Week of 6/9/13 through 6/15/13

June 9, 2013 – IRAN - Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has opened a new center for monitoring space and tracking objects passing near the Earth. Ahmadinejad visited the center in the town of Delijan, some 200 kilometers south of Tehran, on June 9, accompanied by Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and other officials.

June 10, 2013 – CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – An asteroid the size of a small truck zoomed past Earth four times closer than the moon on Saturday, the latest in a parade of visiting celestial objects that has raised awareness of potentially hazardous impacts on the planet. 

June 10, 2013 – LEBANON – Lebanese troops blocked streets in Beirut with tanks and barbed wire for several hours on Sunday after the killing of a protester outside the Iranian embassy raised factional tensions already inflamed by the war in Syria. A man died during a clash between rival groups of Shi’ite Muslims after militiamen from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement opened fire when protesters drew up at the embassy, the latest sign of Syria’s violence spilling over to its neighbors. 

June 10, 2013 – ECOLOGY – A new and annoying species of ant is terrorizing the U.S. and chemicals that kill off other types of the insect are proving ineffective against it. The ‘crazy’ ant, named for the erratic trail it leaves as it makes its way across the country, originated in Argentina and Brazil. But since it was first spotted in Houston in 2002, it has spread to some 21 counties in Texas, 20 counties in Florida and a few locations in Mississippi and Louisiana. University of Texas researcher and co-author of a study on the creatures Ed LeBrun said the omnivorous ants attack and kill other species as well as monopolizing food sources to the detriment of the entire ecosystem. He said everything from cattle to songbirds are at risk of the tiny ants, despite them being at the bottom of the food chain. According to ABC News, the chemicals that kill the more common red ant aren’t effective on crazy ants so residents should call pest control if they find an infestation in their home. And hopefully they’ll get there before the critters attack their computer. The insects, bizarrely, are attracted to electrical wiring and components and in one year alone caused $146.5 million in damages in Texas, ABC reported. The devastation occurs when one ant discovers the transformer then gets electrocuted when it touches it, and ‘waves its abdomen in the air’ omitting a certain scent. The scent lures for ants to the scene and they too are electrocuted, again sending the scent into the air to attract their friends.

June 10, 2013 – BONN, GERMANY – German authorities urged 15,000 more people to flee their homes in a city on the swollen Elbe River Sunday as central Europe’s worst floods in a decade also threatened Hungary after causing havoc in the Czech Republic and Austria. The river Danube reached a new record high in Budapest but the Hungarian capital’s mayor sought to ease concerns, saying water levels were stabilizing, although about 1,200 people were evacuated along the river. The deluge has also sparked massive emergency responses in Austria and Slovakia. A torrent of flood waters in Germany has turned vast areas into a brown water world, sparked a mass mobilization of emergency workers and caused billions of euros in damage.

June 10, 2013 – CZECH REPUBLIC – Expectations that Central Europe’s flooding would ease this week were put on hold following heavy rainfall over the weekend, as the Vltava and Elbe rivers swelled again to near critical levels in the Czech Republic while the flood wave moving through northern Germany triggered more evacuations. Forecasters are expecting more thunderstorms in parts of southern Germany, just as recovery efforts were beginning to get under way after the worst flooding seen in some areas in 500 years. And in Hungary, floodwaters were moving southwards after water levels stabilized in Budapest. The situation was worsening along the Elbe in northern Germany, where a dike burst overnight, cutting off high-speed train connections between Berlin and most western German cities.

June 10, 2013 – INDONESIA - As the Indonesian Volcanological Survey (VSI) specified in its latest bulletin, parts of the active lava dome of the volcano have recently (early June) grown higher than the northern crater rim, where it is cut by a valley extending to the northern feet of the stratovolcano. Therefore, potential continued growth of the dome poses the risk of rockfalls and pyroclastic flows reach the northern flanks, where a number of villages are located, namely Pasilulu and Talen. In addition, VSI scientists have detected an increase of seismicity and degassing since early May. This includes volcanic tremor from growing lava dome and deeper earthquakes, possibly related to new magma rising, and the occurrence of notable sulfur smell. 

 

June 10, 2013 – KAMCHATKA – Russia’s northernmost active volcano is churning out ash to a height of up to 9,000 meters (29,500 feet) in the country’s Far East, local scientists said Monday. The 3,283-meter (10,771-foot) Shiveluch volcano increased activity in May 2009 and has been periodically spewing ash from three to ten kilometers. “Video monitoring of the volcano was complicated due to poor weather conditions, but seismological stations registered over the past 24 hours almost 150 local seismic activities with the most continued one accompanied by a spew of ash up to a height of 6.9 kilometers, give or take 2.2 kilometers,” a local department of the Geophysical Service with the Russian Academy of Sciences said in a statement. The Kamchatkan volcano Shiveluch has thrice emitted columns of hot volcanic ash and gas. The tallest plume reached nine kilometers above the sea level, the Kamchatkan branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Geophysical Service reported on Monday. A code orange alert was issued for the volcano. 

