2005 featured disasters

Friday, April 29, 2005 -

* An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the seas off Simeulue, West Sumatra. Hundreds of aftershocks, more than a dozen of them significant, have struck near northwestern Sumatra since the 8.7 major quake there on March 28.

* Seismicity for Simeulue, Indonesia : since 1990, in 2005, and quakes 7.0 and up since 1900.

* Aceh's already shattered landscape faces further devastation if donor countries do not immediately supply the tsunami-stricken province with sustainable timber. Exactly four months after the event, major reconstruction has still not begun in Aceh where thousands of people remain displaced and homeless. One million cubic metres of timber will be needed to rebuild Aceh over the next five years."If the amount of timber needed for the reconstruction of Aceh was sourced locally, the result would be massive deforestation, which would lead to further floods and landslides and the potential for further tragedy for the Indonesian people."

* A tsunami scare was caused as sea water inundated a coastal area in Tuticorin, India last evening, submerging nearly 300 huts and forcing the residents to move to safer places. The water entered the huts at Inigo Nagar, 200 metres from the coastline, submerging them. The water receded after three hours. Waves gushing in for 100 metres from the coastline is a normal phenomenon during full moon days, however, last night the sea seemed to be abnormally rough.

* A large quake in Lake Tahoe could cause a 30-foot tsunami. Major temblors (7.0 and up) hit the area in 3,000-year cycles, scientists say. They are trying to determine just when the last big one hit. It is estimated that the probability would be no more than 2 to 4 percent for another Tahoe earthquake that large within the next 50 years.

* The recent earthquakes and aftershocks were among the factors that led to the recent rise in temperature in Malaysia. A source from the Meteorological Department was quoted as saying that the recent earthquakes had caused more carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere, which caused a warming effect. “If the temperature continues to increase, it will bring about the El-Nino effect,” said the source. Prior to the earthquakes, the department had forecast rain for this month and May.

* Anatahan Volcano's eruption actvity appears to be escalating anew. It is currently about one-fourth of the intensity it reached on April 6th, which was its strongest historical eruption.

* Two scientists have been using subsurface imaging to track a plume of partially molten rock under Yellowstone National Park. They say the plume is moving upward. They describe the column as 60 miles in diameter, tilted 20 degrees in a northwest direction and extending 300 miles below the Yellowstone volcanic caldera. They also found a plume of downward moving rock that extends 160 miles under the neighboring Wind River Basin.

* Fish living in freezing Antarctic waters can adapt to rising temperatures and may be unfazed by climate change, new research shows.

* A growing body of evidence shows that living things, from insects to plants and other animals, are responding to the planet's shifting climate. Warming over the past two decades has encouraged genes to spread from fruitflies at tropical latitudes into flies in more temperate areas. "We were surprised at the speed of the change." A second study this week emphasizes that the warming is unlikely to end soon, thanks to a steady heating of the world's oceans that will keep air temperatures on the rise long after the release of greenhouse gases is curbed.

* Flash floods have killed at least 10 people in Yemen and destroyed acres of agricultural land in the poor Arab state. Tens of houses were also destroyed by rushing water in the past two days after heavy rains lashed several parts of the country.

* Two villages in eastern Serbia which have been flooded by the Tamic River for the past eight days were preparing for the worst as water levels were expected to rise. More downpours fell upstream in neighbouring Romania. "The current situation is stable but we fear new floods due to heavy rain in Romania in recent days." The flood has already had a "catastrophic" effect on the area.

* Ethiopian authorities warned of new deaths and damage as non-stop rains on Thursday pounded parts of southeastern Ethiopia where devastating weekend floods have left at least 88 people dead and nearly 60,000 displaced.

Thursday, April 28, 2005 -

* A freak hailstorm in Thailand's northern province of Phrae has left 211 houses damaged and one house completely destroyed. The hailstones were the size of limes.

* Flash floods swept through three villages in the tsunami-stricken Indonesian province of Aceh, leaving 15 people dead and five missing. The floods, which destroyed about 490 homes in the village of Lawe Mengkudu in southeastern Aceh, were caused when a river burst its banks after a day of heavy rain.

* Torrential rains battered western Romania, flooding thousands of homes and disrupting rail and road traffic in what local officials said were the worst floods in 50 years.

* At least 72 people have been killed, 100 reported missing and thousands made homeless by devastating floods that have swept southeastern Ethiopia. The river was beginning to subside but the situation in Godie and Mustahil is far from safe as the rush of receding waters has the potential to cause further damage.

* Heavy rains flooded a dry riverbed running through the capital of Somalia's northern enclave of Somaliland, forcing 1,000 people from their homes.

* If the Midwestern U.S. gets an earthquake like it did 200 years ago, soils along the Mississippi River could turn into quicksand and cause some buildings to sink, geologists say. Current building codes in St. Louis, Missouri, say that an earthquake big enough to cause liquefaction is so unlikely as not to matter. Liquefaction requires an earthquake of at least magnitude 5.0, and probably of magnitude 6.5. Yet there is evidence that the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, estimated at more than magnitude 7.5, caused liquefaction 150 miles away in the St. Louis region.

* An earthquake, not operators of the nuclear power plant, may be the reason for the Chernobyl catastrophe, says a group of Russian and Ukrainian specialists. There are indications that geophysical and atmospheric processes on the Earth's surface undergo sharp changes preceding earthquakes and calamities. All the physical fields and mediums - electromagnetic, dynamic, temperature, acoustic and others - are disturbed. Scientists say that in 1986, beginning on April 20, the atmospheric pressure around Chernobyl sharply began to change. The critical point happened on April 25, just before the power plant catastrophe.

* A team has discovered a new active "thrust fault" at the base of the Himalayas in Nepal. This new fault likely accommodates some of the subterranean pressure caused by the continuing collision of the Indian subcontinent with Asia. As India continues to collide with Asia, the Himalayan Mountain Range grows a centimeter or more each year, and then the monsoons help bring about the erosion of the same mountains.

* The "dead zone" area of the Gulf of Mexico – a region that annually suffers from low oxygen which can result in huge marine life losses – has appeared much earlier this year, meaning it could be potentially larger in 2005 and affect marine life more adversely than normal, researchers are reporting.

* An expanding, oxygen-starved "dead zone" in Lake Erie is generating a massive international mobilization of scientists, high-tech equipment and research vessels to find clues to the biological mystery.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 -

* A violent storm hit Cambodia's Siem Reap, the gateway town to the famed Angkor Wat temple complex, One woman was killed and 50 homes flattened. The freak storm hit suddenly on Sunday evening completely destroying 50 houses and 93 other houses have had their roofs damaged. At least 10 people were injured,.

* Typhoon Sonca is weakening as it spins north across the Philippine Sea.

* Stargazing experts have been fielding dozens of calls from people who spotted a massive meteor in the daytime sky over western Manitoba on Saturday. "About half the people only heard it because of the sonic boom – the explosion – and people were thinking maybe it's a plane crash or something like that. They ran outside and would see this cloud of smoke that was expanding in the upper atmosphere that was visible for tens of minutes...The people who see it described it as a flaming baseball or a Roman candle with all sorts of flames and trailing smoke arching across the sky and then detonating in a final explosion." Astronomers say this type of spectacle doesn't happen often. "We've been trying to find other references to meteors that were bright enough to be seen in the daytime, and there's a handful throughout all recorded history in the Prairies at all. There was one in Manitoba maybe 20 years ago..It's a very rare kind of thing. Most of the meteors that we see at night are just little grains of sand, and a really bright one might be the size of a marble. But this was probably the size of a suitcase."

* A new study predicts that the devastating Sumatran earthquake, which resulted in the tragic tsunami of 26 December 2004, will have left a ‘scar’ on Earth’s gravity that could be detected by a sensitive new satellite, due for launch next year. Seismological data suggests that, during the event, the seafloor on either side of a fault line running for 1000 km along the bottom of the Indian Ocean dramatically changed height, producing a ledge, 6 metres high. Such a large-scale movement will change the gravitational field of the Earth. The Earth’s gravity altered, in an instant, by as much as is expected from six years' worth of melting at the Patagonian Ice Fields in southernmost South America.

* A study has revealed that the Dec 26 tsunami considerably changed Tamil Nadu's shoreline in India.

* Anatahan continues to steam after its largest eruption in recorded history on April 6, 2005. This major eruption was a continuation of its third historical eruption, which began early in January 2005. Anatahan is located in the Northern Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean and has been responsible for blanketing Guam and other nearby islands with volcanic haze.

* The week-long eruption of Mount Karthala on the main island in the Indian Ocean Comoros archipelago, is over, experts said Saturday, but they did not rule out the possibility of further eruptions.

Monday, April 25, 2005 -

* Up to 40 people have been killed by a flood in eastern Ethiopia. The Wabe Shabelle river burst its banks after 48 hours of continuous heavy rain, flooding and / or washing away 35 villages in one of the most remote regions of the Horn of Africa country. "Many [people] are still hanging onto trees for dear life."

* The National Weather Service is warning that conditions are right this spring for a dynamic breakup in Alaska's Interior. Computers are telling meteorologists and hydrologists that breakup this year could involve flooding, ice jams and significant erosion in fire-ravaged areas. Record-setting snow depths and water-content measurements have hydrologists warning of the potential for spring floods along several major Interior rivers. For instance, the "volume flow forecast" for the Yukon River around Stevens Village is 116 percent of normal for April through July. That means enough water will flow by to cover 48.2 million acres of land with 1 foot of water. "Forty-eight million acres is about the size of South Dakota." The Yukon River near the Dalton Highway crossing water content was measured at 180 to 190 percent above normal, and in the White Mountains, water content was 150 percent.

* At least 3 earthquakes jolted the Marianas last week, with the largest a 5.5 magnitude.

* A rare late spring snowstorm dumped about a foot of snow on parts of the Midwest Sunday, knocking out power to thousands of customers and canceling a Major League Baseball game for the second day in a row. The two-day storm sent temperatures 25 degrees below the norm of around 60 across parts of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

* A meteor shower Sunday night sparked a flurry of frantic phone calls to police departments across New England. There were reports of everything from meteors and missiles to multicolored objects in the sky, but the bright lights apparently came from the Lyrid meteor shower.

Sunday, April 24, 2005 -

* The water in Dominica's Boiling Lake, which mysteriously seeped out and stopped boiling last year, is almost back to normal and can again be visited though there's a chance of gas emission and steam exploding. The lake stopped boiling December 24 and the water level dropped about 40 feet (12 meters). The lake is "boiling again but not as powerful as normal." The second largest of its kind after New Zealand's Rotorua, the lake is about 200 feet (60 meters) wide. It is almost as deep as usual, the water temperature is 138 degrees Fahrenheit (58.9 Celsius) instead of its normal 195 degrees (90.6 Celsius) and it is jet black instead of light gray. The lake has stopped boiling three times in the past 100 years. In 1901, toxic fumes killed two people when it suddenly filled up months after it emptied. The crater also stopped boiling in 1977 and 1999.

* Some theorize that the last three super-eruption intervals at Yellowstone indicate the volcano is primed to blow again soon. But geologists say three supereruptions are too few to draw any conclusion. Scientists also say that despite close monitoring, there is no evidence that either a catastrophic eruption or a smaller lava eruption at Yellowstone is in the works any time soon.

* In Jamaica, the cost of damage done to the agriculture sector from the recent drought and bush fires has been estimated at more than $270 million. The agriculture sector was also affected last year by Hurricane Charley and Ivan which did widespread damage across the island. The recovery of the sector was further devastated by the onslaught of a drought this February.

* A prolonged drought in the Amazon could lead to a massive die-off in the world's largest rainforest according to a study released in Science last week. Fire and drought, once rare in much of the Amazon, may now pose the biggest threat to the survival of the Amazon ecosystem. In the state of Rondônia, which has been especially hard hit by deforestation, the amount of clear-cut area now exceeds the area of remaining rain forest timber stands.

* There is a widespread die-back of eucalyptus trees in Tasmania's north-west. There are several theories as to what has caused it. There is no disease in the trees but one cause is global climate change and several years of drought.

* Reduced snowfall in the Himalayas, caused by global warming, is threatening marine life in the distant Arabian Sea. The phenomenon could also aggravate global climate change.

Saturday, April 23, 2005 -

* In India, 1200 villages in the Uttaranchal are highly prone to landslide disaster. A report says that these villages live on the verge of destruction by earthquakes, landslides and rockfalls as they are located in one of the most seismically active area of the country.

* Hundreds of homes were flooded and dozens of livestock drowned in a village in eastern Serbia on Thursday after the river Tamis burst its banks overnight. The flooding, which is threatening to spread to many other villages, was thought to be the worst in the area in 40 years.

* The Volcano of Fire in the western Mexico state of Colima spouted ash, fumes and some red-hot rock, civil defense officials said Thursday. There have been no further evacuations due to the eruptions, which started late Tuesday.

* The tsunami that hit the Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar coasts last year has irrevocably altered the marine ecology of the Bay of Bengal region, says a preliminary tsunami impact assessment report. Most of the coral reefs in the Great Nicobar islands have been reduced to rubble. Many islands such as Kurusadai,Valai-Thalayari and Appa have been divided into two as the waves have submerged the connecting sand tracts. Other islands have been eroded and their size reduced.

* "It's time to realize that global warming and the rising seas that will result are not the only marine problems humans will have to face during the next century. Our strident exploitation of the waters of the world has begun to haunt us in the form of rogue waves and dying marine species...oceans have become gigantic amphitheaters, magnifying the din of human exploitation...Analysis of traffic volume has shown that the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans have become the most disturbed marine environments on Earth along with the heavily trafficked waters surrounding Indonesia...According to oceanographers, the fact that monster waves don't damage massive ocean liners more often is surprising...Rogue waves damage or sink one or two ships each week."

Friday, April 22, 2005 -

* Scientists have issued a fresh warning about the effect of climate change on Antarctica , saying that more than 200 coastal glaciers (out of 244) are in retreat because of higher temperatures. A dramatic acceleration in recent years has exposed numerous islands which were once ice-smothered.

* A stream which runs from the New Zealand eruption site to the river has turned a greyish, muddy color as a result of Tuesday's huge blast. The regional council is sending scientists to take samples of the material contaminating the water and analyse its potential effects. Experts say the river may "run muddy" for several weeks. If so, it could significantly affect those who use the river for recreational purposes or source water. The site of Tuesday's hydrothermal eruption now appears quiet, says the farmer whose Reporoa farm adjoins it. On average, hydrothermal eruptions happen once or twice a year in New Zealand. However it is uncommon to have more than one in the same geothermal system.

* A new method to forecast North American hurricane activity has been developed by a team at University College London. The U.K. researchers use winds averaged throughout July to predict the severity of the hurricane season that generally runs from August to October. It cannot forecast individual hurricanes but it can at least give a strong indication of how destructive a coming season might be. Hurricanes are not caused by wind but by high sea-surface temperature. However, it is the wind that determines how the storms develop and whether they will head for land or not. It is too early to make predictions for the 2005 hurricane season.

* A Jordanian national is suing U.S. cable's CNN for scaring him by reporting an 9.0 earthquake could strike in Jordan. The CNN report said a massive earthquake might destroy Jordan, causing panic among many Jordanians, the lawsuit charged. "Since CNN enjoys large credibility among the Jordanian audience, the law suitor took the report titled 'Bye Bye Amman' very seriously and was in a state of panic for several days," the lawsuit said.

* The size of earthquakes likely to hit Los Angeles may be smaller than previously thought. Scientists were able to discern that the crust in the area of rapidly expanding suburbs in northern Los Angeles County is broken up into blocks, rather than being a single piece of crust. "From the size of the blocks, and data from the 1971 and 1994 earthquakes – which are the largest shocks recorded in this area – we calculated that the maximum earthquakes for the study area should be limited to magnitude of about 6.8." A magnitude 7.2 earthquake is roughly five times more powerful than a 6.7 quake, so downgrading the maximum magnitude is significant.

Thursday, April 21, 2005 -

* A cloud of steam and water blasted out of a New Zealand paddock hurling rocks, scaring cows and leaving a 50m crater in one of the area's biggest geothermal eruptions in 50 years. The eruption's force came as a surprise even though Rotorua is an area known for geothermal activity. The geyser hurled rocks sized up to 60cm in diameter. It was one of the biggest eruptions in the area since an almost identical one in 1948. The hydrothermal eruption left a 50m-wide crater and two hectares of debris. The ground may take months to cool. The major part of the eruption lasted about two hours but it was still spewing steam up to 10m high five hours later. The area had been heating up in the past year, with three new hot springs forming. With the energy now taken out of the vent, no further eruption is expected. (photo)

* Mount Spurr volcano continues to rumble but appears no closer to an eruption than it did over the winter, according to scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory. One or two tiny earthquakes rumble through the mountain 80 miles west of Anchorage every hour. Warm acidic water, pooled in the main crater, may even be flowing down the mountain, hidden under snow. Over the past nine months, a dozen sensors on the ridges around the volcano have located the positions of at least 3,000 earthquakes within about eight miles of the summit, and observed thousands more too small to be pinpointed. "From a worldwide perspective of active volcanoes, when they become restless like this, about 50 percent of the time it culminates in an eruption and about 50 percent of the time it just stops." That the gas is escaping Spurr's main vent instead of Crater Peak, two miles away, intrigues the observatory's scientists.

* The strong 5.8 earthquake that struck southern Japan on Wednesday damaged hundreds of buildings, triggered landslides and injured at least 58 people.

* A small 3.6 earthquake hit Kern County, California on Wednesday, the strongest in a series of 30 aftershocks that have struck the area since a magnitude-5.1 earthquake rattled the region over the weekend. No damage or injuries were reported.

* For the first time, the solid inner core of the Earth has been directly detected and its existence confirmed, seismologists have reported. New evidence of a solid iron inner core to the planet comes from a digital broadband seismic array in Germany.

* Rogue waves, which weather observers and oceanographers are at a loss to explain, are becoming increasingly common. The European Space Agency believes rogue waves have been a major cause of the sinking of some 200 supertankers and container ships over the past 20 years.

