Earth Changes

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - Owen Fracture Zone region

US Geological Survey
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:51 UTC

Event Time
2014-07-19 14:14:01 UTC
2014-07-19 18:14:01 UTC+04:00 at epicenter

Location
11.752°N 57.563°E depth=10.0km (6.2mi)

Nearby Cities
396km (246mi) ESE of Tamrida, Yemen
692km (430mi) SSE of Salalah, Oman
708km (440mi) E of Bereeda, Somalia
779km (484mi) ENE of Bandarbeyla, Somalia
1317km (818mi) S of Muscat, Oman

Scientific Data

Comment:

Very little Arctic ice melt over the past week

Steven Goddard
stevengoddard.wordpress.com
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 14:22 UTC

At the peak of the melt season, there is almost nothing happening in the Arctic. Red shows ice loss since July 11, and green shows ice gain. The melt season will start to wind down in the next three weeks, as the sun gets low in the Arctic sky.

Rising risks for earthquakes in the U.S. indicated on new USGS map

Heba Hasan
Tech Times
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 12:12 UTC

© U.S. Geological Survey
Are you at risk? The U.S. Geological Survey has released a new earthquake map, showing rising seismic hazards in the U.S.

The U.S. Geological Survey released a new earthquake hazard map July 17, revealing increased seismic risks for many regions.

Updated for the first time since 2008, the new map incorporates research from the surprising 2011 earthquake in Virginia. With a 5.8 magnitude, it was one of the largest earthquakes to hit the East Coast and helped scientists gauge the possibility of larger events in that area. As a result, the new map concludes that the Eastern U.S. has a higher potential for bigger earthquakes than previously estimated.

While all states have some potential risk for an earthquake, scientists also concluded that 42 states have a reasonable chance of experiencing an earthquake in the next 50 years, which it notes is generally considered the typical lifetime of a building. The map also showed that 16 states are at high risk and have a relatively high likelihood of experiencing damaging ground shaking within the next 50 years.

Comment: For a larger version of the new USGS earthquake map go here.

2 dead minke whales wash up on Cumbrian coast in UK

Jenny Barwise
News and Star
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 13:13 UTC

A dead whale washed up on the west Cumbrian coast more than a week ago is still beached and a decision has not yet been made about when it will be moved.

A dog walker made the grim discovery of the minke whale at Braystones 11 days ago, but Copeland Council, which has the responsibility of moving the 25ft mammal, can not say when, or if, it will be removed.

Confirmation of the delay comes as a second minke whale - in the same decomposed state - was found washed up further down the coast at Barrow on Wednesday.

Experts say there could be a number of reasons why two whales have been brought ashore in such a short space of time, with one suggestion being the recent spate of warm weather attracts the mammals nearer land.

Earthquake precursor? Over 100 rare deep-sea fish caught off the coast of Kochi, Japan days before major event

strangesounds.org
Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:33 UTC

Over 100 Photonectes deep-sea fish were caught in shallow water off Japan coast on July 7th 2014. A sign for the July 13th earthquake?

A catastrophe is happening in the depths of the sea but nobody knows why!

Was it a sign for the July 13, 2014 earthquake? Reading sign before Japan earthquake in July 2014!

Japanese Fishermen catch 105 "Photonectes" fish near the coast of the province of Kochi.

But, what's weird is that this fish species naturally lives at 1,000 meters under the water surface

According to the fishermen, fishing nets were only 70 meters deep. Moreover, another rare deep-sea fish was caught in abundance (46 tons) although the daily average is about 200 kilo..

Comment: See also: Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

UK storms cause further disruption after lightning

BBC news
Sat, 19 Jul 2014 09:52 UTC

Storms have caused further disruption in parts of the UK after recent high temperatures and lightning strikes.

Heathrow Airport has asked airlines to cancel one in five flights between 16:00 and 18:00 BST. Airlines say other London flights could be delayed.

The roof of a house in Chelmsford collapsed after being struck by lightning overnight. No-one was hurt.

There are amber weather warnings for rain in place for most of England and Wales. There are also flood alerts.

Electrical surge

Heathrow said there was a strong likelihood of thunderstorms, lightning strikes and hail, which can significantly reduce capacity for take-offs and landing.

