Earth Changes
Nearly 20 micro-quakes — the strongest measuring magnitude 3.3, with others much smaller — struck the town of Niland near the eastern shore of the Salton Sea, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A magnitude 3.6 quake was recorded near Salton City on the west side of the Salton Sea.
In September, a series of more than 200 small quakes hit the area. That prompted scientists to say for several days that there was an elevated risk for a big San Andreas fault earthquake. Many of the minor quakes were located under the sea itself.
The Salton Sea is one of California's most seismically complex areas. It is located on a web of faults that scientists fear could one day wake up the nearby San Andreas from its long slumber.
The rough weather also damaged fishfarms and sent a big slick of oily slime along the shore, clinging to seacraft moored in the bays and particularly at the Portomaso marina. Fishfarm operators yesterday denied that the slime had anything to do with them.
The rough sea yesterday was so strong, it even dislodged some tarmac near the old fishmarket in Grand harbour.
Damage was caused to San Giljan waterpolo pitch, the Radisson hotel, several boats and even cars parked close to the sea.
Comment: As well as the pollution and rough weather mentioned above as explanations for this incident, there is a strong possibility it was connected to an undersea earthquake of 4.8 magnitude, 151km east of Malta on the same day. An outgassing event?
Booms of thunder accompanied the giant lightning bolts that could also be see lighting up the night skies.
A number of other roads leading to hotels in the popular holiday resort were also closed as tractors were deployed in an effort to remove the huge quantities of water drenching the streets across the city.
Since midnight, 27.7mm of rain fell in the port city, according to facts provided by the National Weather Service, with not less that 21.4mm falling over the course of two hours in the morning.
The amount of rain which saturated the city in just one night therefore, is similar to the entire annual average of rain that usually sunny Eilat sees.
What is more, the torrential rains contrast heavily with the temperatures in the area which are expected to reach up to 31 degrees celsius on Friday.

Rescue team members wait outside a clinic that was evacuated after tremors were felt resulting from an earthquake in Ecuador, in Cali, Colombia, April 16, 2016
Moscow — The earthquake occurred at 00:20 GMT on Monday at a depth of 44 kilometers (about 27 miles) with the epicenter located in 25 miles of the small town of Colombia. The largest urban center relatively close to the earthquake at approximately 67 miles was Neiva with the population of 352,855.
There have been no reports yet of the damage inflicted by the earthquake.

The Basilica of St. Benedict is destroyed, flattened by most recent earthquake.
Sunday's earthquake was the latest in a series of seismic events to strike central Italy, and comes just two months after another violent earthquake hit the same area of central and southern Italy, killing 300 people and destroying several towns.
There was widespread devastation, with many buildings, already compromised by earlier quakes, suffering severe damage.
Many of the town's residents had been evacuated after quakes on Wednesday, meaning they avoided the worst of the damage. The Civil Protection agency reported several injuries but no fatalities.
It's become the most dangerous stretch of coastline in the country for shark attacks, and the phenomenon has mystified scientists.
"It's impossible to pinpoint causation," said Daryl McPhee, a researcher at Bond University.
He told news.com.au shark attacks have been increasing globally for the past 30 years. "There's no one reason globally, it's a combination of factors," he said, listing things such as weather, environment and proximity to food.
"It's very difficult to work out why there's a concentration on the northern New South Wales coast."
A 12-year-old boy and his younger sister were injured in a bear attack in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Reports said that Muhammad Ilyas, 12, and his sister Sobeya Bi,7, were injured after bear attacked them in Loran area of Mandi tehsil in Poonch district.
The duo were out to fetch water when the attack took place.
Though the group of people accompanying Jeet Kumar back to Kehsan village in the district's Anni sub-division scared the animal away by shouting and blowing whistles, Jett succumbed to injuries on the spot. Anni deputy superintendent of police Baldev Thakur said Jeet had returned to the village after selling vegetables in the main market of Anni.
"The bear suddenly came out of the bushes when Jeet along with few others was near the village. He sustained deep injuries around the neck and throat in the attack that just last a few seconds. His body has been handed to his family after the post-mortem," he said.
Earlier this week, one man died and thousands of homes and businesses were left damaged after floods in the city of Bandung, West Java. Reports said that 77 mm of rain fell in just 1.5 hours.
Gorontalo
Indonesia's National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) reports that heavy rain in Gorontalo since 25 October triggered several rivers to overflow, causing floods that left at least 1,500 homes damaged. Several landslides also occurred in some places, causing damage to roads and bridges. Around 4,500 people were forced to evacuate their homes. No deaths have been reported at this time.
BNPD says that the Boyonga, Marisa, Meloopu and Bulota rivers all broke their banks around the same time during the evening of 25 October. The flooding affected the districts of Limboto, West Limboto, Pulubala, and Tolangohula. In some areas the flood water has already started to recede.
In some areas the flood water was up to 1 metre deep. Over 100 patients had to be evacuated from a local hospital, and moved to a hospital in the city of Gorontalo.
The floods, which have become a perennial problem on the island, also meant that a bleak Deepavali was on the cards for the Hindu community.
In Jalan P. Ramlee and arterial roads at Bandar Baru Air Itam, more than 100 houses were submerged in knee-deep water, forcing residents to salvage whatever they can.
Several roads in Lebuhraya Thean Teik and Jalan Thean Teik were also badly flooded, leaving dozens of cars submerged and their owners ruing the damages.
Floods waters also struck Jalan Masjid Negeri, one of the island's main arterial roads. Water levels rose quickly, reducing traffic to a crawl. Several cars which later attempted to brave the flood waters ended up stalled halfway.
The water also seeped into the common area on the ground floor at a densely-populated block of flats in Bandar Baru Air Itam.














Comment: Recent earthquake swarm under California's Salton Sea could lead to massive earthquake on San Andreas fault