Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Quake summit set after Pacific Northwest quake story shakes up White House

Sandi Doughton
Seattle Times
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 12:49 UTC
Cascadia subduction zone
© Christoph Niemann; Map by Ziggymaj Getty The next full-margin rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone will spell the worst natural disaster in the history of the continent.
For decades, geologists, emergency managers and media in the Pacific Northwest have been warning that the region will someday be slammed by a megaquake and tsunami that could be the country's worst natural disaster.

But it took an East Coast magazine to finally elevate the issue onto the White House agenda.

Inspired in large part by an article in The New Yorker in the summer, the Obama administration is hosting an Earthquake Resilience Summit on Tuesday — and is expected to underscore its support for an earthquake early warning system on the West Coast.

It's not clear whether that support will come with additional federal money, but foundations and some Northwest businesses will announce contributions to a warning system.

The event will be streamed live beginning at 9:30 a.m. PST.

The article that kicked things off was published in the July 20 edition of the weekly magazine, which once ran a map on its cover showing the entire Western U.S. dwarfed by a few midtown intersections, reflecting a Manhattan-centric world view.
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Radar

Continuous tremor under Puget Sound as Washington state continues rattling since 4.3 earthquake on December 30th

John Knicely
KIRO 7
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 19:06 UTC
earthquakes pacific northwest
© Pacific Northwest Seismic NetworkRecent tremors and earthquakes in Puget Sound, Washington
A continuous tremor has been shaking from Vancouver Island south toward Olympia. A lead seismologist at the University of Washington told KIRO 7 they are not alarmed, but that the tremor is likely tied to the biggest quake in the Puget Sound region.

Hundreds of tremors registered across the Pacific Northwest within a 25-hour span starting Monday.

The Pacific Northwest Seismic Network plotted 427 tremors on a map.

"What's happening is there's an episode where the deep plate boundary is kind of rumbling," said Dr. John Vidale, director of the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network.

The tremor can last three weeks and happens about once a year. It's been shaking 30 miles under Puget Sound since Dec. 22. Unlike an earthquake map, the dots on the tremor map show readings of the same tremor. You can see the map here.

Comment: See also:

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Red Flag

El Nino wreaking havoc on Pacific Coast from Chile to California


RT
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 20:46 UTC
California falling into the ocean
© Noah Berger / ReutersUninhabitable apartment buildings, in danger of collapsing into the Pacific Ocean, line Esplanade Ave. in Pacifica, California January 26, 2016. The city has marked three apartment complexes uninhabitable as El Nino storm erosion eats away at the coastal bluff beneath them
The extreme weather patterns observed during El Nino show no sign of abating, with large tidal waves and unusual rainfall continuing to hit Pacific coastal regions.

The Californian city of Pacifica has declared a local emergency due to cliff erosion caused by El Nino.

Ocean currents are currently battering the city's shoreline - and putting hundreds of residential properties at risk of collapsing into the sea.

Astonishing video captured from a drone reveals the terrifying extent of erosion.


The footage shows heaps of soil crumbling from the cliffside, undercutting apartments which hang precariously above on Esplanade and Palmetto Avenue.
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Tornado2

Tornado tosses vehicles about in Florida


RT
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 16:48 UTC
Florida tornado
© Gene Blevins / Reuters
Two people were reported injured and many vehicles were tossed about as a twister touched down in Coconut Creek, Florida.

Heavy storms on Wednesday morning soaked the area, just a few miles inland from Florida's Atlantic coast, between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale.

At Broward College, the twister picked up cars, tossing them around. Several vehicles ended up stacked on top of others.

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Attention

Dead humpback whale found on North Carolina coast


wncn.com
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 19:22 UTC
Dead humpback whale
© WECT Dead humpback whale
A beached whale was discovered on the shore at Kure Beach Wednesday.

According to Kure Beach Police, the whale was found about two blocks south of the Kure Beach Fish Pier around 6:00 a.m.

William McClellan of the University of North Carolina Wilmington says the whale was a baby humpback between 1 and 2 years old. He says the whale was very thin and appeared to have been sick for some time.

Officials say about two dozen dead whales wash up on the North Carolina coast per year. UNCW has been notified.


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Fire

Dozens of bushfires burn in Tasmania, Australia

Ted O'Connor
abc.net.au
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 18:55 UTC
Lake Mackenzie fires.
© Craig Perkins Specialist firefighters are being dropped into remote areas like the Lake Mackenzie fires.
Fire authorities have warned significant rainfall is needed to extinguish dozens of blazes burning out of control in remote areas of Tasmania's west and north.

Some of the biggest fires are burning in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA), where rare ecosystems are at risk from bushfires.

A total fire ban is still being enforced and recent rainfalls were enough to prevent flare ups but they were not heavy enough to stop the threat.

Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) chief officer Gavin Freeman said a Lauderdale man had been charged after allegedly lighting a campfire in the state's north-west then leaving the area.

"It's the first time we've had a total fire ban for four days in a row," he said.

"It's been a long weekend for a lot of people.

"But it is frustrating, we've been very clear about the implications of not abiding by the total fire ban.

"We've tried to ease the restrictions as much as we can."

TFS northern regional chief Ian Bounds said crews could not become complacent, despite cooler conditions this week.

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Fish

Emirati sailor recounts shark attack on his fishing boat; predator leaps aboard


Gulf Digital News
Wed, 27 Jan 2016 15:27 UTC
shark
© Emarat Al YoumThe two-ton shark has been mummified to be displayed for visitors at the Marine Heritage Museum.
A two-tonne, 4-metre shark attacked an Emirati sailor and his crew of five on the deck of their fishing boat at Fujairah coastline.

The Emirati sailor recalled the horrific incident that took place in the early hours of Sunday when the shark suddenly jumped into the boat.

According to Hamza Al Sharaa, the Emirati sailor, the shark seemed hungry and was trying to find anything to eat.

"It was 2 am and we were 28 miles away from the shore," he told The National.

"One of our crew members was fixing the fishing rope on the boat when the shark jumped out of the water from his back trying to eat him and, in seconds, it was in the middle of the boat after it hit one of the boat barriers," he said adding that the shark leapt three metres out of the water to get onto the boat.

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Question

Mysterious boom heard in many parts of the Ozarks, Arkansas


Harrison Daily News
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:09 UTC
Ozark National Forest
Ozark National Forest
The source of a mysterious sound heard Sunday afternoon in many parts of the Ozarks is still primarily that — a mystery.

Harrison Police began getting calls about the sound just before 4:45 p.m. Sunday.

The first caller was on West Park Avenue. The woman reported she heard an explosion and felt vibrations, although the explosion sounded a long way off.

An officer on patrol checked in the immediate area, but didn't locate anything that might have been the source. A report said he spoke to people at the Soccer Complex who also heard it and thought it might have come from the Highway 7 South area.

A few minutes later, a caller on Highland reported hearing it and an officer checked that area, speaking to people on Windsor Drive who said it shook their house.
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Bug

Biggest plague of locusts in 60 years strikes northern Argentina

Jonathon Gilbert
New York Times
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 14:10 UTC
swarm of locusts
© SENASA A swarm of locusts in September in the Lavalle area of Santiago del Estero Province, Argentina. Farmers last year reported seeing swarms that were four miles wide and two miles high. Credit
Farmers and fumigators in Argentina are running out of time as they scramble to control the country's worst plague of locusts in more than half a century, officials warned on Monday.

The provincial authorities and Senasa, the government's agricultural inspection agency, have intensified their efforts to exterminate swarms of the insects in the dry forests of northern Argentina. But their attempts might not be enough to prevent the locusts from developing into a flying throng in the coming days — when they will then threaten to devour crops like sunflowers and cotton, and grasslands for cattle grazing.

"It's the worst explosion in the last 60 years," Diego Quiroga, the agriculture agency's chief of vegetative protection, said in a telephone interview. "It's impossible to eradicate; the plague has already established itself. We're just acting to make sure it's the smallest it can be and does the least damage possible."

Small pockets of locusts, which first appeared last June, at the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, have spread across an area of northern Argentina about the size of Delaware. The mild and rainy winter here created comfortable breeding conditions for the locusts; their surge outpaced the ability of the authorities to control the spread of the insects.
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Snowflake

Israel Electric Corporation declares state of emergency as three-day storm hits Jerusalem

Ari Yashar
Arutz Sheva
Mon, 25 Jan 2016 18:04 UTC
snow in Jerusalem
© Hadas Parush/Flash90Snow falls in central Jerusalem on Monday.


Electric corporation kicks it into high gear as snow starts moving in ahead of overnight buildup; electricity usage breaks record

Jerusalem was visited by bursts of snow showers on Monday as a three-day storm continues to set upon Israel, and the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has declared a state of emergency in the capital in anticipation of the coming deluge.

On Monday the record for electricity usage in winter was broken, as the 12,200 megawatt previous high was shattered and consumption continues to rise. A 2.3% increase from the previous record has already been reached.

A full 47 millimeters (nearly two inches) of rain fell in Jerusalem on Monday, making it the highest amount of rainfall in the entire country. While snow also fell down upon the capital, it did not stick or build up - but that's to change on Monday night, as Jerusalemites can anticipate to wake to a white morning on Tuesday.

IEC Director Maj. Gen. (res.) Yiftah Ron-Tal updated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) on Monday regarding the company's preparations for electricity disturbances in Jerusalem, after snow began falling earlier in the day.

A situation room has been opened in Jerusalem and an emergency situation has been declared by the IEC.
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