Earth ChangesS


Arrow Up

Indonesia's Mount Sinabung erupts twice in one day, spewing ash and smoke 3,000 meters high

Mount Sinabung eruption
© Youtube/BBC News
The Sinabung volcano in Indonesia erupted twice yesterday, sending avalanches of smoke as high as 3,000 metres to the east.

Authorities were closely monitoring Mount Sinabung on Sumatra, one of Indonesia's main islands, after putting it on the highest alert level in early June 2010.

Agus Salihin, a volcanologist at the Sinabung observation post, said the eruption was one of the biggest since early last year.

Sinabung volcano has been erupting continually since 2010 after being dormant for 400 years.

The Indonesian government said an area as far as 3.5 kilometres away had been declared a high-risk danger zone.

The government has set up an evacuation plan for civilians in the area and evacuated everyone in the high-risk danger zone.


Comment: For more information check out SOTT's Earth Changes Monthly Summaries at the bottom of our front page.


Red Flag

70-foot waves hit Hawaii

Giant wave
© Clark Little/FacebookNorth Shore
Waves with up to 70-foot faces rolled into Oahu's North Shore on Monday, forcing an hours-long closure of Kamehameha Highway and damaging homes, according to Hawaii News Now.

On Tuesday, National Weather Service officials said the swell was one of the strongest surf events in Hawaii in the last 50 years. And, they warned, another swell is on its heels.

At least one home sustained serious damage from the waves, officials said, and they feared other homes were at risk. Officials also said surf had undermined the foundation of a lifeguard stand at Laniakea.

Waves toppled a Haleiwa home's seawall, undermined the home's foundation and washed away a tree. Waves were also showering cars, creating hazardous driving conditions and pushing rocks onto the roadway.



Ice Cube

4-inch hail pellets found in Pembroke, North Carolina

Large hail
© Adrienne Locklear
Large pellets of hail were found in North Carolina after a powerful storm made its way through the state.

US National Weather Service Wilmington NC shared a photo of two pieces of hail measuring about four inches each next to a ruler for comparison.

Large hail fell in Pembroke, NC
© Jason LloydLarge hail fell in Pembroke, NC
"Large hail fell in Pembroke, NC from a tornado-warned supercell in Robeson county earlier this evening - check this out!" They wrote while crediting Jason Lloyd for taking the photo.

A commenter shared a photo of seven large pieces of hail that also measured about three inches wide.

The storm left several homes across North Carolina damaged as tornado warnings were announced in various parts of the state.

Cloud Precipitation

Roads blocked after flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia

Flooding in the streets of Jakarta, 26 February 2016.
© BPBDFlooding in the streets of Jakarta, 26 February 2016.
In Indonesia, Jakarta's Disaster Management Agency, BPBD, reported earlier today that heavy rainfall in Greater Jakarta and the surrounding areas has caused flooding across several parts of the city, causing traffic problems and some damage to buildings.

BPBD say that most of the rain fell in just one hour during the evening of 25 February 2016. In East Jakarta, the rain left flood water up to 90cm. BPBD say that around 40 people have been evacuated from their homes in Cakung.

Flooding has also been reported in areas of West and South Jakarta, and also in North Jakarta, in particular Kelapa Gading and Cilincing.

Indonesia's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, Dan Geofisika - BMKG) has predicted further rain over the weekend for Greater Jakarta, surrounding areas and across many parts of Indonesia.

Camera

Symbolic? Northern Lights take the form of a phoenix over Iceland

northern lights phoenix
© Hallgrimur P. Helgason/CatersThese dramatic images of the aurora borealis appear to show a phoenix rising from the ground
What do you reckon? Is this mesmerising image up there with the best recent pictures taken of the Northern Lights?

Shot in Iceland, it shows what looks like a huge phoenix with wings outstretched rising in to the night's sky.

It was captured by photographer Hallgrimur P. Helgason in Kaldársel, who said he had been shooting for an hour when the mythical creature appeared.

'It's really a thrill shooting the aurora, especially when they are so playful like they were that night,' said the 64-year-old.

Arrow Down

Large sinkhole swallows pickup truck in Gilbert, Arizona

truck in sinkhole in Gilbert, Arizona
© KPHO/KTVKChristian Wolf said he was traveling around 45 mph when his truck went into the sinkhole.

Traveling in the Town of Gilbert this morning? You might want to avoid Greenfield Road.