 

June 11, 2013 – SPACE – Every summer, something strange and wonderful happens high above the North Pole.  Ice crystals begin to cling to the smoky remains of meteors, forming electric-blue clouds with tendrils that ripple hypnotically against the sunset sky.  Noctilucent clouds—a.k.a. “NLCs”–are a delight for high-latitude sky watchers, and around the Arctic Circle their season of visibility is always eagerly anticipated. News flash: This year, NLCs are getting an early start. NASA’s AIM spacecraft, which is orbiting Earth on a mission to study noctilucent clouds, started seeing them on May 13th. “The 2013 season is remarkable because it started in the northern hemisphere a week earlier than any other season that AIM has observed,” reports Cora Randall of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado. “This is quite possibly earlier than ever before. The early start is extra-puzzling because of the solar cycle.  Researchers have long known that NLCs tend to peak during solar minimum and bottom-out during solar maximum—a fairly strong anti-correlation. “If anything, we would have expected a later start this year because the solar cycle is near its maximum,” Randall says. “So much for expectations.” For sky watchers, this means it’s time to pay attention to the sunset sky, where NLCs are most often seen.   

June 10, 2013 – INDONESIA - As the Indonesian Volcanological Survey (VSI) specified in its latest bulletin, parts of the active lava dome of the volcano have recently (early June) grown higher than the northern crater rim, where it is cut by a valley extending to the northern feet of the stratovolcano. Therefore, potential continued growth of the dome poses the risk of rockfalls and pyroclastic flows reach the northern flanks, where a number of villages are located, namely Pasilulu and Talen. In addition, VSI scientists have detected an increase of seismicity and degassing since early May. This includes volcanic tremor from growing lava dome and deeper earthquakes, possibly related to new magma rising, and the occurrence of notable sulfur smell.

 June 11, 2013 – FRANCE - A natural phenomenon more common for America, a tornado, has hit the South of France shocking locals and holidaymakers on the Côte d’Azur, the Mediterranean coastline. As thousands in Central Europe are struggling to cope with devastating floods which have already claimed the lives of at least 21 people, a tornado ripped through the French Riviera on Sunday morning. The violently rotating column of air and water formed off the coast not far from popular resort towns of Cannes and Nice. The phenomenon was observed from the Cagnes-sur-Mer commune in southeastern France, rising off to Villeneuve-Loubet and Antibes, reports Nicematin.com. So far, no damage or injury has been reported.  

June 11, 2013 – ALASKA - A weak eruptive activity has started from the volcano. Since last night, weak ash emissions have appeared from the central cone of the caldera of the volcano. The new activity is accompanied by a persistent steam plume and increasing volcanic tremor. So far there seem to be no lava flows or other significant eruptive processes. The new ash emissions are very diluted and reach about 200-300 m height. They were first observed on the Aviation camera of Perryville from last night at around 17-18h local time. AVO who has not yet reported about the ash confirmed to Blog Culture Volcan that the plume indeed contains very small amounts of ash, which pose no problems to aviation (for now). The volcano last erupted in 2008. –Volcano Discovery

June 11, 2013 – GERMANY - Thousands of people left their homes in eastern Germany on Sunday as a dam burst on the swollen River Elbe and swathes of farmland were flooded in an attempt to spare towns, with meteorologists forecasting more rain. In Magdeburg, one of the oldest cities in eastern Germany and a regional capital, some 23,000 people were asked to evacuate as water levels in the Elbe rose to a record 7.48 meters, around 5 meters above normal and surpassing the level reached in devastating floods in 2002. “We helped yesterday to carry sandbags to secure the town.    

June 12, 2013 – WASHINGTON – The EU is demanding assurances that Europeans’ rights are not being infringed by massive, newly revealed US surveillance program. Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding plans to raise the concerns with US Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday. Last week a series of leaks by a former CIA worker led to claims the US had a vast surveillance network with much less oversight than previously thought. The US insists its snooping is legal under domestic law. The Obama administration is investigating whether the disclosures by former CIA worker Edward Snowden were a criminal offence. More revelations are promised to be released to the press in coming days about the extent of U.S. domestic spying. Mr. Snowden’s employer, defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, said on Tuesday it had fired the 29-year-old infrastructure analyst for violating its ethics code.   

June 12, 2013 – COLORADO – Thick smoke plumes, visible for miles, billowed from fires near Colorado Springs, in southern Colorado, and in Rocky Mountain National Park to the north. A wildfire in a residential area northeast of Colorado Springs forced mandatory evacuations of 2,530 homes, including some worth more than $1 million, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said. Video from a helicopter showed several large homes engulfed in flames.  

