a depth of 617 km, according to the US Geological Survey
A major undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck southeast of the Philippines on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake was measured at a depth of 617 km (380 miles), the USGS said. It struck in the Celebes Sea and comes five days after a smaller, 4.7-magnitude tremor in the same area, according to the USGS.
Journalist Barnaby Lo said he felt "no significant tremor" on the island of Jolo, which lies north-east of the epicentre. The US Tsunami Warning Centre has issued no warning, advisory, watch or threat after the quake.
Philippine seismologists said the earthquake was far too deep to cause any damage and casualties or generate a tsunami.
Several WHNT News 19 viewers, including Ramona Edwards and Tressi Downs, shared pictures with us of a large ring around the sun.
This optical feature is called a 22-degree sun halo.
Earthsky.org explains it very simply:
Halos are a sign of high thin cirrus clouds drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads. These clouds contain millions of tiny ice crystals. The halos you see are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and also by reflection, or glints of light from these ice crystals.
Photos of the fallen icon, captured by park volunteer Jim Allday, were posted to the Calaveras Big Trees Association Facebook page, accompanied by the caption: "The Pioneer Cabin tree has fallen! This iconic and still living tree - the tunnel tree - enchanted many visitors. The storm was just too much for it."
The Icelandic Met Office, which reported the seismicity, stated that there were no indications of volcanic activity in the area, ruv.is reports.
Bárðarbunga caused the 2014-2015 eruption in Holuhraun in the northeastern highlands.
Eighty wild swans have died at the historic Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset - with nine confirmed cases of H5N8 strain of avian influenza.
The site is owned by Charlotte Townshend, the granddaughter of the 7th Earl of Ilchester and daughter of the 9th Viscount Galway.
The 61-year-old - whose fortune has been estimated at £420 million - is the only person in Britain other than the Queen entitled to own swans.
It is the same strain of avian flu that has broken out in other areas of Britain, including the Wildfowl and Wetlands Slimbridge reserve in Gloucestershire.
Local newspaper Tribun Bali is reporting that Daniel Qeran, 48, was out surfing when he was allegedly attacked by a shark at 7:30 am on Monday morning.
Qeran has reportedly suffered wounds on his right big toe from the suspected shark attack.
"It's alleged that the victim is suffering from a shark bite. The victim has been taken to BIMC Hospital in Badung," Tabanan Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Putu Oka Suyasa told Tribun Bali.

This is the moment diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was almost eaten by a bull shark after the predator charged at him while in the water off the coast of North Queensland
Diver Kerry Daniel, 35, was spearfishing off the coast of north Queensland near the Great Barrier Reef when he recorded the moment the predator charged at him.
Fortunately he was able to jam his spear gun into the shark's mouth, leaving the creature writhing around in pain while he escaped uninjured.
But as the video shows, a moment more of hesitation and the roles could have easily been reversed.
Daniel, who runs spearfishing channel Liquid Vision, told Daily Mail Australia that he was on a trip with friends when the incident took place.
He said: 'We've done this trip once a year for the past six years.
2017-01-09 09:53:17 UTC
UTC time: Monday, January 09, 2017 09:53 AM
Your time: 2017-01-09T09:53:17Z
Magnitude Type: mb
USGS page: M 4.9 - 6km NNW of Rion, Greece
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 4 people
2017-01-09 09:53:17 UTC 4.9 magnitude, 10 km depth

A girl walks under snow-covered trees during a snowfall in Istanbul, Turkey, January 7, 2017.
Social workers in Serbia have been trying to ease the living conditions of migrants living in makeshift shelters enduring the below-freezing temperatures. In the capital Belgrade, hundreds of people, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, are staying in an abandoned customs warehouse, with local aid groups providing heaters, blankets, clothes and food.
Officials say the 6-inch main broke around 9:30 a.m. Sunday in the 2300 block of Boston Street. Neighbors say they woke up to water rushing into their basements, low presser and some spilling out of pipe covers on the sidewalks.
The break caused a large section of street to collapse, and two SUVs that were parked along the road went into the hole. "I just heard a really like a really loud bang. It startled me, woke me up from my sleep." "It sounded like a bunch of snow falling off a roof almost."
But neighbors say this isn't a shock. "About two months ago or so, there was a water main break, with all the mud like it is now. I had a feeling it might happen again this winter."














Comment: See also: Excessive snowfall forecast in some areas of Europe for Jan 8-11, 2017