* Five thousand residents in Danba, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, who live near a possible landslide site, are starting to return home thanks to efforts to prevent a huge hill from moving. The hill moved about 6 millimetres on February 2, then as much as 33 millimeters on February 22, posing a great threat to the residents below. More than 40 counties in Sichuan stand on flat slates, the result of huge landslides tens of thousands of years ago. Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan in Southwest China and Hubei in Central China have all witnessed landslides, not unusual in such a mountainous region.

* Heavy avalanches in the upper western reaches of the Himalayan Ganges are "an indication of a disaster in the making". The highest snowfall in a decade was received this year and the recent floods in Assam and Bihar have created "room for concern". The Red Cross has warned that impact of the floods in North India could extend to neighbouring countries. "With a major disaster almost waiting to strike, it is becoming imperative for the Government to set the entire disaster management machinery on a high alert in conjunction with the neighbouring countries likely to be affected."

* A powerful cyclone from South East Asia brought hurricane winds with gusts up to 30 meters per second and downpours to the Primorye Territory of Russia. It will swoop down on the Khabarovsk Territory and the Amur Region over the next few days. Wind gusts tore away house roofs in Vladivostok and window glass was smashed in many houses. Two cyclones – from China and Mongolia – approached Primorye last night. They joined into a powerful whirlwind over the territory. The cyclone will rage up to April 24.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005 -

* AN earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale has jolted Japan's southern Kyushu island, injuring at least 10 people in an aftershock exactly a month after a major tremor. A day ago, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted the Pacific Ocean near Torishima, an uninhabited volcanic island 500km south of Tokyo known for endangered birds. On April 11, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale rattled Tokyo as commuters headed to work, but there were no damage or casualties. The latest quake is believed to be an aftershock of the March 20 7.0-magnitude quake, which killed one person and injured more than 700 people in the Fukuoka region.

* Fears that volcanic ash has poisoned drinking water mounted on Tuesday among 10,000 Comoros islanders who fled the eruption of Mount Karthala on Sunday that poured black rain into wells supplying their homes. Officials are also concerned that volcanic dust might have seeped into groundwater, threatening to contaminate supplies piped to about 50,000 people living in the capital Moroni. Karthala erupted after more than a decade of silence on Sunday, causing parts of the sides of the giant crater at the 2,361-metre summit to collapse into a cauldron of lava and hurling burning boulders into the sky that streaked like shooting stars. Skies above the summit were clear on Tuesday, but there continued to be a raised level of seismic activity in the depths of the mountain.

* Medical aid workers on earthquake-hit Nias Island fear a malaria epidemic could break out. The situation is worse than that after the December tsunami, which also struck the island. "After the tsunami a huge amount of sea water contaminated the pools of standing water. Mosquitoes can't breed in salty water so that put an end to their breeding cycle. This is not the case this time around." Also documented are small outbreaks of German measles in the island's north-west and chicken pox in the south, which could lead to epidemics. Aid is being hampered by the extreme isolation of settlements in hilly areas and the destruction of bridges.

* Indonesia, still reeling from the series of natural disasters, plans to use text messages to alert people of impending disasters predicted by an early warning system. Such a system would allow more than 80 per cent of all mobile phone users in a given area to be quickly informed of any impending natural disaster and would generate a rapid response from government officials.

* An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has smashed into another vast slab of ice that juts out from Antarctica. The 115km-long B-15A iceberg broke off a 5km-long section of the Drygalski ice tongue when it collided with the prominence in the Ross Sea. About the same size as Jamaica, B-15 had an initial area of 11,655 sq km but subsequently broke up into smaller pieces. Since then, B-15A has drifted its way to McMurdo Sound, where its presence blocked ocean currents and led to a build-up of sea ice.

* Dry conditions across much of upstate New York have resulted in numerous brush fires and prompted warnings from officials about outdoor burning.

* More than 150 wildfires erupted in New Jersey from April 11 through Sunday.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005 -

* The volcano erupted on the main island of the Comoros archipelago in the Indian Ocean early today, sending thousands of people fleeing. There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries. Lava is flowing to the eastern and probably southeastern slopes of the mountain. Currently a rain of ashes continues countrywide. Authorities said they would not prevent people from returning to their homes on the slopes of the volcanic mountain although the volcano remains unpredictable. "We don’t mind if they (return) because now we consider that wherever they might be, conditions are almost the same.”

* A magnitude 5.9 earthquake in the Izu Islands, Japan has occurred, 675 km (420 miles) S. of Tokyo.

* An earthquake of moderate 5.0 intensity shook the Andaman Sea region in the early hours yesterday at 3.08 a.m. Earlier, a tremor measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale jolted the southern Sumatra region in Indonesia at 2.54 a.m..

* A magnitude 5.9 earthquake on the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge has occurred, 4125 km (2560 miles) SE of Wellington, New Zealand.

* A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck western France on Monday and could be felt dozens of kilometers (miles) from its epicenter, but there were no reports of injuries or damage. It was the second minor earthquake in this seismically active region this month.

* Many Russian scientists think we are witnessing a new period of global seismic activity. The Indian Ocean earthquakes that occurred off the coast of Sumatra on December 26, 2004 and March 28, 2005 are among the top ten most powerful quakes in the last century. The energy released by the earthquake on December 26, 2004 was roughly equivalent to that of the global nuclear arsenal or annual global energy consumption.

* Scientists say there is a 15-percent chance a near-event tsunami will happen between Vancouver, British Columbia, and northern California in the next 50 years. A near-event tsunami is caused by a nearby earthquake on the order of 8.5 or 9 in magnitude. The only warning is the earthquake itself. Anyone in nearby coastal areas have around 10 to 30 minutes to evacuate before a large, destructive wave could hit the coast. With a distant tsunami caused by an earthquake somewhere else in the Pacific Ocean there would be several hours warning.

* The coal industry paid at least three greenhouse skeptics about $1 million over a three-year period. According to Ross Gelbspan, former Boston Globe editor, global warming is not only real, it is perhaps the most important story of the day. "The failure of the press to adequately cover global warming," he argues, “lies in the indifference or laziness of hundreds of reporters who are betraying their professional obligation to their readers and viewers...One way that the press could make this issue much more accessible to the public is to mention the connection between global warming and increasingly extreme weather events...I do a lot of traveling and my sense is that people have become really freaked out by the weather. They know something is wrong even if they don’t understand greenhouse gases. They sense something is changing and that makes people instinctively uncomfortable...The science is very clear — we need to cut our emissions worldwide by 70 percent in a pretty short time. ..There’s no question in my mind that there is a potential for retaliation against the U.S. from people whose homelands are going under from rising sea levels, whose crops are destroyed by weather extremes, and so forth. The U.S.’s continuing indifference to this issue could well prompt more anti-US attacks and more instances of terrorism...We are running the risk of a rapid climate change event. Were that were to happen, we’d see mass migration, all kinds of wars, political chaos. "

Monday, April 18, 2005 -

* Mount Karthala erupted on the Indian Ocean Comoros Island on Sunday, forcing hundreds of villagers to flee in fear of poison gas as the crater spewed ash and flung boulders over molten lava. Darkness enveloped homes near the summit as black rain pounded the mountainside, sparking panic among residents afraid of the kind of noxious fumes that seeped from the volcano a century ago, killing 17 people. Dust is still falling, with torrential rains and high winds sweeping across the region. Dry river beds have turned to raging torrents as rainwater coursed down the volcano's slopes. Parts of the sides of the 3 km (1.8 mile) wide crater have reportedly collapsed and enormous chunks of rocks hurled for several kilometres. Authorities were checking for contamination after locals reported a grey discolouration in the drinking water. "For the moment the eruption is confined to the inside of the crater, which is spewing ash and blocks of stone."

* A magnitude 4.8 earthquake on the Kenai Penninsula in Alaska has occurred, 60 km (40 miles) SSE of Anchorage, Alaska (pop 260,000).

* A magnitude 5.7 earthquake in the Kep. Mentawai Region, Indonesia has occurred, 115 km (70 miles) SW of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia (pop 721,000).

* The tremors in Indonesia have been getting closer to Padang, which lies halfway down Sumatra. Last Sunday the city was rocked by a series of quakes that lasted until the early hours of Monday morning, triggering mass panic as people fled to the hills. 'We are all aware that something is not right,' said one woman. 'My dog has started attacking its puppies and I'm no longer hearing the frogs that used to croak in the back garden. Such signs cannot be ignored.'

* Another 1,800 bodies were found in the rubble left by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunamibetween April 6 and April 13 in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and the nearby district of Aceh Besar. That raises Indonesia's death toll to 128,715, with 37,603 still missing. Between 49,622 and 50,533 people in total remain unaccounted for around the Indian Ocean.

* A slight 4.2 earthquake hit Cairo, Egypt, Saturday evening, causing no damage.

* Most San Francisco Bay Area residents would not have the basic supplies or planning necessary to handle the aftermath of a major earthquake, the Bay Area chapter of American Red Cross reports. They are reminding people to prepare and maintain a disaster readiness kit. The kit should contain water, food, first aid, tools and supplies, sanitation materials, and clothing and bedding.

* A freak wave towering a reported 21 metres (70 feet) has struck a luxury cruise ship in the mid-Atlantic. The ship, which can carry 2200 passengers, was forced into a South Carolina port for repairs after the drama at the weekend. When the wave struck, it smashed two windows and flooded 62 cabins. "The sea had actually calmed down when the wave seemed to come out of thin air at daybreak,"..."Our captain, who has 20 years on the job, said he never saw anything like it."

* Last Thursday a whirlwind tore roofs and damaged plantations in Fiji, in Vanuakula Village, Naitasiri. The trough of low pressure Fiji is facing "is unusual because it has been there for more than three weeks".

* In India the annual monsoon rains will arrive early and bring above-normal rain over most of the country in June, a state-run research body says. The June-September monsoon season was expected to hit the southern state of Kerala around May 26. They predicted the country as a whole would see "above normal rainfall" in June, and said large parts of the northeast and eastern regions were likely to see flooding in June. In 2004, rain arrived over the southern Kerala coast two weeks ahead of schedule in mid-May and rainfall was 110 percent of the long-term average in June. Overall monsoon rains in June-September were erratic and 13 percent below the long-period average.

* Glacier National Park is expected to be devoid of its ice formations by 2040, according to U.S. Geological Survey scientists. What's more, the Earth's Northern Hemisphere has been growing greener in the past two decades as temperatures rise, according to NASA satellite images. Global warming may also be behind the rise of disease, insects and catastrophic wildfires in U.S. forests. "This isn't just one or two years of normal variability — this is a substantial trend over a half-century." In Alberta, Canada, aspen leaves are emerging three weeks earlier than a century ago.

* Eight people perished in avalanches in Utah this past winter, the most since 1951, when the U.S. Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center began keeping records. They accounted for 30% of the 26 avalanche deaths in the United States this winter season. It is surprising there weren't more deaths in an avalanche season some call "historic." Between Oct. 24 and April 10, more than 300 slides broke in Utah. The winter was punctuated with above-normal temperatures and atypical storm systems steeped in tropical moisture which meant unusually heavy snow.

* Oregon and RAINS (Regional Alliances for Infrastructure and Network Security) are launching a locally-targeted emergency alerting service featuring real-time tsunami warnings with evacuation routes. RAINS' Connect & Protect service captures NOAA/National Weather Service's tsunami warnings when issued, and immediately sends localized alerts via computers, pagers and cell phones, to local citizens responsible for public safety - thus dramatically increasing the speed and reach of the warnings within a community.

Sunday, April 17, 2005 -

* Hundreds of people fled villages on the slopes of Mount Karthala on the largest island in the Comoros archipelago after black smoke belched from the crater, sparking fears of an eruption. "The ground has started trembling and we have seen cracks appearing." Residents near the affected villages described a strange smell wafting from the volcano, followed by a steady drizzle of black rain on the Indian Ocean island. "Villagers are in total darkness, gritty rain is falling and visibility is zero."

* A moderate earthquake measuring 4.8 on the Richter scale was felt in Tokyo and its vicinity but there was no fear of tsunami tidal waves, and no immediate reports of casualties or property damage.

* A powerful 6.3 undersea earthquake sparked widespread panic on the Indonesian island of Nias. The town was blacked out for about 30 minutes after the quake, but electricity was restored and police used megaphones to urge residents to remain calm. It was the second quake to hit the area in a day after a tremor measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook the seabed 256km west of Sumatra island.

* More than 43,000 people living beneath the volcanic shadow of Mount Talang in western Indonesia have been evacuated as it continued spewing hot ash on Saturday. The volcano is still on its highest alert level and continues erupting hot ash. Local officials had sealed off an area of five kilometers (three miles) to visitors and residents from Mount Talang's three craters. Mount Talang is among 11 rumbling volcanoes that are under close watch for possible new disasters by vulcanologists. (Note - this link may be unaccessible as Jakarta Post only leaves articles available for a day.)

* A magnitude-5.1 earthquake struck in Southern California at 12:15pm on Saturday and could be felt dozens of miles away in downtown Los Angeles, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

* With the exception of a tsunami, every form of natural disaster has afflicted Staunton, Virginia, over the last hundred years — floods, storms, blizzards, drought, hail, sinkholes and two palpable earthquakes, the first of which, at magnitude 5.8, jiggled the city into a momentary panic on May 31, 1897.

* Cedar City, Utah is preparing with grim determination for a monster snowpack, possibly the most waterlogged in the West, to melt in the mountains above, possibly releasing a spectacular flood. Crews are raising the bed of a state highway and fortifying ditches, the city engineer is praying for gradual warming that would release water slowly over time, and elected officials are preemptively declaring a state of emergency they may not need for a month. City officials are spooked by a snowpack 40 percent larger than any other in more than a half-century of record-keeping. Southern Utah has snowpacks of as much as 372 percent of normal at some high-mountain locations.

Saturday, April 16, 2005 -

* The mysterious appearance of clams in two locations in Malaysia has been interpreted by experts as portending a natural disaster. Hundreds of sea cucumbers mysteriously appeared at several beaches in Port Dickson, and just 8 days later, residents of Langkawi were astounded to find large numbers of a species of clam in Sungai Kuala Melaka on Tuesday. In Penang, hundreds of cockles began appearing several days ago at Teluk Bahang. The phenomenon could be indicative of a looming earthquake. “I’m confident that an earthquake will happen soon and the public should be careful and be prepared for the possibility of tremors happening in Malaysia.” The appearance of cockles at Teluk Bahang is an indication of two possibilities – either a tsunami will happen again or the phenomenon is the result of the December disaster. “We should do an immediate study to see whether the cockles’ ecological system and habitat were destroyed."

* Indonesia's Mount Talang sent out fresh clouds of dust and continued to rumble on Friday, ruling out an early return home for about 20 000 frightened people who have fled villages on its slopes. Elsewhere in the country, which is still recovering from the December 26 earthquake and tsunami and a second killer quake last month, three temblors with magnitudes of more 5 or more rocked parts of Java Island.

* Indonesia has placed 79 active volcanoes on close watch following heightened volcanic activity as massive aftershocks continued to hit Sumatra island daily since the Dec 26 earthquake. Some scientists fear the seismic activity has the potential to trigger a major eruption while the government has urged the public to remain calm. "In Aceh, there are three active volcanoes. After the massive earthquake of Dec 26, there was no increase in activity."

* Fears of an imminent major eruption from almost a dozen rumbling Indonesian volcanoes were subsiding Friday as scientists played down the chances of a natural disaster despite a series of new earthquakes.

* A volcanic alert was issued Thursday on Mt Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan after a small volcanic eruption was observed. The alert prompted a disaster prevention council there to ban entry to within a 1-kilometer radius of the volcano's crater. The eruption of Mount Aso came after hundreds of small quakes rumbled through the mountain over the past two weeks.

* A meteorite which residents described as a "huge ball of fire" was spotted breaking up over the eastern Spanish regions of Catalonia and Valencia on Tuesday.

Friday, April 15, 2005 -

* Eleven volcanoes are now under close watch in Indonesia after the series of powerful quakes awoke intense subterranean forces and increased the chances of a major eruption. Hot ash has been raining down on the slopes of Mount Talang on Sumatra island since Monday. Mount Merapi on Sumatra has been on alert since last August, but along with seven other peaks, is now under closer watch. Tangkuban Perahu in west Java and Krakatau in the Sunda Strait have both been raised from “normal’ to “alert’ on Wednesday following an observed increase in volcanic activities. The giant crater of Lake Toba super-volcano on Sumatra island has also been recording increased activity. Indonesia has more than 130 volcanoes. Scientists are unable to determine whether the activities of Mount Talang have slowed down or if energy is building up for a bigger eruption. The population around the Tangkuban Perahu volcano has a population of some 7.5 million people.

* Anatahan Volcano continues to spew ash and smoke a week after its strongest historical eruption. The plume of volcanic smog has reached the Philippines Sea, 1200 miles west of Anatahan.

* An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale has rattled Indonesia's Sumatra island. The Hong Kong Observatory has described the quake as intense, and says it was centred about 150 kilometres south-west of Padang city on Sumatra island. The quake comes a little more than a day after a tremor measuring 5.3 hit the same area.

* An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale shook the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh in India on Thursday, but there were no reports of any casualties. Panic-stricken people ran out of their homes and waited on the streets after the tremor which caused cracks in some homes.

* A landslide which hit the area surrounding the southern Kyrgyzstan town of Mailuu-Suu on Wednesday evening is in alarmingly close proximity to huge radioactive dumps from Soviet-era uranium mines and is causing concern among the authorities. The land movement halted the flow of a key river and water source in Mailuu-Suu and blocked the road. "A land mass of around 300,000 cu metres, several hundred metres in width and up to 10 metres high ripped across the river Mailuu-Suu forming a blockage." The risk of further landslides in the area is high as unstable hillsides saturated with water from winter snow and recent rains are prone to collapse. A landslide could disturb the dumps and either expose radioactive material within the core of the enormous waste piles or push part of them into nearby rivers, contaminating water for hundreds of thousands of people. The Central Asian region is prone to various natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, floods, avalanches and drought. According to the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office, natural disasters have killed about 2,500 people and affected some 5.5 million (almost 10 percent of the total population) in the region over the past decade.