June 12, 2013 - BRUSSELS - The US National Security Agency (NSA) snoops on all EU member states and on Germany the most, new data reveals. A color-coded map of secret surveillance activities by the NSA ranks countries according to how much they are surveilled – green for the least and red for the most watched. All EU member states have variant shades of green except for Germany, which is color-coded orange. The NSA tool, called Boundless Informant, is among the documents disclosed by 29-year-old Edward Snowden who has since sought refuge in Hong Kong. Snowden, who has worked at the NSA for the past four years on a number of outside contracts, said some NSA analysts have blanket power to spy on anyone for any reason. “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authority to wire-tap anyone … even if you are not doing anything wrong, you are being watched and recorded,” he told The Guardian newspaper. Boundless Informant reveals that some 3 billion pieces of metadata intelligence was gathered over a 30-day period, says The Guardian. Metadata includes calls made, location of the phone, time of the call and duration. The tool comes with an operational handbook and says it uses “big data technology to query SIGINT [signals intelligence] collection in the cloud to produce near real-time business intelligence describing the agency’s available SIGINT infrastructure and coverage.” It notes that the tool is “hosted entirely on corporate services” and is designed to, without any human intervention, to graphically display collected data in map view, bar chart, or simple table. The tool is able to create a “near real-time snapshot” of collection ability at any given moment. “The tool allows users to select a country on a map and view the metadata volume and select the details about the collection against that country,” notes the handbook. Boundless Informant, along with the revelation of the secret-Prism programme and the extent of the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, has confirmed what a handful of EU privacy experts have long suspected. The amended FISA grants the US government powers to collect foreign intelligence on information stored in US Cloud computing providers like Google or Amazon. Caspar Bowden, a former chief privacy adviser to Microsoft, told this website in January that the amended FISA intentionally targets non-US persons who are engaged in any sort of activity that relates to the conduct of foreign affairs of the United States. But US justice department spokesperson Dan Boyd said his country’s data laws give high protection. “We believe the US standards are at least as strong as those governing intelligence collection in European Union Member States,” Boyd told EUobserver in an email in January. Boyd said the FISA Amendments Act is not used indiscriminately or for political purposes. He said the law has a judicial branch oversight through the so-called Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). “A careful and unbiased examination of US law demonstrates how strongly we carry out this commitment to protecting privacy,” said Boyd. Meanwhile, the FISC found the NSA activities unconstitutional in a 2011 opinion whose details have never been fully disclosed. The US justice department, in a rare public ruling on Friday (7 June), urged that the FISC opinion remain out of sight. –

June 13, 2013 – CHICAGO - A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms could affect one in five Americans as it rumbles from Iowa to Maryland packing hail, lightning and tree-toppling winds. Meteorologists are warning that the continuous line of storms may even spawn an unusual weather event called a derecho, which is a massive storm of strong straight-line winds spanning at least 240 miles. Wednesday’s storms are also likely to generate tornadoes and cause power outages that will be followed by oppressive heat.

June 13, 2013 – MEXICO - A cluster of several (7) volcanic earthquakes up to magnitudes 2.4 has occurred this morning, perhaps heralding some more vigorous activity in the near future. Apart from this, activity has remained stable with about 2 weak steam-gas-sometimes ash-containing explosions per hour. A steam plume often rises about 1 km above the volcano. Meanwhile, Mauna Loa may be stirring in Hawaii. The large volcanic system last erupted in 1984. The latest update of the USGS mentions that minor inflation of a shallow magma reservoir beneath Mauna Loa may be occurring. Seismicity rates were slightly elevated. However, the level of observed seismicity is far from alarming and the alert level remains at green. No eruption is expected in the near future.

 

June 13, 2013 – PHILIPPINES – Restive Taal Volcano in Batangas province showed heightened activity after at least nine volcanic quakes were recorded around it in the past 24 hours, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs). Paulo Reniva, science research assistant of the Phivolcs’ Volcano Monitoring Division, said these quakes were monitored from 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. yesterday. Phivolcs recorded seven volcanic quakes in a previous 24-hour observation period.   

June 13, 2013 – INDONESIA - An earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale has struck off Indonesia’s most densely-populated island of Java, but there have been no immediate reports of casualties or damage. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake took place at 11:47 pm (1647 GMT) on Thursday and was centered some 170 kilometers (106 miles) east of Flying Fish Cove, on Australia’s Christmas Island. The US Geological Survey also said that the quake was 11 kilometers (7 miles) deep. The tremor has reportedly forced panicked residents and hotel guests to flee into the streets in Kawalu, West Java province. 

 June 13, 2013 – JAPAN – After 10 days of almost no activity, the volcano has woken up violently with 3 powerful explosions last night (at 22:05 and 23:58 UTC, ash plumes to 10-13,000 ft) and this morning at 04:26. The eruption this morning appears to be one of the largest explosions for a long time, producing an ash plume rising to 16-20,000 ft (5-6 km) altitude. An SO2 plume is also visible on satellite data. Tokyo VAAC issued a warning of an ash plume drifting SE at flight level 200 (20,000 ft altitude), s. graphic.