About 20 flights will be cancelled and passengers have been advised to check whether their flight will be operating before travelling to the airport.

Manchester Airport said an electrical surge caused by thunderstorms had caused some delays.

General duty manager Gary Brown said: "It impacted on some lifts and baggage systems but most systems are now back up and running. We'll wait to see what happens this afternoon when we're expecting thunder."

July chill brings record cold temperatures to parts of U.S.

Linda Lam
Weather.com
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 08:16 UTC

Actual low temperatures on Wednesday morning, July 16, 2014.

Temperature records set way back in the 1880s have been broken as unusually cool air is blanketing a large part of the country in the heart of summer. It will feel more like fall from the Upper Midwest into the South through this weekend. An unusually strong cold front for July began its southward plunge on Monday. The result is below-average temperatures for much of the East.

The potential for record lows and record cool highs extends all the way from the Northern Plains to the Gulf Coast.

Rise of the killer dolphins: 'Alarming' rise in fatal attacks on porpoises leaves experts puzzled in Wales

Jonathan O'Callaghan
Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 15:19 UTC

A dramatic rise in killer attacks by dolphins on porpoises (shown) is baffling scientists in one of Britain's main breeding seas. The calm waters of Cardigan Bay have been turned red in recent weeks by bottlenose dolphins killing smaller porpoises during deadly clashes

A dramatic rise in killer attacks by dolphins on porpoises is baffling scientists in one of Britain's main breeding seas. The calm waters of Cardigan Bay in Wales have been turned red in recent weeks by bottlenose dolphins killing smaller porpoises during deadly clashes.

Marine scientists are struggling to understand why the rare attacks have been on the rise - with three out of the four attacks proving fatal. Researchers at the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre (CBMWC) said they have always known dolphins attack porpoises, but that the frequency of recent attacks is alarming.

Volunteers at CBMWC, in Ceredigion, West Wales, rescued a porpoise stranded on the beach in May after being chased by dolphins. Last month researchers witnessed three dolphins killing a porpoise - with another fatal attack a week later. Then last week three dolphins spent 20 minutes brutally attacking a porpoise close to the centre's research vessel.

The bottlenose dolphins repeatedly pounced on the porpoise, forcing it underwater then throwing it in the air close to the boat. 'One of the dolphins in particular was attacking the porpoise while the others joined in from time to time,' said researcher Milly Metcalfe. 'Although we were close by, they took no notice of us, intent on the attack.'

Cold temperatures break 128-year record in Mobile, AL

WKRG.com
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 14:04 UTC

Forecasters say Mobile has broken a 128-year-old record with a low temperature of 64 degrees.

The National Weather Service says the low Thursday morning was 1 degree cooler than the low of 65 degrees set in 1886.

The weather service says Huntsville tied a record low for the date of 59 degrees set in 1945, and temperatures were in the mid- to upper 50s across north Alabama.

The unseasonably cool temperatures are supposed to continue during the day with highs expected below 90 degrees across the state.

Hailstorm causes huge damage to fruit and vegetable farms in Kashmir, India

freshplaza.com
Fri, 18 Jul 2014 13:48 UTC

A hailstorm and strong winds, besides heavy rains caused huge damage to crops and vegetable farms in Kashmir, leaving farmers in distress over expected losses.

Farmers in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir were worried as their crops have suffered massive damaged due to the hailstorm.

Expressing their sorrow, farmers said that they invested huge amount of money for sowing high yielding vegetable seeds, but the hailstorm destroyed their entire fields.

"I had sown high breed seeds for which we spent 8-9,000. The moment the crops got ready, hailstorm destroyed them. This is my only source of income. I am dependent on it. It's been two weeks. Nobody from the administration (government) has come here. Therefore, we request them to come and see the damage and government should provide us some support," said a farmer, Shabbir Hussain.

Agriculture officer Rafiq Choudhary said that farmers must avail the benefit of number of schemes introduced by the provincial government for the growers who are faced with such problems due to natural calamity. "We can't help it. This destruction has been caused by nature. But it would have been better if they had avail 'Kisan (farmer) credit card' scheme and had got their crops insured on time, because then they wouldn't face this problem," said Choudhary.