* The return of warm, windy weather has already led to numerous wildfires across southern and central Michigan.

* A freak wind blew through Wildwood, British Columbia, Canada last week, leaving some residents wondering if it was a mini-tornado. People experienced the strange phenomenon just after 10 pm on Wednesday, April 6. "It popped my screen door open, right from the lock..It pushed my window in. I have the old wooden-style windows and I saw it go in and go out. But it only lasted less than five minutes. It was just there and it came, and poof, it was gone." Some people thought there had been an earthquake. "My walls started shifting and my roof felt like it was going to fly off."

Thursday, April 14, 2005 -

* Officials have moved more than 25,000 people out of their homes on the slopes of Sumatra's Mount Talang after raising the alert level because the volcano continues to spew ash. The region is now on top alert as ash rises as high as a kilometre above the volcano's crater. More villagers living near Mount Talang will be moved from their homes in the days ahead. Increased amounts of volcanic activity and gas emissions are still occurring at two other Indonesian volcanoes - Anak Krakatoa, which has been rising off the southern tip of Sumatra island since its parent volcano Krakatoa exploded with massive force in 1883, and Tangkuban Prahu in Java.

* From Moscow - "Seismic readings have shown that an area West of the Northern area of Sumatra (below the Ocean floor) is still very active and earthquakes have been recorded at various magnitudes. There seems to be a tremendous pressure building as the Continental plates push into each other and the question is, which area will be affected most by the end result? Logic, and the results we are seeing now, suggest that Sumatra (which sits on the edge of the India/Australia plate) will end up the loser in this battle. It is our belief that a new earthquake (possibly the largest ever recorded in modern times) will again occur just off the West coast of Northern Sumatra, which will result in a tsunami perhaps 80 meters high (near the epicenter) and this will trigger a volcanic eruption on the Island itself. Many of the smaller Islands off the west coast of Sumatra may be lost completely."

* Rural homes in Montana from Hill to McCone counties endured their fourth night without power Tuesday in the wake of a freak spring storm. Wind gusts of up to 85 mph, coupled with heavy sleet and snow, snapped hundreds of power lines across the region like rows of dominoes.

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 -

* Mount Talang in Indonesia is on the verge of a full-blown eruption, according to some scientists. It began spewing ash on Tuesday, and officials urged 20,000 residents of Sumatra within the fallout zone to evacuate.

* A second volcano in Indonesia, Tangkuban Perahu, on Java island, sprang to life and began rumbling overnight, prompting scientists to raise the status of the volcano to "alert" and declare it off limits. There have been hundreds of volcanic earthquakes recorded in the last several days. There was new panic as a volcanic earthquake struck Talang at 10:00 am (0300 GMT), causing many to rush out of the buildings, mosques and schools that they have been sheltering in since evacuating their villages from Sunday's 6.7 quake. Thousands of people on the islands have refused to leave temporary hilltop camps, with forecasts by scientists of a third impending disaster fuelling rumours that a quake and tsunami could strike at any time.

* A third volcano in the area, Child of Krakatoa, in Sunda straits, west of Java, has been experiencing more than 32 volcanic quakes in the last two days. Authorities have been told to stop tourists and local people from coming to the Child of Krakatoa area. ''We are worried about poisoned gas released by the activities.'' Volcanic activities at Krakatoa reportedly have no relation to the Sumatra earthquake.

* "The first super-eruption at Yellowstone ejected into the atmosphere 2500 times more volcanic material than the Mount St Helens eruption of 1980; the ground beneath Yellowstone could hold more than 25,000 cubic kilometres of molten rock; an eruption could send as much as 2 billion tonnes of sulphuric acid into the stratosphere; and the death toll from a Yellowstone super-eruption would top 1 billion people. And that's just for starters." "We took the scenario...to the FEMA in Washington and said, 'OK, we have this scenario, how would you deal with it?' And their jaws hit the floor."

* The United States has been accused of covering up cases of mad cow disease.

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 -

* Mount Talang Volcano coughed into life Tuesday on Indonesia's disaster-blighted island of Sumatra, spreading new panic in the wake of the recent tsunami and earthquakes and prompting thousands to flee their homes. The volcano's activity comes just two days after the city of Padang was hit by the powerful 6.7 magnitude quake that caused only minor damage. The massive December quake activated Leuser Mountain, a volcano in Aceh province along the same range of peaks as Talang, while the Nias quake sparked activity in lake Toba, an ancient crater in Sumatra.

* Extreme gales, rain and hail have claimed 10 lives and destroyed 20,000 homes in southwest China when violent storms hit the region on Friday. Another two people were injured and one person was missing after strong gales swept through more than 20 cities and counties including Guangyuan, Santai and Daxian.

* A hailstorm in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality in China left 18 dead, one person missing and 25 injured. One hailstorm lasted for about one-and-a-half hours on Friday. Some hailstones were as big as eggs, and even small ones were the size of peas. "Many houses were pierced by the hail. It is the most serious hailstorm for 20 years in the county." The biggest hailstone, which fell in Chongqing, reached 13 centimetres in diameter. Qianjiang District in Chongqing was the worst affected, with hailstones destroying more than 27,800 houses and local crops. Last week, many regions in China were hit by sudden changes of weather and large temperature drops. The region also had its most serious dust storm of this spring on Friday.

* Unusually late cold weather and snow at the end of the worst winter in years have killed 21 children in Afghanistan. The snow also destroyed 150 homes and killed hundreds of farm animals in the northeastern province of Badakhshan, near the border with Tajikistan and China.

Monday, April 11, 2005 -

*Several powerful earthquakes struck off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island yesterday. First a 6.8 quake hit near Siberut Island, 109km southwest of Painan, a neighbouring town to Padang, causing panic among residents fearful of another tsunami. It was followed by quakes of 5.8, 6.3, 5.5, 5.9, 5.3, 5.2, 6.4 and 6.1. The tremors come two weeks after the massive 8.7 earthquake centered on the same Indian Ocean geological faultline.

* A magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted central Japan near Tokyo this morning, rocking buildings in the city's center.

* Japan's preparations for major tsunami are insufficient, even though huge earthquakes are expected in such areas as Tokai and Tonankai.

* Earth faces a one in three chance in the next 70 years of being hit by an earthquake big enough to destroy a major city. There is an even bigger chance (35% - 70%) of a giant tsunami during the same period. There is estimated to be only a 7% possibility of a volcanic eruption big enough to change Earth's climate. Not until March 16, 2880 - 875 years away - is there a known threat of a 1 km-wide asteroid colliding with Earth, with a one in 300 chance of "object 1950DA" colliding with Earth.

* At least 13 people were killed and scores of houses damaged when a powerful storm with gale-forced winds slammed into parts of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, India.

Friday, April 8, 2005 -

* The powerful eruption of Anatahan Volcano on Wednesday sent such a huge ash plume into the air that it plunged the Marianas region into darkness. Smoke was sent 50,000 feet (15,240 metres) into the air, darkening skies over the Northern Marianas Islands and aircraft were warned to steer clear of Anatahan Island where the volcano is located. Residents said the sky was as dark as night although it was only morning. In May 2003 the volcano erupted for six weeks. In April 2004 it erupted and continued until late July. The present activity started on January 6 this year. The seismicity at the volcano since the latest eruption has been very low, almost background level.
Overnight rain washed away a dusting of ash from Anatahan Volcano, which continues to erupt on an uninhabited island in the Pacific.

* On Sunday evening, the Discovery Channel is showing the two-hour disaster movie, "Supervolcano". It blends science fact with a harrowing drama that speculates what might happen if a giant volcano should blow at Yellowstone National Park. The force of a single super-eruption at Yellowstone would be the equivalent of 1,000 Hiroshima bombs exploding every second.

* A severe earthquake estimated at 6.5 on the Richter scale struck a mountainous region in Tibet early on today. No casualty or accurate damages has been reported yet.

* Tiny, but powerful Cyclone Adeline-Juliet is spinning west across the Indian Ocean. The storm has kicked up powerful waves, but is not threatening any landmass.

* An early spring storm covered parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario with as much as 22 inches of snow.

* The World Health Organisation has issued a warning alerting Angola's neighbours to the threat posed by the deadly Marburg virus. The death toll from the virus has jumped from 159 to 174 in the last three weeks, now spreading to seven of the poor southern African country's 18 provinces.

Thursday, April 7, 2005 -

* A eruption from Anatahan Volcano rocked a remote group of islands in the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, spewing ash more than 15,000 metres into the sky. Officials have placed the Northern Mariana Islands off limits, ordering aircraft and ships to avoid the area. The eruption is the strongest since the volcano, about 120 kilometres north of the main island of Saipan, became active in May 2003. The eruption is the fourth in the past two years.

* Bigger than normal earthquakes have been shaking things up in Mount St. Helens' crater since Sunday night, but fog and rain have kept scientists from seeing just what's going on. About a half dozen quakes have had magnitude 3 or greater. Scientists think the quakes are related to the erupting lava dome inside the volcano. The lava dome is erupting from a straw-like conduit that draws molten rock to the surface from a deep underground pool.

* Reports of devastation caused by last week's freak rainstorm in New Zealand continue to trickle in, especially from coastal areas of South Wairarapa. A huge sweep of the southern coast was battered in the furious onslaught that brought down hundreds of slips, wiped out bridges and fences, tore away culverts and stripped top soil from grazing land. The large coastal stations along the stretch are said to have suffered millions of dollars of damage. Strangely, the storm hit some areas and virtually missed others at intervals along the coast. Climate change and shifting weather patterns are likely to bring storms such as this more frequently.

* A minor 2.3 earthquake shook southeastern Massachusetts on Tuesday evening, prompting a flood of worried calls to area police departments. New England averages six noticeable earthquakes a year.

* An unusally harsh winter followed by heavy spring rains has pushed the rivers of Central Europe higher than their typical spring levels.

Wednesday, April 6, 2005 -

* Three months of intensive drought caused wildfires to break out in the Dominican Republic around the Jose del Carmen Ramirez National Park on March 11. Approximately 100,000 hectares have been consumed by the fires in the past three weeks. To date there are no reported casualties, though 70 people were evacuated from the area when the wildfires began. While firefighters have contained the wildfires, the drought has reduced the availability of water for human consumption and the irrigation of crops.

* Ninety seconds of wild weather in New Zealand are being blamed for hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to a prototype Gebbies Pass wind turbine which plunged 30m from the turbine’s tower to the ground in squally conditions on March 10. Freak winds caused the rotor to become unbalanced, with the wind changing from a 50kmh north-westerly to a 90kmh south-westerly in about 90 seconds.

* In Bangladesh, more than 10 million people in coastal areas of the country remain vulnerable to cyclone and other natural calamities.

* Fear of another earthquake and possible tsunami are prevalent amongst the populations of both Nias and Simeulue, aggravated by frequent and continuing aftershocks, and the majority of people continue to sleep outdoors. Large numbers of the 78,000 residents of Simeulue are also reportedly moving to higher ground. Assessment reports on Simeulue are confirming indications of more severe damage on the western and southern coasts than had been thought in the early days following the second earthquake. Estimates of 70-100 percent building damage in some villages are being confirmed. All remaining school structures on Simeulue that had survived the 26 December quake collapsed after the second upheaval. High seas, broken port facilities and heavily damaged road and bridge infrastructures continue to impose serious challenges to a comprehensive humanitarian response.

* In Lahewa, Indonesia, the earthquake that savaged this ocean-side town the night of March 28 killed mostly ethnic Chinese, members of merchant families wealthy enough to live in multi-floor brick and concrete houses that came tumbling down on them with lethal force. The quake also did major damage to the families' factories and company offices, which provide a majority of the jobs and income in the town. By a fluke of topography, the tremors raised the seafloor in the harbor, closing it off to the boats that in normal times carry out exports. Most of the town's 36,000 people survived, their small wooden houses less dangerous to them in event of collapse. But with relief aid slow to arrive, hunger is creating fear of uprisings.

* A great earthquake is "overdue" in the Himalayas. There are a dozen examples of regions across the Himalayas that could rupture and produce an earthquake with a magnitude over 8.

* Disaster-related economic losses topped $145 billion in 2004, the latest in a disturbing upward trend. The majority of the losses in 2004 were caused by weather-related events: a string of powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic, a record 10 typhoons in Japan, and flooding across the globe. While the loss of human life from the devastating Asian tsunami is overwhelming, the economic cost was only an estimated $10 billion.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 -

* Indonesian authorities now say more than 2,500 people were killed in last week's earthquake on the Indonesian island of Nias.

* A 4.8 magnitude earthquake jolted Nias on Monday. The quake, the latest in a series of aftershocks, shook Nias for about two minutes.

* On Sunday a quake of 4.3 on the Richter scale rocked northeastern Japan at 5:41 pm, followed by a 3.7 tremor nine minutes later. At the same time, a moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

* Clouds have prevented scientists from seeing what is going on at Mount St. Helens after three quakes Sunday night and early Monday that were greater than magnitude three. The quakes "do seem to be getting a little bit larger and that's of interest, but what it all means we don't know." Scientists lost most of their instruments in a minor eruption last month in the crater. Weather has not allowed them to replace the GPS and seismograph packages.

* A tremor monitoring and early warning network for the Three Gorges reservoir area was set up in Chongqing, western China's biggest municipality. Geological disasters like landslides, collapses and muck-rock flows were very common before the construction of the Three Gorges Project, sparking fears about possible calamities after the water storage.

* At least one person is confirmed dead and two are believed dead following an avalanche on Saturday in Northwest China's Qinghai Province. The three were among a six-member climbing team. Another avalanche in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture occurred last month, the largest in Qinghai Province in recent decades, devastating over 266.6 hectares of grassland.

* Volcanic eruptions at Anatahan Volcano reached a new peak at 1am on Monday, its highest activity in the last two months. Seismicity dropped dramatically after the peak. Last year's peak was on February 2nd and it had a higher magnitude than this one.

* Lingering drought in the western US could produce a highly damaging wildfire season that could start as soon as May, forecasters predict.

* Conditions are ripe for a bad wildfire season in both the Northwestern and Southwestern U.S. It was a dry, warm winter across the Northwest, with experts in some areas saying they can’t remember the last time the snowpack was this low. It was just the opposite in the Southwest, with record winter rainfall that flooded deserts and caused murderous landslides. In parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, the snowpack is only about 25 percent to 50 percent of normal. The U.S. Drought Monitor, which tracks conditions across the country, rates vast tracts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho as “exceptional drought,” the worst of five drought categories. “In a lot of places, there’s no comparison". The snowpack - “it’s never been this low before.”

Monday, April 4, 2005 -

* Two intense aftershocks, 6.2 and 6.1, struck northwestern Indonesia yesterday in the latest of a barrage of jolts since a massive quake nearly a week ago killed about 1300 people.

* A tsunami expert says that the Indian Ocean region could be rocked again “within days ... sending a tsunami surging towards Australia, and elsewhere.” There was no major tsunami from the 8.7 quake because it occurred in much shallower waters than the December quake, so less water was displaced. The waters were probably about 100 to 200 metres deep, compared to the ocean above the December temblor which is about ten times that depth. The ocean floor heaved across a much larger area in the December quake — about 2,40,000 sq km compared to 30,000 sq km in last Monday’s quake.

* Twenty-four people in Iran were hurt on Sunday after an earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale hit the southern town of Ravar.

* A 5.4-magnitude earthquake rattled northeastern Japan early today, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami alert.

Sunday, April 3, 2005 -

* “Conditions in the Atlantic are very favorable for an active hurricane season." Bill Gray, the nation’s leading hurricane forecaster, warns that he expects this season to be even more active than he forecast in December and new numbers suggest this year could be nearly as active as last year. Gray’s prediction, for the season that begins June 1, now calls for 13 named storms with more than half – seven – growing into hurricanes with sustained winds topping 74 mph. Of those, he said three will become intense storms with winds topping 111 mph.

* A temporary tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean region has come into operation, as scientists warned that the massive tremors that caused the December 26 disaster last year was likely to cause a series of major earthquakes.

* The tilt of the earth is likely the cause of the Ice Ages - In the past million years, the Earth experienced a major ice age about every 100,000 years. The Earth’s rotation axis is not perpendicular to the plane in which it orbits the Sun but is offset by 23.5 degrees. This tilt explains why we have seasons and why places above the Arctic Circle have 24-hour darkness in winter and constant sunlight in the summer. But the angle is not constant – it is currently decreasing from a maximum of 24 degrees towards a minimum of 22.5 degrees. This variation goes in a 40,000-year cycle. The ends of the ice ages corresponded to times of greatest tilt.

* Over half the world's population is exposed to one or more major natural hazards that could significantly impact them. Taiwan is probably the most vulnerable place with 73% of its land and population exposed to three or more hazards.

Saturday, April 2, 2005 -

* Indonesia 'can't handle next disaster' - Troubled efforts to help survivors on Indonesia's quake-hit Nias island were mitigated by tsunami aid already in place, but the country risks greater loss in the future unless its relief infrastructure is strengthened, officials say. Logistical nightmares have dogged the arrival of aid on the remote tropical island where broken roads and a shortage of petrol meant relief workers were still struggling to reach people in isolated areas six days later, even as new aftershocks claimed possible fresh casualties and spread panic. The Welfare Minister said the country's national disaster agency, Bakornas, was inadequate for the coming catastrophes that scientists say are a near certainty.

* It will take at least three months to fully restore electricity and water to the earthquake-ravaged Indonesian island of Nias.

* The massive tremor that struck northern Indonesia this week has confirmed experts' fears that a December earthquake set off a domino effect of seismic instability that could last decades and kill thousands.

* Another aftershock measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale jolted the Indonesian island of Nias as it was still reeling from the powerful earthquake six days ago.

