Earth ChangesS


Evil Rays

Israel: 3.6 magnitude earthquake felt in north

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© Unknown
Many residents of Upper Galilee wake up as mild earthquake hits Israel. 'I felt the bed literally shaking,' Safed resident says.

A mild earthquake was felt in northern Israel early Tuesday, many residents reported. The Geophysical Institute reported an earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter Scale was felt in the Moshav Avivim area at 4:32 am. No injuries or damage were reported.

Yael of Safed said the quake caused her to wake up as she felt her house move. "I got up and felt the bed literally shaking under my stomach, actually moving. I can't fall back to sleep I'm so afraid."

Yael noted that some of her neighbors also woke up and added no damage was caused.

X

San Francisco, US: Thousands of dead jellyfish on Ocean Beach, but move along, nothing to see here or be alarmed about, folks

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© Brant Ward / The ChronicleJellyfish that washed up on the south side of Ocean Beach on Friday dry up in the sun.
Ocean Beach shimmered more than usual this weekend.

Not from the natural beauty of sand, surf and sea, but from a great slick of dead jellyfish that mysteriously washed ashore near Pacheco Street.

More than 10,000 of the gooey invertebrates, each about the size of a dinner plate, drifted onto the beach Friday evening. By Sunday, they had attracted hordes of the curious, the repulsed and the fascinated.

Kids stomped them. Dogs rolled in them. Surfers tossed them at each other. Some people tiptoed fearfully around them, while others pressed in with cameras for close-ups.

"I first saw it and thought, am I hallucinating?" said Nan Madden of San Francisco as she walked her yellow Labrador through the slimy swath Sunday morning. "I've never seen anything like it. I sent pictures to my grandkids."

Bizarro Earth

What's Going On in The Gulf of Aden?

USGS is reporting a very unusual swarm of significant earthquakes starting early this morning in the sea between Africa and the Arabian peninsula, right off the coast of Yemen, and in one of the world's most important and busiest shipping lanes.

Yemeni Earthquakes
© Planet SaveEarthquakes near Yemen.
But, earthquake swarms happen, even in places that are not normally known for seismic activity. What's unusual about this particular group of earthquakes?

In this case, it seems that the vast majority of the quakes are happening at almost exactly a depth of 10 kilometers; over 20 earthquakes have occurred at that depth since the swarm began. I'm no statistician, but that seems like a pretty exceptionally unlikely scenario, especially when the region was entirely quiet in terms of seismic activity as of yesterday. It would definitely be interesting to see what real geologists make of it.

Bizarro Earth

Widespread flooding hits much of rural Italy

Heavy rains are continuing to fall across Italy causing some of the worst flooding in decades.

Hardest hit yesterday was the southern province of Salerno where hundreds had to be evacuated from their homes after several rivers burst their banks.

Half a million people are reported to be without drinking water.

Since Monday numerous regions have been struggling to cope as businesses suffer, transport links are disrupted and schools are closed.

Much of the country's farms are suffering, with crops and livestock lost.

Bizarro Earth

Belgium Floods Kill 2

flood
© Yves Logghe/Associated PressA man cycles through a flooded street in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, on Sunday.
Belgian authorities called in the army Sunday to assist with emergency evacuations after severe flooding killed two people in the southwestern region of Beaumont, near the French border.

A 72-year-old woman drowned overnight after her husband lost control of their vehicle, Lt. Fabrice Pierart of the local firefighters told Belgian broadcaster RTL. A second victim, who was on his way home, was found just metres away, Pierart said.

"This is a catastrophe for our region," the mayor of Beaumont, Charles Dupuis, told RTL.

Officials described the flooding as the worst in 50 years. The national weather service said that in two days Belgium absorbed as much rainfall as it normally gets in a month.

Rivers and creeks overflowed in the western and central parts of the country, causing basements and streets to flood in scores of towns and cities. Rail traffic was seriously interrupted on Sunday morning, but returned slowly to normal in the afternoon.

Local authorities called in the army and civil protection units to reinforce firefighters who had been working overnight. The situation appeared particularly serious in the Brabant region, just outside Brussels.

