Earth ChangesS

Bizarro Earth

Geologists fear undersea mud mountain in Indian Ocean may trigger tsunami

A giant mountain of mud found under the Indian Ocean's Nicobar Islands is being closely monitored by geologists who fear a tsunami could be triggered by a massive landslide. Smith Dharmasarojana, chairman of the National Disaster Warning Centre Committee, said the geologists from India recently discovered the giant mud mountain, and some parts of it measured more than seven kilometres high.

He conceded there was little information on the mud formation but it is widely believed it was formed by sediment transported by rivers for over a thousand years accumulating under the sea.

Cloud Lightning

Villagers fight off animals in flood-hit South Asia

Flood victims fought off hungry animals and battled waterborne diseases in South Asia on Thursday as unrelenting monsoon rains caused fresh flooding in the region, already battered by weeks of bad weather.

The death toll in eastern India alone rose by over 100 in the past week with thousands more marooned or made homeless as bloated rivers burst mud embankments.

Bizarro Earth

Volcano erupts in northern Ethiopia, two missing

A volcano in north-east Ethiopia's Afar region erupted over the weekend, leaving two people missing and forcing hundreds to flee, state-run media reports.

The Ethiopia News Agency (ENA) said the volcano spewed lava on Sunday, forcing mainly salt-mining Afar nomads living around the mountain's range to escape.

©USGS

Bizarro Earth

Mag 3.2 earthquake rocks San Francisco

That rumbling you felt a little after midnight today was an earthquake - but a small one.

The magnitude 3.2 quake in the Oakland Hills was felt up to Richmond and out to Walnut Creek, with some of the strongest shaking experienced just east of Oakland, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Life Preserver

Australia: Ocean 'supergyre' link to climate regulator

Australian scientists have identified the missing deep ocean pathway - or 'supergyre' - linking the three Southern Hemisphere ocean basins in research that will help them explain more accurately how the ocean governs global climate.

The new research confirms the current sweeping out of the Tasman Sea past Tasmania and towards the South Atlantic is a previously undetected component of the world climate system's engine-room - the thermohaline circulation or 'global conveyor belt'.

Wealth from Oceans Flagship scientist Ken Ridgway says the current, called the Tasman Outflow, occurs at an average depth of 800-1,000 metres and may play an important role in the response of the conveyor belt to climate change.

Stop

Whale found dead on French beach

A 19-metre (62-foot) whale was found dead on abeach in northwest France on Wednesday, police said.

"It was a fin whale that died recently," said Jean-Yves Le Clech, a marineexpert from the nearby town of Brest. "When there are storms, the currents caneasily push the bodies onto the coast."

Attention

North Korea floods kill more than 220

More than 220 people have been killed and 80 are still missing after severe flooding in North Korea, according to Red Cross officials in the country.

The province of Kangwon suffered the highest toll, with 181 confirmed deaths, the International Federation of the Red Cross's Terje Lysholm said.

Bell

Strong quake hits Solomon Islands

HONIARA - A strong 6.7-magnitude earthquake in the Solomon Islands on Thursday caused panic in the capital but there were no reports of casualties or significant damage.

The quake struck at a depth of just 1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles) below the sea and 73 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of Honiara, the capital of the Pacific island nation, the US Geological Service said on its website.

©AFP

Bell

Update! At Least 337 Die in Strong Peru Quake

The death toll from a powerful earthquake rose to at least 337 Thursday, a day after the magnitude-7.9 temblor shook Peru's coast, toppled buildings and shattered roads, officials said.

More than 827 people were reported injured and the Red Cross said the toll was expected to rise.

©AP Photo/Karel Navarro
A family is seen camping in a park to spend the night after an earthquake hit the area in Lima Wednesday Aug. 15, 2007. A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, toppling buildings, setting off landslides and killing at least 17 people when a church collapsed in a southern city.

Arrow Up

Six die in Japan record heat wave

Japan sizzled through its hottest day on record, as a heat wave claimed at least six lives across the country and spurred fears of an electricity shortage.

The mercury hit 40.9 degrees Celsius (105.62 degrees Fahrenheit) in the western city of Tajimi, breaking a previous national record of 40.8 degrees Celsius set in 1933, according to the Meteorological Agency.