* The Kartala volcano on the island Grande Comore is at risk of an imminent eruption, according to seismic observations done in Comoros. The last time Mount Kartala erupted, in 1991, nearby villages incurred a large amount of damage. An anticipated eruption in 2003, however, failed to occur. During the last week, the volcanological observatory on Grande Comore has observed "significant and abnormal" seismic activities at the volcano. The entire Comoran archipelago - with the four major islands Grande Comore, Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte - was created through volcanism in geologically modern times. The volcanoes are a result of the island of Madagascar's drifting from the African continent and subsequent tensions in the stretching sea floor.

* Volcano Ebeko in Russia has covered the city of Severo-Kurilsk on Paramushir Island, the Kuriles, with a heavy smell of hydrogen sulfide.

* Something strange is stirring in and around local waters in Florida. "Something's going on in the North Atlantic." In the last few months, fish and bird species have been popping up in places they're not normally found. These transients aren't arriving in huge numbers, just an oddity here and there - an Arctic bird off St. Augustine Beach, an armored catfish normally in South America found in the Indian River Lagoon, spiny dogfish normally farther north found in Ponce de Leon Inlet.

* Something’s happening at both Poles - “Just a decade ago we glaciologists were talking about gradual changes in glaciers taking place over centuries. Now we’re seeing things that we didn’t think glaciers could do in terms of their speed of response.” The collapse of Antarctica ice shelves because of warmer summer temperatures has caused the vast glaciers and ice sheets behind them to begin sliding into the sea at a remarkable pace. Unlike the floating ice shelves, thinning glaciers contribute to global sea-level rise. There is enough ice to raise sea levels by 20 feet. By comparison, the sea-level rise predictions are only about two feet by 2100. The news from the Arctic is even more troubling. In November an international team of scientists completed an unprecedented four-year study of the region that found it is warming at nearly twice the rate of the rest of the planet. The Arctic and the Greenland ice sheets contain enough ice to raise sea level by some 23 feet. “Greenland is melting much more rapidly in the past two or three years than anyone imagined possible.”

* Even astronomers are baffled by a huge glowing object that cut across the sky above the Northern Territory and Western Australia last night. It stretched from horizon to horizon and lasted for about one minute. Meteors generally are sighted for about 5 seconds. Audio report

Friday, April 1, 2005 -

* The latest quake to hit the Indonesia region has again altered the landscape. Three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster saw Indonesia's Sumatra island nudged slightly towards Sri Lanka, the 8.7 quake has made substantial changes on shorelines around the islands. In some areas, the land has tilted, exposing large tracts of beach that were once below the water line and thrusting coral reefs up into the air, while dipping other low lying coastal areas into the sea. "The same lifting occurred on the top part of Simeulue island after the first earthquake on December 26, 2004, while the lower part of Simeulue dropped." Eyewitnesses say the latest quake also triggered a moderate tsunami, 3m in height, which caused a small amount of damage on Simeulue and the Sumatra coast area of Singkil, where it surged several hundred metres inland.

* Bad weather is hampering relief efforts on the Indonesian island of Nias, the area worst affected by Monday's earthquake. Rescue workers have abandoned the search for survivors in the main town, Gunung Sitoli, and will concentrate their efforts elsewhere. Without desperately needed equipment, people continue to dig through layers of rubble by hand. The town remains without electricity and the water purification system is down.

* Monday's quake off north-western Indonesia killed 17 people on the island of Simeulue, according to UN estimates, which is substantially lower than the 600 people estimated to have died on neighbouring Nias. However, an emergency assessment of half of Simeulue's districts yesterday found the scale of the damage was greater than initially believed. Entire villages on the small island of Simeulue were destroyed in the quake and 40 per cent of the population has fled their homes in terror.

* A tsunami estimated at nearly half the size of the one that hit Thailand on Dec. 26 was produced in some areas along the northwestern coast of Indonesia following Monday's 8.7-magnitude earthquake. The new findings appear to confirm the suspicions of many Seattle scientists who earlier this week said such a large quake almost certainly produced a tsunami. Although smaller than December's tsunami it was large enough to tear down buildings and kill anyone still living near the shoreline.

* A sailor has described how his boat was tossed 180 degrees by the swell created by the Indonesian underwater eathquake. "The boat just started doing some really strange things. At first it made booming sounds, as though it was hitting something, then it began to get sucked downwards. The boat rose and fell really sharply...About 20 minutes later, the water started rushing ... with incredible force. The boat was dragging anchor. The current moved (with) a 180-degrees swing. Then it happened again, the third time the current changed. It rushed for 20 minutes. Big waves."

* The warning system covering the Pacific Ocean might save many lives if a tsunami strikes Southern California. But nothing can stop the destruction, estimated to be $42 billion.

* The 2000-year eruption cycle of many of the world's super-volcanoes has passed and vulcanologists around the globe are simply watching and waiting for an imminent disaster. So says another scientist who warns that it is only a matter of time before "super volcanoes", which he said were the greatest threat to the planet, could cause disasters on a magnitude greater than anything modern humankind had ever encountered. "It could be in a few, 50 or another 1000 years but sooner or later one is going to go off."

* The likelihood that Toba – the largest supervolcano on Earth – will erupt has increased significantly due to geological stresses generated by the recent quakes. Worse, Toba sits directly atop the faultline running down the spine of Sumatra. That is where seismologists say a third quake might strike. Because of the increased risk, scientists are calling for increased monitoring of Toba.

* Newfoundland, Canada residents dealt with record-setting falls of snow and rain with waist-deep drifts and washed-out roads in many communities on the island Thursday.

* The Ebola-like Marburg virus claims nine more victims in Angola, making it the worst ever recorded. The number of deaths from the disease, which has no cure, since the start of the outbreak in October, stands at 126.

* Lake Powell, one of the largest reservoirs in the western United States, has lost more than 60-percent of its water to the worst drought in 500 years.

* In March 2005, experiencing some of the most severe drought conditions in decades, were India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China. Fires filled the skies with smoke.

Thursday, March 31, 2005 -

* More than 700 aftershocks have rattled the Indonesian island of Nias since the huge earthquake hit on Monday. The region was shaken by 48 aftershocks after the initial earthquake late on March 28, a further 628 over the next two days and 51 in the first eight hours of today.

* An Australian scientist says it is only a matter of time before another quake strikes Indonesia. "We can be 100 percent certain that there will be more quakes after this...But the problem is we can't predict just when they will occur – they could occur tomorrow or 50 years from now...Some people have likened it to a zipper...If you start pulling it apart, it will sort of pop, pop, pop. The fact that one has gone it's likely the next one is going to go and then the next one." It is likely any future quake would occur south of the latest.

* A large number of people on the Indonesian island of Simeulue were saved from the worst of this week's earthquake by their wooden houses. "They are quite weak. They are partly collapsed but nobody really died inside these buildings."

* Five Australians remain unaccounted for in the aftermath of the latest Indonesian earthquake. 12 of 17 Australians who had been in the region off the west coast of Sumatra have been accounted for.

* Only the 9.5 quake that struck Chile in 1960 was bigger than the Indonesia quake of Dec. 26, 2004. Because of the angles the plates met at in the Chilean quake, it caused less damage than the smaller Indonesian quake. After the quake, the floor of the Indian Ocean split northward from Sumatra for 1,200 kilometres, twice the distance previously thought and making it the longest earthquake on record. In theory, the Dec. 26 event released so much strain that there shouldn't be another quake of the same magnitude or a similar tsunami for another 400 years. Further south, the analysis suggests, there is the potential for a "great earthquake" with tsunami-generating potential. The study was written before the earthquake on March 28 shook the same plate boundary, west of Sumatra and south of the tsunami-triggering quake of Dec. 26. The researchers also suggest Sri Lanka and southern India were badly hit in December by tsunamis generated by the thrust of the ocean floor to the east, rather than from the epicentre off Sumatra.

* The December quake had the odd characteristic of having had a long, slow slip in the northern end of the giant fault followed by a sharp rapid move in the southern section. "We determine the rupture length to be 1,200 km - the longest ever recorded," and the quake lasted more than eight minutes at its peak power.

* Geophysicists for the U.S. Geological Survey and other laboratories initially described Monday's quake as an aftershock. Aftershocks are additional, smaller earthquakes that occur after the main shock and in the same geographic area. They can rattle a region for months or years. Generally, the larger the main shock, the more intense the aftershocks will be and the longer they will persist. But anything 8.0 or greater is considered to be a great earthquake in its own right. The entire planet might absorb one temblor like it over an entire year. And while Monday's quake also occurred in the Sumatra Trench, it appears it occurred on a different segment, and the displacement was heading south for about 240-480 kilometers (150-300 miles). December's quake ruptured a segment of the fault extending for more than 1,125 kilometers (700 miles) to the north. The latest quake was followed by at least five true aftershocks on the southern segment that measured between 6.7 and 5.5. "If this one broke to the south, then it's not an aftershock in any meaningful sense. At this point it looks more like a triggered earthquake.''

* A new United Nations report says we are using up our natural resources too fast and are in danger of destroying about two-thirds of the Earth's ecosystems.

* In Vietnam, climate changes have prolonged the dry season and shortened the rainy, lowering water levels nationwide, especially in southern provinces.

* A landslide occurred in the northern mountainous province of Bac Can in Vietnam on Mar. 29, leaving three people dead and two others injured.

* About three times the average volume of lava from Kilauea volcano in Hawaii has been flowing into the ocean each day at five separate entry points over the past week. The increased activity is a result of magma which began inflating Kilauea in January. Last week the vog created each day contained up to 4,500 tons of sulfur dioxide — triple the past average.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005 -

* A dam burst in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday has unleashed massive floods, washing away hundreds of houses and shops. Flooding caused by melting snow and torrential rains had already killed around 200 Afghans in recent weeks.

* There are fears for about 10,000 people living on the tiny Banyak Islands, close to the 8.7 magnitude quake's epicenter. By late Tuesday, contact had not been made with the islands. Most of the deaths from Monday night's earthquake in the Indian Ocean were on Nias, 75 miles south of the epicenter. By the end of Tuesday, the island's death toll stood at about 330, but government officials said it could climb as high as 2,000. The Dec. 26 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami left 340 dead and 10,000 homeless on Nias. Relief efforts for Nias face daunting obstacles, as the quake damaged Gunung Sitoli's airstrip which prevents all but small planes from landing. There is very little food or water available to survivors and medical care is also a major problem.

* Among the countries with quicker responses to the latest huge quake and the ensuing tsunami threat were Thailand and Sri Lanka. Thai police with loudspeakers fanned out to order thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate. Less sucessful were India and Indonesia. India's tsunami warning came at 11:30 p.m., nearly two hours after the quake. In Indonesia, thousands of coastal residents didn't wait for government warnings. They felt the quake and fled. In Banda Aceh - "We ran outside to see these ancient huge trees swaying in the middle of the trunk. Electrical towers were swaying back and forth like a picket fence on a windy day."
Based on current information, experts cannot really determine why such a large quake did not generate a sizable tsunami. Tide gauges in the Maldives and the Cocos Islands registered tsunamis from 2 to 9 inches high. The orientation of the fault in this quake appears to have sent the wave southwest into the open Indian Ocean and eventually to Antarctica. Indeed, preliminary modeling results indicate the tsunami headed in this harmless direction. It had in its path a channel between two large islands. When the tsunami passed through, the wave may have lost much of its focus.

* The height of the cupola of Shiveluch volcano in Kamchatka has grown by more than 50 m during the last 20 days and continues to increase. The cupola is growing due to the increased speed of the outpouring of the new magma substance which was released during the destruction of the volcano's body. The nearest neighbor of Shiveluch - Klyuchevsky volcano - is in a state of high activity. In the past 24 hours the ash train stretched to a distance of over 200 km from the volcano and several lava flows have been continously flowing down the slopes.

* Since at least October 2004, the Ambrym Volcano in Vanuatu has been sending sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. By March 2005, it was the largest point source of sulfur dioxide on the planet. Ambrym Volcano is not erupting in the traditional sense with thick ash plumes and explosive bursts of lava, rather it is leaking sulfur dioxide gas from active lava lakes in what scientists call “passive” or “non-eruptive” emissions. Despite these gentle names, the leaking volcano still poses a tremendous hazard to the local population as it produces acid rain. Passive emissions can also be a precursor to explosive eruptions, and thus provide a warning signal that the volcano’s activity may be changing. Once in the atmosphere, sulfur dioxide creates a bright haze that reflects sunlight back into space. Since less sunlight reaches the Earth, the sulfur dioxide haze has a cooling effect on the climate.

* Several swimmers were injured and shark nets torn from their moorings when the effects of Cyclone Hennie, currently raging in the middle of the Indian ocean, were felt 3 000km further on the KwaZulu-Natal coast of South Africa.

* "A global epidemic, or pandemic, would be caused by a new, lethal flu virus, one to which people would have no immunity. The new flu would spread around the world within weeks and could infect one third of all people, killing 1 to 5 percent of them. That's what happened in 1918, when the Spanish flu killed 25 million in six months; some historians place the total killed at 100 million...In recent months normally sanguine health officials have been making increasingly dire predictions of a nightmarish 1918-style assault, one that could kill up to 2.2 million people in the United States...The doctors are spooked by the continuing outbreaks of a new strain of avian influenza that has sickened at least 69 people and killed 46 in Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia in the past 16 months."

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 -

* The huge 8.7 earthquake off the coast of Indonesia overnight did not trigger a tsunami but a witnesses on a island that suffered major damage said the ocean surged 30m inland. At Nias island, south-west of Sumatra, the sea rose more than it did during last year's December 26 tsunami, which left Nias relatively unscathed but wreaked destruction elsewhere. Thousands of people have taken to the hills near the town and were refusing to come down. There are still plenty of aftershocks and many people still trapped under rubble.

* An expert is warning of a third massive earthquake off Sumatra. He says that the 8.7 quake has made another massive earthquake in the region more likely. After the December quake he warned that there was a likelihood of two more quakes in the region. “The location of the latest quake is exactly were we warned it would be...We said there were two locations off Sumatra where the stresses had been increased by the Boxing Day earthquake and were likely to indicate another earthquake. From the information we have received it looks as if this is one of them, this will be confirmed in the next few hours...We were concerned about two events and it looks like this is one of them.” Ominously he warned that the latest quake is likely to have added to the stresses on the earth’s crust at the second site he was worried about and makes a third massive quake a reality. “It seems to me that this earthquake will also increase the stresses on the other site and make another quake more likely.” The fault line for the other site “runs right through the city of Banda Aceh” on the northern tip of Sumatra, he said. The study of data overnight will detail whether he is right. “We will be doing comparisons of stress levels over the next 12 hours,” he said.

* Yesterday’s quake was about 15 times smaller than the December quake. The epicentre of yesterday’s event, 125 miles northwest of the town of Sibolga, is at the edge of an area of particularly high stress on the Sunda Trench fault. This line of seismic weakness extends directly to the south of the Sumatra-Andaman fault, which ruptured with such devastating consequences in December and was placed under greatly increased pressure by the previous event. Scientists were relieved, but initially perplexed by the apparent absence of another tsunami, despite the earthquake’s offshore epicentre. Early indications were that this was because the epicentre was deeper than the December event, at about 19 miles (30km) underground, and because of its lower intensity. The rupture is likely to have extended about 190 miles (300km) southwards along the Sunda Trench, seismologists said.

* Two back-to-back episodes of "Nova" are airing tonight on PBS. The first, at 8 p.m., is an hourlong show on the Dec. 26 Indian Ocean tsunami: "Wave That Shook the World." The second episode, "Krakatoa," begins at 9 p.m. and runs 90 minutes.

Western Mexico's "Volcano of Fire", otherwise known as the Colima Volcano, has shown an increase in seismic activity during the last 24 hours. More thick lava, vapour and ash have been emitted by the volcano in the past day and some small explosions were also registered. The activity sparked forest fires on the southeastern slopes of the volcano. The emissions and seismic activity are expected to continue within the normal range of recent weeks, officials said.

* In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this almost certainly will be the coolest March in more than 20 years. Through last Wednesday, below-normal temperatures were posted on every day but one, March 7, when the thermometer soared to 69. Incredibly, the first 16 days of March were 7.2 degrees colder than the first 16 days of January and 4.5 lower than the comparable February period. Those March temperatures should have been about 15 degrees higher than January's and February's. The negative phase took hold in mid-February, and this particular one has tied a record for the most number of days with extreme negative values. As a result, since Feb. 18, above-normal temperatures have been recorded on just three days.

Monday, March 28, 2005 -

* The massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia today had a "100 per cent" chance of spawning a tsunami in Asia, a US expert said. He stressed, however, that U.S. seismologists had not yet received any reports of tsunamis from Asia, more than three hours after the quake. The areas hardest hit by the December 26 tsunamis would likely be LESS seriously affected by any fresh tsunami waves, as the quake's epicentre was more southerly. "I think it's too early to sound the all-clear. People need to get off those beaches in the Indian Ocean and move inland and up and get (to the) third floor or above if that's possible."

* A 25cm tsunami had already hit Australia's remote Cocos Island and bigger tidal surges were expected to strike Australia's west coast. "That's fairly big for the deep ocean." An alert has been issued for a one metre surge expected to hit the Western Australia coast. The wave will not be very easily seen. "You may, if it's a nice, quiet surf day, see the sea drop about a foot or so...It will go up and down over a period of tens of minutes, but you'd have to be watching very carefully to see it." "Whatever tsunami was going to hit Indonesia has already happened. Other places though might still be in danger... Madagascar and places like that, which are probably the most likely place after Indonesia to have any damage, has still got a few hours (to go)."

* Alhough no major tsumani had yet been reported near the quake epicentre off Indonesia's Sumatra island, a big tidal surge could still be heading across the Indian Ocean towards Africa.

* The huge earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra was part of a domino effect from the devastating December quake, a seismologist said today. December's quake and today's occurred on a geological subduction line which is 5000km long. "I'm not saying that this domino effect will move the whole way around, but the parts of the fault which haven't broken yet will experience some stress as a result of what happened...One of the faults we looked at was in the trans-subduction zones. It seems, from the information I have at the minute, that that was the one that has failed today...It's too early yet to say what the effect will be. But the next part of the line will certainly experience some stress as a result of this."

