Earth ChangesS


Seismograph

Japan earthquake: Tsunami warning issued after 6.8-magnitude earthquake strikes near Niigata

Tom Embury-Dennis
The Independent
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 13:45 UTC
Japan quake on June 18, 2019
© Japan Meteorological AgencyJapan quake on June 18, 2019.
A tsunami warning has been issued after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck close to the coast of Japan.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, but the country's Meteorological Agency issued a warning for a 0.2 - 1 metre tsunami along the northwest coast of the main island of Honshu.

The quake struck around 30 miles southwest of the city of Sakata at 10.22pm on Tuesday, the agency reported, with the coastal areas of Yamagata and Niigata prefectures and the Noto area in Ishikawa Prefecture receiving tsunami advisories.

It said the quake's epicentre was fairly shallow, about six miles below the sea's surface.

Shallow quakes tend to cause more damage on the Earth's surface, but the agency said the expected "fluctuation" of waves was unlikely to cause damage.

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Cloud Lightning

Lightning kills man in Sofia, Bulgaria - second such incident in 2 days


The Sofia Globe
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 11:00 UTC
lightning
© Lucretious/freeimages.com
A 47-year-old man died in Bulgaria's capital city Sofia on the evening of June 17 after being struck by lightning, emergency services confirmed.

The man was walking his dog in Sofia's Lyulin 6 residential area when the incident happened. The dog also died.

Emergency medical services spokesperson Katya Sungarska told Bulgarian National Television that a call had been received at 8.17pm about the incident, and an ambulance had reached the man within eight minutes.

Comment: Elsewhere across the world in the past week lightning strikes have killed 7 people in Bangladesh, 2 individuals in Kashmir and 12 cattle in Panama.

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Seismograph

Two strong shallow earthquakes hit southwest China, at least 12 dead (UPDATE)

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 19:38 UTC
damaged house
Two strong earthquakes shook the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan on Monday, killing at least one person in a part of the country frequently affected by strong tremors.

The first magnitude 5.9 quake was followed around 30 minutes later by one registering 5.2, both at a depth of 10 km (six miles) and centered near Changning county, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Chinese state media said shaking was felt in major cities in the region, including in the Sichuan provincial capital Chengdu and the metropolis of Chongqing.


Comment: Update: The South China Morning Post on the 18th of June also reported that 10,000 buildings were damaged and 100,000 people affected with 134 injured.





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Tornado2

Severe weather churns up tornadoes, unleashes powerful winds across central US

Adriana Navarro
AccuWeather.com
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 14:28 UTC
tornado damage in Oakville, Iowa
© National Weather ServiceA wooden beam impaled the windshield of this car in the EF2 tornado that struck Oakville, Iowa, Saturday evening.
Another round of tornadoes struck the central United States from North Dakota and Oklahoma to Indiana during the weekend.

Saturday held 29 preliminary tornado reports from the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, but there have been no reported injuries or fatalities as of Monday morning.

Severe storms produced three tornadoes, two of which were confirmed EF2 tornadoes in Des Moines County, Iowa, that downed trees, power lines, destroyed outbuildings and "severely damaged a house off its foundation," according to an NWS storm survey. The third tornado was a confirmed EF0 west of Mediapolis.

The two EF2 tornadoes struck Oakville, Iowa, where one reached peak wind speeds of 120 mph. It destroyed a farm building, threw farm equipment 40 yards and moved a pickup truck about 20 yards, according to the NWS storm survey.

The second EF2 tornado destroyed a big farm. The survey photos from both tornadoes show wooden beams torn asunder and scattered across a field, a windshield impaled by a wooden pole and farm equipment flipped on its side.

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Doberman

Pit bulls involved in attack that killed woman in Bakersfield, California

Bayan Wang
turnto23.com
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 18:47 UTC
PIT BULL ATTACK
Officials confirm that three dogs fatally attacked a woman, who was found dead in a Costco parking lot Sunday morning, in Northwest Bakersfield.

