Saturday, January 29, 2011

The World Shakes

Connection to my post of December 2010?  Earthquakes and other natural disasters

Natural Disasters: totally off the charts: 

Saudi Arabia 

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense Department started assessing the damage to Jeddah after heavy rains caused flooding that killed ten people in the kingdom’s second-largest city.Three people were still missing and 114 were injured during the flooding in the Red Sea city, Mohammed al-Qarni, General Major in the Civil Defense Department in Jeddah, said in an interview today. The government relocated 1,700 families to temporary housing after their property was damaged, he said. 


Japan

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - Minor eruptions continued at Shinmoedake peak on the border of Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures Friday, a day after the volcano erupted explosively for the first time in 52 years.

The volcano in the Kirishima mountain range spewed columns of smoke reaching more than 3,000 meters high, sending volcanic ash flying over the prefectures.

Indonesia

Bromo: Over in Indonesia, the new ash explosions from Tengger Caldera's Bromo vent continue to cause flight cancellations for air traffic heading to Bali. All of this activity is still not considered a major eruption of the volcano, but the increased activity combined with the weather patterns over the region make for a VAAC advisory for flights coming in especially from Australia.

Mexico

As of March 2010, the dome was growing about 2,000 cubic meters (70,000) cubic feet a day, leading to frequent small rockfalls and occasional ash plumes. In January 2011, local newspapers reported “dust plumes” rising over Colima, likely pulverized lava stirred up by landslides at the summit dome.

Kamchatka

Kizimen Volcano, which erupted for the first time in 81 years in December 2010, continues to emit a steady stream of gas and ash. This natural-color satellite image shows the eruption on the afternoon of January 26, 2011. An ash plume rises directly above the volcano, to an altitude of about 11,000 feet (3,400 meters), according to the U.S. Air Force Weather Agency.

U.S. Yellowstone

The supervolcano underneath Yellowstone National Park has caused several miles worth of land to rise up, according to the National Geographic and other reports. "It's an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high," University of Utah's Bob Smith told National Geographic. Smith is an expert on the Yellowstone Caldera.

Italy

Mount Etna seems to have come back to life, at least for a little while.
The Italian volcano awoke Wednesday night, spewing molten lava into the air for over two hours,according to the AP. The lava flowed down the eastern side of the mountain in the volcano's first eruption since 1992.

Brazil

The death toll from Brazil's devastating flooding continues to rise, making it the country's deadliest natural disaster on record. Authorities Saturday estimated at least 787 people have been killed so far, and the number is expected to go higher. Officials said Friday at least another 400 people are missing. Days of heavy rains last week unleashed rivers of mud that leveled houses, threw cars on top of buildings and left at least 6,000 people homeless. Another 8,000 were forced to move to temporary housing.

Australia

Known for hot temperatures and the Great Barrier Reef, Australia is now overwhelmed with rain of near-Biblical proportions. This has led to devastating flooding. However, the floods are not only damaging the vast country but also the economy, which is expected to take a crippling blow.

Australia's new year didn't exactly have a fresh start. In early January, western Australia experienced floods. The flooding was especially heavy in the state of Queensland, which just came off nearly a decade of droughts. New South Wales and Victoria were similarly affected. The flooding has already been called one of the country's worst natural disasters, and the clean-up has already cost more than $20 billion Australian (US $19.9 billion).

New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New Jersey & Boston

The East coast has been blasted with a lot of snow storms since the blizzard hit on December 26. This harsh winter will probably go down as one of the coldest and snowiest for the history books. And it looks like a snowy weekend is ahead for the North East too.

The NY Times reports that hundreds of thousands lost power in the recent thunder snow in Washington, DC. What will this next storm have in store for this city?


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