Snowman

US: Upper Midwest digs out after heavy snow

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© Kyndell Harkness/Associated PressA pedestrian makes her way over piles of snow Saturday near the IDS Center in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis -- Parts of the Upper Midwest dug out from a heavy snowfall Saturday that caused more than 400 traffic accidents in Minnesota, and wintry conditions also were being blamed for a collision in northern Wisconsin that killed two people.

Nearly a foot of snow had fallen in parts of the Twin Cities area by Saturday evening, downing trees and causing sporadic power outages.

The storm that began late Friday night was blamed for a collision Saturday morning that killed both drivers and left a passenger hospitalized. The sheriff's department in Wisconsin's Bayfield County said the storm produced "rapidly deteriorating road conditions" that likely contributed to the crash.

Kevin Kraujalis of the National Weather Service's Duluth office estimated that Bayfield County had a couple of inches of snow on the ground when the collision occurred. The meteorologist said the county had about 5 inches as of 6 p.m. Saturday.

The Minnesota State Patrol responded to 401 crashes as of 4 p.m, with 45 of them involving minor injuries, Patrol Capt. Matt Langer said. There were no other immediate reports of fatalities or major injuries.

Newspaper

Russia: Polar Bear Shot by Sniper in Moscow Zoo

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© AP Photo
Moscow zoo's most popular polar bear is recovering after being shot several times.

The 20-year-old bear named Wrangle, whom the zoo acquired as a cub off the Arctic Ocean's Wrangle Island in 1991, came under attack from a small-calibre gun at the end of October, the zoo said in a statement.

The father of two cubs, Wrangle usually stays out of sight in an enclosure but can be seen from a high-rise apartment building opposite the zoo.

"We are deeply outraged by the behaviour of people who committed this despicable act," the zoo said.

"Perhaps the 'sniper' feels proud about what he did. But where is the heroism in shooting at a defenceless animal from a safe location?"

The bear now faced the threat of infection.

Attention

Mount Merapi death toll hits 240

Mount Merapi volcano
© Raditya Djati/ReutersThis aerial view taken on Tuesday shows the Mount Merapi volcano erupting in Indonesia's central Java province.
Rescuers pulled more bodies from a village smothered a week ago by searing gases from Indonesia's most volatile volcano as more people succumbed to their burns, raising the death toll Saturday to 240.

Mount Merapi shot out more hot clouds Friday evening, though no new deaths were reported from those flows, which slid as far as 10 kilometres from the crater. The mountain has continuously spewed ash - and occasionally torrents of rock, gas and lava in dramatic eruptions - since it roared to life Oct. 26 after years of dormancy.

The volcano is the most active in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 235 million people that is prone to seismic activity because it sits along the Pacific "Ring of Fire," a horseshoe-shaped string of faults that lines the Pacific Ocean.

Arrow Down

5.6 earthquake hits Dominican Republic

A preliminary 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck the Dominican Republic early Saturday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake struck 155 kilometers (95 miles) southeast of the nation's capital, Santo Domingo, at about 12:35 a.m. Saturday (11:35 p.m. Friday ET).

Life Preserver

Ireland Battered by New Storms

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© Irish IndependentA fallen tree comes down next to a school just before closing time in Claregalway, Co Galway
Heavy rain and winds of 140kmh cause havoc nationwide

Stormy conditions rolled right across the country again yesterday afternoon and last night, as strong winds and heavy rain spread in from the Atlantic.

With a severe weather alert issued well in advance by Met Eireann, most areas had done as much as they could in preparation, but winds of 120kmh and heavy rain uprooted trees and caused localised flooding in a number of locations.

The west of the country got the worst of the storm, as the Atlantic coast from Kerry to Donegal was battered by huge swells and gusts of up to 140kmh yesterday afternoon. The coastguard said a record swell of 11.5 metres was recorded in the sea off Valentia.

On dryer land, uprooted trees and fallen telephone lines proved to be a significant concern for motorists, with gardai and the emergency services called out to various locations to deal with traffic disruptions in Donegal, Sligo, Mayo, Galway, Limerick, Westmeath, Louth and Dublin.