Earth ChangesS


Display

USGS: Magnitude 6.4 - 23km WSW of Jiquilillo, Nicaragua


US Geological Survey
Sun, 02 Mar 2014 04:26 UTC
Earthquake 6.4 Nicaraqua
© USGS
Event Time
2014-03-02 09:37:56 UTC
2014-03-02 03:37:56 UTC-06:00 at epicenter
2014-03-02 10:37:56 UTC+01:00 system time

Location
12.630°N 87.636°W depth=70.9km (44.1mi)

Nearby Cities
23km (14mi) WSW of Jiquilillo, Nicaragua
51km (32mi) W of El Viejo, Nicaragua
52km (32mi) WNW of Corinto, Nicaragua
54km (34mi) W of Chinandega, Nicaragua
160km (99mi) WNW of Managua, Nicaragua

Technical Details
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

French winter breaks rainfall records


RFI
Sat, 01 Mar 2014 14:57 UTC
Image
© Reuters/Mal LangsdonStorms hit France's west coast in December ... but at least it wasn't very cold
France's stormy winter has seen record rainfall, especially in the western region of Brittany that has been racked by successive storms. But it has also been one of the warmest for over a century.

Lashed by storms Xaver, Dirk and Ulla, Brittany has had more rainfall than at any time since 1959 and the country as a whole has had 15-20 more days of significant rain than normal, the Météo France weather-watchers report.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Giant squid caught alive in Japan


The Japan Times
Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:13 UTC
Giant Squid
© Courtesy of Tottori Prefectural MuseumA giant squid tied to a boat off Shinonsen, Hyogo Prefecture, on Tuesday.
Kobe - A giant squid was captured alive in the Sea of Japan off Shinonsen, Hyogo Prefecture, but died shortly after being landed. Giant squids are normally a deep-sea dweller and one of the largest invertebrate species.

It is rare for a giant squid to be captured alive, according to an expert.

The squid measured 4.13 meters in length, but would have been eight to nine meters in length if its two longer tentacles had not been severed. It weighed between 150 and 200 kilograms.

Fisherman Tetsuo Okamoto, 63, first caught sight of the squid as he was diving for turban shells about five kilometers from the town's Moroyose fishing port at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The giant squid swam over his head when he was about eight meters below the surface.

Okamoto managed to snare it with a rope, which he tied to his boat. He then transported the squid back to the port, but about 10 people were needed to haul it ashore. "I didn't think I'd ever get to see a giant squid swimming in the sea," he said.

Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Ancient Ice Age pine trees revealed by storms off Isle of Man coast, UK


BBC
Wed, 26 Feb 2014 13:49 UTC
Image
The uncovered tree stumps have been preserved in a rich "chocolate brown coloured" layer of peat
The remains of 10,000-year-old trees have been uncovered on a beach in the north of the Isle of Man after recent storms battered the Manx coastline.

Experts said a "chaotic" collection of trunks, branches and pine cones had been discovered in the cliffs at Cranstal, just north of Bride Village.

The pine woodland had been covered by about 16ft (5m) of sand and clay.

Andrew Johnson, Manx National Heritage archaeologist, says the find "opens a window on an ancient landscape".

"The epic weather has meant the sea washed away a considerable part of the cliff and knocked it back about 5m," he said.

Image
The tree stumps were found alongside other organic plant material including pine cones
"This has exposed an extensive area of pine woodland, including pine cones, which is part of a landscape that existed about 10,000 years ago.
Read More...
Question

Beached Blue Whale found on Failaka Island, Kuwait


kuna.net.kw
Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:03 UTC
Image
Blue whale at Failaka Island
Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) urged authorities to make use of the recently beached blue whale at Failaka Island as an educational tool for students and the public alike, a statement by the Society said on Saturday.

KEPS's director Wijdan Al-Eqab indicated in a press statement that the bone or skeleton structure of the dead whale should be preserved and made ready for display to the public at one of the museums in the country, preferably at the Science Musuem.

This beached whale at Failaka Island has been found to be between 15 to 20 meters long. Blue whales are known to be the largest mammals on earth whose size could exceed 30 meters long.


Al-Eqab said that word has reached KEPS through the social media that two more beached whales have been found, one at the Abul-Hasania Beach and another at the Jelaia'a Beach, both being of a much smaller size than the blue whale at Failaka Island. In fact the size of the small ones ranged between one and one-and-a-half meters, said the director.

