Earth ChangesS


Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kills 12 within 24 hours in Madhya Pradesh, India


The Times of India
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 19:34 UTC
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12 people were struck by lightning in three districts across Madhya Pradesh in 24 hours.
Twelve people were killed and eight seriously injured when they were struck by lightning in three districts across Madhya Pradesh in the last 24 hours.

While seven were killed in Chhindwara, two each were killed in Seoni and Agar districts, said police.

Those killed in Chhindwara have been identified as Rajesh Yadav 28, of Malanwada area, Ramnath Bhange, 18, his cousin Mahesh Bhange, 20, of Amarwada, Munshilal Sirkam, 28 and Sahtu Bai, 40, among others. Four others who sustained severe injuries were sent to district hospital.

Similarly, two children were killed and three others injured when lightning struck them at Narla village of Agar district on Friday night. Children Umrao Singh (10), Balu Singh (14) and three others took shelter under a tree in Narla, 25 kms from distirct headquarters after rains started. Suddenly, lightning struck them killing Umrao and Balu on the spot.

In a separate incident a Santoshi, 14 and her sister Jayanti, 12, were killed in Seoni district. Police said they took shelter under a house when lightning struck.
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Question

Alabama rattles with swarms of earthquakes; experts say reasons unclear

Jay Reeves
Yahoo! News
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 16:59 UTC
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© AP/Brynn AndersonThis Tuesday, June 9, 2016, photo shows an abandoned building near Eutaw, Ala., where there have been reported earthquakes. More than a dozen weak earthquakes have followed in the seven months since in west Alabama's rural Greene County, and geologists are trying to figure out what is causing the seismic swarm in an area of the South more prone to tornadoes than earthquakes.
Jim Sterling didn't know what had hit his 156-year-old antebellum home when an earthquake struck Alabama's old plantation region early one morning last November. Startled, he grabbed a gun and ran outdoors.

In the pre-dawn chill, Sterling said, he found an odd scene: horses were galloping, cows mooing and dogs barking.

"I heard a boom and felt the shaking," Sterling said. "It really upset me."

More than a dozen weak earthquakes have followed in the seven months since in west Alabama's rural Greene County, and geologists are trying to figure out what is causing the seismic swarm in an area of the South more prone to tornadoes than earthquakes.

"It is interesting that recently there has been more activity there than in the last four decades," said Sandy Ebersole, an earthquake expert with the Geological Survey of Alabama.

Records from the U.S. Geological Survey show the first of 14 earthquakes occurred on Nov. 20, when a magnitude 3.8 earthquake was recorded about 10 miles northwest of the community of Eutaw. The second occurred in mid-December, followed by another in January and three within a few hours of each other on Feb. 19.

The tremors have continued ever since, with the most recent occurring June 6, when a magnitude 3.0 quake rattled the area. All the tremors have been weaker than the initial jolt in November, and Ebersole said some have been too slight for residents to detect.

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Ice Cube

Circular rainbow surrounds the sun in Saginaw, Michigan

Daphne DeLoren
wnem.com
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 12:59 UTC
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© Sandie Thompson via Facebook
Several viewers have posted photos on our Facebook wall of what looks like a circular rainbow surrounding the sun.

It's called a "halo" and is caused by cirrus clouds, which are the thin, wispy looking ones around 20,000 feet or higher in the atmosphere.

They typically occur ahead of a storm, like the one approaching us from over the central plains.

Millions of ice crystals within the cloud both reflect and refract sunlight at a specific angle to your eye, which causes the cool looking circular rainbow.

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© wnem.com
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Wolf

Canine craziness: 23 dog bites reported in one day in Kochi, India

Neelima M
The Times of India
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 15:19 UTC
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Feral dogs
As many as 23 cases of dog bites were reported in the district on Saturday, fuelling concerns over the increasing instances of canine attacks that stood at 273 in June. District animal health officer, Dr Razia Konthalam allayed fears and said that all dog bites won't cause rabies. "It is not true that dogs bite only when they are rabid. Stray dogs that feed on meat waste tend to be ferocious and are likely to attack people," she said, adding that rabid dogs die within 10 days.

Veterinary surgeon for Kochi corporation, Dr Kishore Kumar KJ - who is one of the principal investigators of the local body's Animal Birth Control programme - said: "What we need is an effective waste management plan, merely sterilizing animals alone won't help matters."

He added that killing animals is the most unscientific and unacceptable method. "People should understand that when they kill dogs in a particular territory, the ones that replace the dead tend to be more aggressive and dangerous," he said, adding that the animal birth control (ABC) programme will help bring down the number of strays in the city in a span of two years. So far, 62 dogs have been sterilized at the corporation's multispecialty veterinary clinic in Brahmapuram since May 28.
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Cloud Precipitation

Over 370,000 impacted by floods in Assam, situation worsens


The Citizen (India)
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 14:32 UTC
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Flood situation in the state is grim
With one more death, the floods in Assam have taken a total of three lives till now, the flood situation in the state has deteriorated. The number of affected have reached to 3.7 lakh ( 370,000) albeit it had come down to 2. 1 lakh on Friday. The rivers continue to flow above the danger mark, villages remain inundated and a total of 16 districts have been hit by the first wave of floods in the state.

