Earth ChangesS


Bizarro Earth

Residents flee as deadly Australian wildfires flare

Melbourne - Several hundred Australians fled their homes on Monday as wildfires that killed more than 200 people flared again, destroying at least one home and injuring two firefighters.

The deadly combination of strong winds and searing temperatures that whipped up the most deadly fires in Australia's history returned to drive flames toward towns to the east and northwest of Victoria's state capital, Melbourne.

Target

Earthquake strikes between Indonesia and Philippines

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake shook an area between Indonesia and the Philippines early Monday, geologists said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

The US Geological Survey said the epicentre was about 310 kilometres south-southeast of General Santos in the southern Philippines.

Bell

California, US: Geysers quake bigger than thought

Federal officials have upgraded Friday's earthquake in The Geysers area to a magnitude of 3.7 from the initial 3.3.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the 2:30 a.m. quake was was centered about one mile north of The Geysers and five miles southwest of Cobb in Lake County.

Hourglass

US: Quagga mussels are clogging Hoover Dam, colonizing lakes, rivers

Lake Mead, Nevada - It took some of America's best engineers, thousands of laborers and two years of around-the-clock concrete pouring to build the 726-foot-high Hoover Dam back in the 1930s. It took less time than that for the tiny, brainless quagga mussel to bring operators of this modern wonder of the world to their knees.

While federal lawmakers continue to squabble over how to stop overseas ships from dumping unwanted organisms into the world's largest freshwater system, the Great Lakes' most vexing invasive-species problem has gone national.

Fish

Photos trace Florida reef fish decline

Image
© Unknown

A U.S. researcher has used historic photographs as evidence of fishing's impact on marine ecosystems and the decline of "trophy fish."

Graduate student researcher Loren McClenachan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego accessed archival photographs spanning more than five decades to describe an 88 percent decline in the estimated weight of large predatory fish imaged in black-and-white 1950s sport fishing photos compared with the relatively diminutive catches photographed in modern pictures.

"These results provide evidence of major changes over the last half century and a window into an earlier, less disturbed fish community ..." she said.

Cloud Lightning

Japan snowstorm disrupts flights, damages houses

A snowstorm in Japan has damaged houses, caused power failures, disrupted train service and led to the cancellation of more than 150 domestic flights, local authorities said on Sunday.

About 40 centimetres (16 inches) of snow blanketed the runways at New Chitose Airport, the biggest air hub on the northern main island of Hokkaido on Saturday, an airport official said. At least 154 flights were cancelled.

Cloud Lightning

US: 10 Tornadoes Confirmed in Georgia

Workers
© Beau Cabell/The TelegraphA group of power company linemen work to restore high voltage lines Friday near the intersection of U.S. 129 and U.S. 441 south of Eatonton.
Ten tornadoes, one packing winds of more than 160 mph, touched down in parts of Georgia on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said Friday.

The storms caused an estimated $25 million in insured losses, said John W. Oxendine, the state's insurance commissioner.

"I spent some time surveying damage and talking to residents in Jasper, Putnam and Hancock Counties" on Friday, Oxendine said in statement. "I believe claims will easily reach $25 million. Actual losses are much higher when you consider things like infrastructure damage and uninsured losses."

Bizarro Earth

Colombia's Galeras Volcano Erupts

Galeras
© Agence France-PresseGaleras volcano in southern Colombia erupted on Friday for the second time in less than a week.

Galeras volcano in southern Colombia erupted on Friday for the second time in less than a week, sending ash raining down but no causing no victims or damage, the Colombian Institute of Geology and Mines said.

A forceful eruption began at 7:05 am (1205 GMT), residents reported from the city of Pasto, at the foot of the volcano.

The regional alert system was raised to its highest level, the institute said in a statement.

The eruption was "accompanied by shock waves," generating vibrating effects and audible rumbles, the institute said.

Bizarro Earth

Earthquake Jolts Manokwari, Indonesia

An earthquake measuring 5.5 degree on the Richter scale shook Manokwari, West Papua in eastern Indonesia on Sunday evening, but there was no immediate report of casualties or material damage, the national Antara News Agency reported.

According to the Indonesian Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG), the quake struck at around 9:15 p.m. local time, or 7:15 p.m. West Indonesia Time (1215 GMT), with the epicenter located 50 km deep, 0.56 South Latitude and 133.08 East Longitude, 114 km north west of Manokwari.

The agency said the quake had not potential to cause a tsunami.

Bizarro Earth

More than 200 Aftershocks Jolt Northwest China

By 11 a.m., A total of 207 aftershocks have jolted Kalpin County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, after Friday's 5.2 magnitude earthquake, local authorities said Sunday.

More than 10,000 houses were damaged, of which 182 were destroyed, as of 5 p.m.. No casualties were reported, a county government official said.

Forty tents have been set up in the quake-hit zone and 12,400 people relocated. The county government has received 1 million yuan (146,199 U.S. dollars) of rescue fund and donation from Aksu Prefecture and Kuqa County, he said.