Thunderstorms and heavy downpours have triggered massive flooding in Australia's Victoria State, threatening the safety of hundreds of homes.

"Many communities and individuals across the state have been affected by flooding from heavy rain over this weekend," said Victoria Premier John Brumby on Sunday.

The State Emergency Services say the army has been called in to help assess the damage inflicted by the floods.

This is while residents are working together to sandbag businesses and homes to protect them against rising floodwaters.

A massive earthquake caused the ground beneath the New Zealand city of Christchurch to shift up to 11 feet.

The magnitude 7.1 quake on Friday night in New Zealand was larger than the one that killed 200,000 people in Haiti this year and appeared to have opened a new fault line.

Mark Quigley, a geology professor leading a team investigating the cause of the quake, said: "One side of the earth has lurched to the right."

Much of the centre of Christchurch remained sealed off and under curfew for a second night on Sunday.

More than 500 buildings have been badly damaged. Two men were seriously hurt by falling masonry but there have been no reports of deaths.

At least 20 people were killed in Guatemala in landslides triggered by weeks of driving rains, according to figures released by national emergency and rescue services.

President Alvaro Colom has declared a national emergency in the wake of the disaster.

"Top priority at present is dealing with this emergency. There are no funds left to deal with earlier disasters like the one caused by tropical storm Agatha," in late May, Colom told reporters after a surveying tour of the country Saturday

He said damage estimates across Guatemala after weeks of rain stood at 350-500 million dollars, or 40 percent of the damage wrought by Agatha, which killed 183 people in Central America, including 165 in Guatemala earlier this year, and left thousands homeless.

Date-Time:
Saturday, September 04, 2010 at 08:52:01 UTC

Saturday, September 04, 2010 at 09:52:01 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
17.270°S, 174.000°W

Depth:
37.1 km (23.1 miles)

Region:
TONGA

Distances:
150 km (90 miles) S of Hihifo, Tonga

155 km (95 miles) N of Neiafu, Tonga

445 km (275 miles) NNE of NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga

2430 km (1510 miles) NNE of Auckland, New Zealand

If you thought the geysers and overblown threat of a supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone National Park were dramatic, you ain't seen nothing: deep beneath Earth's surface, the hot spot that feeds the park has torn an entire tectonic plate in half.

The revelation comes from a new study in the journal Geophysical Research Letters that peered into the mantle beneath the Pacific Northwest to see what happens when ancient ocean crust from the Pacific Ocean runs headlong into a churning plume of ultra-hot mantle material.

Geologically speaking, the Pacific Northwest is a peculiar place. Hot spots usually sit way out on their own in the middle of a tectonic plate (think Hawaii or the Galapagos). Not Yellowstone -- it pokes its way to the surface just a few hundred miles from the edge of the North America plate, where a giant trench sends the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate sliding underneath Washington, Oregon, and northern California.

A parhelic circle is an unforgettable sight. Thin and pale, it circles the zenith in a majestic arc, always keeping the same distance above the horizon. "I've been looking for a parhelic circle for more than 13 years," says photographer Laurent Laveder of Pluguffan, France. "Yesterday I finally saw one." He rushed for his camera and quickly snapped enough pictures to assemble a complete 360o zenith-to-horizon composite view of the phenomenon. Click here to experience the VR parhelic circle.

Parhelic circles are caused by sunlight reflecting from the vertical faces of ice crystals--millions of them floating in thin cirrus clouds spread almost evenly across the wide blue sky. As Les Cowley notes in his authoritative web page on the subject, "the parhelic circle appears simple yet more ray paths contribute to it than in any other halo. Some are very intricate."

A striking aspect of the parhelic circle is its dual personality. At the same time it appears both circular and straight. "These two pictures (1, 2) illustrate the effect," says Laveder. More images may be found here.

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand's second largest city Christchurch early Saturday, causing widespread damage including the collapse of some buildings and power outages, witnesses and the U.S. geological survey said. The Civil Defence ministry said the national crisis management centre had been activated. "We've had a wide range of reports of some serious damage," a civil defence spokesman said.

Although many people with minor injuries sought treatment, hospitals said there were no reports of any serious injuries although doctors were on standby because of the intensity of the quake and the damage to buildings.

The quake struck at a depth of 16.1 kilometres some 30 kilometres northwest of Christchurch at 4:35 a.m. (11:35 a.m. ET Friday), the USGS said.

Roads in the seaside suburbs were packed with cars as residents moved inland but there were no tsunami alerts issued. A swarm of aftershocks were ongoing and police said damage was widespread throughout Christchurch, with electricity supplies cut to about half of the city of about 340,000.

Sewer lines were damaged and residents were being urged to conserve water supplies. Local resident Colleen Simpson told the Stuff website that many people had run out onto the streets in fear, while the mobile phone network was failing.

"Oh my God. There is a row of shops completely demolished right in front of me," Simpson said. Kevin O'Hanlon, from Mairehau in Christchurch, said: "Just unbelievable. I was awake to go to work and then just heard this massive noise and, boom, it was like the house got hit. It just started shaking. I've never felt anything like it."

The first snow of winter fell in Scotland at the weekend - still August - forecasters have revealed.

Temperatures on the highest peaks of the Cairngorms began dropping below freezing on Saturday night into Sunday morning and mountains more than 1100 metres high in the area saw a light powder of snow.

Geoff Monk of Mountain Weather Info Service, which produces forecast for eight different mountain areas of the UK, said that very cold winds had given the Munros a wintry feel.

He added that he would not be surprised to see snow on the top of Ben Nevis this weekend.

Mr Monk said: "There were snow showers across the Cairngorms. They lasted a couple of hours, it was almost ongoing. On some places the snow remained on the ground.

"Most of it was gone after a few hours, but some fresh patches remained there until Monday morning.

"It is something that very occasionally happens in Scotland. Northerly winds from the Arctic cause them. It's very unlikely more snow will fall in the next 10 days.

Date-Time:
Friday, September 03, 2010 at 11:16:08 UTC

Friday, September 03, 2010 at 02:16:08 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
51.785°N, 176.010°W

Depth:
50.8 km (31.6 miles)

Region:
ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA

Distances:
45 km (30 miles) E of Adak, Alaska

130 km (80 miles) WSW of Atka, Alaska

1905 km (1180 miles) WSW of Anchorage, Alaska

2715 km (1680 miles) W of JUNEAU, Alaska

The Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station photographed this image of polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by an orbital sunrise. Polar mesospheric, or noctilucent ("night shining"), clouds usually are seen at twilight, following the setting of the sun below the horizon and darkening of Earth's surface. Occasionally the station's orbital track becomes nearly parallel to Earth's day/night terminator for a time, allowing the clouds to be visible to the crew at times other than the usual twilight because of the station's altitude.

This photograph shows polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the rising, rather than setting, sun at center right. Low clouds on the horizon appear yellow and orange, while higher clouds and aerosols are illuminated a brilliant white. Polar mesospheric clouds appear as light blue ribbons extending across the top of the image. The station was located over the Greek island of Kos in the Aegean Sea (near the southwestern coastline of Turkey) when the image was taken at approximately midnight local time. The orbital complex was tracking northeastward, nearly parallel to the terminator, making it possible to observe an apparent "sunrise" located almost due north. A similar unusual alignment of the ISS orbit track, terminator position and seasonal position of Earth's orbit around the sun allowed for this striking imagery of over the Southern Hemisphere.