* Between 1000 and 2000 people were probably killed on the island of Nias after today's quake off Sumatra.

* At least 80 per cent of all multi-storey buildings in the main city of Gunung Sitoli had been destroyed, trapping thousands of people under the rubble.

* At least two people have been confirmed dead on the outlying Indonesian island of Nias after a huge 8.7 earthquake in waters off the coast of Sumatra today. Hundreds of houses had collapsed in the island's capital. Many people were left trapped under buildings as thousands of residents fled to higher ground. "The roads are broken and public facilities were damaged." There were several aftershocks after the main quake.

* Seismologiststs warned less than two weeks ago that Sumatra was at imminent risk of being hit by a quake of roughly the same magnitude that struck the Indonesian island today.

* A warning was issued, but no tsunami had struck the region more than two hours after the massive earthquake. Thousands of people had fled their homes in Banda Aceh today.

* Russian scientists have warned that many of the country's nuclear, hydroelectric and thermal power plants are situated in earthquake-prone areas. "Approximately 40 percent of the country's territory are earthquake-prone areas. They are high-risk zones for earthquakes measuring more than six points on the Richter scale." In Russia the seismic belt extends from the Caucasus to the Kamchatka Peninsula.

* Japan's government has drawn up a 10-year plan that aims to halve the deaths and economic damage from major earthquakes which experts say are likely to hit western and central Japan. The plan would call for areas at risk of tsunami to produce tsunami hazard maps within the next five years. The government scenarios focus on three known earthquake zones, which experts have for years been warning are due for major earthquakes.

* A strange weather pattern is affecting the Western U.S. "Picture an east-west line running from California to Colorado, just north of Colorado Springs. South of the line, there have been record snows and rains, but north of it, there have been record droughts. Southern California has had floods, but Montana expects a terrible wildfire season...Snow levels in southern Colorado are more than 130 percent of average, but the eventual runoff will mostly help other, downstream states."

Sunday, March 27, 2005 -

* Two moderate earthquakes were reported in different parts of central India in the past 24 hours, but no loss of life or property was reported.

* An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter Scale has been recorded in the Banda Sea in eastern Indonesia.

* A magnitude 5.9 quake hit the northwestern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the 25th. Though an event of this magnitude is considered moderate, it is stronger than the quakes hitting the area over the past few weeks. In all, since Dec. 26, a total of 583 significant aftershocks have hit the area, which includes the northwestern portion of Sumatra, and the Nicobar and Andaman islands. The current pattern generally is for only one or two quakes - in the range between magnitude 4.5 and magnitude 5.5 on the Richter scale - to hit in close proximity, with some daily clusters containing as many as five quakes and some days registering no activity at all.

* On Monday Japan will begin relaying to six western Pacific nations information on where and when earthquake-spawned tsunamis might hit their shores. Japan and its neighbors agreed in 1999 to set up such a system, but the Dec. 26 tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean has given the project greater urgency. The countries involved in the warning system are - China, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, and South Korea.

* The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii was spilling lava into the ocean at five places by early yesterday, treating larger-than-usual crowds to the eye-popping explosions.

* Another cyclone hit Kamchatka, Russia on Saturday, halting transport communication between Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and eastern, western and central regions of the peninsula. The cyclone came from the side of Japan to Kamchatka's coast and will remain in the peninsula's southern regions for a day. The storm in the Sea of Okhotsk has isolated the settlement of Oktyabrsky in the southwest of the peninsula. Waves cover the highway along the coast, and traffic is impossible there at present.

* About 2,300 avalanches are reported to the Colorado Avalanche Center in an average winter. More than 80 percent of these fall during or just after large snowstorms. The most avalanche-prone months are, in order, February, March and January. Avalanches caused by thaw occur most often in April.

Saturday, March 26, 2005 -

* Spinning like giant LP records on the ocean floor, microplates are one of the least understood features of plate tectonics. About a dozen microplates are known, mostly in the Pacific Ocean. Microplates are relatively small compared to the major plates and are found at mid-ocean ridges, where two larger plates are pulling apart and new crust is formed. They grow over time – some reaching hundreds of miles across and rotating about 15 degrees every million years.

* When a volcano blows and you think you're safe by the sea after the main event subsides, watch your back. That's the message in a new study of an eruption in the Caribbean. The Soufriere Hills Volcano, on the island of Montserrat, is an ongoing menace. When its dome collapsed in 2003, it shot out tremendous flows of hot gas and ash. These pyroclastic flows hit the ocean at the mouth of a river. The interaction with cool seawater created a fresh pyroclastic explosion and ash surge that spread back onto the island. The expanding turbulent cloud of rock, steam and ash flowed back onto land at temperatures of 600 degrees and speeds of about 130 miles per hour. The reverse surge reached 1,050 feet above sea level and flowed nearly two miles inland, devastating an area of nearly three square miles that had not been affected by the main eruption. Places at particular risk from reverse surge: Mount Augustine and many Aleutian volcanoes in Alaska, Caribbean volcanoes such as Mont Pelee, and Unzen in Japan.

* Austrian glacier ski regions are covering parts of their precious ice with sheets of plastic foil during the summer months in an effort to counter increased melting levels caused by rising global temperatures. What might first appear a whim has deadly serious undertones. Global warming is rapidly encroaching on the one-time regions of "eternal snow" located at 2,500 metres or higher. Melting glaciers are disastrous to the environment. The whole water content of a mountain range may be lost with inestimable effects on plant and animal life.

* Many native British species are struggling to cope with the "stop-start spring", wildlife experts say. A survey involving 65,000 wildlife sightings suggests that frogs and bumblebees are among the hardest hit.

*DROUGHT -
Zambia - The situation is unprecedented because there are not many known seasons when Zambia has had drought in February, that is when they usually have the heaviest rains and even floods. Low rainfall in most parts of Zambia has affected maize yields while some crops have failed to mature due to the scorching heat. "This scanty rainfall has happened as a complete opposite to the weather bureau forecast." Last year, Zambia recorded an unprecedented food surplus, enabling it to export to neighbouring countries.

New South Wales, Australia - About 60 per cent of NSW remains in drought. The last rain in the central region was an inch in November last year and areas have been in drought since 1989. Dust storms are frequent and in February, they were hit by one of the worst storms on record.

Cuba - About half a million people, half the population of the north-eastern Cuban province of Holguin, is suffering the consequences of the worst drought in the territory in the last century. Holguin, 743 kilometers east of Havana, has barely received 37 percent of the historical average rainfall.

Brazil - A three month drought has destroyed an estimated 13 million tons of grain, believed to be the worst crop loss in the country's history.

Montana, USA - Drought continues to tighten its hold on Montana, as evidenced by the month of February which was the driest in the 111 years for which records exist.

Friday, March 25, 2005 -

* The Marburg virus, a severe form of hemorrhagic fever like the Ebola virus, has killed 98 people in northern Angola and has now spread to the capital Luanda, killing two people there. Angolan health officials are battling to contain the outbreak which was detected in October in Uige and has claimed the lives of scores of children. There is no cure.

* Eruptions at the Klyuchevskaya Volcano are becoming increasingly violent, prompting Russian officials to raise the volcanic alert to its highest level, reserved for major explosive eruptions. Seismic activity around the volcano has increased to match Klyuchevskaya’s continuous eruptions. On top of both Klyuchevskaya and Sheveluch, its northern neighbor, a thermal hotspot was detected over the crater, an indicator that molten rock is near or on the crater’s surface.

* Twenty five years ago this week, Mount St. Helens began to rumble and grumble, and within two months it exploded with a 24-megaton blast thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. Nearly every day through May 18, The Daily News will reprint volcano articles from 25 years ago.

* Fantastic displays of lava are occurring from the Kilauea volcano and are visible to large crowds of visitors at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park this week.

* An earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Turkey causing panic but no casualties were reported.

* Sunday's earthquake in Japan offered a vivid reminder of the vulnerability of modern cities - showers of glass shards raining down on sidewalks and pedestrians, subway passengers groping around in the dark, and people spending hours trapped in darkness in elevators.

* 306 more dead bodies have been recovered in the past week in Aceh province, site of the devastating tsunami in December.
The Asian tsunami may have killed up to four times as many women as men. A report suggests that women were less able to survive because they had to take care of their children during the ordeal, and in some cases lacked swimming and climbing skills. "In some villages, it now appears that up to 80% of those killed were women. This disproportionate impact will lead to problems for years to come."

* All around Lake Victoria, drought has withered African crops. Millions are facing food shortages in countries throughout East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Brundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.

* By the end of this century, a heavy storm could make Boston’s waterfront, financial district, and much of the Back Bay at times resemble Venice, according to a federally funded global warming study. Climate change could produce a storm surge that would paralyze Boston’s infrastructure. Even the scientists’ conservative estimate of a two-foot rise in the sea level would have devastating effects. Climate’s Long-term Impacts on Metro Boston (CLIMB), estimates a whopping price tag of $94 billion for the Boston metropolitan area for large storms and other anticipated impacts of global warming in the next 100 years.

Thursday, March 24, 2005 -

* Nearly 10,000 houses have been destroyed and more than 25,000 damaged by flooding and landslides caused by melting snow in north-west China in the Xinjiang region. At least one person and nearly 5000 head of livestock were killed. The raging waters have also destroyed 796ha of crops and inundated large tracts of arable land. Snow on the Tianshan Mountains was much thicker than usual this year, and had melted faster than expected as temperatures rose quickly at the beginning of the month. There are still snowpacks that haven't melted on the mountains so they are preparing for more floods.

* Tropical storm Hennie has been upgraded to Cyclone Hennie. At present the eye of the storm is located 330 miles north north-east of the island of Mauritius. The storm is on a collision course with a boat, Doha 2006, which is currently leading the Oryx Quest race. The high pressure systems in the South Atlantic and the southern part of the Indian Ocean have forced Doha 2006 to sail an extra 2,000 miles.

* An earthquake probability map released by a Japanese research committee indicates that about 10 percent of the nation will be hit by quakes with intensities between lower 6 and 7 on the Japanese seismic scale every 100 years.

* Earthquakes along a set of fault lines in the Pacific Ocean emit small "foreshocks" that can be used to forecast the main tremor. It is the first demonstration that some types of large imminent earthquakes may be systematically predictable on time scales of hours or less. Quakes on land generally do not show many foreshocks and cannot be predicted with this method. It is hypothesized that both foreshocks and main tremors are caused by an earlier trigger event – possibly a slow, smooth sliding along the fault line that fails to generate seismic waves.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 -

* Heavy rain warnings were issued for areas of Kyushu on Tuesday, two days after a massive earthquake hit the region, triggering fears of landslides in areas that residents have been forced to evacuate. As of 5 p.m. on Monday, the reported number of quake-related injuries stood at 737 people. Aftershocks of the initial quake continued on Tuesday, ranging between 1 and 3 on the 7-point Japanese scale. Officials have issued a warning saying there is a possibility of an aftershock measuring up to an upper 5 on the Japanese scale occurring over the next few days. (photo)

* As many as four people were killed in Manali, India early today as unseasonal rains triggered landslides cutting off nearly half a dozen villages. Areas have been lashed by heavy thundershowers and light hail since early this week with the upper reaches getting fresh blanket of snow. On the outskirts of Manali dozens of homes, located on hill slopes, were literally washed downstream under rubble consisting of mud and rocks, catching the locals unaware. Cold wave conditions have revived in higher hills of the state with snowstorms, icy winds, rains, and cool air across the country's heartland, puzzling meteorologists, who say the phenomenon is rare in the subcontinent where March usually brings the onset of summer.

* A landslide in Scotts Valley, California, yesterday destroyed a home and came within seconds of burying its owner and a friend under a sea of mud. It appears heavy saturation from recent rainfall sent mud barreling down the hill.

* A freak tornado claimed five lives and caused another eight injuries overnight on Monday in northern Vietnam. More than 160 houses and nine local school buildings collapsed when the tornado and torrential rains hit two remote communities. The area was still being battered by rains on Tuesday.

* Six people died and scores were injured when a freak dust storm lashed India's Kanhaur and Khagjana villages on Sunday night. Sources, however, put the number of death caused by the freak storm much higher than the official six. According to some eyewitnesses, the sky suddenly became dark at around 7:00 PM on Sunday night and within minutes the village witnessed a strong hailstorm that lasted nearly five minutes. This was followed by a heavy rainstorm coupled with strong wind. The site of devastation reportedly looks like a war-zone.

* An extreme weather system dumped up to 70mm of heavy rain and sent gale force winds in excess of 100km/h roaring along the Australian coast from Wollongong to Newcastle due to a rare low pressure system. Storms like that come along only once every few years, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, and this type of storm is more common in autumn and winter.

* An eruption by Shiveluch has fully destroyed a seismic station and camp for vulcanologists, located eight kilometers from the volcano. After one-fifth of the volcano's crown caved in, a massive pyroclastic stream of lava flowed down the giant's slope more than 20 kilometers long. There were no people in the area during the event. Scientists believe that this eruption of Shiveluch was the second largest since a disastrous eruption of 1964. Also active is Shiveluch's neighbor - Klyuchevskoy - which began erupting on January 17. Flowing down the slope of Klyuchevskoy are several continuous streams of lava.

* Alert Level No. 1 has been raised over Mt. Kanlaon in the Philippines after a moderate emission of grayish volcanic plume on Jan. 21. Phreatic explosion could suddenly occur wherein the volcano would spew ash and stones that could be deadly for trekkers in the vicinity.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005 -

* A series of 13 aftershocks above 4.0 rattled Japan's southern Kyushu island today, two days after a powerful 7.0 earthquake left one dead and more than 700 injured. Sunday's quake damaged 780 homes and 63 roads and triggered at least nine landslides in the region. More than 2830 people are at shelters. 85 total aftershocks have occurred. The temblor jolted the northern Kyushu region that was believed to be less prone to quakes. Only four earthquakes registering 4 have hit its prefectural capital in the past 100 years. Sonic prospecting conducted by the Japan Coast Guard found what appeared to be active faults in two areas of the seabed off the western coast of Fukuoka Prefecture. But the length of the faults remains unknown. The ground in Higashi Ward, Fukuoka, slipped about 17 centimeters southwest due to Sunday's earthquake while ground in Maebara, Fukuoka Prefecture, slipped about nine centimeters south. Solid ground of hard basalt and short jolts helped limit the damage to people and buildings.

* In the lower North Island of New Zealand an earthquake measuring 4.1 was the latest in a string of earthquakes in the same area in recent weeks, with the largest measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale.

* A small 2.0 earthquake rumbled through western Kentucky, making some loud booming noises but causing no damage.

* Download a free trial of QuakeSaver - a Windows screensaver which shows, geolocalized on a true color Earth map, recent earthquakes. You can choose to display past day earthquakes, or past week earthquakes on the full world map, or select a specific region. Free to try, $15 to buy. (Site note - I have no experience with this product.)

* The New South Wales Government in Australia has warned residents to prepare for severe winds and possible flash flooding later today.

* A secondary school in Kenya was closed yesterday after a freak storm destroyed buildings on Sunday evening, injuring several students. Four students are battling for their lives in the hospital after the walls of the house they were sheltering in collapsed on them. The storm also destroyed seven other schools, buildings, and homes in the adjacent Katito, Nyamlori and Thur Gem villages. Over 1,000 families were estimated to have been affected by the floods following the heavy downpour that has been pounding the area for the last four days.

* Two tornadoes ripped through northern Bangladesh late Sunday, killing at least 37 people, injuring nearly 1,000 and destroying thousands of homes. The tornadoes hit at almost the same time in two areas of the same region, blowing away 1,400 mud-and-straw huts in dozens of villages in Gaibandha and neighboring Rangpur districts. One village was almost entirely wiped out. Powerful storms kill hundreds of people annually in Bangladesh, but most take place during the summer monsoon and few people would have been prepared for a storm so early in the year.

* Only 22% of adults in America are aware of the term "supervolcano" according to results from an online survey conducted for Discovery Channel. Discovery Channel presents an opportunity for viewers to explore the Yellowstone supervolcano and witness for the first time a fact-based dramatic portrayal of what could happen if it erupted, in SUPERVOLCANO, a two-hour docudrama premiering April 10, 8:00 - 10:00 PM (ET/PT). Immediately following the docudrama, Tom Brokaw hosts a one-hour scientific epilogue to explore further information about a supervolcano. 81 percent of adult Americans said they were not aware that this type of eruption underneath Yellowstone is likely to happen again.

Monday, March 21, 2005

*A 6.4 and a 5.8 quake have hit Argentina. No news links yet. Location link

* In Afghanistan torrential downpours sparked floods and at least 200 people were missing Sunday. 24 people have been confirmed dead.

* The 7.0 quake that shook southern Japan on Sunday has produced 85 aftershocks so far. One person was killed and more than 500 others injured as it rocked office buildings, knocked out power and prompted a tsunami warning. It was Kyushu's first earthquake measuring over 6.0 on the Richter scale in eight years since May 1997.

* The quake in Japan triggered a moderate 4.0 earthquake in Korea which shook buildings and homes in the country for about 30 to 60 seconds, forcing some people to evacuate in the southeastern port city of Pusan and other southern regions. No casualties were reported. South Korea, which is separated from Japan by the East sea, is relatively free of quakes. The Korea Meteorological Administration put out a tsunami warning a full 27 minutes after the earthquake occurred, exposing serious flaws in the early warning system. A tsunami would have struck Korea's southern coast no more than 10 minutes after the warning, rendering it virtually useless.

* Due to the December Indonesia quake, a crack has developed in the Burma plate between the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands. Land from the islands' capital Port Blair to the north has gone up, whereas land to the south has sunk. "There is an indication of an anti-clockwise twist as well around Port Blair." Indira Point, where a lighthouse marked India's southernmost limit on Great Nicobar island, has sunk by between 1.4 and 1.5m and is now under water. Worst affected has been the island of Katchal in the southern Nicobars, where the entire coastal belt of the island and most of its villages are now under water. The nearby island of Trinket has split in two.

