Earth ChangesS


Attention

Rare earthquake shakes residents of Maine, US

Christina Erne
WCSH-TV
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 20:08 UTC
Rare Maine earthquake
© Google MapsThe location of the temblor that reached 3.3 on the Richter scale on Feb.2.
At 6:56 a.m., residents on the east coast of Maine got a wake up call from nature.

A magnitude 3.3 earthquake hit 5 miles to the northeast of Eastport's shore, but residents thought it felt a lot closer than that.

Luckily, there wasn't much damage, but it gave people a good rattle.

The earthquake was detected coming from the waters between Maine and Canada's coasts. Residents from Charlotte and Perry and as far as Machias reported they heard and felt it. Some people experienced minor damage like falling household objects up to 10 miles from the center of the quake. Early risers even saw waves coming from the epicenter in the water. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake is still considered a minor one, but to some who lived close by, it was anything but.

"The only thing I could think of was the house blowing up," said one Eastport resident.

"There were some things falling off the shelves and it sounded like the house was going to crack in half," said another Eastport resident.

A worker on the pier said, "a short time later was a big wave rolling in. Just one rogue wave."
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Arrow Down

Underwater sinkhole in Romblon, Philippines draws curiosity, fear

TJ Dimacall
GMA News Online
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 16:29 UTC
Sinkhole Philippines
Sinkhole Philippines
The apparently sudden appearance of a sinkhole in a creek in Romblon has raised concern among parents and authorities in the area.

The creek is a common play area for local kids, who love to take a dip in its cool waters. But just over the weekend, two kids were surprised to discover a 1.8-meter-deep sinkhole in their usual haunt.

Parents have since warned their kids to stay away from the creek for fear that they may be sucked into the hole.

This fear may be unfounded, however: sinkholes are usually just depressions formed by the collapse of the surface above a hidden space in the ground.
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Snowflake

First EVER snowfall in central Vietnam - Records date back to 1650

Adapt 2030
Youtube
Wed, 03 Feb 2016 09:26 UTC
snow falls in northern vietnam
Snows blanketed Vietnam and Laos the last week of January 2016 breaking hundreds of cold and snow records.

SaPa farmers at total crop losses, 9000+ cattle froze to death and Nghe An recorded its first snowfall ever with records stretching back to 1650.

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Arrow Up

Second earthquake hits Cornwall, UK within a week

David Wells
Western Morning News
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 08:04 UTC
Earthquake graph
A second earthquake has hit Cornwall in a week - leaving residents a little shaken by the minor tremor.

The British Geological Survey confirmed a signal at 12.04pm between Falmouth and Helston.

The data is now due to be analysed to determine its strength.

Kim Kimber, who lives near Falmouth, said: "Initially thought it might be thunder but there was not enough cloud. It felt wrong too.

"The whole house shook and the windows were rattling. I felt the vibration through the floor.

"If we lived near a quarry I might have thought they were blasting but nearest live quarry is a couple of miles away."

Last week, an earlier earthquake struck parts of Cornwall - sending a low rumble through houses around the area.

But far from any fears of a major seismic shift, perhaps splitting Cornwall from the rest of mainland Britain, the quake measured only 0.8 on the Richter Scale.
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Question

Rose-coloured sky in northern Canada amazes Iqaluit residents


CBC News
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 23:09 UTC
pink sky canada
© Nick Murray/CBCNick Murray snapped this photo outside of CBC North's Iqaluit office on Tuesday. Numerous other Iqaluit residents commented on the city's red hue, which was likely caused due to light scattering.
Light scattering likely cause of deep red colouration, says CBC meteorologist

Residents of Iqaluit, Nunavut woke up on Tuesday morning seeing red — literally.

The city took on a strange rose hue throughout the day, wowing residents and leading to plenty of theories. CBC North's Nick Murray snapped a photo of the colouration outside CBC's Iqaluit bureau, which was shared widely across Facebook and Twitter. By Wednesday afternoon, the photo had reached nearly 200,000 people on CBC's Facebook pages alone.
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Rainbow

Nacreous clouds spotted in sky over Ireland

Robert Hynes
Irish Mirror
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 20:00 UTC
nacreous cloud
© SparkyScoopsNacreous cloud
The stunning clouds were pictured by people in a number of places, including Dublin and Belfast

A number of people noticed amazing rainbow coloured clouds in the sky over Ireland this morning.

The stunning clouds were pictured by people in a number of places, including Dublin and Belfast.

They are known as polar stratospheric clouds or nacreous clouds and usually appear during winter at high latitudes like Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada.

The clouds are quite rare in Ireland and are mostly visible within two hours after sunset or before dawn.