Bakersfield Police Department spokesman Nathan McCauley said one Pit bull and one mixed breed escaped from a nearby business before the attack. The third dog was a stray Pit bull.

The woman, who has not been identified, was in her late 30s to early 40s and is a Bakersfield resident. She was found by a bystander shortly after 6 a.m Sunday morning, but officials say the attack appeared to have happened several hours prior to their arrival.

All three dogs were located and will be euthanized by animal control, according to officials.
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Fire

Underground fire triggers panic in Uttar Pradesh, India


Deccan Herald
Sat, 15 Jun 2019 18:27 UTC
fire
An underground fire in Mohammadi range forests of Uttar Pradesh left scores of neighbouring villagers panicked and puzzled.

Smoke was seen gushing out through the cracks in the ground and at some places land had turned into embers, said residents of Bela Pahara and Muda Galib villages in South Kheri forest division.

72-year-old Hukum Singh of Muda Galib said he has never been witness to such a scene. He feared that the fire may damage his crops.

Another villager, Bhai Lal (75), termed the scene as a natural miracle, which he had never heard of or seen earlier. Some villagers also mistook it as a volcanic incident.
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Cloud Precipitation

Rain-triggered flood leaves 5 dead in south China's Guangxi


Xinhua
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 18:18 UTC
Disaster relief personnel and villagers work together to remove debris stuck near a bridge amid flooding in Liuzhou
Disaster relief personnel and villagers work together to remove debris stuck near a bridge amid flooding in Liuzhou
At least five people died as of 5 a.m. Monday after rain-triggered floods and landslides hit southern China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, local authorities said Monday.

Torrential rain swept Guangxi's Lingyun County late Sunday and triggered landslides that killed two people. Multiple vehicles were carried by flash floods at a road section from Lingyun to Baise. Rescuers have found four vehicles and three people were confirmed dead.

Strong rain also disrupted traffic and trapped 60 households in Jiumin Village. All the affected villagers have been transferred to safety.

An emergency response was activated on Sunday and police officers, firefighters and medical staff have been sent to the affected areas.
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Ice Cube

Greenland surface ice balance has increased 510 billion tons over the last year

Cap Allon
Electroverse
Sat, 01 Sep 2018 13:31 UTC
greenland ice sheet
© Ashley Cooper/SpecialistStoc/Rex/ShutterstockGreenland
Summer is over, and Greenland's surface has gained 510 billion tons of ice over the past year - about 40% above normal.

The SMB (Surface Mass Balance) from Sept 2017 to Aug 2018 has been the highest in 20 years, thanks to exceptional snowfall last winter and the lowest melt rate for 17 years in summer 2018.
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Seismograph

Japan's northeastern Honshu Island hit by 5.2 magnitude earthquake


Sputnik
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:23 UTC
earthquake japan honshu june 17 2019
© Japanese Meteorological AgencyEarthquake reported off northern Japan June 17, 2019
A 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit on Monday the northeastern part of the biggest Japanese island of Honshu, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

The epicentre of the earthquake was located in the Ibaraki Prefecture at the depth of 80 kilometres (about 50 miles), according to the JMA.
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Cloud Lightning

Severe weather in Europe causes devastation


Euronews
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 13:03 UTC
Firefighters clean uprooted trees which were destroyed by a recent storm in Zlocieniec, north-western Poland. The heavy storms passed over north-western Poland in the night from 15 to 16 June.
© EPA-EFE/Marcin Bielecki POLAND OUTFirefighters clean uprooted trees which were destroyed by a recent storm in Zlocieniec, north-western Poland. The heavy storms passed over north-western Poland in the night from 15 to 16 June.
Heavy storms have caused flooding and considerable devastation in many parts of Europe.

In eastern France, south of Lyon, violent hailstones the size of tennis balls hit and broke car windscreens.

Meanwhile, roads were flooded and houses were damaged. A German tourist was killed by a tree in the French town of Taninges.

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