She added that blue whales roam many areas in the world including the Indian Ocean from which the beached one at Failaka Island most probably came. She also guessed that the whale had likely lost its way and was carried off by swift currents to the Arabian Gulf. No reason for its death has been determined as of yet, she said.
Read More...
Attention

Warning signs that Yellowstone may erupt


Joe For America
Thu, 27 Feb 2014 09:46 UTC
Image
© Unknown
Some worrying developments are taking place at the Super Volcano located beneath Yellowstone National Park; the kind of developments that were seen shortly before other volcanoes erupted. Not only was there a sudden rise in the elevation of the ground, and development of new cracks, but a gas called Helium-4, a very rare type of Helium, has begun coming out of the surface. It is the presence of this gas that has scientists quite concerned. If the Yellowstone Super Volcano were to erupt, it would be 2,000 times bigger than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in the 1980′s. Everything within 500 miles would be dead or destroyed within minutes, 2/3rds of the entire United States would be covered in volcanic ash and the climate of the entire planet would cool within a month. On top of that, just this past week, the largest earthquake in the US took place just a few miles from Yellowstone proving hot magma is on the move. Here's what has scientists concerned:
Read More...
2 + 2 = 4

Record-low temperatures set in Michigan; schools close

Robert Allen
Detroit Free Press
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 08:00 UTC
Image
© Ryan Garza/Detroit Free PressAnne Cucchiara of Washington Township shields her face from the freezing temperatures and high winds while walking on Washington Blvd. in downtown Detroit on Friday, January 24, 2014.
Some Michigan schools are closed as record-breaking subzero temperatures plunge much of the state into a deeper freeze.

Detroit reached zero degrees, a smidge from the record of -1 degrees set Feb. 28, 1994. Flint, Saginaw and White Lake all broke records also set that year, according to the National Weather Service. White Lake got coldest overnight, at -18 degrees.

It's the most frigid winter in recent memory, and it isn't going anywhere yet.

"We're kind of locked and loaded in this pattern where we get these storms coming through, at least for the next week," weather-service meteorologist Deb Elliott said. "None of the data I'm looking at shows us warming up to normal, average temperatures this time of year."

The average temperature in Detroit this time of year is about 35 degrees, she said.

Wind chill advisories are in effect, and Detroit Public Schools are among those affected by closings. The high in Detroit today is expected to be in the teens.
Read More...
Igloo

Kansas to Massachusetts: Up to a foot of snow to fall across 1,300 miles

Alex Sosnowski
Accuweather
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 05:00 UTC
Image
March may not come in like a lion everywhere across the nation, but winter will roar during the first several days of the month and impact more than 100 million people.

Snow will expand from the northern Rockies and central Plains to portions of the Midwest this weekend, reaching the Northeast early next week.

The adverse winter conditions will develop Friday into Saturday over the Plains and is forecast to shift slowly eastward Sunday and Monday.

People traveling by road or airways should expect major long-lasting delays as this area of snow expands eastward and crawls along.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Big storm, heavy rains brings new worries to California


StarNews Online
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 17:27 UTC
Image
© SGVTribune/Watchara PhomicindaHomeowners Lizette and Tom Verti stack sandbags behind their home in 1100 block of Englewild Drive in Glendora on Tuesday. The couple are preparing for two major rainstorms that will hit the region this week that could potentially cause mudslides in the area devastated by the Colby Fire.
Homes were evacuated as a swift storm with expected heavy rain moved toward drought plagued Southern California, bringing worries of mudslides where recent wildfires left mountainsides exposed.

The storm's full force was expected to be felt Friday morning, with possible thunderstorms and rains up to an inch per hour, the National Weather Service said.

A 10-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway was closed overnight in Ventura County because of a high likelihood of rock slides in an area made bare by last year's Springs Fire in Camarillo, the California Highway Patrol said.

On Thursday, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for about 1,000 homes in Glendora and Azusa, eastern foothill suburbs of Los Angeles that sit beneath nearly 2,000 acres of steep mountain slopes stripped by another fire in January.

"We have an hour to get evacuated," said Dana Waldusky as she hurried to evacuate the family home next to the burn area in Glendora. "We're just boarding up all our doors."
Read More...
Arrow Down

Huge cracks appear in Jurassic Coast a third of a mile inland after landslide in UK

Martin Robinson
Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:57 UTC
Image
In peril: Massive cracks have appeared along the Undercliff between Seaton and Lyme Regis putting this £1million property in danger
* Seven miles of paths along the Dorset coast have been shut as huge cracks have appeared because of landslide

* Experts say problems have been caused by the months of torrential rain and storms that hit Britain

A million-pound holiday home could be under threat after huge cracks and steps appeared up to a quarter of a mile inland on the Jurassic Coast after months of appalling weather.

The expensive bungalow west of Lyme Regis in Dorset is surrounded by hundreds of acres of unstable land slumping slowly seawards because billions of tons of rock and mud are on the move.

A three-foot step has been cleaved across the road from the property - even though it is some distance from the sea - as seven miles of the beautiful South West Coast Path has been closed around it.

Image
Dangerous: The fossil rich Jurassic cliffs at Monmouth Beach in Lyme Regis Dorset has been slipping into the sea for two weeks causing massive land movements for miles around them
Read More...