Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - South of the Kermadec Islands

Kermadec Quake_180411
© USGSEarthquake Location.
Date-Time:
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 13:03:03 UTC

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 01:03:03 AM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
34.349°S, 179.854°E

Depth:
90.7 km (56.4 miles) set by location program

Region:
SOUTH OF THE KERMADEC ISLANDS

Distances:
323 km (200 miles) SSW of L'Esperance Rock, Kermadec Islands

527 km (327 miles) NNE of Gisborne, New Zealand

552 km (342 miles) ENE of Auckland, New Zealand

910 km (565 miles) NNE of WELLINGTON, New Zealand

Cloud Lightning

17 killed, 150 injured in China hailstorm

Seventeen people have been killed, more than 150 injured and many millions affected by strong storms in southern China.

Driving rain, gales and hailstorms have caused havoc in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

China Central Television has already estimated economic losses of around $8 million.

The strong storms dumped more than 50 millimetres of rain on China's industrial belt known as the "factory of the world".

Question

Caterpillars Swarm Indonesia's Bali

Caterpillars
© Sonny Tumbelaka / AFPA farmer shows caterpillars crawling over his hand in Denpasar, in Bali.
Swarms of caterpillars which can cause skin rashes have invaded the Indonesian holiday island of Bali, an official said Wednesday, but tourist areas have not been affected so far.

The dark, wriggly insects were first sighted in a village on Friday and the swarms have since spread to six districts, including the provincial capital of Denpasar, Bali agricultural chief Made Putra Suryawan told AFP.

"The situation is under control. Since Friday, workers have been spraying insecticide and burning garbage in affected areas to stop the spread," he said.

"Tourists need not be alarmed. The caterpillars have not spread to tourist areas yet. The threat to tourists is minimal," he added.

Thousands of caterpillars have reportedly descended on parts of neighbouring Java island in the last two weeks, attacking fruit farms and invading residential areas.

Alarm Clock

Pacific salmon may be dying from leukemia-type virus

Washington -- In Canada's Fraser River, a mysterious illness has killed millions of Pacific salmon, and scientists have a new hypothesis about why: The wild salmon are suffering from viral infections similar to those linked to some forms of leukemia and lymphoma.

For 60 years before the early 1990s, an average of nearly 8 million wild salmon returned from the Pacific Ocean to the Fraser River each year to spawn.

Now the salmon industry is in a state of collapse, with mortality rates ranging from 40 percent to 95 percent.

The salmon run has been highly variable: The worst year came in 2009, with 1.5 million salmon, followed by the best year in 2010, with 30 million salmon. But the overall trend is downward.

Bizarro Earth

US: Historic Tornado Outbreak: 3 Days, 241 Tornadoes, 14 States

Tornadoes
© National Weather Service Forecast OfficeThis image, courtesy of the National Weather Service Forecast Office in San Diego, Calif., shows tornado reports April 14-16, 2011 as of 12:00 p.m. EDT Sunday April 17, 2011.
From Thursday, April 14, 2011 to Saturday, April, 16, 2011, devastating tornadoes rampaged across communities of the southern United States. Cities and towns from Oklahoma to North Carolina were assaulted by the deadly twisters.

The tornado outbreak led to a total of 241 tornado reports in 14 states over the three-day period. This will likely rank this tornado outbreak among the largest in history.

Tragically, the death toll has risen to 39 people so far with dozens of others injured. The number of fatalities could rise as investigations continue. This tornado outbreak already ranks as the most deadly outbreak since the 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak.

In North Carolina alone, close to two dozen people were killed on Saturday, while seven people were killed in Alabama on Friday.

One of the reasons for the deadly outcome of this tornado outbreak is likely due to the highly populated areas of the nation that were hit. The weather pattern can explain why these highly populates areas were struck.

