Category: Disaster

45 wildfires raging on overall area of 5,900 hectares across Russia

1132502MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. As many as 45 wildfires on an overall area of 5,900 hectares are reported across Russia, with the wildfire season starting in 77 Russian regions, the press service of the Federal Forest Protection Service said on Thursday.

The biggest wildfires are reported in the Far Eastern Amur regions (3,900 hectares) and in the Siberian republic of Buryatia (1,400 hectares).

Wildfires are also reported in the Transbaikal and Krasnoyarsk Territories, in the republic of Tuva, in the Tomsk, Sverdlovsk, and Vologda regions. Source

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From Uttarakhand to Canada, the world is seeing a flurry of forest fires

forest-fire-story-fb_647_050416082937As drought sucks regions of Maharastra and Telangana dry, the Himalayas are getting singed by forest fires.

From Uttarakhand to Jammu and Kashmir, lack of rainfall and scorching heat are sparking wildfires in dry forests which are getting wafted into residential areas by strong winds. Apart from losing acres of lands to these flames, human as well as animals are literally in the line of fire.

However, India is not the only country suffering. Wildfires seem to be springing up in different parts of the world.  Source

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Scientists reveal likely cause of recent southeast U.S. earthquakes

scientists-reveal-likely-cause-of-recent-southeast-us-earthquakesCHAPEL HILL, N.C., May 3 (UPI) — The southeastern United States isn’t known for its seismic activity, but the region does experience the odd earthquake.

A new study — published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth — offers an explanation for the phenomenon.

Most earthquakes occur near plate boundaries and major fault lines. The southeastern corner of the United States lies in the middle of the North American Plate, far from the seismically active margins.

However, new analysis suggests the plate’s interior continues to lose bits and pieces of its mantle. As fragments break off and sink toward Earth’s interior, the mantle is left thinner and more brittle — and more susceptible to the fault slipping that triggers earthquakes.  Source

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Wildfire in Canada’s Fort Mac energy heartland forces evacuation

Vehicles are seen on highway 63 as they are detoured near wildfire burning near Fort McMurray Alberta
Vehicles are seen on highway 63 as they are detoured near wildfire burning near Fort McMurray, Alberta May 1, 2016. Courtesy Gregory Hong/Handout via REUTERS

An uncontrolled wildfire burning near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, the heart of Canada’s oil sands region, has forced the evacuation of nearly all the city’s 80,000 residents, local authorities said on Tuesday.

A number of flights from Fort McMurray airport were canceled and the airport advised passengers to check with their airlines for updates.

“This is the biggest evacuation we have seen in the history of the province in terms of fire,” said Alberta Premier Rachel Notley.

However, the 2,650-hectare (6,540-acre) fire, which was discovered on May 1, is not close to any oil sands facilities, according to Alberta government online maps. Source

 

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Indian drought ‘affecting 330 million people’ after two weak monsoons

4096About 330 million people are affected by drought in India, the government has said, as the country reels from severe water shortages and desperately poor farmers suffer crop losses.

A senior government lawyer, PS Narasimha, told the supreme court that a quarter of the country’s population, spread across 10 states, had been hit by drought after two consecutive years of weak monsoons.

Narasimha said the government had released funds to affected regions where a crippling shortage of rainfall had forced the rationing of drinking water to some communities.

As summer hits India, reports of families and farmers in remote villages walking long distances to find water after their wells dried up have dominated local media. Source

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Shake ‘n’ bake: Quakes, volcanoes in sudden eruption spree

ecuador-earthquake-1A flurry of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions wreaked havoc around the globe in the past week and reignited widespread interest in the natural time bombs beneath humanity’s feet.

A volcanic eruption near Mexico City on Monday and an earthquake in Ecuador on Saturday followed a pair of earthquakes that rocked Japan last week. In short, Mother Nature dealt millions of victims five days terror that involved collapsed buildings, soot-filled streets, tsunami warnings and emergency workers searching through rubble.

Filerma Rayo, 33, told Reuters she spent five hours trapped under debris in Pedernales, Ecuador, after Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Nearly 300 people and at least 2,000 were injured. Hundreds of corpses were consolidated at a nearby stadium to be identified. Source

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Unusual quake cluster worries Japan

20180418_quake1_article_main_imageTOKYO — Seismic activity in southern Japan is mystifying geologists and keeping the nation on edge.

The island of Kyushu has been struck by a series of significant earthquakes, with the epicenters moving progressively further inland. The cluster started with the deadly quakes that hit Kumamoto Prefecture last Thursday and Saturday. Temblors subsequently rocked the Mount Aso region and neighboring Oita Prefecture.

There is a known concentration of faults in the area. Still, experts say it is highly unusual to have a string of quakes measuring around magnitude 6 and stretching over such a vast area. The epicenter of the Oita jolt was about 100km away from the first Kumamoto quake.

“I don’t quite understand what is happening with the recent earthquakes, because it’s an unfamiliar phenomenon,” said Yoshihisa Iio, a professor at Kyoto University’s Research Center for Earthquake Prediction.  Source

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Powerful Ecuador earthquake kills 238

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QUITO, Ecuador –  The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades killed at least 238 people and injured more than 1,500 others Sunday as damage stretched for hundreds of miles to the capital and other major cities.

The magnitude-7.8 quake was centered on Ecuador’s sparsely populated fishing ports and tourist beaches, 105 miles northwest of Quito, the capital.  Source

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