Earth ChangesS


Radar

Another strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia


Seattle Times
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:50 UTC
Officials say a strong earthquake has shaken a remote area of eastern Indonesia. The quake was located fairly deep below the northern Molucca Sea and no tsunami warning was issued.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the earthquake measured magnitude 6.4 and struck late Sunday. It says it was centered 138 kilometers (85 miles) west-northwest of the town of Tobelo at a depth of 70 kilometers (43 miles). The area is also south of the southern Philippines.

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the remote area.

Indonesia straddles a series of fault lines that make it prone to volcanic and seismic activity.

A giant quake on Dec. 26, 2004, triggered a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed 230,000 people, half of them in Indonesia's Aceh province.

Comment: August 19th 2012: Strong quake hits northern Indonesia, killing at least 4

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Arrow Down

Update: Heavy Rains double size of sinkhole in downtown Baltimore


baltimore.cbslocal.com
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:41 UTC
Image
© baltimore.cbslocal.com
Parts of Maryland are still getting drenched. Thunderstorms dumped up to five to six inches of rain, making it one of the wettest days of 2012.

Derek Valcourt has more on the serious damage it caused.

The storm caused lots of localized flooding, some road closures, even some power outages, and one sinkhole in Baltimore just got a lot worse.

Cell phone cameras captured this funnel in the water off Cobb Island in Charles County during a tornado warning that set of sirens, but it was severe rains that did the real damage.
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Snowflake

Record ice melt opens new sea routes


Planet Ark
Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:55 UTC
Scientists say Arctic sea ice is likely to shrink to its smallest recorded size sometime next week. The ongoing thaw has opened new sea lanes to shipping, with a Chinese icebreaker recently becoming the first ship to cross the Arctic Ocean from China to Iceland. Matt Stock reports.


Comment: The massive influx of freshwater from arctic sea ice melt flooding into the North Atlantic will likely cause the gulf stream and North Atlantic drift to stall even further, which will contribute greatly to the possibility of an imminent ice age across the Northern Hemisphere.

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Phoenix

Thousands of Serb villagers evacuated as wildfires rage unabated

Aleksandar Vasovic
Planet Ark
Mon, 27 Aug 2012 15:05 UTC
Image
© AFPHundreds of wildfires have broken out in recent weeks
Serbia evacuated thousands of villagers on Saturday and called in the army to help fight wildfires raging through the drought-hit western Balkans.

Fires near the southwestern Serbian town of Cacak swept through hillsides and cornfields dried to a crisp by scorching temperatures, forcing the evacuation of three villages, a Reuters correspondent reported.

"I've lost everything," said Mileta Cajic, from the village of Srezojevci. "An entire orchard, woods, raspberries, and now my house is about to go up in flames. This is the worst disaster one could imagine."

Russia sent a Beriev Be-200 fire-fighting plane, with a capacity of 12 tonnes, to join a Russian helicopter that has been in action for days trying to douse the fires.
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Cloud Lightning

Get out now! 53,000 people ordered to evacuate Louisiana as 'Category 2' Isaac prepares to strike Gulf Coast - Seven Years to the Day Since Katrina devastated New Orleans


Daily Mail
Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:41 UTC
Tens of thousands of Louisiana residents have been ordered to evacuate as Tropical Storm Isaac picks up strength in the Gulf of Mexico - and it may strike seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the same area. More than 50,000 residents of the St. Charles Parish in southeast Louisiana have been told to leave ahead of Isaac, which is churning in the Gulf.

Governor Bobby Jindal suggested anyone in low-lying parts of the state's coastal parishes leave their homes, while evacuations were also enforced in the lower areas of the Alabama coast, which is likely to be lashed by rain, wind and flooding. Isaac is expected to crescendo to a Category 2 hurricane before striking land along the Gulf Coast by Tuesday night or Wednesday - the anniversary of Katrina - according to the National Hurricane Center.

Image
© Twitter/seven_marineOminous: Tropical storm Isaac gathers pace as it barrels towards the Gulf coast, where it is expected to hit by Wednesday - the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina
Additional images
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Bizarro Earth

California earthquake swarm damages homes, businesses in Brawley


LA Now
Mon, 27 Aug 2012 09:55 UTC
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More earthquakes shook Imperial County overnight, part of a swarm of hundreds of temblors that has the region on edge. More damage was uncovered Sunday night, including about 20 mobile homes that suffered damage to their foundations. Photos show merchandise shaken from store shelves, and part of a home's terra-cotta roof collapsed.

A number of families were displaced and hospital patients evacuated as a result of a swarm of hundreds of earthquakes.

