Sean Scanlan Taiwan News Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:13 UTC
Mud volcano in Pingtung County.
A fiery mud volcano erupted in Pingtung County's Wandan Township around 5 a.m. Wednesday and lasted for about three hours, sending mud flowing into nearby fields.
The eruption, which occurred in front of Huangyuan Temple, was the second this year. The volcano produced five vents that spewed mud and flames up to two meters high. Temple abbot Chang Pao-hui (張寶惠) said the last eruption took place six months ago, per CNA.
Wannei Village Chief Chen Yu-yi (陳玉意) said that after receiving reports of the eruption, he quickly arrived at the scene. He later coordinated efforts to dig diversion channels to prevent mud from flooding surrounding farmland.
Mud volcanoes are a geological phenomenon formed when high-pressure underground gases, such as methane, mix with groundwater to dissolve mudstone, creating a slurry that is pushed to the surface through fissures.
These formations can vary greatly in size, from a few meters to several kilometers in diameter, and can reach heights of several hundred meters. The Wandan mud volcano, located near the border of Wandan and Xinyuan townships, has erupted at least once a year since 1988.
Although eruptions are difficult to predict, they most commonly occur in Wannei Village or nearby areas, according to local officials.
Locals in Bahraich said wolves have been roaming the area for weeks.
A 3-year-old girl playing outside her house in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh was attacked and carried away by a wolf on Thursday morning.
The terrifying incident occurred in Lodhan Purwa village under the Kaisarganj police station area.
The missing child has been identified as Jahnvi (3), daughter of Santosh, a resident of Lodhan Purwa hamlet in Godhiya No. 3 village.
According to family members, the attack took place around 11 am when Jahnvi was playing near the entrance of her house. Suddenly, a wolf emerged from a nearby paddy field and pounced on the child. Before anyone could react, the animal grabbed the toddler in its jaws and ran toward the adjoining sugarcane fields.
Hearing the screams, villagers rushed to the spot and chased the wolf, but it disappeared into the dense forest. Despite continuous efforts by locals, there has been no trace of the child so far.
Skywatchers were treated to a celestial delight on Wednesday evening, with a severe solar storm making it possible to view the southern lights across large parts of Australia and New Zealand.
A severe solar storm had paved the way for the spectacular display of aurora australis, particularly in Victoria, and as far north as the Blue Mountains where there were reports of the lights over the Three Sisters near Katoomba.
Displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, were visible in the northern hemisphere overnight on Tuesday.
"Given the strength of this storm, there's a chance people farther north than typically expected in the southern hemisphere might be able to see it," astronomer Dr Laura Driessen, from the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, said on Wednesday, adding it could be visible to people in Sydney and Perth.
"Tasmania and New Zealand should get a decent view," she said.
Wednesday night was "the best chance for people to go outside and try catch a glimpse of the aurora," Dr Sara Webb, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University, said. "It looks like it's going to be very high up the southern coast of Australia, so visible from parts of Victoria and New South Wales."
Geomagnetic storms brought the northern lights to much of the U.S. on Tuesday night, painting the sky in vibrant hues of green and pink.
The Aurora Borealis was spotted in a large swath of states, including Idaho, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Washington state. Northern lights were visible as far south as parts of Florida and Alabama, a relatively rare occurrence that highlights the severity of this week's storms.
"Well, we had activity tonight — a lot of geomagnetic storm activity," Shawn Dahl, service coordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, said in a video on X.
A geomagnetic storm happens when charged particles from the sun's atmosphere interact with the Earth's magnetic field. In addition to creating dazzling displays of color, such storms can disrupt technology on Earth, from satellites and GPS to radio communications and the power grid.
Taiwan evacuated more than 8,300 people ahead of Wednesday's arrival of a much weakened Typhoon Fung-wong that brought record downpours to the mountainous east coast and unleashed floods that rose neck-high in places.
Businesses and schools were shut in most southern areas of the island, with 51 people injured.
Television images showed severe floods in parts of the largely rural eastern county of Yilan, with waters neck-deep as soldiers mounted rescue efforts for those stranded.
More than 1,000 homes were flooded in the harbour town of Suao which received 648 mm (25 inches) of rain on Tuesday, a record for the month, weather officials said.
"The water came in so quickly," said fisherman Hung Chun-yi, who spent the night clearing mud from his home, after its first floor was engulfed in waters 60-cm (2-ft) deep.
A 829-yard bridge in China collapsed on Tuesday, just months after its completion.
There were no injuries reported. Authorities closed the bridge earlier when they learned of cracks in the structure, News.Az reports citing foreign media.
Social media videos show a landslide from an adjacent mountain tumbling down on the edge of the structure and then the bridge partially collapsing.
Local officials said worsening mountain conditions triggered landslides, Newsweek reported. The landslides caused the approach bridge and roadbed to collapse.
The bridge was part of a highway that connects Sichuan Province to Tibet, the New York Post reported.
Taal Volcano's minor phreatomagmatic eruption on Wednesday (November 12, 2025), is part of ongoing seismic activity, with 7 volcanic quakes recorded in the past 24 hours, indicating heightened unrest.
The eruption produced greyish plumes reaching 2,800 metres, drifting northeast, consistent with the volcano's history of significant events, including a 2020 eruption that displaced over 100,000 people.
Despite the eruption, Alert Level 1 remains, signalling low-level unrest but not a return to normalcy, as the threat of sudden steam-driven eruptions persists, say government volcanologists.
“The MPKj has informed the parties involved for further action,”
A SINKHOLE was reported near Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Bandar Tasik Kesuma, Semenyih, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.
Semenyih State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Coordinator, Datuk Johan Abd Aziz said they have reported the incident to the Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj).
"Further action and investigation are being taken to identify the cause of the incident and implement repair work," he said.
Meanwhile, MPKj said that the sinkhole was about four meters deep and immediate action was taken by closing the road for the safety of traffic users.
A damaged building blocks a road in Dak Lak, Vietnam, after Typhoon Kalmaegi lashed Vietnam with fierce winds and torrential rains, November 7, 2025
TYPHOON Kalmaegi brought fierce winds and torrential rains to Vietnam on today, killing at least five people and leaving widespread damage across the country's central provinces.
This came days after the powerful storm battered the Philippines and left scores dead or missing.
As floodwaters receded, recovery work began in battered towns and industrial zones, with local authorities and residents clearing debris and repairing roofs across central Vietnam.
Five people were killed — three in Dak Lak and two in Gia Lai provinces — while three others remained missing in Quang Ngai, according to state media.
Comment: A related story from 2 months prior: Elderly couple killed in wolf attack in a district of Uttar Pradesh, India - 6th killing for the area in 3 weeks
In addition a report from last year for the same area: Girl killed in wolf attack in Uttar Pradesh, India - 10th such incident for Bahraich area in 2024