 June 15, 2013 – VENUZELA – The number of H1N1 swine flu cases rose sharply in Venezuela during the last week of May, the health ministry said Wednesday, refusing to disclose whether any deaths have been linked to the outbreak. Health Minister Isabel Iturria, explaining why deaths would not be reported, blamed “political or economic interests” for creating alarm over the outbreak. The ministry said there were 414 new cases of H1N1 in the week from May 26 to June 1, pushing the total number of cases from 724 to 1,138. 

Week of 6/2/13 through 6/8/13

June 2, 2013 – SPACE – Earth is pushing the moon away faster now than it has for most of the past 50 million years, mostly a result of tides, a U.S. researcher says. Matthew Huber of Purdue University says his models of the influence of tides on the moon’s orbit help solve a longstanding mystery concerning the moon’s age, NewScientists.com reported Wednesday.

June 2, 2013 – ISRAEL - Iran could have enough launchers to send a salvo of medium range ballistic missiles that would overwhelm Israeli ballistic missile defense systems, according to a Wednesday report from IHS Jane’s.

June 2, 2013 – MOSCOW - Russia plans to resume nuclear submarine patrols in the southern seas after a hiatus of more than 20 years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Saturday, in another example of efforts to revive Moscow’s military.

June 2, 2013 – TAIWAN – A strong earthquake jolted Taiwan on Sunday, killing two people and injuring at least 18 others and causing panicked shoppers to rush out of a shaking multi-story department store, officials said. Another earthquake jolted the southern Philippines late Saturday, injuring at least 33 people and damaging more than 140 houses. The tremor that hit Taiwan on Sunday afternoon was felt all over the island, but most severely in the central and southern regions. The magnitude-6.3 quake’s epicenter was near Jenai township in Nantou County in central Taiwan, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Taipei.

June 3, 2013 – ONTARIO – Canadian Pacific says there is no indication that a freight train derailment east of Sudbury on Sunday poses a danger to the public or the environment. CP spokesman Ed Greenberg says one of the rail cars derailed and as a result struck a trestle bridge near the community of Wanup.

June 3, 2013 – CALIFORNIA – A trio of drought-fueled wildfires raged in New Mexico and California on Sunday, with the biggest blaze forcing the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from their homes north of Los Angeles. The Powerhouse wildfire in California’s Lake Hughes area, about 65 miles outside Los Angeles, destroyed six houses and was threatening more than 1,000 others.

June 3, 2013 – SIBERIA - A layer of snow on the second day of summer has put the citizens of the Russian city of Kemerovo completely out of humor. Meteorologists say the anomaly occurred because a cyclone brought cold Arctic air from Kara Sea region into Siberia dropping, temperature to lows typical for summer north of the Arctic Circle. Bloggers were at a loss when commenting the issue. “Snow in Kemerovo TODAY? That’s hardcore. The weather must’ve forgot it’s June.” “With a sense of terror has just learnt it’s been snowing in Kemerovo.

June 3, 2013 – NEW ZEALAND – MetService has issued severe weather watches for parts of the country. Westland, Buller, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Wellington, Wairarapa, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua are among the regions set to face heavy rain and wild weather over the next 24 hours.Pictures sent to ONE News show heavy snow has been causing disruptions for motorists on the last day of the long weekend. 

June 3, 2013 – EUROPE – Authorities in parts of Europe issued disaster warnings and scrambled to reinforce flood defenses as rivers swelled by days of heavy rain threatened to burst their banks. Several people have died or are missing in the floods in Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland since the rains began on Thursday. The floods have killed at least one person and left several missing across the Czech Republic. 

 June 3, 2013 – DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The earthquakes experienced today in Carmen town, North Cotabato and the rest of Mindanao will possibly last for weeks or months.

June 3, 2013 - Volcano awakening? Meanwhile, De Ocampo belied claims of some residents that a new volcano was discovered in Kibudtungan village in Carmen town. Ayna Sison, a resident in the area, said Phivolcs personnel allegedly told her grandfather of a “newly found” volcano located near the site where he lives. The volcano was said to be “inverted.”

June 3, 2013 – CONFLICT - Three of the world’s nuclear powers — China, India and Pakistan — have increased their arsenals over the past year, while the other five have cut their strength or kept it stable, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said Monday. China now has 250 nuclear warheads against 240 in 2012, while Pakistan has increased its warheads by about 10 to between 100 and 120 and India has also added roughly 10 for a total of 90 to 110, SIPRI said in its annual report.

June 4, 2013 – SOUTH AFRICA – Bitter cold conditions, heavy rains and hail have wreaked havoc in Cape Town, South Africa, with a new cold front set to arrive on Monday. The mountains close by have seen heavy snowfall. Wilfred Solomons-Johannes of Cape Town Disaster Management told the media that 2,266 people have been affected by floods on the Cape Flats. Around 550 houses have been damaged in Bishop Lavis, Guguletu, Hout Bay, Khayelitsha, Philippi and Strand. in Athlone, Elsies River, Langa and Parow Valley, roofs were blown off houses.