Bizarro Earth

Preparing for the Big One - In Central US? Earthquake Drill April 28

Image
© AP Photo/Sergey PonomarevA Japanese worker gets on his earthmover in the area devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in the town of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, Friday, April 15, 2011.
A first-of-its-kind drill in the central U.S. will have millions of people simulating the shaking of "the big one." The Great Central U.S. ShakeOut is an earthquake drill that will be at 10:15 a.m. April 28 and is being organized by the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey and dozens of partners. The ShakeOut is modeled after a similar drill that California has conducted the past three years.

Brian Blake, earthquake program coordinator with the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium, said the earthquake drill will have 1.9 million people participating in 11 states - about 100,000 Illinoisans have pledged to participate. He said anyone can participate in the self-guided drill by taking a couple of minutes to Drop, Cover and Hold On - the recommended action to protect yourself during an earthquake. At the designated time April 28, participants practice what their reaction would be if an earthquake struck.

Cloud Lightning

US: At least 25 dead in 6 states after storm's rampage

Mississippi storm
© Associated PressThe remains of a wooden swing dangles in a tornado damaged neighborhood of Clinton, Mississippi, Friday, April 15, 2011. The state was hit by a line of severe storms that spawned at least one tornado causing extensive damage and multiple injuries.
A furious storm system that kicked up tornadoes, flash floods and hail as big as softballs has claimed at least 25 lives on a rampage that began in Oklahoma days ago, then smashed across several Southern states as it reached a new and deadly pitch in North Carolina and Virginia.

Emergency crews searched for victims in hard-hit swaths of North Carolina, where 62 tornadoes were reported from the worst spring storm in two decades to hit the state. At least a half dozen people died just in the Carolinas and Virginia and authorities warned the toll was likely to rise further Sunday as searchers probed shattered homes and businesses.

Authorities said at least five people were killed in North Carolina and at least three more in neighboring Virginia during the storm's passage Saturday before the sprawling, potent storm bands moved eastward over the Atlantic.

Arrow Up

Philippines: 20 volcanic quakes in Taal recorded in last 24 hours

taal
© Agence France-PresseWater in the crater of Taal is reportedly heating up while the volcano's emissions of carbon dioxide have risen
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) maintained the Alert Level 2 hoisted over Taal Volcano, as 20 volcanic earthquakes were recorded during the past 24 hours.

Alert 2 status means present activities could eventually lead to an eruption, according to Phivolcs.

Phivolcs said there was a noticeable increase in seismic activity of the volcano. Water temperature at the Main Crater Lake also slightly increased from 29.8°C to 30.1°C.

Phivolcs advised the public to keep away from the Main Crater, Daang Kastila Trail and Mt. Tabaro because sudden hazardous steam-driven explosions may occur and high concentrations of toxic gases may accumulate.

Cloud Lightning

India: Rain worries wheat growers in Punjab, Haryana

As wheat harvesting picks up in Punjab and Haryana, recent rain and windy weather has left farmers in the states worried.

Hailstorm lashed Jalandhar yesterday, while Amritsar, Phagwara, Nawanshahr and Balachaur received showers, which was accompanied by strong winds. Showers also lashed isolated places in Haryana, while windy weather prevailed in Chandigarh.

The Meteorological Department has forecast light to moderate rains or thunder showers are likely to occur in parts of Punjab and Haryana over the next two days.

Chalkboard

Nevada, US: Swarm of Quakes have Experts Concerned

Nevada Seismologists are keeping a close eye on an area southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada where hundreds of earthquakes have been detected since Sunday.

" It's a little bit concerning in a sense.. The largest earthquakes in these sequences are pretty large in size." Graham Kent is Director of Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno. He says there have been hundreds of earthquakes southwest of Hawthorne over the past few days. The largest-- recorded at a 4.4 in size.

"These are the biggest in a sequence we've seen at least in the last couple of years." Kent says unlike the 2008 quakes in Somersett that damaged so many homes, these earthquakes are fortunately not underneath a community.