Earth ChangesS

Target

Minor quake hits southeastern Iran

A moderate earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale has jolted the city of Hejdakin in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman.

Iran quake
©Unknown

Alarm Clock

Update! 5.2 Quake shakes Britain, no deaths reported

LONDON - An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 shook parts of Britain on Wednesday but officials said there were no reports of anyone being killed or serious damage.

The quake struck about an hour after midnight and many people in the capital London and other areas said they had been woken up by the tremors. Quakes are uncommon in Britain and Wednesday's was the strongest for nearly quarter of a century.

UK earthquake
©Reuters

Bizarro Earth

Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake Hits Islands South of Tokyo, USGS Says

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck a group of Japanese islands south of Tokyo at 4:54 p.m. local time, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

The quake hit near the island of Iwoto, formerly known as Iwo Jima, 1,005 kilometers (603 miles) south of Tokyo and was 14 kilometers deep, the USGS said. The magnitude was initially put at 6.6.

Bizarro Earth

2.9 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Colorado Town

Denver, Colorado - An earthquake briefly rattled the small town of Lake George Tuesday afternoon.


Alarm Clock

Groundwater from hell

Each day about 100 million people are being poisoned with one of the deadliest substances known. In India and Bangladesh, China and Southeast Asia, even in countries such as Australia, the silent tragedy of arsenic poisoning continues to unfold.

arsenic
©Reuters
A Kolkata woman displays her wrinkled hands, caused by drinking arsenic-contaminated water.

Snowman

Forget global warming: Welcome to the new Ice Age

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.

The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."

Evil Rays

Earthquake hits much of England

The biggest earthquake for nearly 25 years has been felt across large parts of England.

People from as far afield as London, Newcastle, Birmingham, Manchester, East Anglia and Yorkshire felt the tremor.

It struck just before 0100 GMT and lasted for nearly 10 seconds but it is unclear if it has caused any damage.

The British Geological Survey (BGS) said it believed the quake was of the magnitude of 5.3 and said the epicentre was in Market Rasen in Lincolnshire.

Info

Greece: Seismologists urge public to ignore rumors that big tremor is on way

The Organization of Antiseismic Planning and Protection yesterday called on citizens to ignore rumors of an imminent powerful earthquake, fueled by a recent series of strong tremors in different parts of the country. "No research indicating an imminent strong tremor has come to our attention," the organization's president, Constantinos Makropoulos, told Skai Radio.

Cloud Lightning

Snow, thunderstorms black out thousands in Southeast US

A broad storm system spread heavy snow across the Great Lakes region Tuesday and fired up violent thunderstorms that knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses in the Southeast.

Info

Invading Bees Take Best Genes from Predecessors

When marauding Vikings decided to settle down they usually "went native,'' marrying local girls and blending in. Invading honey bees may be doing the same. The invasion of new bee populations has attracted attention in recent years with the spread of so-called Africanized, or "killer bees'' moving north from South America.

When a new strain of bees invades a region already populated by honey bees, they interbreed and gain benefits from the genes of their predecessors, researchers report in this week's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.