* In Australia, debris from Cyclone Ingrid is estimated to take about three months to clean up.

* A mudslide closed a British Columbia, Canada highway early Sunday, cutting off Whistler from Vancouver and catching at least one driver in a flash flood.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

* In Pakistan, at least 41 pilgrims died when a torrent of water swept away their tractor trailer. The incident occurred Friday in the mountainous area of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province as the pilgrims were returning from visiting a shrine. The deaths are the latest due to severe weather. About 500 people died in a single week last month in freak floods, landslides and avalanches.

* Torrential downpours caused Afghanistan's longest river to flood its banks across the country, killing at least 24 people and leaving hundreds more homeless. Floods destroyed about 700 houses in several villages. More floods are expected as warmer weather and rainstorms melt some of the deepest snowpacks in decades.

* At least five people were killed and 13 were missing after a freak storm tore through the Philippines.

* A powerful 6.4 earthquake shook southern Japan on Sunday, injuring dozens of people as it rocked office buildings, knocked out power and prompted a tsunami warning. It was centered at an "extremely shallow" depth below the ocean floor off the coast of Kyushu Island. It was followed by a series of aftershocks, including a 4.2-magnitude quake. About 100 people were forced to flee the tiny island of Genkai after their houses collapsed.
UPDATE: The number of people injured by the powerful earthquake that struck Kyushu has risen to 155. Tsunami warnings issued by the meteorological agency have been lifted. Authorities are warning residents that aftershocks with a magnitude of up to 6 are possible.

* An earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale on Friday jolted Indonesia's tsunami-devastated province of Aceh. Over the past few days, at least 16 aftershocks have shaken the province.
A second quake of around 7.5 on the Richter scale is likely to hit south-east Asia within a year , as the previous quake in December left the area very vulnerable, a group of British scientists warns.

* A top Iranian scientist called on the government Tuesday to move the country's capital to a new location because of evidence that a major earthquake is due to hit Tehran that could kill hundreds of thousands of residents. Tehran is "a city of 12 million people living on a geological time bomb". The vast majority of buildings in Tehran - which rests on the convergence of some 100 known fault lines - are believed to be incapable of withstanding a moderate earthquake measuring even 6 on the Richter scale. There is a 90 percent chance of a 6.0-magnitude quake hitting the capital and a 50 percent chance of a 7.5-magnitude earthquake, according to the latest calculations. The probability of a severe earthquake in Tehran in the next 10 years hovers around 65 percent. "Recent events suggest pressures building deep beneath its crowded streets could explode sooner." Between 143,000 and 178,000 Iranians have perished in 19 major earthquakes from 1909 - 2003.

* Cyclone Ingrid may have packed winds of 300 kilometres an hour, a figure never recorded before in Australia. Ingrid was in a class of its own, by starting and ending as a category 5 tropical storm and affecting Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

* Homes in Haumoana, New Zealand, were evacuated on Thursday as huge waves battered houses, causing extensive flooding and damage. The devastation at the Hawke's Bay beach resort of Haumoana will become an increasingly familiar sight as seas continue to rise, the Insurance Council says. Haumoana is a wake-up call for all New Zealand. Almost every coastal area in the country suffers from erosion and the problem will get worse with rising sea levels and climate changes.

* In India two persons were killed and three others severely injured in a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall at Chakwa in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir.

* In Norway, the danger of potentially lethal snow-slides in the mountains is greater this Easter than it has been for many years, due to a dangerous combination of a lot of cold winter snow and an early holiday season. Areas that are normally safe during a later Easter are far more risky this year because it is colder and there is much more snow than during an average Easter break.

Friday, March 18, 2005

* Severe and unseasonal snow storms have left at least 36 people dead in southwest China, with about 190,000 people snowed in and 21,000 collapsed houses. More than eight million people have been affected by the blizzards in Yunnan province, which normally enjoys a mild climate but had a metre (three feet) of snow in some areas between March 3-12.

* A study of the most powerful solar flare over the last 500 years suggests a similar one in the future would be strong enough to kill astronauts in a poorly shielded spacecraft. Solar flares send high-energy protons streaming through the solar system. In January, the two men on the International Space Station had to shelter in the bulkier Russian side of the station during a powerful series of flares. Scientists have only been able to directly measure the radiation from solar eruptions for the past four decades. The sun probably produces flares bigger than any seen in this time.

* Good news at Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, things are slow right now. During February 2005, there were only 61 earthquakes in the region, the largest registering only 2.8 magnitude on the Richter scale. The ground in the caldera "breathes" regularly, rising and falling in response to the activity below. Between the 1920s and the 1980s, the ground rose about three feet, but since has subsided. Recently, the surface in one area of the caldera rose about six inches (15 centimeters), but that, too, has subsided. A large uplift would be one indication of a possible eruption. Other signs would include carbon-dioxide releases with carbon and helium isotope ratios indicating the gas originated in the mantle. The rising magma also would release sulfur and chlorine gases. Geologists say they have gotten very good at assessing these changes, using them to warn of pending eruptions.

* A seismologist in India says that the country has moved eastward, closer to Indonesia due to the massive earthquake which triggered the tsunami in December.

* In South Africa another tremor rocked DRDGold's North West mining operations on Thursday, barely a week after an earthquake there left one miner dead and scores injured.

* Koyna Dam has survived over 100,000 quakes during its 42-year existence. The town of Koyna was the epicentre of another earthquake measuring 5.1 on Richter scale on Monday which shook the entire western part of India.

* In Viet Nam this year , the Mekong Delta could face its worst drought in a century.

Thursday, March 17, 2005

* The slip that caused last year's devastating quake placed increased stress on the Sumatran fault and on the adjacent undersea Sunda Trench. The build-up of stress is likely to trigger another large quake and perhaps a tsunami. Both of the faults have been significantly loaded, in stress terms, by the 26 December quake. The timing of another large quake has not been pinpointed, but similar events elsewhere in the world have occurred within a few years of each other, or even just a few months.

* Scientists issued a fresh warning yesterday that the northern Caribbean may be at a high risk for a major tsunami, based on historical records.

* Oregon "is going to get annihilated" when a major tsunami and offshore earthquake strikes. An 8.5 quake would cause an estimated $12 billion in damage, 5,000 fatalities and countless other casualties. A third of schools and emergency facilities would be out of operation immediately. Any building built before 1994 is inadequate.

* Many underwater volcanoes are erupting simultaneously all over the world, especially around the Pacific Ring of Fire, according to Indian scientists. Tectonic disturbance is steadily rising. They are saying the probability of a mega- or multiple mega-volcanoes is very high now. According to some there is 74,000 year cycle of mega volcanoes and it is due in 2012.

* House of Representatives yesterday raised alarm over the imminent volcanic eruption at Lake Nyos, which may destroy several villages in Nigeria and asked the Federal Government to step into the matter. The same problem occurred in 1954, 1982, 1985, and 1986, which witnessed large volcanic explosions and massive emission of gases and caused the death of 1,800. The imminent explosion is feared due to the high carbon dioxide content of the waters.

* Scientists and geologists in India and China dispute media reports that state that melting glaciers in the Himalayas could lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people. They have found evidence that the water shortages predicted are not going to happen, because the higher temperature is also causing more rain and snowfall in the glacial resources. Excess rainfall and snowfall keep the net water resource at the same levels.

* Huge waves have pushed tons of ice into communities in eastern Newfoundland, Canada, damaging roads, wharves and properties from Bonavista Bay to the Avalon Peninsula. Monster waves smashed one community's harbour beyond recognition, destroyed parts of a breakwater and ripped apart asphalt on some roads. The surge was the worst they had seen in more than 25 years. The waves may grow stronger before the low-pressure system drifts offshore sometime Thursday.

* A landslide destroyed about a dozen houses in the Afghan capital overnight, just days after police evacuated residents who complained that their homes on a hillside were shifting. Kabul is in the grip of a post-Taliban housing shortage and the city's fast-expanding population has built scores of precarious dwellings on steep-sided hills inside the city.

* In Malaysia, a freak storm on Monday affected about 1,000 residents of Kampung Panchor in Ampangan, and Kampung Jai in Lenggeng.

* It is extremely rare for a cyclone to make landfall, degrade, then re-intensify over open water, but that is exactly what Cyclone Ingrid did in Australia.

* At least four wildfires have been burning since Sunday in the savannas of central Colombia, fanned by hot and windy weather.

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

* The December tsunami got more media attention in the first six weeks after it struck than all of the world's top 10 "forgotten" emergencies combined have received in the past year, and squeezed out coverage of other humanitarian topics. The experts chose Congo, northern Uganda, western and southern Sudan, West Africa, Colombia, Chechnya, Nepal and Haiti as the most neglected humanitarian hotspots.
"For many of the fishing folk who survived, the next tsunami is coming now, the disaster's just begun. Their lands are being grabbed and the government… wants to put the beaches to commercial use."

* Indonesia has announced it will begin installing a tsunami early warning system in the Indian Ocean by October.

* Seismic activity in the area of the Indian Ocean basin where the giant earthquake struck last Dec. 26 has started up again after a lull. There have been six significant aftershocks in the area over the past week, including one registering a magnitude 5.5. There now have been a total of 568 significant aftershocks in the quake area.

* In-depth information on the research cruise to investigate the Juan de Fuca Ridge quakes off the coast of Vancouver Island.

* Five people were injured Monday when a strong 5.8 earthquake hit eastern Turkey, damaging buildings two days after a 5.7 quake shook the region.

* The tremors that rocked Pune and Mumbai, India on Monday are a common phenomenon for the people living in the Koyna region in Satara. The region receives almost six tremors a day or a staggering 2000 shocks a year. The debate is still open on whether the high seismic activity in the region was triggered by the mammoth Koyna dam built in 1962. Until the dam came about, the region was barely seismic. But five years later, Koyna was jolted by a quake measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale.

* A minor 3.5 earthquake rocked parts of the Utah-Arizona border Monday evening. The region has historically been a hotbed for small quakes about 2.0 magnitude. Chances of more quakes are considered to be slim.

* Cyclone Ingrid, which has battered Australia's north for a week, yesterday slammed into the coast for a third time.

* Hundreds of avalanches occurred across Austria over the weekend, and three people were killed Sunday. Several other people were injured.

* A 10-year-old was killed in a landslide in Utah, buried under tons of dirt and sand. Officials are not sure exactly what triggered the landslide, although wet weather may have been a factor.

* Global warming and changes to the earth's environment are accelerating the spread of diseases. Six per cent of all Malaria cases of the past 25 years have been caused by climate change.

* This season's warm weather has been out of the ordinary in Alberta, Canada. Typically in March, the average temperature for the entire month is -4.9C but during the first 11 days this area had an average temperature of 3.6C. The average daytime high during those same 11 days was 8.7C. The direct cause has been that rather than the regular northerly winds the area would get at this time of year, warm southwest winds have been blowing in from the Pacific.

* As many as 90 fires have ignited in the piney woods of East Texas in just the past few days.

Tuesday, March 15, 2005

* In Hawaii, two of the Big Island's volcanoes - Mauna Loa and Kilauea - are active. Mauna Loa, whose mass makes up half the island, has been swelling for 2 1/2 years and quaking in a way never recorded before. An eruption "is not an if, it's a when." The smaller but feistier Kilauea volcano has been spewing lava for 22 straight years, and shows signs of a bigger event to come. A surge in population at the same time that Mauna Loa and Kilauea seem to be acting strangely has some scientists nervous. Lava burying entire subdivisions has become a "significant worry." Kilauea historically has had violent eruptions roughly at the same rate as Mount St. Helens - about every 100 to 200 years. Her last big one was 240 years ago. An eruption is inevitable, but "it could mean next week or next century. Or next millennium. Civilizations can rise and fall between the clock's ticks."

* Tropical Cyclone Ingrid is bearing down on the coastline of Australia's Kimberley region. Women and children in the remote community of Kalumburu are preparing to evacuate.

* Chinese scientists believe the ongoing collision of tectonic plates is pushing Mt Everest upwards by 10 millimetres every year and they are sending an expedition to re-measure it.

Monday, March 14, 2005

* Cyclone Ingrid has hurled its 235km/h force at the Tiwi Islands north of Darwin, Australia, ripping off roofs, levelling one home and flinging huge mahogany trees onto buildings.

* The threat to Western Australia from Tropical Cyclone Willy, which has been hovering off the state's coast for three days, has petered out.

* Another cyclone hit south Kamchatka in the small hours of Sunday. The wind is strong, snowfalls are heavy and waves are high in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Pacific. Vessels do not dare to leave the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The cyclone is moving inland and the avalanche hazard is high in the mountains.

* Five people have been killed by avalanches in the French Alps over the past few days, with the two latest fatalities reported on Sunday.

* A strong 5.7 aftershock rattled the capital of Indonesia's tsunami-ravaged Aceh province but there were no casualties or damage.

* The bodies of 90 people killed in December's earthquake-triggered tsunami were discovered in Indonesia's Aceh province in a single day this weekend.

* A fireball and an earthquake have shaken Olympia, Oregon. A fireball flashed across South Sound and the Northwest shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday. The fireball was described as a blazing flash of green or turquoise light with a tail that moved from east to west in the southern sky. The mystery light was reported as far north as Canada and as far south as Medford, Oregon. There were no reports of a sonic boom. "That means it didn't land." In Oregon, some residents reported the bright light as a flaming object that generated noise that was heard from Salem to Medford. Observers on the Oregon coast described it as red and noisy. Twenty minutes earlier, a small 3.3 earthquake struck north of Olympia.

* In Britain in Scarborough, a freak wave washed a family of four into the sea. Her boyfriend and one child were rescued but the mother and her 11 year-old son did not survive. Another daughter is still missing. The waves had been larger than usual because of a spring tide.

* Dozens of wildfires flared up Saturday in counties across southwest Alabama, fanned by strong winds and dry weather.

* South Carolina forestry firefighters battled more than 80 wildfires statewide Saturday, including a mile-long blaze near Gaston that destroyed two homes.

* The melting of sea ice at the North Pole may be the result of a centuries-old natural cycle and not an indicator of man-made global warming, Scottish scientists have found. After researching the past 300 years, scientists believe that the outer edge of sea ice may expand and contract over regular periods of 60 to 80 years. This change corresponds roughly with known cyclical changes in atmospheric temperature.The amount of sea ice is currently near its lowest point in the cycle and should begin to increase within about five years.

* Global warming is causing Himalayan glaciers to rapidly retreat, threatening to cause catastrophic water shortages for hundreds of millions of people who rely on glacier-dependent rivers in China, India and Nepal, the World Wide Fund For Nature WWF warns.

Sunday, March 13, 2005

* Cyclone Ingrid continues its destructive path across the Northern Territory of Australia. Croker Island, northeast of Darwin, has been badly damaged, but there have been no reports of injuries. Stronger than Cyclone Tracy which decimated the territory's capital more than 30 years ago, Ingrid was predicted to move west and strike Darwin some time tonight.

* The 5.7 earthquake in southeastern Turkey has injured at least seven people and triggered an avalanche. Recent heavy snowfall is hampering efforts to reach small villages.

* On the island of Madagascar, unusually heavy rains came down in the first week of March, causing severe flooding across the central latitudes of the island.

* A powerful earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale hit the region of Saravan in Iran close to the border with Pakistan. There were no casualties immediately reported, but some of the houses were partly damaged.

* A Palestinian seismology expert says that studies indicated the possibility of an earthquake measuring 6.5 to 7.0 degrees to hit the Palestinian territories and Israel. A tremor of this magnitude would cause massive destruction and loss of life. He also warned that powerful tidal waves in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea could also recur, adding that tsunamis have been recorded in the region's history.

* Cuba's worst drought in a century has left one in six Cubans without running water, a situation that will get worse if weather prediction prove true.

* A severe drought is affecting most of Thailand.

* Drought in Vietnam has led to coffee prices in London rising to a five-year high. Water shortages and the threat of forest fires due to the long drought continue to plague Vietnam.

* A serious drought is gripping the impoverished country of Cambodia.

* A prolonged dry spell across Malaysia and Sumatra was contributing to numerous fires burning across the region, which billowed thick, choking smoke out over the Indian Ocean and the Strait of Malacca.

* A drought disaster has been declared for western North Dakota and the upper Missouri River basin.

* The state of Washington is facing its worst drought in almost 30 years.

* Last year's weather in the U.S. Midwest was so perfect, it was unlike anything seen in more than a century. Ideal weather conditions -- not too cloudy, not too hot, just enough rain -- fueled record harvests in every major Midwest crop. "A climatological evaluation revealed that summer 2004 conditions were unlike any experienced during the past 117 years...Never before have corn, soybeans, sorghum, and alfalfa hay all achieved record yields in the same year." Sunny summers with below average temperatures and plentiful rainfall occurred only in 1927 and 2004. "The atmospheric circulation pattern during summer 2004 was unusual, but these conditions and their crop impacts are not considered indicative of those expected with a change in climate due to global warming."

* The bleak, searing cauldron of Death Valley has been transformed by shock rainstorms. Since last summer, hardly a month has passed without a soaking from the heavens, from modest downpours to flash floods uprooting roads and buildings. It has been the wettest season since records began in 1911. The last major explosion of wild flowers, during the El Nino-ravaged winter of 1997-98, caused valley regulars to say at the time that they had seen nothing like it in their lives. Christmas week was the wettest week on record in Death Valley. "The freak of nature on display in Death Valley reflects the bizarre climatic behaviour across the American West all winter. Since Christmas, the weather in Los Angeles has more closely resembled the steady downpours familiar in Seattle and the Pacific North-west. The canyon roads of the Hollywood Hills have at times resembled rushing streams. The Los Angeles river, usually a trickle confined to a concrete casing, has raged and overflowed. And one coastal community near Santa Barbara was devastated when the hillside behind crumbled and collapsed, crushing several houses."