A sinkhole has closed Greenfield Road between Germann and Queen Creek Roads.

One vehicle was swallowed by the sinkhole, but no other injuries or property damage has been reported.

It is unclear why the road collapsed.

This is the second sinkhole to appear in the East Valley in two weeks. A sinkhole on February 5 killed a farmer in Queen Creek.


Comment: For more information on this phenomenon see: Sinkholes: The groundbreaking truth


Snowflake

Snow way out: Blizzard leaves crew stranded on Antarctic ice-breaker

ice-breaker hit by blizzard
© ABCScienceOnline / YouTube
A crew of 68 people remain stranded on board a polar research ship more than a day after it broke from its moorings and ran aground near Australia's oldest harbor in the Antarctic Circle.

The Aurora Australis, a 94-meter long ice-breaking ship, was ripped from its anchoring as a raging blizzard hit Mawson Station, East Antarctica, on Wednesday morning.

Efforts are being made to bring the crew back to base. However, the blizzard conditions are hampering the operation.


Footage recorded from inside the stricken vessel shows strong gusts of ice and snow battering the upper deck.

Cloud Grey

Sea of clouds cascading over mountain like a waterfall filmed in China

Phenomenon: The formation danced around the mountain top for several hours
Phenomenon: The formation danced around the mountain top for several hours
Nature lovers were given a treat when this sea of clouds rose majestically over a mountain before sliding down the side like a waterfall .

This breathtaking video shows the fast-moving clouds sweeping over the landscape as the sun rises on the horizon.

The stunning spectacle took place early on Wednesday morning over Mount Lu, in China's Jiangxi Province.

CCTV News reports that the incredible formation danced around the mountain top for several hours, attracting a large number of people with cameras.


Red Flag

Hundreds of South Auckland birds killed by botulism-like disease

Feather in waterflow
© Anna-Marie BakosThe disease is mostly affecting waterfowl including ducks and gulls.
Hundreds of birds in a South Auckland wetland have been killed in a botulism outbreak.

The Department of Conservation and Fish and Game are working with the Pukorokoro Miranda Shorebird Centre to contain the outbreak.

The wetland is home to tens of thousands of rare native and non-native waterfowl and shore birds and it's estimated around 200 have died so far.

Fish and Game said it's an unfortunate thing to happen, especially in a significant wetland like Miranda.

"There is a botulism outbreak, which is a very serious bird disease. It is caused and spread by poor oxygen levels in the water - the birds ingest it and it's all over." said Don Rood, Fish and Game spokesman.

"It's not a nice way to go, it paralyses them then they die."

Rood said there's little that can be done, aside from burying the bodies, so the bacteria can't spread and re-enter the environment to infect healthy birds.

"What we're worried about is the deterioration of the general environment, when things like this happen there is a tendancy to down play it but anything that is killing birds in such a way is a concern." Rood said.

Megaphone

West Island, Montreal residents captivated and creeped out by trumpeting sounds in the sky

strange sounds
Some West Island residents were captivated and creeped out by an eerie trumpeting sound that seemed to come from the sky Sunday. No one knows what caused the sound.

Early theories suggested people in Dollard des Ormeaux were hearing echoes of a Pointe-à-Callières Port Symphony. But those events happen at 2 p.m., and the sky trumpets were reported during the evening. Would sound have carried that far anyway? It's about 25 kilometres from the Old Port to D.D.O., and sound travels at Mach 1, so ... we don't know. Other atmospheric conditions would have to be factored in.

The Montreal Gazette asked a spokesperson at Environment Canada whether there any been any unusual meteorologic conditions Sunday night. "Not that we're aware of. There were no reports of anything in the Montreal area."

Witnesses to the sound say there was little to no wind at the time.

Montreal Gazette Facebook followers had a field day with the mystery. "Don't worry, Quebec will find a way to tax it," posted one reader. "Could they be clearing snow out there?" suggested a reader.

From another, what would seem to be the most obvious answer: "The wind does that sometimes, like with a pan flute." Then from the bottom of the earth: "We heard it here in Australia on Sunday. ... Birds went ballistic. Whether it's atmospheric radio waves or it is a warning, I know what side of the fence I would rather be on."

You can listen to the audio here.

Comment: For more in-depth coverage, check out our SOTT report on this strange phenomenon:

Strange Noises in the Sky: Trumpets of the Apocalypse?

Strange sounds were heard in Montreal in 2012 also. Link.