June 4, 2013 - OKLAHOMA – The National Weather Service reported Tuesday that the killer tornado that struck near Oklahoma City last Friday was a ferocious EF5 twister, which had winds that neared 295 mph. An EF5 tornado, the highest number on the “Enhanced Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity,” is any tornado that has wind speeds of 200 mph or higher.

June 4, 2013 – ISRAEL - Syria, defeated by Israel in three wars and afraid its arch enemy had gained a nuclear arsenal, began in earnest to build a covert chemical weapons program three decades ago, aided by its neighbors, allies and European chemical wholesalers.

June 4, 2013 – SYRIA - In another bizarre twist to Syria’s tragic civil war, opposition forces are now claiming that officers from the North Korean army are aiding the fight against the rebels in an effort to bolster Bashar al-Assad.

June 5, 2013 – HAWAII – A moderate earthquake struck in the deep ocean off Hawaii Island this afternoon but did not generate a tsunami, officials said. The quake, with a magnitude of 5.3, struck at about 2:12 p.m. and was centered 34 miles southeast of Pahala and 31 miles south of Kalapana, at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake initially was listed as a magnitude 5.2, briefly upgraded to 5.6 before USGS scientists reassessed and downgraded it to a magnitude 5.3. No tsunami was generated.

June 5, 2013 – SOLOMON ISLANDS - A 6.1-magnitude earthquake has struck off the Solomon Islands, the US Geological Survey says, but no immediate tsunami warning has been issued. The tremor, at a depth of 64 kilometers, hit in the Santa Cruz Islands, some 89 kilometers south of the remote town of Lata, where a tsunami left at least 10 people dead in February.

June 5, 2013 –CONGO, AFRICA – Eleven years after an eruption of Mount Nyiragongo devastated the sprawling lakeside city of Goma, killing hundreds of people, eastern Congo’s armed conflict is preventing scientists from predicting the volcano’s next deadly explosion. With its plume of ash and steam reaching high into the sky, the brooding Nyiragongo is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and a constant menace to the city of 1 million people, whose streets are still scarred by solidified lava.

June 6, 2013 – TECHNOLOGY - The U.S. National Security Agency is collecting telephone records of millions of Verizon Communications customers, according to a secret court order obtained and published by the Guardian newspaper’s website. The order marked “Top Secret” and issued by the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court directs Verizon’s Business Network Services Inc and Verizon Business Services units to hand over electronic data including all calling records on an “ongoing, daily basis” until the order expires on July 19, 2013.

June 6, 2013 – HONOLULU — Part of what makes living in Hawaii so pleasant is the gentle breeze. Arriving from the northeast, it’s light enough that it is barely noticeable but strong enough to chase away the humidity. It’s a natural draw to the outdoors. It is not uncommon to show up at a house to find its residents relaxing out in the covered porch or in the car port, not their living room, and enjoying the cooling winds — and a cool drink. Nowadays, experts say, these breezes, called trade winds, are declining, a drop that’s slowly changing life across the islands. The effects can be seen from the relatively minor, such as residents unaccustomed to the humidity complaining about the weather and having to use their fans and air conditioning more often, to the more consequential, including winds being too weak to blow away volcanic smog. The winds also help bring the rains, and their decline means less water.

June 6, 2013 – INDONESIA – An small eruption occurred last Sunday (2 June) at 8:43 am (local time), preceded by a rise in seismic activity reported by the local volcano observatory. An ash explosion produced a small rising 300-600 m and light ash fall at Gunung Tujuh about 20 km away. According to local news, the sudden eruption caused panic among inhabitants of Sungai Rumpun village and several evacuated their homes. Some climbers, who were on the volcano at the time of the explosions, returned unharmed.

June 6, 2013 – FLORIDA – The first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Andrea, formed Wednesday over the Gulf of Mexico and was expected to bring wet weather to parts of Florida’s Gulf coast over the next few days.

June 7, 2013 – WASHINGTON – The FBI and the National Security Agency are tapping directly into servers at Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Skype and other major Internet companies to keep track of the communications and interactions of known and suspected foreign terrorists, the Washington Post reported late Thursday. The report is based on an allegedly top-secret document that the Post obtained containing information on a classified data collection program code-named PRISM that was launched about six years ago. The two agencies allegedly accessed audio, video, email, photographs, documents and connection logs purportedly to help counterterrorism analysts track the movements and interactions of foreign nationals thought to pose a threat to the U.S.

June 8, 2013 – NICARAGUA – New eruptions occurred yesterday. The volcano produced a series of 7 small ash emissions between 06:45 to 11:43 am (local time). The explosions were very small and ash plumes only rose up to about 100 m above the crater. The new eruptions were followed by a rise in seismic activity in the form of tremor, which rose to about 3 times normal levels during the afternoon.

