Earth ChangesS


Seismograph

Earthquake swarm under dormant Furnas volcano, Azores


Volcano Discovery
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 15:37 UTC
Location of the past days' earthquakes on Sao Miguel island
Location of the past days' earthquakes on Sao Miguel island
An earthquake swarm has been going on since Monday (12 Feb 2018) in central Sao Miguel island.

The Volcano Observatory (Observatório Vulcanológico e Sismológico da Univ. dos Açores, CIVISA) recorded dozens of mostly small quakes at shallow depths between 1-15 km in an area about 6-7 km west of Furnas volcano, half way between the caldera lakes of Lagunas Fogo and do Congro.

The largest were 6 earthquakes of magnitudes 3.0-3.6, some of which were felt by local inhabitants.

At the moment, the activity is still continuing, but has decreased significantly. It is unclear whether the earthquakes are volcanic in origin or not. If so, they could have been caused by a small magma intrusion at the lower crust and indicate an early sign of possible re-awakening of the volcanic system.

The only recorded eruptions in the area came from Furnas volcano, one around 1439-1443 and a strong explosive one in 1630, which caused significant damage and fatalities.

The situation remains to be monitored closely.
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Arrow Up

Mud volcano awakens after 20 years in Trinidad and Tobago


Caribbean360
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 06:50 UTC
Devil's Woodyard mud volcano
© Lincoln HolderCurious Hindustan villagers Richard Bissoon and Yoge Deochan visit the site of the mud volcano at the Devil's Woodyard, Hindustan New Grant which erupted on Monday night .
A few homes in a community in the south of Trinidad have been evacuated following at least two eruptions at the Devil's Wood Yard mud volcano this morning.

The rumbling began around 4 a.m. at the volcano in Hindustan Village near New Grant, Princes Town, and another eruption was reported after 9 a.m.

The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) said it is closely monitoring the situation, along with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago, the University of the West Indies (UWI) Geological Society, the UWI Seismic Research Centre and the Princes Town Regional Corporation.

Police and fire officials also converged at the site.


Comment: Last month a mud volcano erupted in Shamakhi, Azerbaijan.

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Tornado1

'Worst storm on record': Cyclone Gita flattens Tonga's parliament building


Source
Tue, 13 Feb 2018 21:51 UTC
tonga cyclone damage
© John Pulu / AFP
Tonga's century-old parliament building has been knocked to the ground in the worst storm to hit the island nation in more than 60 years.

The Category 4 tropical storm struck the country overnight, lifting roofs off homes and knocking down power lines and trees. Tonga's National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) said there is no house left undamaged by the tropical storm, according to Radio NZ. "I've been involved in disaster responses for 30-plus years and it's the worst situation I have been in," Graham Kenna from NEMO said.
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Tornado2

Snownado videoed swirling amid Chicago snowstorm

Ben Hooper
UPI
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 19:54 UTC
snownado
A snowstorm brought more than just 7 inches of snow to Chicago -- it caused a rare snownado caught on camera by a local woman.

Amber Connor captured video Friday of the snownado, a winter whirlwind also known as a snow devil, swirling at the side of a Chicago road.

The video shows the mini tornado spinning snow through the air next to a line of parked cars.

The footage was filmed amid a snowstorm that dropped more than 7 inches of snow on the area.

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Sun

'Truly magical' sun halo spotted over northern Sweden

Oliver Gee
The Local - Sweden
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 11:15 UTC
Sun halo over Sweden
© Marit Aasvang Olsson
There was an incredible light phenomenon in far northern Sweden last week - and one woman was lucky enough to capture it on her phone.

It was like something from a dream.

At least that's how Marit Aasvang Olsson felt after she captured a "sun halo" on her camera phone.

The Norwegian woman, who lives in Malmberget around 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, said she was dropping her daughter off at school last week when she spotted the phenomenon in the sky.
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Attention

Cold spell over January killed at least 35 manatees in Florida

Annika Hammerschlag
Naples Daily News
Thu, 01 Feb 2018 19:04 UTC
Manatees endure another deadly year
Manatees endure another deadly year
Recent cold spells have taken a toll on Florida's beloved sea cows.

At least 35 manatees died from the cold between Jan. 1 and 26, compared with seven over the same period last year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

An average of eight manatees died from the cold in the month of January from 2013 to 2017.

