Earth ChangesS


Attention

6.8 magnitude earthquake strikes offshore Alaska -USGS


Sputnik
Fri, 29 May 2015 10:26 UTC
earthquake off Alaska

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake has struck the coast of Alaska, the US Geological Survey said Friday.

The quake's epicenter was situated 63 miles of the island of Chirikov located to the west of Nome on Alaska's mainland.


No tsunami warnings have been issued and there are so far no reports of damage from the earthquake.

Comment: In the last week, Alaska has also experienced more chaotic weather with record heat in some parts, and 'epic' flooding in others.

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Bizarro Earth

Red Sea parts for 2 new islands

Becky Oskin
Live Science
Thu, 28 May 2015 13:44 UTC
Sholan Island
© Jónsson et al., Nature CommunicationsA 2011 satellite photo of the eruption that created Sholan Island.
Two volcanic islands recently born in the Red Sea have yielded stunning images, providing scientists with new insights about a little-known rift in Earth's crust.

Both islands emerged in the Zubair Archipelago, a small chain of volcanic islands, owned by Yemen, that rise from the Red Sea between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The first of the new islands, now called Sholan Island, appeared in December 2011. The second island, called Jadid, surfaced in September 2013.

The Red Sea is an enormous crack in the Earth's crust called a rift, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates are tearing apart at about 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) per year. At a rift, the crust stretches apart slowly over centuries, like a piece of taffy candy, but it also sometimes suddenly splits when the strain becomes too great. For instance, in 2005, in nearby Afar, Ethiopia, giant fissures and fiery lava flows appeared in the rift zone after a series of earthquakes.

The new volcanic activity that formed these islands in the Red Sea could herald a rifting episode akin to that seen in Afar, said study co-author Sigurjón Jónsson, a geophysicist at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
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Fire

​Volcanic eruption at Kuchinoerabu-jima, Japan triggers highest alert, evacuation advisory


RT
Fri, 29 May 2015 02:07 UTC
A sudden volcano eruption on the small southern Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu-jima has forced authorities to raise the alert to the highest level and advise evacuation of the immediate area.

Although there were no reports of injuries or damage, the authorities are considering evacuation of some 150 residents of the small island, NHK national television reports.

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Cloud Grey

Noctilucent clouds seen over Scotland


Spaceweather.com
Thu, 28 May 2015 01:19 UTC
Image
© M. J. S. FerrierBarassie Beach in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Comment: An important ingredient for the formation of these clouds is meteor dust from space...


The fine-structured blue clouds floating above the dark, ordinary storm clouds are the NLCs. "It was hard to tell the full extent of the display due to a storm system passing through," says Ferrier. "But the noctilucent clouds were definitely there." Jimmy Fraser of Alness, Scotland, also photographed the display. "It was a great start for the NLC season here in northern Scotland," says Fraser.

NLCs are Earth's highest clouds. Seeded by meteoroids, they float at the edge of space more than 80 km above the planet's surface. The clouds are very cold and filled with tiny ice crystals. When sunbeams hit those crystals, they glow electric-blue.

Noctilucent clouds first appeared in the 19th century after the eruption of super-volcano Krakatoa. At the time, people thought NLCs were caused by the eruption, but long after Krakatoa's ash settled, the clouds remained. In recent years, NLCs have intensified and spread with sightings as far south as Utah and Colorado. This could be a sign of increasing greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere.


Comment: Or a sign of something else entirely.

SOTT Exclusive: NASA blowing meteor smoke as noctilucent clouds intensify


Observing tips:

Look west 30 to 60 minutes after sunset when the Sun has dipped 6o to 16o below the horizon. If you see luminous blue-white tendrils spreading across the sky, you may have spotted a noctilucent cloud.

Comment:



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Question

Natural oil leak? Beaches closed along southern California coast as globs of tar wash ashore from unknown source

Christopher Weber
Phys.org
Thu, 28 May 2015 00:00 UTC
oil globs los angeles coast
© AP Photo/Nick UtA cleanup crew collects balls of tar that washed ashore in Manhattan Beach, Calif. on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Popular beaches along nearly 7 miles of Los Angeles-area coastline are off-limits to surfing and swimming after balls of tar washed ashore. The beaches along south Santa Monica Bay appeared virtually free of oil Thursday morning after an overnight cleanup, but officials aren't sure if more tar will show up.
Popular beaches along nearly 7 miles of Los Angeles-area coastline were off-limits to surfing and swimming Thursday as scientists looked for the source of globs of tar that washed ashore.

The sand and surf on south Santa Monica Bay appeared virtually free of oil after an overnight cleanup, but officials weren't sure if more tar would show up. They planned to assess during low tide at midday.

U.S. Coast Guard and state officials said samples of tar and water would be analyzed to identify where it originated, but it could take days to get the results. Nothing has been ruled out, including last week's coastal oil spill that created a 10-square-mile slick about 100 miles to the northwest off the Santa Barbara County coast.

There is also a refinery and offshore oil tanker terminal nearby, but the Coast Guard did not find a sheen from a spill after the tar started to accumulate Wednesday.