Week of 5/26/13 - 6/1/13

May 26, 2013 – UZBEKISTAN – An earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.0 struck southeast Uzbekistan on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake was later downgraded to a 5.8 by the USGS. It was preceded by a 5.5 magnitude earthquake which struck 9km NNW of Buka, Uzbekistan, as a foreshock. The foreshock struck at a depth of 15.8 km. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from either quake. –Reuters

May 26, 2013 – ITALY – Mount Etna is spitting lava more violently than it has in years, and scientists are baffled as to why. Despite being the world’s most-studied volcano, the Sicilian mountain is also its most unpredictable. The volcano is raging. Fountains of lava, some taller than the Eiffel Tower, shoot from its mouth every few weeks, flowing in red-hot streams into the surrounding valleys.

May 27, 2013 – NEW ORLEANS, LA – Tens of thousands of Formosan termites swarmed New Orleans on Wednesday night, leading many people to believe that the apocalypse had struck the city. The termites were attracted to bright and well-lit devices, which included car headlights, homes, and streetlights. The insects were expected to hit at the beginning of May, but it has been an unusually cold few weeks, and they only made their first appearance on Wednesday night. The Formosan termites were introduced to the United States of America from the Far East during World War Two when they were brought over in crates and various wood products.

May 27, 2013 – NEW YORK - It’s a snowy Memorial Day weekend for parts of the U.S. On the aptly named Whiteface Mountain in upstate New York, there are at least 34 inches of snow on the ground. What’s that look like? Glad you asked: According to Weather Underground, a couple of other mountain peaks in Vermont reached 18 inches of snow, while some towns with higher elevations clocked in at about 7 inches of snowfall this weekend. To figure out how unusual the snowfall this weekend was, Weather Underground had to go back to 1816: Most famous of all cold and snowy late season events would have to be the infamous 1816 ‘Year without Summer’ when Tambora erupted (1815) and the snowfall in June that occurred in the eastern U.S. and Canada. Between June 6th and June 8th accumulating snow was observed as far south as the Catskills in New York (where one inch was reported) and highlands of central and northwest Pennsylvania. Snowflakes were seen at sea level as far south as ten miles north of tidewater on the Hudson River just above New York City. But, they note, snowfall in the north east this late in the season hasn’t been unheard of since then: the area tends to get some late season snowfall every 5-10 years. Just not nearly as much as this time. –Atlantic Wire

May 28, 2013 – CHILE – Chilean and Argentine authorities on Monday declared a red alert and ordered the mandatory evacuation of a 25-km (15.5-mile) radius around the active Copahue volcano, which straddles the border between the two Andean nations. The volcano – located some 500 km (310 miles) south of capital Santiago, between Chile’s Bio Bio region and Argentina’s Neuquen province – has seen increasing seismic activity in recent weeks but has not erupted, Chilean authorities said.

May 28, 2013 – NORWAY - Flooding has forced hundreds of people to evacuate from their homes in eastern Norway. The weather has been unsettled across the region over recent weeks, and in just the last couple of days the rain has turned very heavy. Lillehammer reported 64mm of rain on Wednesday, which is more than is expected in the entire month.

May 28, 2013 – NEW ZEALAND - The equivalent of a magnitude 7 quake is quietly rocking the capital, though until now you’d have only noticed it if you were a geophysicist. The huge underground movement called the Kapiti Slip is responsible, and it’s not over yet.  “This is what we call a silent earthquake,” Geonet scientist Caroline Little said on Firstline this morning. “Instead of this movement happening in seconds, this will take around a year to move.”

May 28, 2013 – CHINA - The new bird flu strain that has killed 36 people in China has proved resistant to Tamiflu for the first time, a development scientists said was “concerning.” The H7N9 virus was found to be resistant to Roche’s widely used flu drug in three out of 14 patients who were studied in detail by doctors from Shanghai and Hong Kong. Tamiflu, which is given as a pill, belongs to a group of medicines known as neuraminidase inhibitors that currently offer the only known treatment option for bird flu.

May 28, 2013 – FRANCE - A Frenchman has died after contracting a SARS-like virus that has killed 22 of its 44 known victims, the Associated Press reported. The 65-year-old man, whose name has not been made public, was hospitalized with respiratory symptoms after a trip to Dubai in mid-April.

May 28, 2013 – ISRAEL - An advanced anti-aircraft system destined for Syria has not left Russia yet, but Israel will know how to act if it does, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday. Yaalon’s remarks appeared to contradict Israel’s air force chief, who said last week the shipment of S-300 missiles was “on its way” to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is battling a popular uprising that has turned into a civil war. Israel is alarmed by the prospect of Russia supplying advanced weapon systems to Syria, saying such arms could end up in the hands of arch-foe Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

May 28, 2013 – MARYLAND – A cargo train derailed Tuesday afternoon in the Rosedale area, damaging nearby buildings, shutting down US Route 40 and causing a loud explosion that could be felt miles away. Authorities in Baltimore County said the train struck a tractor trailer near the 7500 block of Lake Drive, veering off the tracks near an industrial park.