Manatees are ill-adapted to survive in frigid water. Their bodies are mostly lungs and ribs — they have deceptively little blubber.

The last time Florida saw an uptick in cold-related manatee deaths was in 2010 and 2011 when the number of manatees that died from the cold reached 282 and 114, respectively.

"It's been really busy," said Maya Rodriguez, a veterinarian at Miami Seaquarium, which rehabilitates sick manatees.


Comment: See also this report from December last year: Rare manatees endure another deadly year, with 513 deaths

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Bizarro Earth

Invasive 20-pound rodents with ability to destroy roads are causing havoc in California

Tom Miller
SF Gate
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:37 UTC
nutria, large rodent
A giant 20-pound rodent with the ability to destroy roads, levees and wetlands has been discovered in Stanislaus County.
A giant invasive rodent with the ability to destroy roads, levees and wetlands has been discovered in Stanislaus County.

Weighing in at 20 pounds and measuring 2 feet, 6 inches long, plus a 12-inch tail, the nutria live in or near water. They're also incredibly destructive.

"They burrow in dikes, and levees, and road beds, so they weaken infrastructure, (which is) problematic for flood control systems," California Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Peter Tira said.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is sounding an alarm about the invasive nutria.

When nutria aren't burrowing, they're eating. They can consume 25 percent of their body weight each day in vegetation, but they waste and destroy 10 times that.
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Attention

Crews working to repair massive sinkhole in southwest Bakersfield, California

Johana Restrepo
23ABC News
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 07:59 UTC
Sinkhole in Bakersfield, CA
Construction crews have been working to repair a massive sinkhole at the corner of Harris and Ashe Roads since last Tuesday.

The construction site is surrounded by residential communities and city employees are advising that people take alternate routes and avoid the area when possible.

The sinkhole is so large it is taking up most of the road. Crews could no confirm when they think the damage will be repaired.

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Apple Green

One-two punch of disease and Hurricane Irma has left Florida citrus reeling

Kalhan Rosenblatt
MSN News
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 18:36 UTC
fruit
In the hours after Hurricane Irma raked up Florida's spine, warm sunshine revealed thousands upon thousands of pieces of citrus fruit bobbing in muddied, stagnant water.

Millions of dollars worth of oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines were ripped from their branches by fierce winds, never to reach their intended destination of breakfast plates and juice glasses.

It was the nightmare many sleepless farmers prayed they wouldn't see.

"I remember ... heading out to the fields as soon as it was safe to get out on the roads and being taken back at how much fruit was blown on the ground ... and how many trees had just been blown over," said one citrus farmer, William Roe III, 35, known as Gee.

"We were literally blown away by the severity of the damage," said Roe's uncle, Quentin Roe, 59, the chief executive of Wm. G. Roe & Sons, a longtime grower and distributor.
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Seismograph

'Like an explosion': Western France shaken by 4.8 magnitude earthquake


The Local France
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 09:51 UTC
M4.8 earthquake in France
Residents in western France were given a fairly rude awakening at 4am on Monday morning when they were shaken from their sleep by an earthquake measuring 4.8 magnitude.

The epicentre of the tremor, which didn't cause any injuries or fatalities, was reported to have been close to the town of Saint-Hilaire-de-Voust in the Vendée department of western France, which stands close to the department of Deux-Sèvres.

Residents in the area were left trembling and reports suggest the tremors were felt as far away as the city of Poitiers, 100 kilometres from the epicentre.

A baker in the town of Busseau told RMC radio: "I was in my bakery and then it was like a big explosion, a terrible shock, we thought a truck had crashed into a wall."

A baker in the town of Châtaigneraie added: "I was scared. I thought it was an explosion. There was a 'boom' for a few seconds, maybe five seconds. It's happened before but it's never been that powerful."

The mayor of the town of 2,700 residents Nicolas Maupetit told France Info radio: "I thought there had been an accident perhaps a lorry which had crashed into a house nearby. I felt the house shake. I grabbed my telephone in case people started calling. I have to say my heart was racing."

While it might have scared residents the earthquake did not provoke any real structural damage.

Comment: Last October the French Alps were rocked by 140 earthquakes in just over a month.

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