They appeared as Storm Henry continues to batter the country.

rainbow clouds this morning over York road/M2 Belfast
© Emma ElliottRainbow clouds this morning over York road/M2 Belfast

Comment: See also these other recent reports: Nacreous cloud seen over Leicester, UK

Glowing 'mother of pearl' clouds color Scotland's skies

'Fire rainbow' photographed over Lecce, Italy

'Fire rainbow' appears in Auckland, New Zealand's skies

Colorful polar stratospheric clouds return to Swedish skies

Colorful 'mother of pearl' cloud appears in Swedish skies

'Fire rainbow' spotted over Saint John, New Brunswick

Giant fire rainbow colors the sky over Bangkok and baffles residents

Read More...
Rainbow

Nacreous cloud seen over Leicester, UK

I Frodsham
Leicester Mercury
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 19:26 UTC
The cloud that appeared earlier this evening
© Chris GordonThe cloud that appeared earlier this evening
People across Leicester were left astounded this afternoon when an unusual cloud formation appeared in the sky.

The formation, which looked like a rainbow around an oval of bright light, appeared at about 5pm in an otherwise murky, grey sky.

Witnesses took photos of the phenomenon and uploaded them to Twitter, many commenting on the "beautiful" appearance.

Leicester Mercury weatherman Dave Mutton said the formation was the result of a cold front moving from the North down to the South.

Rainbow cloud
© Kaz Canning
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Attention

North Sea sperm whale death toll increases to 23 as another 8 are washed up on German coast

Tom Wyke
Daily Mail, UK
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 18:51 UTC
Bleak scene: The creatures are male and about the same age as a number of others who have washed up on the coast of northern Europe over the last few weeks
Bleak scene: The creatures are male and about the same age as a number of others who have washed up on the coast of northern Europe over the last few weeks
Eight dead sperm whales have died after they were washed up on a German beach today, taking the total number of dead whales to 23 after a devastating number of beachings during the past month across northern Europe.

The eight whales found near the northern town of Friedrichskoog were young bulls, around the same age as the animals discovered three weeks ago at various North Sea spots.

They were lying close to each other in the mudflats of a restricted area of the Wadden Sea national park, the Schleswig-Holstein regional environmental authority said in a statement.

Since the 1990s, a total of 82 sperm wales have been found stranded in the Wadden Sea in Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.

The sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales, and the largest toothed predator.It can measure up to 20 metres (67 feet) long and weigh over 50 tonnes.

There are various theories why the whales end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic - but the nutrient-poor waters can prove catastrophic for them
There are various theories why the whales end up in the North Sea rather than the Atlantic - but the nutrient-poor waters can prove catastrophic for them

Shocking: At least 23 whales have been stranded across the coastline of northern Europe and may have come from a single whale pod
Shocking: At least 23 whales have been stranded across the coastline of northern Europe and may have come from a single whale pod
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Attention

Humpback whale, 2 dolphins & porpoise found dead along Oregon and Washington coast

Teresa Blackman
kgw.com
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 18:36 UTC
This dead whale washed up on the beach in Seaside on Sunday.
© The Daily AstorianThis dead whale washed up on the beach in Seaside on Sunday.
A 24-foot humpback whale was among four marine mammals that washed ashore last weekend, along a stretch of the Oregon and Washington coastline, according to Keith Chandler, the manager of Seaside Aquarium.

The whale was found on the beach in Seaside on Sunday, a harbor porpoise washed up near Fort Stevens on Saturday and a striped dolphin was found on Cannon Beach on Saturday, Chandler said. Another striped dolphin washed up in Ocean Park, Washington, also on Saturday.

Chandler said the deaths could be in some way connected and all of the mammals were dead before they reached the shore.

"It's quite a wide area, but it's a big ocean," he said. "We had some really heavy surf, so when you see one, you often see more than one."

He explained that the deaths could be disease-related, or another issue. But there were no obvious signs of trauma.
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Attention

Strong magnitude 6.6 shake near the Kermadec Islands triggered 'ghost quakes' in North Island, New Zealand, but why?

John Edens
stuff.co.nz
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 13:20 UTC
Tuesday's earthquake was centred near the Kermadec's Raoul Island, about 1000km northeast of New Zealand.
© Massey UniversityTuesday's earthquake was centred near the Kermadec's Raoul Island, about 1000km northeast of New Zealand.
The magnitude 6.6 quake that struck off the coast of the North Island on Tuesday was widely felt and triggered false reports of shakes in New Zealand.

It is not uncommon for earthquakes to confuse seismic readings as energy from tremors travels large distances.

These "ghost quakes" register as local earthquakes when the GNS Science system starts to receive data.

Seismic graphs show the earthquake waves at 8am on Tuesday detected by the northernmost seismographs.
© John RistauSeismic graphs show the earthquake waves at 8am on Tuesday detected by the northernmost seismographs.
Let's dive right in to the world of ghost earthquakes.

What happened on Tuesday?

A large magnitude 6.6 quake centres about 850 kilometres north of Whakatane at a depth of 360km.

The epicentre was near the Kermadec Islands and the Kermadec Trench.
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