May 29, 2013 – HEALTH - Three more people have died from a deadly new SARS-like virus, taking the total death toll to 27. The unnamed victims were from Saudi Arabia and died in the country’s eastern region.

May 29, 2013 – WALES – An earthquake on the North Wales shoreline has been felt over an area of 140 km. People were woken by the quake which happened at around 4.15 am and was felt as far away as Southport in Merseyside. The epicenter was 13km northwest of the town of Abersoch, Gwynedd, on the Lleyn Peninsula and measured a magnitude of 3.8, the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.

May 29, 2013 – CALIFORNIA - A magnitude-4.6 earthquake struck off the Santa Barbara coast Wednesday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor struck at 7:38 a.m. about three miles west of Isla Vista, the USGS reported. Initial reports indicated that the quake had a magnitude of 4.9, but that was later adjusted to 4.6.

5/19/13 - 5/25/13

May 19, 2013 – ANCHORAGE - Alaska’s remote Pavlof Volcano has been shooting lava hundreds of feet into the air, but its ash plume is thinning and is no longer making it dangerous for airplanes to fly nearby.

May 20, 2013 – KAMCHATKA – A massive earthquake swarm has occurred in the region of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia. More than 20 earthquakes have struck the region in the last 22 hours- the strongest of which was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake, which rattled the seafloor at a depth of 16.5 km deep.

May 20, 2013 – ISRAEL – Syria has put its most advanced missiles on standby with orders to hit Tel Aviv if Israel launches another strike on its territory, The Sunday Times reported overnight Sunday.

May 20, 2013 – KANSAS –  22 tornadoes touched down in three states on Sunday, ripping roofs off homes and turning trees to matchsticks, as severe weather swept the region. A large “violent and extremely dangerous” tornado was spotted on the southwest side of Wichita, Kansas, the National Weather Service said.

May 20, 2013 – TAIPEI, Taiwan - The only H7N9 patient so far in Taiwan was carrying two strains of the same virus, with one being drug resistant and the other not, making it tricky to treat to him, doctors said. Huang Li-min, a doctor from National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), explained that it was possible the avian flu virus was not drug resistant when the patient was first infected, but mutated later to become resistant to Tamiflu.

May 20, 2013 – ALASKA - 232 days – it took over 30 years for Anchorage to set a new record for the longest snow season on record. The National Weather Service measured 2/10ths of an inch just after 9 p.m. Friday and 1/10th Saturday morning – breaking the old record of 230 days set in 1981-1982.

May 20, 2013 – SPACE - In the last 24 hours the AMS has received confirmed reports about 4 unique fireball events all occurring near 4:00 AM UTC time. The most recent event occurred in Arkansas and Missouri on May 19th near 3:37 UTC. At the same time 3:37 UTC 4 witnesses reported a fireball in Arizona. The distance between these two locations would inhibit witnesses from observing the same fireball from both locations. On May 18th two large fireball meteors were also spotted within an hour of each other, one over the central east coast and another in Colorado. -AMS

May 20, 2013 – SANTIAGO, Chile — The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude-6.5 earthquake has struck off the coast of Chile. The quake was recorded at 5:49 a.m. local time (EDT; 0949 GMT) Monday, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres, some 600 kilometres from the city of Puerto Quellon.

May 20, 2013 - Oklahoma City -A monster two-mile-wide tornado ripped through southern Oklahoma City and the suburb of Moore on Monday afternoon, leaving homes and schools in ruins and fires burning out of control.

May 21, 2013 – TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia’s Health Ministry says a 66-year-old man has died after being infected by the new coronavirus following a visit to Saudi Arabia. The ministry’s statement reported that his son and daughter were also diagnosed with the virus but have been treated and since recovered.

May 21, 2013 – ANCHORAGE, Alaska – One of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, which has been belching ash and spewing lava since last week, has forced regional flight cancellations and dusted some nearby communities with ash, scientists and local officials said on Monday. Pavlof Volcano has sent up ash as high as 22,000 feet, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the federal-state Alaska Volcano Observatory. The lava from its 8,261-foot (2,518-metre) peak has also created huge steam clouds on meeting the mountain’s snow.

May 22, 2013 – SWEDEN - Rioters have lit fires and stoned emergency services in the suburbs of Stockholm for the third night in a row after a man was shot dead by police. Incidents were reported in at least nine suburbs of the Swedish capital and police made eight arrests. On Sunday night, more than 100 cars were set alight, Swedish media report.

May 22, 2013 – GENEVA — The world is unprepared for a massive virus outbreak, the deputy chief of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, amid fears that H7N9 bird flu striking China could morph into a form that spreads easily among people. Keiji Fukuda told delegates at a WHO meeting that despite efforts since an outbreak of another form of avian influenza, H1N1, in 2009-10, far more contingency planning was essential.

