Earth Changes
According to a report from the Government of Luanda Province, as of late 19 April, preliminary figures showed 14 people had died, 2 were injured, 1,617 homes flooded and 16 collapsed. As many as 8,165 people are thought to have been displaced or severely affected as a result.
Roads in the south of the city were closed after a bridge of the Camorteiro River in the municipality of Talatona was partially destroyed.
The quake hit 80 miles (129km) off the west coast of Nias Island on Tuesday morning, the USGS reported. While Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) noted there is currently no tsunami risk, they warned residents to brace for possible aftershocks and estimated the initial quake to have been 6.4 in magnitude.
The jolt comes just days after another 6.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Java, Indonesia's main island, killing at least eight people and damaging more than 1,300 buildings. That quake struck much deeper, however, at 51 miles (82km).

Residential neighborhoods are lit by raging fires in Cape Town, South Africa, Monday, April 19, 2021.
The smoldering fire is being watched for flareups amid high winds and hot, dry conditions.
City authorities said the fire, which started early Sunday, was "largely contained" more than 24 hours later.
The fire had already badly damaged the library and other buildings on the campus of the University of Cape Town on Sunday, as well as other historic buildings nearby. Fueled by the high winds, it spread through the wild bush on the mountain slopes toward the city's center and the surrounding residential areas.
Devil's Peak, one of the iconic points of the mountain which overlooks downtown Cape Town, was lit up by flames as the fire raged through the night. Residents of suburbs on the mountain slopes were evacuated early Monday as the blaze came dangerously close to their homes.

Saudi Arabia's Hail covered in a white blanket after a hail thunderstorm affected the region.
Videos circulating on social media showed thick dark clouds enveloping the sky and blocks of hail on the ground.
Omar Dajani, meteorologist at Jordan-based ArabiaWeather network, said that the hailstorm hit southwestern Ha'il in Saudi Arabia in the afternoon.
"This is hail, not snow, and the temperature was high, around 28 degrees Celsius, when the storm hit," he added.
The first earthquake, a magnitude 5.8, struck at 10:11 p.m. and was 19.2 kilometers southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a shallow focal depth of 15 kilometers. Taiwan uses an intensity scale of one to seven that gauges the degree to which a quake is felt at a specific location.
The quake's intensity registered as a five in Hualien County, a four in Nantou County, Yilan County, and Changhua County, and a three in Taichung County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Miaoli County, and New Taipei City, An intensity level of two was recorded in Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County, Kaohsiung City, Hsinchu City, Chiayi City, Taipei City, Tainan City, and Pingtung County, while a lesser intensity of one was felt in Keelung City and Penghu County.
Nine people were rescued and evacuated from flooded areas of Bambous Virieux. A bus carrying schoolchildren trapped by the rising waters in Bambous Virieux had to be helped to safety by the police.
Local observers, Météo et Cyclone Maurice, reported 408mm of rain fell at Plaisance in southern Mauritius on 16 April 2021. This amount corresponds to twice the average monthly rainfall for April at this location. Around 200mm of the total fell in just a few hours (around 04:00 to 10:00) early on 16 April.
As much as 161.4mm was recorded in western Singapore from 12.25pm to 3.25pm, PUB said. This amount corresponds to 91% of Singapore's average monthly rainfall in April and is among the highest amounts recorded in 40 years.
PUB's Quick Response Teams were immediately deployed to the locations above to render assistance to drivers and pedestrians.
Water levels exceeded 90% capacity in several drains and canals. PUB issued flood risk warnings for over 20 locations, including Sime Darby Centre, Bukit Timah Canal (Leng Kwang Baptist Church), Ulu Pandan Canal and Sungei Pandan Kechil (NUS and AYE). Fallen trees also caused damage.

Soil and rock cover a 200 meters stretch of National Highway 279 following flash floods in Lao Cai Province, April 17, 2021.
The sudden flood at 2 a.m. brought down with it a large volume of rocks and soil as it hit the village in Minh Luong Commune, Van Ban District, damaging 25 houses and five hectares (12.35 acres) of crops.
"The entire scene is a mess with soil and rocks entering people's houses, and we are still looking for the missing person," Quang Van Viet, deputy head of the Command for Natural Disaster Prevention and Search and Rescue of Lao Cai Province, said.
Lao Cai is home to the resort town of Sa Pa.
A two-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital after being mauled by a dingo on Fraser Island when he wandered away from a house while his family was asleep on Saturday.
The boy suffered wounds to his leg, arm, the base of his neck, his shoulder and also had a laceration at the base of his head, a Fraser Island paramedic said.
He was flown to the Bundaberg hospital with his mother.
"The child has managed somehow to get out of the house that the family was staying at while other members of the family were ... asleep," said the paramedic, who did not want to be named.
Comment: Ash from volcanic eruptions, together with particulates from meteor 'smoke' and wildfire smoke, all jointly contribute to the increased dust load in the atmosphere. This changes its electric charge rebalancing mechanisms, producing more intense storms and precipitation in the form of record rainfall, hail, lightning strikes, planetary cooling, atmospheric 'anomalies' etc.
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