No problems with wildlife have been reported, said Sau Garcia of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Comment: We wonder if the increase in global seismic activity isn't causing oil to leak from underwater ruptures alongside the methane?

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Bizarro Earth

Tornado strikes natural gas drilling rig in Texas panhandle

Eric M. Johnson
Reuters
Thu, 28 May 2015 01:07 UTC
tornado canadian tx
© kfor.comThe Canadian, Texas tornado just before it struck an oil rig in Texas.
At least three people were injured on Wednesday when a tornado hit a natural gas drilling rig in northern Texas, the Hemphill County sheriff and a hospital official said.

One victim sustained minor injuries, the second had non-life-threatening injuries to the face, and the third suffered "an impalement to the abdomen," Hemphill County Sheriff James Pearson said in a statement.

Two of the more seriously injured were transported to a hospital in Amarillo and one was treated at Hemphill County Hospital in Canadian, Hemphill Hospital Chief Executive Christy Francis said.

The patient who remained at Hemphill County Hospital was in stable condition, Francis said.

The drilling rig is near Canadian, a town of nearly 3,000 residents that is about 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Amarillo in the Texas panhandle.

Pearson said highways were closed due to debris from downed trees and flooding.

There was no word on the rig's operations but Pearson said there was "extensive damage to the doghouses," the general-purpose rooms adjacent to the rig floor.
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Attention

Wild elephant kills man in Chandil, India


The Avenue Mail
Thu, 28 May 2015 20:31 UTC
Image
Elephants chilling out.
A body of a 35-year-old man was recovered from Tarkuan jungles in Manikui under Chandil police station area in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district.

The deceased, identified Ajay Kujur, had been trampled to death by a wild elephant at Tarkuan jungle, which is a natural habitat of the pachyderms.

According to sources, Ajay who was a resident of adjoining Chhotakha village in Chandil had gone into the jungle for procuring 'datoons' along with two other villagers last morning, but did not return.

Rampaging herds of tuskers in the villages of West Singhbhum and Seraikela Kharsawan district are forcing innocent tribal to spend sleepless nights.

A forest official said: "We paid the victim's family Rs 25,000 today as compensation, and will pay the remaining Rs 2.25 lakh within a week," said the range officer.

In an area that boasts of a forest cover of 30 percent, the human-animal conflict is major concern of the people.
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Cloud Lightning

Lightning bolt kills 4 children in Ilorin, Nigeria


Bella Naija
Thu, 28 May 2015 19:17 UTC
Image
Wednesday, May 27th, Children's Day, was a tragic day in Gure town in Ilorin, Kwara State, as three children are said to have been killed by lightning.

According to Vanguard:
The lightening at Gure, a popular ancient town and the commercial nerve centre of Baruten council, struck during a downpour between 12 midnight of Tuesday and 1a.m of yesterday.

The lightening was said to have killed all the children instantly, three of who were of the same parents. The fourth one came to pass the night with the other victims. The injured ones have been hospitalised.

Sources said the lightening broke down the wall of the house, and that the remains of the victims have been buried in accordance with Islamic rites.

It was further learned that the down pour also blew off the roofing sheets of many houses in the town, rendering some residents homeless.
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Attention

Elderly woman attacked by bear in Japan


The Japan Times
Thu, 28 May 2015 18:53 UTC
Image
© Guérin Nicolas/Wikimedia Commons Asiatic Black Bear
Officials in Mie Prefecture have apologized to neighboring Shiga Prefecture after an elderly woman was attacked by a moon bear 6 km from where they released such an animal.

The 88-year-old woman from Taga suffered severe injuries including a broken right cheekbone after being attacked by a bear at around 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday while praying to a Jizo statue along the prefectural road in Taga's mountains.

Jizo statues are Buddhist icons that are believed to help protect travelers, women, children and the weak. They are usually found at crossroads, and are often looked after by elderly people living in the area.

According to Shiga Prefectural Police, the bear roared at the woman from behind and swiped at her with its paw before it ran away.
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Health

At least 18 dead in Texas, Oklahoma flooding as region is again battered


RT
Thu, 28 May 2015 18:54 UTC
Image
© Reuters / Daniel KramerMotorists survey the flood waters in southwest Houston, Texas May 26, 2015
The record-breaking weekend storm that pounded parts of Texas and Oklahoma with heavy rains and spawned widespread flooding has claimed upwards of 18 lives as of Wednesday, officials say.

According to Reuters, the death toll from the floods now stands at 18, up from 10 only a day earlier. Authorities were still looking to locate 13 people who vanished during the storm, CNN reported.

Five of this week's fatalities occurred in Houston, Texas--the fourth most-populous city in the United States--where a new flash flood warning was announced by the National Weather Service on Wednesday, as nearly 2.2 million Texans are reeling from the weekend's disaster.


"This rain has the potential to cause additional street flooding so residents are advised to be careful as they commute to work," city officials in Houston announced on Wednesday.

Image
© Reuters / Daniel Kramer
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