No deaths or critical injuries were reported as a result of the quakes, the largest of which measured magnitudes 5.3 and 5.5. There appeared to be fewer quakes overnight Monday compared with Sunday.

Some buildings were damaged by the earlier quakes, including 20 mobile homes that shifted from their foundations, according to the Imperial County Office of Emergency Services. The office was working with the American Red Cross to set up a shelter for displaced families at the Imperial Valley College gymnasium.

The quakes cause scattered power outages, including at Pioneers Memorial Hospital in Brawley, which lost power for about three hours. Assistant hospital administrator Art Mejia said generators immediately kicked in, but officials decided to evacuate patients as a precautionary measure in case the facility had suffered structural damage.

"We decided to err on the side of caution," he said.
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Phoenix

Wildfires in Spain force 1,000 to evacuate homes in worst fire-ravaged summer for 10 years

Harold Heckle
Montreal Gazette
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 03:34 UTC
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Firefighters battle a blaze in Bedar, Spain
Two wildfires in the south forced the evacuation of around 1,000 residents, making this the worst summer in a decade for countryside devoured by flames, authorities said Sunday.

A fire started near Bedar, 85 kilometres (about 50 miles) north of Almeria, where residents spent the night in a sports centre, regional officials said. Residents and army personnel have collaborated with firefighters in combating the flames, Bedar Mayor Maria Gonzalez said.

Another fire was being brought under control late Sunday near the Mediterranean beach resort of Estepona, about 35 kilometres (20 miles) west of Marbella.

This year, Spain has lost 149,300 hectares (577 square miles) of forest and countryside in more than 11,650 wildfires, compared to around 107,000 hectares (415 square miles) for the whole of 2002, according to official statistics.

Comment: Arson or not, they need a scapegoat to distract people from realising that the enormous cutbacks in public services are largely to blame:

Cuts blamed for deaths caused by devastating Spanish wildfires

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Umbrella

Tropical Storm Isaac Takes Aim at US as Residents Brace for Hurricane

Richard Luscombe
The Guardian
Mon, 27 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
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Millions of residents in four vulnerable Gulf Coast states were bracing for the arrival of a powerful tropical storm that has already claimed several lives on its path through the Caribbean.

The governor of Florida, Rick Scott, declared a state of emergency ahead of tropical storm Isaac's expected landfall Sunday night in the Florida Keys, with the storm then expected to intensify into a 105mph hurricane as it moves north into the Gulf of Mexico and towards the Alabama-Mississippi-Louisiana coastline.

But with tropical storm-force winds extending up to 200 miles from Isaac's centre, the area under threat for moderate to substantial damage covered much of southern and western Florida and along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana.
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Airplane

Grounded: Airlines cancel 654 flights as Tropical Storm Isaac pelts Florida, heads across Gulf


The Washington Post
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 00:00 UTC
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© Tom Pennington/Getty ImagesStorm clouds build offshore in Clearwater, Florida. Tampa area residents wait for tropical storm Isaac.
The airports in Miami and Fort Lauderdale were hit the hardest, cancelling 589 flights - the vast majority of the 742 U.S. flights grounded overall because of the storm as of Sunday afternoon, according to the flight-tracking service FlightAware.

American Airlines and its American Eagle affiliate cancelled 486 flights. The last American flight left Miami at noon Sunday. The airline expects to be fully operational out of Miami by noon Eastern time on Monday, said airline spokesman Matt Miller. American runs a hub in Miami, a jumping-off point for flights to the Caribbean and Latin America.

Overall, airlines have cancelled 184 flights for Monday but expect to be operating normally by late Monday, according to FlightAware.

Isaac, already carrying winds of more than 60 miles an hour, was expected to cross the Keys by late afternoon. The storm will likely pick up strength from the warm, open waters of the Gulf of Mexico and strike as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday, the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency ahead of Isaac late Sunday and urged voluntary evacuations for coastal parishes in the state.
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Bizarro Earth

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 7.3 - Off The Coast of El Salvador


US Geological Survey
Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:55 UTC
El Slavador Quake_270812
© USGS
Date-Time:
Monday, August 27, 2012 at 04:37:22 UTC

Sunday, August 26, 2012 at 10:37:22 PM at epicenter

Location:
12.279°N, 88.530°W

Depth:
52.9 km (32.9 miles)

Region:
OFF THE COAST OF EL SALVADOR

Distances:
125 km (78 miles) S (184°) from Usulután, Usulután, El Salvador

144 km (90 miles) SSW (195°) from San Miguel, San Miguel, El Salvador

145 km (90 miles) SSW (211°) from La Unión, La Unión, El Salvador

175 km (109 miles) SSE (157°) from SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador
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