According to the flood bulletin of the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) issued Saturday evening, over 1.5 lakh people were newly affected by flood across the state in the past 24 hours.

The heavy rains last evening has deteriorated the situation, particularly in the lower districts of Barpeta, Goalpara and Kamrup The incessant rains, with the onset of the monsoon last week, in Assam has brought with itself floods, devastation and damage. At least 702 villages are marooned, roads and bridges badly damaged and rivers, including the Brahmaputra, are overflowing.


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Cloud Lightning

Heavy rainfall brings floods to greater Taipei, Taiwan - 4 inches of rain in an hour

Wang Shu-fen
Focus Taiwan
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 14:11 UTC
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Flooding in Taipei
Thunderstorms brought heavy rain to the greater Taipei area Sunday afternoon, causing flash floods in parts of the metropolises, as local firefighters, policemen and other officials work in emergency centers to cope with the situation.

Gongguan, famous for its night market and proximity to National Taiwan University, recorded 105 millimeters of rainfall in an hour from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) data.

Daan, Xinyi, and Wenshan districts in Taipei and Xindian, Yonghe, and Zhonghe districts in New Taipei have experienced heavy rain, meaning more than 50mm of rainfall in 24 hours, according to the bureau.
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Cloud Precipitation

Freak hailstorm turns desert white around Alice Springs, Australia

Freya Noble
Daily Mail, UK
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 13:51 UTC
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The Red Centre was blanketed in hail on Saturday following a freak storm
In a bizarre but beautiful sight the Red Centre turned white on Saturday following a thunderstorm which blanketed the area in a sheet of hail.

Photographs show a stunning contrast between the bright earth and hailstones covering the ground in parts of Alice Springs.

While the area does see storms it's not often conditions are just right to deliver the spectacle it did at the weekend.

'This event was set apart due to the fact it was a slow moving storm,' Jackson Browne, a meteorologist at the Darwin Bureau of Meteorology explained to Daily Mail Australia.

'Usually these storm cells move with quite a lot of pace,' he said, adding that although hail is present in most storms it has often melted by the time it meets the ground.

As the hailstones were only marble-sized they weren't large enough to cause any damage, but they did provide quite a sight for locals, many of whom have never seen hail despite living in the area for years.


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Cloud Lightning

Lightning strikes kill 7 in five districts of Bangladesh


The Daily Star (Bangladesh)
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 11:13 UTC
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Seven people were killed by lightning in Bogra, Jessore, Mymensingh, Manikganj and Chapainawabganj districts yesterday and the day before.

Our Bogra correspondent reported that two people were killed by lightning in Dhunat and Nandigram upazilas of the district yesterday.

The victims are Rafiqul Islam, 30, of Pakrihata village in Dhunat upazila, and Jamuli Roy, 28, wife of Nitai Roy of Hatkoroi village in Nandigram upazila,

In Jessore, Abdul Hamid Fakir, 50, and his son Huraira Fakir, 16, were struck by a thunderbolt at Gobindapur village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore yesterday afternoon. They died on the spot, reports our Benapole correspondent.

In Mymensingh, fish trader Sharif Uddin, 40, of Haidarpur village in Muktagachha upazila was killed by lightning while going to a local market around 10:00am.
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Black Cat

Tigers, lions and hippos roam the streets of Tbilisi following zoo escape after flooding


itv.com
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 10:08 UTC
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© REUTERS/Beso Gulashvili The hippo wandered through the main street
Residents of Georgia's capital city have been warned to stay inside as tigers, lions, bears and hippos roam the streets after heavy flooding destroyed their zoo enclosures.

At least five people have died and several are missing after heavy rainfall overnight turned the Vere River flowing through Tbilisi into a torrent that swept away dozens of cars and even buildings.

Three zoo workers were among those reported dead, but it was unclear how they died, the Associated Press reported.

Tbilisi Zoo said this morning that an escaped hippopotamus was cornered in one of the city's main squares and subdued with a tranquiliser gun.


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Running free: Stunned drivers saw a lion walking down the street
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Cloud Precipitation

Five dead, five missing after major flood in Georgia's capital


Sputnik News
Sun, 14 Jun 2015 08:11 UTC
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Floodwater in Tbilisi, Georgia

A heavy rainstorm hit Tbilisi on Saturday evening, damaging power lines and causing multiple roads and buildings to collapse. Georgian authorities set up an emergencies headquarters to deal with the aftermath of the flooding.

Five people were killed and at least five are missing after heavy rains caused major flooding in Georgia's capital, the country's Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri said.

Three women are among those missing, Gomelauri told journalists on Sunday.

A heavy rainstorm hit Tbilisi on Saturday evening, damaging power lines and causing multiple roads and buildings to collapse as floodwaters rushed through the capital. A city zoo and buildings adjacent to the Mtkvari River were flooded.

The zoo's administration told reporters on Sunday that three of its staff members were missing.

Georgian authorities set up an emergencies headquarters to deal with the aftermath of the flooding.

At least eight people were injured as a result of landslides in Tbilisi suburbs.


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