Saturday, March 12, 2005

* Water samples and photos of the seafloor 200 miles
off the coast of Vancouver Island showed no evidence that fresh lava had pushed up to the surface. The thousands of small earthquakes that rattled the area beginning Feb. 28 might not have signaled an eruption, but they might have rearranged the plumbing in nearby hydrothermal fields. Chemical analysis of water samples collected over the vent fields already hint at some changes, and more detailed studies will provide a fuller picture. While signals from seismographs and a network of acoustic sensors showed that magma was moving underground, scientists couldn't tell until they reached the area whether the molten rock had breached the surface.

* An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.7 shook southeastern Turkey on Saturday, causing panic and minor structural damage. At least one person was hurt. The quake struck around 9:36 a.m. and was centered in the town of Karliova in rural Bingol province - where a magnitude 6.4 quake killed 177 people in 2003.

* An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale jolted the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido early today.

* Tropical cyclone Ingrid is approaching Darwin, Australia, which has been placed on the highest "Cyclone Warning" alert. Darwin was battered 30 years ago by Cyclone Tracy and Ingrid is even more powerful. Cyclone Ingrid blasted over the Cape York Peninsula earlier and killed five people in a boat from Papua New Guinea.

* The category three cyclone Willy will weaken today and is not expected to hit the West Australian coast.

* Scientists at Mount St. Helens have located the likely source of Tuesday's blast, the same vent that blew steam-and-ash plumes in October and January. Tuesday's outburst now fits clearly within the pattern of the ongoing eruption of thick magma rising from a common source through the same openings in the rock. Before the blast, a network of seismometers placed in and around the volcano by the U.S. Geological Survey recorded an upturn in tremors that slowly built up over two hours. "The increase in seismicity was very subtle." The question now is whether the pattern of rumbling that preceded the latest explosion can help predict future eruptions of Mount St. Helens. Since Tuesday, the volcano has remained calm, while continuing to emit small plumes of steam and squeeze out immense volumes of thick magma. Global positioning system instruments in place around the volcano have found no evidence that its sides are swelling as occurred before the massive 1980 eruption.

* Western Mexico's Volcano of Fire spewed hot lava and rock Thursday, the latest in a series of spectacular but non-threatening eruptions in the past few weeks. Since Sept. 29, scientists have reported nearly daily eruptions from the volcano. The Volcano of Fire spewed ash over neighboring villages, a day after a belch from the Popocatepetl Volcano near Mexico City caused a brush fire.

* Two stratovolcanoes on Kamchtka penninsula, Kliuchevskoi and Shiveluch, are currently erupting simultaneously. The village of Klyuchi located between the two volcanoes is suffering periodic ash falls but is otherwise safe. Aviation is at greater threat, with volcanic ash particles capable of disabling aircraft engines: Kamchatka is on a major airline route, and aircraft have had to divert around eruptions in the past.

* An avalanche in the French Alps killed three hikers and slightly injured six others. It was the worst single mountain accident of the season.

* A Danish skier has been killed in an avalanche in Austria , raising the death toll this winter to 32. More deaths are feared this weekend as the risk of avalanches is rated high.

* Friday was the hottest March 11 ever in eight of the 11 Bay Area stations that keep records going back at least 30 years. On Friday, San Francisco, California broke a 91-year-old record by 1 degree to become the hottest March day in the city's history. Oakland and San Jose also had their hottest March days ever Friday, with highs of 88 and 87, respectively. The month's heat records for San Jose and Oakland were set last year, both at 85 degrees. The heat came from a weather pattern more typical in spring and fall: High pressure in Nevada causes winds to blow into the Bay Area from the east rather than the west.

* An earth tremor in South Africa injured six miners one day BEFORE the 5.0 earthquake that hit DRDGold's North West operations on Wednesday, trapping 42 mineworkers underground. Trade unions are enraged that this foreshock was disregarded. Rescue teams travelled 6km underground before reaching the 42 miners, a task that took 12 hours and involved digging rocks away with their hands. The head of the seismology department warned that “there will still be a lot of aftershocks and a more substantive investigation should be done” before mining resumes.

* Shaking was registered on the U.S. Geological Survey seismograph in Orlando, Florida measuring 2.7 on the Richter Scale. Central Florida is not an active earthquake area. Sonic booms are being blamed for the tremor which startled residents Friday evening across the county. Two Navy fighter jets reportedly streaked toward MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. On June 16, 2003, Manatee County experienced a similar boom. The military disavowed any knowledge of aircraft in the area and that boom remains a mystery.

* The mysterious blasts were heard in central and western Kutch, India early this month triggering panic. A geologist says they have no connection whatsoever with an earthquake or any movement in the earth’s crust. Here too sonic booms are being blamed. These mysterious sounds were not from below the earth but from the air. But officials however could not specify as to what elements in the atmosphere caused the sound. ‘‘It may be sonic boom from super-sonic aircraft of the Indian Air Force."

* On March 8, North Carolina had mystery booms also. The mysterious booms rocked much of downtown Winston-Salem on Saturday night and may remain forever a mystery. About 8:20 p.m., 911 dispatchers started getting a wave of calls reporting the booms. Saturday's booms were about the 10th such report they have had from the Winston-Salem area in the past five years. "These are not anything new. They've happened to our state for a long time." But a sonic boom could not have come from a plane leaving or landing at Smith Reynolds Airport because the plane would be going too slow, said the air traffic manager at the airport. Loud noises and vibrations that struck the Konnoak Hills neighborhood in 1994 turned out to be small earthquakes, the largest of which measured 1.7 on the Richter scale. There are more active fault lines in the states that border North Carolina than there are inside the state, and there is no seismic equipment to record quakes.

Friday, March 11, 2005

* Both Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are investing in new
'emergency offices' in Tokyo due to increasing concerns that a
huge earthquake is just around the corner and will knock
them out of business in Japan's capital. Duplicate trading floors
linked to the Tokyo Stock Exchange cost $10 million to build
and $5 million a year to maintain. The sense of urgency has been
rising. The number of major earthquakes in the Tokyo area has
increased by 37 percent in the period 2000 – 2004. Tokyo was
rocked by 93 earthquakes measuring more than five on Japan's
seven-stage seismic scale in the four years. That compares with
68 temblors in the previous four years. The city has a 70 percent
chance of being hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake in the next 30
years. New York-based Morgan Stanley has had backup
offices in New York and London since the early 1990s.
Deutsche Bank already has a duplicate headquarters and a data
backup center in Japan's capital and may add a third one by 2007.

* The North American Plate is pushing California north into Oregon
and Washington, a massive land mass pushing up against the
unmovable tectonic plate that much of western British Columbia
sits on. Most of California, Oregon and southern Washington are
sliding north just fine, but because there is no give to the north, the
land is crumpling in on itself in the Puget Sound region. That action
has created a cluster of massive cracks that run from northwest to
southeast. Those faults are where the pressure forces the land to
buckle. Snohomish County is ground zero in Washington. There
have been as many as three major earthquakes on the South
Whidbey Island Fault in the past 3,000 years. Similar evidence
suggests that there have been similar quakes on the Seattle and
Tacoma faults.

* One miner has died and four others are still trapped 2,400
meters underground at Stilfontein, South Africa's North West
province, after Wednesday's 5.0 earthquake.

* Severe tropical cyclone Willy, which is hovering off Western
Australia, has been upgraded to category three. It is not
expected to affect the coast for at least two days.

* In Australia, parts of the Northern Territory were being evacuated
as Cyclone Ingrid threatened to reintensify and batter coastal
communities. After menacing far north Queensland for more than
a week, Ingrid was expected to strike somewhere near the
4000-strong mining town of Nhulunbuy by early this morning.

* The U.S. government is expanding its Pacific tsunami-warning
network to include the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
About 90 per cent of tsunamis occur in the Pacific, but Atlantic
events can happen. Scientists said they plan to upgrade sea-floor
and tidal gauges in U.S. waters, add more high-tech tsunami
detection buoys, and staff their warning centre 24 hours a day.
The extra staff aim to warn the public within five to seven minutes.

* At least half a billion cases of malaria occur each year, say
scientists who warn the World Health Organization's estimates
are off by nearly 50 per cent.

* The latest Mt St Helens eruption surprised scientists. Scientists
do not know what caused the larger-than-normal plume, but said that
in the hours preceding the incident, the seismograph readings had
changed. Although the peaks, indicating the strength of each seismic
burst, weren't higher than normal, the line separating them was
"noisier." The plume rose very rapidly and higher than in previous
months. That indicates there was an explosive element inside, rather
than just a collapse of the crater's roof. Scientists will spend the next
few days combing through the hours of data before the plume to see if
they missed any markers.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

* A 5.3 quake hit South Africa, described by local seismologists as
"very exceptional" for the area. Emergency workers have
rescued 24 gold miners trapped more than 2km underground.
Officials evacuated around three quarters of the 3200 miners
underground when the quake hit the area. Mining officials said
their seismic monitoring system picked up four large seismic events
and a number of smaller ones. About eight tremors were recorded.
The quake, which jolted buildings as far away as Johannesburg,
injured 23 miners and 50 people on the surface. Aftershocks are
expected. There is quite serious damage - two blocks of flats were
evacuated because some walls went down. There are reports of
broken geysers, broken windows and huge cracks in houses.
16 - 42 miners still remained trapped. Without ventilation, the
rock temperature can go up in excess of 50C. They have not
established any communication with the missing miners.
The miners union argues that recent underground mine tremors are
not natural and have something to do with management negligence.
Earlier this week, Harmony Gold also experienced a seismic event
at one of its Free State shafts, while only two weeks ago, workers
were also killed after an underground quake at AngloGold's Tautona
mine. The union says that the Ministry and Department of Minerals
and Energy should take away the mining license of this company.

* Also in South Africa, four people were killed and thousands were left
homeless when hail storms and flash floods struck in Ndwedwe,
near Tongaat in KwaZulu-Natal. Residents said was the worst storm
they had ever seen. The mayor said he could not believe the extent of
the damage. "The weather changed dramatically - there was sun
one minute and in only a short period of time the storm had
caused severe damage."

* Some 330 people have been evacuated from a small town in Italy's
southern region of Calabria where a landslide has wrecked more
than 100 homes. More people are expected to be affected by the
landslide which began several days ago amid freak rain and
snow storms.

* Heavy rains have caused wide-spread flooding across western
Afghanistan.

* In 2007, scientists will launch Project Neptune, which will monitor
potential tsunami threats along the coast of western North America.
Part of the project includes a 3,000-kilometre network of powered
fibre-optic cable on the seabed over the Juan de Fuca Plate where
last week shifting plates on the ocean floor triggered nearly 4,000
small earthquakes along the Northern Juan de Fuca Ridge.

* Some geologists believe rising pressures on one edge of a tectonic
plate can produce a build-up of stress that may eventually prompt
a quake at the other end. The Juan de Fuca plate appears on maps
as a single triangular-shaped mass (as large as Oregon and Washington),
but pressure from rising magma at one side is unlikely to prompt quakes
at the other side according to other geologists. "It's not a one-to-one
thing. It doesn't seem to correlate to sudden movements at the other
end. The pressure may be taken up by faults in the middle of the plate.
Also, some places have slow quakes, ground deformation events that
do not snap. Vancouver Island has moved west and then come back
again, moved west and then come back again."
Shortly after the current quake swarm ended there were two magnitude
five quakes south of the swarm, on the edge of another, smaller plate,
the Gorda Plate, west of Coos Bay. Many geologists say that these
two were unrelated to the swarm.

* At Mt St Helens, ash continued to spew out of the volcano, but
government scientists have said that they do not expect any
violent eruptions similar to the 1980 explosion, which destroyed
200 homes and blew off the top of the mountain. Instead they
say Mount St. Helens will continue to grow, similar to a series
of eruptions and a lava dome-building phase in 1986.

* Geologists have called for a taskforce to be set up to consider
emergency management in the event of a massive volcanic eruption,
or super-eruption. The recommendation comes in a report timed
to coincide with a BBC TV drama that depicts a fictional super-eruption
at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, USA. The authors want to
highlight the issue, which they feel is being ignored by governments.
They emphasise that while catastrophic eruptions of this kind are
rare in terms of a human lifetime, they are surprisingly common on a
geological scale. One past super-eruption struck at Toba in Sumatra
74,000 years ago and is thought by some to have driven the human
race to the edge of extinction. Signs from DNA suggest human
numbers could have dropped to about 10,000, probably as a
result of the effects of climate change. "The U.S. is the place
where we see the largest number of super-eruptions. But that
may be because more work has been done there."

* New Canadian research shows that forest fires are becoming
larger and more intense due to the effects of climate change
and are adding enormous amounts of greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere. Fires in the northern hemisphere's boreal forest and
peatlands are of particular concern because the region holds 40 percent
of the planet's terrestrial carbon. That's almost twice the amount in the
world's tropical forests. Forests are a "wild card" about how fast and
how far global temperatures will rise. There could be a big disaster
ahead. Fires in recent years have been two or three times as large as
anything ever seen.

Wednesday, March 9, 2005

* Cyclone Ingrid, Australia's worst cyclone in 30 years, has been
downgraded from category five to category four. It is now within
the same category as Australia's infamous Cyclone Tracy, which
ravaged the country's north coast. Ingrid was not expected to hit
until this morning. It's most likely to cross the coast in relatively
unpopulated areas.

* Mount St. Helens in Washington state has erupted, sending a
plume of steam and ash 7,600 metres into the air. Mount St. Helens
grew a dome top 80-stories high in December, expanding at a rate
never seen before by scientists studying the volcano. At the time the
dome formed, scientists said it would take 11 years before the volcano
would erupt the way it did back 1980. A partial collapse of the dome
in the crater may have triggered Tuesday's ash burst.

* The Soufriere Hills volcano in Montserrat increased its activity on Sunday.
Skies were hazy over St. Maarten and the surrounding islands as
a result and some people reported a fine dust coating on vehicles and
homes. Volcanic ash flow was mostly North-Northeast, with most of
the ash cloud remaining over the extreme eastern northeast Caribbean.

* The ongoing eruption of the Shiveluch Volcano in northeastern Russia
continues. (Satellite image).

* "The eruption of a super volcano "sooner or later" will chill the
planet and threaten human civilization, British scientists warned
Tuesday. And now the bad news: There's not much anyone can
do about it. Several volcanoes around the world are capable of
gigantic eruptions unlike anything witnessed in recorded history,
based on geologic evidence of past events." Super eruptions are
up to hundreds of times larger than any eruptions seen in tens of
thousands of years. "They could result in the devastation of world
agriculture, severe disruption of food supplies, and mass starvation.
The chances of a globally destructive volcano explosion are five to
10 times greater than a globally destructive asteroid impact.

* Drought has already lasted a month in São Paulo and Paraná, Brazil's
main sugarcane states.

* In Jamaica, crops that just began recovering from storms that hit
six months ago are again under threat, this time from drought,
which is in its 3rd month, and bushfires. No significant rainfall
is expected before May.

* Slideshow of a Utah avalanche engulfing a skier - he survived.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

* There is a growing intensity of explosions at Klyuchevskoi volcano
on Russia's Kamchatka penninsula due to an increased volume of lava
over the past two days. The ash plume now stretches for more
than 70 kilometers and volcanic bombs are hurled to a height of more
than 800 meters. Continuously rolling down the western slope of the
volcano is a lava flow with a temperature of about 1,100 degrees.
There is now a high probability of massive mud flows rushing down
the slopes of the volcano.

* Scientists are still looking for evidence of a new volcanic eruption off
the coast of the Pacific Northwest in North America. "We don't
know if there has been ejection of magma on the sea floor. It has all
the characteristics of magma movement, but it could all be below the
sea floor." A ship checked the region after a similar earthquake swarm
in 2001 but failed to find any new lava on the floor. "This (area off
Vancouver Island) is where plates are being created. Tsunamis come
from where plates are being destroyed."

* Booming noises were heard all over Winston-Salem, North Carolina
over the weekend. Officials with the city's office of emergency
management think the Twin Cities experienced a seismic tremor.
Officials were told the equipment only registers activity above 4.0
on the Richter Scale. There were no reports of injury or structural damage.

* "Seismic activity in the area of the Indian Ocean basin where the
giant earthquake struck last Dec. 26 at last may be quieting down.
There have been no significant aftershocks since last Thursday and
only five in the past week...Before last week, multiple aftershocks
had been continuing on a daily or near-daily basis for more than two
months, with some of the events hitting with surprising strength."

* The geologist who warned in July that Indonesia was due for a
major quake says that only the northernmost portion of the boundary
where the two tectonic plates meet ruptured in December. "The fact
that most of the other part of the section has generated few great
earthquakes in more than a hundred years is worrisome ... other parts
within the section of this fault should be considered dangerous over
the next few decades...I have no doubt that within the next century
we'll have million-person losses, caused by natural disasters in the
developing world. There will be hundreds of thousands more deaths
in the next 10 to 15 years because of earthquakes alone."

* A man taking an avalanche awareness class has died after being trapped
in a slide outside the boundaries of the Aspen Highlands ski area.
Twenty people have died nationwide in avalanches this winter.
Since the winter of 1990-91, avalanches in the Aspen, Colorado
vicinity have claimed more than a dozen lives.

* In the Philippines, environment authorities expressed alarm over
the destruction caused by wildfires in the remaining forests of
Central Luzon, warning that provinces with large tracts of grasslands
near forest areas are most prone to fire breakouts this summer. Forest
fires usually break out during the months of February until May.

* Tropical Cyclone Ingrid has quickly grown into a massive storm.
Ingrid is slowly bearing down on the northeastern coast of Australia
as a growing Category 4 storm.

* For nine months there's been barely a drop of rain anywhere in
central Australia. The red centre is in the grip of a worsening
drought, with their lowest rainfall on record for the last nine months.
Native mammals are starting to die, and wild birds are migrating to
town in search of water. A curious botanical phenomenon is taking
place. Native trees and shrubs are bursting into flower or new seed,
as if there's been a recent deluge of rain. In the grip of its driest spell
on record many of these normally drought resistant trees are in fact in
the process of dying. What appears to be happening is that the native
vegetation is responding to the prolonged dry conditions and are
setting large quantities of seed in the event that conditions like this
continue. A local naturalist says he's seen nothing like it before. So
hopefully when conditions become favourable again the species
will be able to regenerate.

