Earth Changes
Hours of heavy rain fell on the steep slopes surrounding the Mocotíes Valley Area late on 23 August 2021. Mudslides and overflowing rivers inundated communities in the valley below. Powerful floods dragged cars through streets, buried roads with mud, rocks and debris and damaged or destroyed homes. Power supply has been cut in affected areas.
Governor of the state, Ramon Guevara, reported 11 fatalities in the municipality of Tovar and two in the municipality of Antonio Pinto Salinas. Officials later reported 2 fatalities in Sucre municipality. Six people are thought to be still missing.

Sam Arevalo of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority holds up two rarities: An albino baby snapping turtle and a two-headed map turtle.
Scott Gillingwater, a species at risk biologist for UTRCA, says it's been a successful hatching season with the roughly 4,500 spiny softshell turtles they'll be raising -- and some unique newborns including a two-headed map turtle and six albino snapping turtles.
"That could be genetic, it could be pollutants, but I think the reason we're seeing more than typical is because we are being successful in our efforts. We're bringing in more eggs. There's always a higher chance the more eggs you have," said Gillingwater.
Date & time: 24 Aug 2021 05:37:52 UTC
Local time at epicenter: Tuesday, 24 Aug 2021 4:37 pm (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 6
Depth: 39.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 48.74°N / 154.96°E↗ (North Pacific Ocean, Russia)
For now, traffic on Route 237 was cut off due to the complicated situation in the Collón Cura area. This route connects Bariloche with Piedra del Águila and the cities of the Alto Valle.
In addition to route 237, the National Highway suspended traffic on routes 40 and 22 where the inconvenience to circulate due to accumulation of snow persists .
The deceased were identified as Sajjad, 13, son of Ainul Islam, Atiq, 16, son of Bablu Mia, Mim, 10, son of Saju Mandal, Apon, 16, of Kalipur area, Abdur Razzak, 28, son of Saimul Islam, Nur Islam, 26, son of Moksed Ali and Abbas Ali, 25, son of Altaf Hossain.
Police said the children were playing in the ground at Upasahar of Sadar upazila around 3:30pm while the thunderbolt struck them killing three on the spot and injuring several others.
Logger Mikhail Shabaldin, 41, was sitting on the toilet while at work in a remote Russian village before vanishing.
Tiger footprints were found at the scene in Khabarovsk, the eastern region which borders China.
A terrifying video of Mikhail's shocked colleague reacting to pieces of toilet paper and even the missing man's bloodied clothes and innards has led locals to fear for the logger's fate.
Majestic amur tigers - the world's largest felines - prey wildlife and humans alike in Russia, China and North Korea.
More than 1,000 square miles of Bolivian forests have been destroyed by wildfires, authorities say.
So far 280,000 hectares, an area equivalent to just less than twice that of greater London, has been devastated in a southeastern region bordering Brazil and Paraguay.
As of Friday, Bolivia's Santa Cruz fire department said 15 fires have yet to be contained and continue to threaten, among others, the Nembiguasu conservation area.
This is not the first incident for the company in recent months. In early July, the company's underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico burst, followed by an underwater fire, which caused a mesmerizing sight dubbed the "eye of fire" by the media.
An explosion followed by fire occurred on Sunday at an oil platform of the Mexican oil company Pemex, six people were injured, local media reported.
Also, the media reported an alleged statement by the company operating the facility on fire, indicating that the cause was a bolt of lightning striking the ethylene tower.
Date & time: 22 Aug 2021 21:33:20 UTC
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 22 Aug 2021 7:33 pm (GMT -2)
Magnitude: 7.1
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 60.4°S / 25.05°W↗ (South Atlantic Ocean, South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands)
Comment: The earlier event: Major magnitude 6.8 earthquake - South Atlantic Ocean, South Sandwich Islands, 21 Aug














Comment: News reports show that there have been fires at the Pemex facility in 2015 and 2019 - and there may be more - in addition to the two fires in 2021.
Similar incidents in the last few years:
- Massive explosion hits Balongan oil refinery in Indonesia (2021)
- Massive petrochemical terminal explosion rocks Zhuhai Port, China
- Fire erupts after explosion at Iranian petrochemicals plant
See also: SOTT Exclusive: The growing threat of underground fires and explosions