Earth ChangesS


Cloud Precipitation

Update: Rains, landslides and floods kill over 200 in northern Pakistan

Aamir Latif
The Muslim News
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 19:04 UTC
The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan into rivers
The weekend's heavy rains turned the streets on the outskirts of Peshawar in northern Pakistan into rivers
Rescue workers in northwestern Pakistan dug through debris and mud on Tuesday in hopes of finding survivors after a landslide buried at least 30 people alive on Monday as the death toll from days of torrential rains and flashfloods passed the 200-mark, local officials have said.

Footage aired on local television channels showed army troops and rescue workers digging through the rubble on the outskirts of the Kohistan district where they managed to recover six dead bodies and two survivors.

Some six hundred army troops and engineers are currently engaged in clearing the roads and assisting in rescue operations, an army spokesman said.

Traders try to prevent their vehicles being washed away by floodwaters near the city of Peshawar
Traders try to prevent their vehicles being washed away by floodwaters near the city of Peshawar
Ongoing bad weather has hampered rescue operations, in which desperate local residents have used spades, shovels — even their hands — to help find people trapped under the mud.

Comment: See also earlier video reports here: 24 killed as torrential rains wreak havoc in northern Pakistan

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Fire

Amazing eruption at Sakurajima Volcano, South Japan - multiple static lightning discharges

Dutchsinse
Youtube
Sun, 03 Apr 2016 17:59 UTC
Sakurajima Volcano erupts with lightning
© Youtube/dutchsinse (screen capture)
A large blast occurred overnight (April 3 2016 early AM) at Sakurajima Volcano in South Japan.

The volcanic eruption produced large flows of lava, and plumes of ash reaching multiple kilometers into the sky.

The ascending ash produced multiple impressive displays of static discharge lightning, ranging in color from blue and green, to white, purple and yellow.

The lightning is produced by friction between the hot billowing clouds of ash, and the colder moist air surrounding the volcano which resides in South Japan near the ocean.

Watch the volcano on live stream here.


Comment: Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano also lit up the night sky with a spectacular eruption on the same day.

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Windsock

Lighthouse is swamped by 160ft waves in Quessant, France

Corey Charlton
Daily Mail
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 18:11 UTC
The huge swell engulfs the entirety of the island lighthouse, meaning the enormous wave was as high as 11 double-decker buses
The huge swell engulfs the entirety of the island lighthouse, meaning the enormous wave was as high as 11 double-decker buses
This is the dramatic moment a lighthouse off the coast of France was pummeled by massive 160ft-high waves while in the epicentre of a storm.

Winds reaching 85mph helped whip up the massive swell - which was so powerful spray from the sea was felt in the helicopter carrying the photographer.

Mathieu Rivrin spent around five hours flying near the lighthouses located on the French island of Quessant, as well as Finistere and Penmarc'h.

The winds, which were blowing at 85mph during the storm frenzy, helped drag the wave up and over the tall building
The winds, which were blowing at 85mph during the storm frenzy, helped drag the wave up and over the tall building
This particular lighthouse in Quessant, off the coast of Brittany, with its white paned windows and a red lantern room, is 160ft tall and the waves easily engulfed it.

Mr Rivrin, 26, of Brest, said: 'The lighthouse is located in Quessant, an island 20km from the coast of Finistere.
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Attention

Strong earthquake hits Indian ocean, south of Bandung, Indonesia


BNO News
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 10:57 UTC
Indonesia earthquake
© USGS8.198 °S 107.419 °E depth=35.4 km (22.0 mi)
The earthquake, which struck at 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, was centered 152 kilometers southwest of Tasikmalaya, or 163 kilometers south of Bandung. It struck about 10 kilometers deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to BMKG, which is Indonesia's seismological agency.

BMKG, which measured the earthquake at a preliminary 6.1, said there was no tsunami threat as a result of the tremor. The earthquake was felt throughout parts of Java Island but there was no immediate word on whether it had caused any damage or casualties.

Indonesia is on the so-called 'Pacific Ring of Fire', an arc of fault lines circling the Pacific Basin that is prone to frequent and large earthquakes. In December 2004, a magnitude-9.1 tremor, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, struck off the west coast of Sumatra, unleashing a massive tsunami that struck scores of countries in the region and killed at least 227,898 people.
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Fire

Oklahoma: TV storm-chasers save man from raging wildfire


RT
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:23 UTC
tractor in wildfire
© Associated Press / YouTube
US storm-chasing duo Amy and Val Castor dramatically rescued a tractor driver who was almost engulfed by the fiery jaws of death during an Oklahoma inferno.

