Earth ChangesS


Fire

Guatemala 'Volcano of Fire' spews lava and ash 7km into skies after furious eruption


RT
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 04:42 UTC
fuego volcano eruption
Fuego Volcano has again put on an incredible display of fire and smoke as it continued to light up the skies over Guatemala. Here is its most recent eruption, when lava and ash shot 7 kilometers (4 miles) into the air.


The truly dramatic volcanic activity took place on Sunday night.

Located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City, the mountain, which literally means the Volcano of Fire in Spanish, has been occasionally erupting across 2015. It has been especially active for at least a month now.

Comment: According to Volcano Discovery, 39 volcanoes around the world have recently erupted, and 32 of them are associated with the Ring of Fire, where seismic activity appears to be dramatically increasing amid a progression of recent disasters.

See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - November 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs

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Attention

USGS: Magnitude 5.8 earthquake strikes southern Japan


Sputnik
Tue, 05 Jan 2016 07:36 UTC
Japan earthquake
© USGS
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on Tuesday southeast of the Japanese island of Kyushu, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.

According to the USGS, there is no tsunami threat.

The epicenter of the quake was located at sea at the depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the agency.

In turn, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that the tremors were felt across ten prefectures, including Kochi, Miyazaki, Hiroshima, Kagoshima and Okayama.

No information about the damage or casualties was immediately available.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries.

In March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake started a tsunami that killed about 16,000 people in northeastern Japan and caused nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant which resulted in the largest nuclear catastrophe in the world since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
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Attention

Dead whale shark discovered on coast of Bukas Grande Island, Philippines

Erwin M. Mascarinas
Interaksyon
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 19:49 UTC
Whale shark
© Wikimedia Commons Whale shark
A 24-foot commonly known as butanding was discovered dead along the coastline of the village Pamosaingan in the town Socorro in Bukas Grande Island, one of the islands comprising Siargao, Saturday afternoon.

"I immediately dispatched four of my police personnel to the area and at the same time informed the Municipal Agriculture Office and the Municipal Environment and Natural Resource Office about the dead endangered mammal," said Police Inspector Alvin Caballes, municipal police chief of Socorro.

Caballes said that by Sunday noon, peak of the high tide, the whale shark was buried near the shoreline of Dapja Beach in the same barangay.

dead whale shark
© Edelito Sangco This photo from a social media account of Edelito Sangco shows a member of the Large Marine Vertebrates (Lamave) Project-Philippines measuring the dead whale shark just before it was buried Sunday noon.
"The butanding was secured at around 5 o'clock Saturday afternoon and with the help of non-government organizations the endangered whale shark was buried the next day at around 12 noon but finished everything by 3 o'clock Sunday afternoon because of several procedures made by the Large Marine Vertebrates (Lamave) that conducted the necropsy on the animal," he said.
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Attention

Dead pilot whale found in Benoit's Cove, Canada

Derek Montague
The Western Star
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 19:41 UTC
dead whale John’s Beach
A dead whale was found washed ashore at John’s Beach recently.
Brandon Collins, 17, had never seen a dead whale washed ashore before.

So when he heard there was one down at John's Beach, he, along with his brother Trevor and friend Jonathan went to check it out.

When the trio arrived, Collins found the dead mammal, which he thought to be a pilot whale, washed ashore. The teenager estimated that the whale was 15-feet long.

"It was amazing at first because you just don't come across this stuff everyday," said Collins, who lives in Benoit's Cove.

The three stayed at John's Beach for about 20 minutes before leaving. Collins said he didn't notify any authority about the whale and doesn't know if it's still at the beach or not.

"I have no clue where it is right now," said Collins.
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Attention

5.1 magnitude earthquake shakes lower North Island, New Zealand


stuff.co.nz
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 12:11 UTC
new zealand
© Keith Lynch (CPL)The earthquake was felt throughout the North Island.
An "short, sharp shake" has been felt throughout the lower North Island, with a lighter earthquake coming two hours later.

Geonet received reports from 865 people that had felt the 5.1 magnitude quake with reports from people who have felt it, from as far as Ohakune and Hawera.

The quake was centred 25 kilometres east of Pongaroa, in the Tararua district, at a depth of 25km, hitting at 1.07pm.

Bit of a shudder here at Paekakariki - est 20 seconds duration #eqnz
— Jesse Easton (@jesterabi) January 4, 2016

Tararua District councillor Shirley Hull was at her Pahiatua home with family when she felt the quake hit.

