Earth ChangesS


Seismograph

Magnitude 6.2 quake strikes Papua New Guinea

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A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck the remote New Britain region of Papua New Guinea today, the United States Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake had a depth of 38km, the USGS said, and was recorded in the sparsely populated West New Britain archipelago region this morning.

The shaking was felt at a Walindi Plantation Resort near the town of Kimbe about 80km from the quake but it was described by a worker as "not too bad".

"No one really reacted, it shook, but no damage," resort worker Vanessa Hughes told AFP.

Source: AFP

Blue Planet

South Wales hit by M3.7 earthquake, 1 month after sinkhole found in same region

wales
Epicentre of quake, which hit just before midnight on Friday, was north of Brynmawr and west of Crickhowell
An earthquake has shaken parts of south Wales.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said the 3.7 magnitude quake happened at 23:59 GMT on Friday. The epicentre was just north of Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent and west of Crickhowell, Powys.

It was felt by residents across the region, including Abergavenny, Crickhowell, Llangynidr, Llanover and Llanfoist, with many saying that furniture and windows shook.

Comment: GoogleMaps below shows the epicentre of the quake and the location of the sinkhole, a distance of about 20 miles:

quake sinkhole
For more on the sinkhole, see: UK: Experts are baffled as giant 30ft-wide and 9ft deep sinkhole crater opens just feet from busy road in Wales


Ice Cube

Heavy snow hits parts of southern California

Heavy Snowfall
© Phys OrgSnow has snarled mountain roads around southern California, as a brutal, and unusual, winter storm grips the area.
Heavy snow fell in southern California on Friday, as the first blizzard in a generation pounded the hills around Los Angeles, with heavy rains threatening flooding in other places.

Breathless television weather presenters more used to delivering a same-every-day forecast of warm sunshine found themselves knee-deep in the white stuff as the region grappled with its worst winter storm for decades.

Major roads were closed as ice and snow made them impassable, including sections of Interstate 5, the main north-south highway that connects Mexico, California, the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

Authorities said there was no estimate when it would be reopened.

"Dangerous and potentially life-threatening snow related impacts are likely for mountain, desert, and foothill roadways in southern California," the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

"Multiple rounds of heavy snowfall coupled with strong winds will lead to blizzard conditions over some of the higher terrain and mountain passes.

"Areas very close to the Pacific Coast and also into the interior valleys that are not accustomed to seeing snow, may see some accumulating snowfall."

Doberman

Pack of 4 pit bulls maul man in Houston, Texas

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A Baytown man is recovering from a vicious dog attack Thursday night that sent him to the hospital and left him on crutches.

During his routine evening walk, four pit bulls that got loose from their yard started following him before he could be heard screaming throughout the neighborhood as they attacked him.

"I've never heard anything like that, like in my entire life," neighbor Jordyn Burks said.

She and her mother heard the hollering and called 911 while the mauling unfolded in Marisol Arredondo's front yard.

"Scary because it could have happened to us," she said. "That guy could have died right there."


Comment: A day later in the same state: Elderly man killed and 2 others injured in 'horrific' dog attack in San Antonio, Texas


Seismograph

6.0 magnitude earthquake off Hokkaido, Japan

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6.0 magnitude earthquake 66 km from Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan

UTC time: Saturday, February 25, 2023 13:27 PM
Your time: Saturday, February 25, 2023 at 1:27 PM GMT
Magnitude Type: mww
USGS page: M 6.0 - 61 km ESE of Kushiro, Japan
USGS status: Reviewed by a seismologist
Reports from the public: 7 people

Attention

Best of the Web: Death toll climbs above 50,000 after Turkey, Syria earthquakes

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The number of people killed by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this month has now passed 50,000, according to the latest figures from both countries.

In Turkey alone, 44,218 people died as a result of the earthquakes, the country's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said on Friday, while the latest announced death toll in Syria was 5,914.

The first earthquake on February 6 that hit southeastern Turkey and northern Syria measured a magnitude of 7.7 and a second, a little later, measured 7.6. The region has been rocked by more than 9,000 aftershocks since, according to the AFAD.

Nearly 240,000 rescue workers, including volunteers, continue to work in the 11 quake-hit provinces in Turkey. Some of the areas affected by the quakes were initially difficult to access but recovery efforts continue and casualty numbers are rising as they progress.

There have been no reports of survivors being rescued in recent days.

Snowflake

Rare sight of snow covering Pebble Beach in California

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The video was taken at Pebble Beach Drive in Crescent City CA and it shows the beach covered in a layer of snow.


Source: @geogjourneys via CNN

Tornado1

'Explosion of debris': Tornado hits Waihi Beach, New Zealand causing damage and power cuts

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A tornado has been spotted passing through Waihī Beach.
A Waihi Beach resident said a tornado that spiralled into the beach town damaging homes and cutting power to about 2000 properties spat all kinds of debris into the sky.

Mark Wright says he watched two water spouts merge and then head onto land to form a twister just before 8am today.

"I could just see debris and there was just all sorts going on in the sky, and there was just almost like an explosion of debris up in the air. There was just corrugated iron and objects and birds," he told RNZ.

Fellow resident Rae also watched it come ashore close to the Island View Esplanade Reserve.


Doberman

Elderly man killed and 2 others injured in 'horrific' dog attack in San Antonio, Texas

PIT BULL ATTACK
An 80-year-old man was killed and three others wounded in a dog attack on the West Side of San Antonio on Friday.

Two Staffordshire terriers bit and mauled an elderly couple in the afternoon off Highway 90 and Cupples Road, the local news outlets reported.

When the first responders arrived on the scene, they saw the elderly man being dragged by one of the dogs and had to fend off the dogs with pickaxes and poles.

San Antonio Fire Department chief Charles Hood said "no one expects to go out and fight dogs in the way they did today".

"It was a horrific scene, horrific for the people who had to experience it and for the firefighters who were part of the rescue who had to save themselves and these people attacked today," he told reporters.


Comment: Just day earlier in the same state: Pack of 4 pit bulls maul man in Houston, Texas


Bizarro Earth

UK: Experts are baffled as giant 30ft-wide and 9ft deep sinkhole crater opens just feet from busy road in Wales

sinkhole wales
© Penfold Photography/Wales News ServiceThe 9-ft-deep hole was spotted by walkers yard from the busy road leading to a house estate in late January 2023
Experts are baffled by a giant 30ft-wide sinkhole crater in South Wales, with some fearing that it could be the result of old mining works or even a UFO landing.

Aerial footage of the sinkhole shows the giant crater filled with murky stagnant water, surrounded by dry weeds. The 9-ft-deep hole was spotted by walkers yard from the busy road leading to a house estate more than a month ago.

Council officials in Caerphilly, South Wales, were called in to look into it.

Locals believed the ground opened up due to old mine workings - but officials say the cause is still being investigated.

Video shows giant sinkhole crater that opened in South Wales