The pair were tracking the extreme wildfires sweeping the midwest for KWTV News 9, when they came face to face with a wall of flames.

The footage begins with the TV crew sitting in a car recording a large grass fire in Woods County, northwest Oklahoma as a tractor driver in front desperately tries to maneuver his vehicle away from the advancing flames.
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Snowflake Cold

Continuing waves of cold in northeast US damaging fruit trees with threat of significant crop losses

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather.com
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 08:30 UTC
snow syracuse ny April 2016
© Grayson JonesIn this photo taken in Syracuse, New York, on April 3, 2016, a female cardinal takes in the wintry scene with snow on blossoming trees.
Ongoing waves of cold during early April are taking a toll on fruit tree blossoms in parts of the northeastern United States.

Farmers are holding their breath as they wait out the cold to inspect the impact on trees and vines.

The combination of a very mild winter, above-average temperatures during March and the most recent bout of below-freezing temperatures have caused damage to some fruit crops.

"The amount of damage varies from orchard to orchard and from tree to tree," according to Jason Coopey, co-owner of Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown, Pennsylvania.

Coopey stated that thus far apricots and plums have sustained the most damage, but overall his orchards, which are on the tops of hills have fared better than some locations farther south and east and those located in valleys, where the cold air tends to settle.
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Cloud Lightning

Two killed by lightning strikes in India


The Hindu
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 14:10 UTC
lightning
Two persons were killed by lightning in separate incidents in the district on Tuesday evening.

Shankaramma (25), a resident of Vithal Nagar village in Shikaripur taluk, who had been to the farm on the outskirts of the village to harvest coriander crops, was killed when she was struck by lightning. Four other women working with her have been admitted to the government hospital in Shikaripur town.

Lightning also claimed another life in Muddinakoppa village. Shafi Ahmed, a resident of Bapuji Nagar in the city, was waiting below a tree when the incident took place. Afeez, a friend of the deceased, was also injured.
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Snowflake

April snowstorm shattered record in Syracuse, New York

Glenn Coin
syracuse.com
Mon, 04 Apr 2016 13:47 UTC
Runners walk past Firemen's Park to the start of the race. The Syracuse Half Marathon 2016, Sunday April 3, 2016.
© Michael Greenlar Runners walk past Firemen's Park to the start of the race. The Syracuse Half Marathon 2016, Sunday April 3, 2016.
The snowstorm that swept through Central New York was a record-smasher.

In Syracuse, 6.6 inches of snow fell Sunday. That sets a new record for the snowiest April 3; the previous record was 2.5 inches, set in 1937.

Sunday also ranks as the fourth-snowiest April day on record in Syracuse. The most was 10.5 inches, on April 2, 2013.

Normal snowfall for the month of April in Syracuse is 3.8 inches.

Sunday's snow puts Syracuse ahead in the national Golden Snow Globe race. Syracuse edged past Lakewood, Colorado. Through Sunday, Syracuse has had 79 inches. The normal for the entire season is about 124 inches.
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Attention

Elephant kills family of 5 in India


RTE News
Tue, 05 Apr 2016 13:00 UTC
Charging elephant
© GettyCharging elephant
A rampaging elephant has killed five members of a family including a nine-day old infant in a remote village in India's northeastern frontier, a local official said this afternoon.

The elephant trampled the family to death while they were asleep in their thatched hut in the early hours of this morning in Behali forest, 256km from Assam state's capital Guwahati.

Both parents, their infant daughter and two other children died during the incident, while their three-year-old daughter survived the attack and was being treated at a hospital for minor injuries.

"The family was asleep when the elephant attacked their hut," Rajiv Chaudhary, a divisional forestry officer, told AFP.

He said the elephant had apparently strayed from its herd when it charged the home.
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Attention

Magnitude 6.9 earthquake strikes northwest of Vanuatu


stuff.co.nz
Wed, 06 Apr 2016 10:08 UTC
The earthquake struck 109km west-south-west of Sola, Vanuatu, USGS said.
© USGSThe earthquake struck 109km west-south-west of Sola, Vanuatu, USGS said.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 has struck near the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the US Geological Survey (USGS) says.

The earthquake struck 109km west-south-west of Sola, Vanuatu, at 6.58pm (NZT) at a depth of 33.7 km, the USGS said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre did not issue a Pacific-wide tsunami warning.

"Based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is not expected," the centre said.

A similarly-sized quake struck the same area on Sunday without causing any damage.

Source: Reuters
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