She said Pongaroa's "short, sharp shake" left their light swaying.

"They seem to be getting a few these days... [we have] just got to make sure that everybody's OK."
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Attention

Man survives gruesome shark attack off the coast of Queensland, Australia

David Maher
Daily Mail, UK
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 11:28 UTC
Serious but stable: The man bravely fought off the predator
© ABCSerious but stable: The man bravely fought off the predator
A man survived a gruesome shark attack by punching the beast several times.

The 31-year-old suffered severe wounds to his arms and legs in the attack while swimming in the sea off the coast of northeast Australia today.

The spear fisherman survived by punching the deadly predator off Miall Island near Rosslyn Bay, 670km north of Brisbane in Queensland, local coast guard commander Arthur Hunt said.

He said: "He was snorkeling a bit off the beach and said he saw a lot of fish and then the shark came out of nowhere.

"It's the first shark attack we've had up here in a while - I've been with the coastguard for seven years and this is my first."
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Fish

Dozens of dead fish found on Vanderbilt Beach, Florida


abc-7.com
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 11:02 UTC
beach
Dozens of dead fish are washing up on a popular Naples beach, and people aren't sure why.

Wildlife is common on Vanderbilt Beach, but visitors said this weekend, Mother Nature left them with an unexpected gift.

Some are claiming to have seen at least a hundred dead fish.

We contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the problem. They directed us to the red tide maps on their website, but those maps currently show no instance of the destructive algae off the Collier coastline.

FWC encourages anyone who sees any large amount of dead fish to report it to their fish-kill hotline.

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House

Suspected gas explosion in Oklahoma completely destroys house, 50 nearby homes damaged


news9.com KWTV
Sat, 02 Jan 2016 13:34 UTC
Oklahoma house explosion
The powerful explosion near 122nd and Rockwell has completely destroyed at least one home, and could be heard miles away.

An explosion near 122nd and Rockwell has destroyed at least one home, and someone was inside the house at the time.

The Oklahoma City Fire Department said just after 3:15 a.m., they responded to a reported explosion at 12409 Whispering Hollow Drive.

"We've had reports when this came in that people felt it more than two miles away. So it was a significant explosion," OCFD Chief Benny Fulkerson said Saturday morning.

Authorities say an ONG crew was working on a gas meter when it caught fire. Crew members were about to evacuate the homeowner when the house exploded. The home has been completely destroyed.

The homeowner told first responders he was blown out of bed. He suffered injuries and burns, and has been transported to a local hospital.

Two others in the area were also transported to the hospital for breathing problems. No word yet on their condition.

OKCFD evacuated eight homes with a total of 24 people.


Comment: There seems to have been an increase in the number of massive house explosions around the world in recent months, with investigators still attempting to determine the cause in many cases. Could a 'cosmic' source of ignition be responsible for some of these incidents?

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Boat

Waterworld: Drone footage captures historic Missouri flooding and damage


RT
Sun, 03 Jan 2016 19:25 UTC
Missouri flooding
© Oral R Friend / YouTube
A massive cleanup is underway in the US Midwest after three Missouri rivers reached levels not seen in winter since the times when Mark Twain was rafting the river as a teenager.

Sixteen states in total issued emergency weather warnings as mass flooding in the region claimed the lives of at least 31 people.

Heavy rainfall at the end of December, the worst since May 2011, caused the Mississippi, Meramec, and Missouri rivers to burst their banks.

"Flooding on the middle portion of the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries reached levels not seen during the winter months since records began during the middle 1800s," reported Accuweather.

The Mississippi River was 40 feet (13 meters) over the flood mark at one stage, while 17 million people faced imminent danger.

US President Barack Obama signed an emergency declaration, allowing federal aid to be used in the clean-up operations.

Visiting the affected-communities of Eureka and Cape Girardeau on Sunday, Missouri governor Jay Nixon described the damage as "almost as if you are living on some other planet."


Comment: If 2015 was 'a year of extremes' weather-wise in the US, one wonders what 2016 may have in store! For more on the recent historic flooding in the US Midwest, see also:

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Bizarro Earth

Powerful 6.7 earthquake rocks India near Myanmar border


RT
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 00:18 UTC
India Map
© RT
A powerful earthquake measuring 6.7 in magnitude has hit northwest eastern India, close to the border with Myanmar, the US Geological Survey has reported.

The quake was 57 kilometers (35 miles) deep and centered 33 kilometers northwest of Imphal, the capital city of the Manipur state.

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