Monday, March 7, 2005

* Cyclone Ingrid has intensified and moved towards the Far North
Queensland coast in Australia, packing destructive winds of more
than 200km/h and torrential rain.

* The 5th cyclone of the season in the South Pacific, Cyclone Rae,
is gathering strength west of the already storm-battered Cook Islands.
Rae has developed from the storm system that brought flooding to parts
of Fiji and Samoa in recent days. Rae is expected to stay only at
tropical storm strength.

* A series of small earthquakes rattled the Granite Falls area in the
state of Washington. The strongest was a magnitude 3.5 temblor
that hit around 5:20 am centered near Lake Roesiger. Two smaller
quakes hit a few hours earlier.

* The latest in the series of quakes off the Pacific Northwest coast was
a 4.1 on Sunday. They had detected nearly 3,800 small quakes as
of late Thursday. This area is where the Juan de Fuca and Pacific plates
of the earth's crust are moving apart, and it experiences intense occasional
bursts of activity between periods of quiet. There were clusters of quakes
here in 1999 and 2001 going on for a week or so with a thousand quakes.
"We don't feel there is a tsunami threat, even though there is vertical motion,
in that we have never seen a tsunami generated from a mid-ocean ridge."

* If a tsunami strikes Oregon, there are no warning sirens. The
only warning may be the violent shaking of the ground from a massive
earthquake just offshore. And if that happens, experts say, the
moment the ground stops shaking run for your life to high ground.
If a major earthquake strikes the Cascadia subduction zone, the
quake will have barely stopped shaking when the tsunami strikes.
"There is no time for an alarm, no time for orderly evacuation, no
time to find family and friends, and no time to drive a car over roads
and bridges that already may be destroyed. The waves could hit
some places as soon as 10 minutes after the quake."
The tsunami will cause more damage than a nuclear bomb. For
centuries, the Cascadia subduction zone has been quiet. Too quiet.
The fault is where the Juan de Fuca plate is forced beneath the
Continental plate, locked so tightly that they only move a few
centimeters each year and the pressure builds up. A magnitude 9
earthquake would cause entire chunks of the coast to fall
right into the sea.

* A moderate earthquake, measuring 5.4 magnitude, hit southern Quebec
early on Sunday and was felt across the New England states as far
away as Boston. There have been no reports of injuries or damage.
It was the second quake in the past week in the area. The quake
occurred at about 1:17 am Sunday, about an hour after another
earthquake was detected at Severnaya Zemlya near the North Pole.
"It's very interesting. (Zemlya) is a pretty odd spot for an earthquake...
One of the latest things today in seismology is triggered earthquakes,
or whether shocks in one area can cause tremors in other locations.
I'm sure plenty of people would be eager to say the North Pole quake
set off Quebec's, although there is no concensus on the theory of
triggered earthquakes."

* A strong earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked
high-rise buildings in Taiwan early Sunday. A quake with a
magnitude of 4.2 struck seven minutes before the major quake.
There were a series of aftershocks including one measured at 5.0
on the Richter scale and one with a magnitude of 4.7.
Seven quakes jolted the area in 8 hours, leaving at least three people
injured and cutting off power to some 20,000 homes.

* Rumblings at Mount Spurr in Alaska are creating hazardous
conditions for extreme skiers, snowboarders and pilots landing
in the area. Possible dangers include unstable snow and ice and
higher concentrations of potentially lethal gases and acidic water
that could be strong enough to burn skin. Heightened seismic activity
has been recorded there for months. New measurements taken during
flights over the volcano this week show the presence of sulfur dioxide,
indicating activity stemming from molten lava, not simply heating of
ground water. Researchers also spotted water at a summit lake
bubbling up - either from increasing heat or gases floating to the top.

* Mayon and Taal volcanoes in the Philippines have been showing signs
of restiveness since last week. The Philippine Institute of
Volcanology and Seismology said Alert Level 2 has been hoisted
over Mayon after monitoring stations recorded rumblings from
the volcano. Meanwhile, Alert Level 1 was hoisted over Taal
volcano in Batangas as 19 high frequency volcanic earthquakes
were recorded in the area last week.

* Officials are likely to declare a drought emergency for the state of
Washington within the next several days, with temperatures remaining
stubbornly high and snowfall uncommonly low. Parts of the state
already have endured five straight years of drought.

* Montana is at such high risk for a wildfire "blowup" this summer
that the Governor wants at least some of the 1,500 National Guard
soldiers in Iraq and elsewhere to return home for the wildfire season.
Blow-ups could also occur in Idaho and Washington, and in
Saskatchewan and Alberta, Canada.

* Three elderly people were missing on Saturday after a landslide
near the southern Italian city of Naples.

Saturday, March 5, 2005

* An earthquake "swarm" that began last weekend has resulted in
thousands of small earthquakes off the Oregon coast in recent
days. 1500 quakes were recorded in the first 36 hours of the cluster
and they are continuing, but at a 'moderate' pace. These earthquake
swarms generally ranged from magnitude 2 to 4, and typically occur
in swarms during seafloor spreading events. The site is on the
undersea Juan de Fuca Ridge northwest of Astoria called the
Endeavor segment.

* A scientific SWAT team from Seattle is sailing this afternoon for
the spot off the coast of Vancouver Island where they suspect an
underwater eruption is under way. This is an area of the Juan
de Fuca Ridge in the article above, where swarms of earthquakes
started rattling the ocean bottom 200 miles offshore on Sunday.
In the past six days, the area has been rocked by nearly 4,000
temblors, most tiny, but some exceeding magnitude 4. The Juan
de Fuca plate is a tectonic time bomb capable of producing
earthquakes and tsunamis on par with the disaster that struck the
Indian Ocean in December. An eruption along the ridge doesn't
directly raise the risk of an earthquake on the subduction zone,
but the regions are closely linked, like pieces in a puzzle.

* Survivors of the tsunami who were along India's southeast coast
say there was not one, but three waves that roared onto their beaches
at 8:40 the morning of Dec. 26. Most people survived the tsunami's
first surge, but about 40 minutes later, a more powerful wall of water
sliced across the coastline, leaving a swath of destruction. A half-hour
later, another wave hit. A large tsunami-generating earthquake only
a few miles off the U.S. Northwest coast, which has a history of such
quakes, could have even more dire results than what India experienced
when the tsunami hit them in December. One scientist said of
the damage in India - "It's what I had imagined for every single
coastal community in California, Oregon and Washington."

* Highly toxic waste washed on to Somalia's coastline by the December
tsumani has spawned illnesses with symptoms like radioactive exposure
in villagers along the shore of the shattered African nation. In the late
1980s, European firms dumped wastes such as uranium, lead,
cadmium, mercury, industrial, hospital, chemical, leather treatment
and other waste in northern Somalia. Somalia watchers have said
that the country's warlords controlling fiefdoms along the shoreline
were paid hefty amounts of cash to allow waste to be dumped there.
Radioactive contamination could cause "serious long-term effects
on human health as well as severe impacts on groundwater, soil,
agriculture and fisheries for many years".

Friday, March 4, 2005

* A small earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 struck in northern
New York Wednesday night along the US-Canadian border.

* Since Jan. 28, there has been an "extended swarm" of quakes in
Arizona. The swarm includes a 4.0 earthquake that hit on Jan. 28,
and another of the same magnitude on Jan. 30. Both quakes occurred
near the same general area as the 4.6 reported at 5am on Wednesday.
Geophysicists said there is no clear explanation for this burst of seismic
activity, other than that the area apparently lies along a fault line.
"Probably there's a fault there, but no one has mapped it." Another
quake, of lesser but undetermined magnitude, hit around 2 p.m.
Wednesday but scientists have not been able to calculate that
quake's magnitude.

* At least two people were killed and a number of houses
smashed Thursday in a landslide in West Java.

* At least 14 people were killed and more than 25,000 driven from
their homes as torrential rains lashed south-western Pakistan, still
recovering from last month's devastating floods.

* An unusual European cold snap has resulted in snow-covered
palm trees in the Mediterranean, travel chaos on the continent
and a rise in heating costs. In some parts of The Netherlands snowfall
was up to 50 centimetres (20 inches), the highest March levels in the
ast 20 to 25 years. In Turin, the thermometer fell to -8 C (17.60F)
overnight, 1.5 C lower than the previous record low for March set
in 1971, while Rome suffered its coldest March for 18 years. In
Spain, Madrid has seen its heaviest snowfall for about 15 years.
Spain has experienced its lowest temperatures in decades this month.
The cold snap of the last 3 days has been one of three or four of the
most significant in the last 30 to 40 years. In Austria there have
been a large number of avalanches, with almost daily reports of
skiers and others caught by snow while travelling away from
prepared pistes. Ironically, Portugal is suffering one of its worst
droughts in a century. About 75 percent of the Iberian nation is
suffering from "extreme and severe" drought during what should
be its rainy season.

Thursday, March 3, 2005

* Greenland witnessed record winter high temperatures last weekend. The official record of 16.0 C (60.8 F) was recorded in the town of Paamiut (Frederikshob) on the western coast of Greenland. The temperature is the highest recorded winter temperature since record keeping began in 1958. Greenland's coastal areas do not typically have harsh winters, but this temperature was forty degrees above normal for the month. The warm air spread northward, raising temperatures all across the ice sheet before dissipating in the high arctic.
During the second week of Feburary, a completely unprecedented and unexplained heat wave struck Greenland. Already, melt off Greenland's glaciers has reached record proportions. The warm air originated in the Caribbean, and rolled north along the frontal edge of the jet stream. It was not an unusual formation for summer, but for it to appear in midwinter was unprecedented.

* The temperature shot up to a blistering 38.3°C in Alor Star, Malaysia on Sunday, marking the second highest temperature ever recorded in the country. Hot and dry weather is expected to continue until the end of March. Hundreds of fires have broken out in Peninsular Malaysia and are ravaging 8,600ha of land in six states. The hotspots, most of which are peat fires, have resulted in the deterioration of air quality. Many of these fires have been raging since Feb 12. For peat fires, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the fire as it usually spreads underground.

* India says it has given up hope of rebuilding six islands in the tsunami-hit Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, where nearly 6,000 people are still listed as missing and the infrastructure is in a shambles two months after the disaster.

* On the Northwest coast of the U.S. a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami similar to the recent catastrophe in the Indian Ocean could be imminent. The last enormous tsunami-triggering earthquake there, 305 years ago, may have been the first in a recurring cluster of quakes, new research indicates.

* A strong 5.7 earthquake shook Peru's capital and the surrounding coast and mountains Wednesday, but it did not cause injuries or damage.

* A light 4.6 earthquake struck northern Arizona Wednesday morning. People more than 100 miles away reported feeling the tremor.

* A rare drought maintains its grip on south China's Hainan Province where a total of 554,800 rural residents are almost without drinkable water.

* As Eritrea experiences a fourth consecutive drought cycle widespread malnutrition is threatening, resulting from worsening food shortages.

* Palmerston in the southern Cook Islands is the latest island to bear the brunt of Cyclone Percy as it cuts a path through the Pacific, leaving a trail of damage in its wake.

* Much of Europe shivered under near record low temperatures yesterday, with snow and ice creating disruption on the roads and causing air and rail delays. In Romania, three people including a one-month baby died of the cold, and temperatures in the capital, Bucharest, fell to their lowest since 1932. The Rome observatory said temperatures in the Italian capital fell to their lowest level in 200 years, with an absolute record low for the country of minus 32 celsius in the mountains separating Umbria and the Marches. In Portugal, the main hospital in the town of Guarda, 370km north-east of Lisbon, was forced to cancel all non-emergency surgery when water pipes froze. The Evros river in the northern Greek region of Thrace overflowed after heavy rain and snowfall in the Bulgarian uplands, flooding farmland and a village where about 300 inhabitants had to be evacuated. Britain called in the army to help deal with disruption caused by heavy snow after southern England was hit by severe weather. Electricity consumption in Austria hit the highest point since the beginning of the year, and fuel oil suppliers said they were running out of stock. Bulgarian ski resorts enjoyed their heaviest snowfalls for 20 years.

* Heavy snowfalls and squall winds brought by the Balkan cyclone has left Ukraine's 124 populated localities in five regions cut off from electric power supply for a third day.

Wednesday, March 2, 2005

* Darwin, Australia has been rocked by an earthquake measuring
7.1 (upgraded) on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was in the
Banda Sea near Indonesia. There were no immediate reports of damage.
Although it was the biggest in several years in the Banda Sea, it
was unlikely to have done any significant damage and "very
unlikely to cause a tsunami".

* In the minutes following December's catastrophic earthquake off
the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a wave of biblical proportions -
a surge of seawater more than 90 feet high - inundated stretches
of the remote western coast. When the tsunami hit Sri Lanka hours
later, it displaced 2 million cubic yards of sand - enough to bury a
football field 1, 000 feet deep. Isolated villages on Sumatra's western
coast just south of hard-hit Banda Aceh caught the full brunt of the
giant tsunami and were swept away without a trace - perhaps only
15 minutes after the ground began to shake on Dec. 26. A surge of
lesser height struck low-lying Banda Aceh, but it swept 4 miles on
shore, killing tens of thousands. (this article is oddly placed on the
linked site - go down the page to the article headline 'Scientists find
tsunami produced 90-foot wave'. The article initially repeats part of a
fossil article, but the wave information follows that.)

* More than 100 bodies were still found in a single day in Aceh more
than two months after the Indonesian province was devastated
by the earthquake-triggered tsunami.

* Even though the state of Washington has the second-highest quake
risk in the United States, after California, most Puget Sound-area
communities still are not even close to being prepared for a major quake.
The Seattle Fault zone, a series of shallow faults that run east-west ,
represents the highest known seismic risk to this region. The potential
impact from a magnitude 6.7 quake on the Seattle Fault includes more
than 1,600 deaths and 24,000 injuries, economic losses of about
$33 billion, and the destruction of nearly 10,000 structures with
another 30,000 left uninhabitable. "This scenario rivals the largest
natural disaster to ever hit the United States."

* Temperatures plunged to record levels yesterday as the European
continent experienced one of its worst cold snaps in years. At
least 25 people were injured in Germany in two pile-ups on a motorway
engulfed in thick fog. A 30-car pile-up also cut off Scotland's main
highway linking Glasgow to Edinburgh, but no one was injured. Trains
were forced to return to stations in Spain's Grenada and Almeria,
while frozen tracks led to the cancellation of dozens of trains in
Switzerland. Records were broken across the continent:
The mass of snow covering the Czech Republic was "probably the
largest in the last 40 years".
The Swiss capital Bern registered -15.6C, its coldest at this time of
the year since data began to be collected in 1901.
Croatia had its coldest night since 1963, with -21C in the central
parts of the country.
France beat records set in 1971. It was coldest in the village of
Saugues in the western region of Haute-Loire where thermometers
registered -29.5C overnight.
Worst hit though was the Berchtesgaden region near Germany's
border with Austria, with temperatures of -43.6C, close to the -45.9C
record set in 2001.
At Stuttgart airport, the mercury dropped to -18.6C - the lowest
temperature in March in 105 years.
The cold snap has so far caused 80 million euros ($134 million)
worth of crop damage in the region, including 26 million tonnes
of strawberries.

* The traffic on the Transcaucasus highway that links Russia with
Georgia is closed over an avalanche hazard.

* Thick haze is shadowing winter crop-growing areas in eastern China.

* Shiveluch volcano erupted on Sunday and a large ash cloud is hanging
over Kamchatka and the Okhotsk Sea, with ash still falling. The
seismological station, located 8 km off the volcano, went off the air,
probably put out of action by a 10 km pyroclastic flow (scorching
fragmental avalanche).

* Hawaiian residents who live downwind from the long-active Kilauea
volcano may have elevated risks of adverse health conditions because
of high levels of sulfur dioxide and aerosol particulates that drift downwind.
"Basalt volcanoes - like Kilauea or Masaya in Nicaragua - can emit a great
deal of sulfur dioxide into the lower atmosphere even when not erupting.
By contrast, Washington's Mount St. Helens is a dacite volcano that
emits sulfur dioxide primarily during eruptions, and even then injects it
high into the atmosphere, where the immediate impact on humans is less."

Tuesday, March 1, 2005

* There was widespread damage on the islands of Pukapuka and Nassau
after Cyclone Percy slammed into the area. A search is under way
for a person missing on the northern Cook Islands. On Pukapuka, with
a population of 600, only 10 houses weathered the storm intact . On
Nassau "all the homes are reportedly severely damaged or destroyed",
although the 70 residents are safe. Percy continued to weaken as it turned
south, taking the storm away from the populated islands of the Northern
Cooks. Percy is the fourth cyclone to batter the region during February
and the Cook Islands were battered by all three earlier cyclones – Olaf,
Nancy and Meena.

* Three moderate earthquakes were recorded within an hour in the
Pacific Ocean west of Vancouver Island early Monday, but they
were far enough at sea that none was felt in populated centers.
The tremors came four years to the day after the 6.7 Nisqually
earthquake that rattled Puget Sound in Washington state.

* The avalanche risk is not over in the Kashmir disaster that has
killed 278 people.

* It has been the deadliest winter in nearly two decades in Japan
where heavy snow since December has killed 61 people.

* Experts have become increasingly worried over recent months about the
threat of a pandemic. Last year, the World Health Organization said a
pandemic was "inevitable" and countries should start preparing. There
were three flu pandemics during the 20th century. The worst one in 1918
killed up to 50 million people. Several countries, including Canada, the
U.S. and Australia, have already started building up reserves of flu drugs.

* A catastrophic event flooded the Martian surface five million years ago
and then froze out, a team of European scientists has announced.
A huge, frozen sea lies just below the surface of Mars. Water
flowed in some kind of massive catastrophic event; pack ice formed
on top of that water and broke up, and then the whole thing froze rigid.
There is a possibility that primitive micro-organisms survive on Mars today.

2005 Featured Disasters