May 22, 2013 – ALABAMA - A mystery respiratory illness has killed two people and infected five others in Alabama. All of the victims have shown signs of fever, cough and shortness of breath, but the Alabama Department of Public Health hasn’t been able to identify the disease.

May 22, 2013 – INDONESIA – An increase in seismicity since 26 April triggered VSI to rise the alert status from 2 to 3 on a scale of 1-4 (from “Waspada,” “watch” to Siaga,” alert). For the moment, only degassing has been observed as surface activity. A similar increase in seismic activity was observed in Oct 2012, when the alert was raised as well and then reduced again in November. The last eruption at the volcano occurred in 2009. –Volcano Discovery

May 22, 2013 – COSTA RICA - At 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Turrialba Volcano, located east of the province of Cartago, began to spew gas and ash from two crater openings, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) reported. By 8:30 a.m. a significant amount of volcanic material was released from the two openings of volcano, “which may indicate that these materials come from deep areas,” Ovsicori said. “It is uncertain what will happen.

May 23, 2013 – CHINA - Steady deterioration of water bodies is one of the most pressing problems facing the world today. In Asia, degradation of water quality and the problems it spawns are so extensive and serious that they are threatening to harm economic growth and affect the health and quality of life of billions of people. China’s high economic growth has had an adverse impact in terms of access, volume and quality of water as well as equity, management and investment requirements.

May 23, 2013 – CHINA – Five people have died after a 10-metre wide sinkhole opened up at the gates of an industrial estate in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese boom town neighboring Hong Kong. The Shenzhen Longgang district government said on its verified page on Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter that five people had died and added that it was investigating the incident. The sinkhole formed just outside the Huamao Industrial Park in Shenzhen on Monday evening, at a time when many factory workers would have been changing shifts, according to the website of Beijing-based newspaper the Guangming Daily. The state-run Shanghai Daily newspaper said that rescuers saved one man. Reports said it was unclear how many people had fallen into the hole in total, but the search was continuing on Tuesday.

May 23, 2013 – SAUDI ARABIA – A man who had contracted the coronavirus has died in Saudi Arabia, raising the death toll in the kingdom from the SARS-like virus to 17, the health ministry announced on its website on Wednesday. “A male non-Saudi died on Tuesday in a hospital in the Qassim region where he had been admitted several days ago with acute bronchitis,” the ministry said. The ministry announced on Monday that a patient had died of coronavirus in the Eastern Region where most of the kingdom’s cases have been registered.

May 23, 2013 – ISRAEL - A day after the IDF and the Syrian Army exchanged fire in the Golan Heights, Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel warned that Israel must be prepared for a “surprise war” developing. Speaking at a conference in Herzliya focusing on the conclusions of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Eshel stated that “a surprise war can develop today in many forms. Isolated events can escalate very quickly and require that we are ready in hours to act in the full spectrum – and when I say the full spectrum, I mean activating the full capabilities of the Air Force.” Eshel stated that, in the Second Lebanon War, the IAF had employed just a “small amount” of its capabilities, but that in the next war, the Air Force “will need to give 100 percent, in order that our operations will be very quick and powerful.” After Russia said last week that it remains committed to an arms deal with Syria to deliver the S-300 air defense system to the Assad regime, Eshel warned that the advanced platform could change the equation.

May 23, 2013 - London (CNN) -- Why did Lee Rigby have to die?
That's what people around Britain -- its officials, its authorities, its citizens -- asked themselves Thursday, a day after the soldier was hit with a car, then hacked to death on a London street in broad daylight.

There's been no indication that the 25-year-old machine gunner, drummer and father of a 2-year-old boy knew the men who attacked him with meat cleavers. One of them who approached a man filming the gory scene in southeast London's Woolwich neighborhood suggested Rigby had been targeted only "because Muslims are dying daily" at the hands of British troops like him.

Soldier slain in London was a machine gunner, Royal Palaces drummer, father

That man and another who suffered gunshot wounds in a confrontation with police minutes after Rigby's killing spent Thursday in stable condition at separate South London hospitals.

 

May 24, 2013 – TONGA – A strong quake has hit southwest of Tonga, reportedly shaking homes in the capital Nuku’alofa but no damage has been reported. A magnitude 7.4 earthquake has hit about 255 kilometers southwest of Tonga.

May 24, 2013 – WASHINGTON - The Interstate 5 bridge over the Skagit River collapsed Thursday evening, dropping three vehicles into the water and injuring at least three people. Both the northbound and southbound portions of the bridge collapsed into the river sometime before 7 p.m.

 

May 24, 2013 – CHILE - SERNAGEOMIN has raised the alert level to orange. Since May 15, a progressive increase in seismic activity as well emissions of gas and now some ash have been observed. Both earthquakes related to rock fracturing and fluid movements have picked up in numbers and possibly indicate a new magmatic intrusion on its way.

 

May 24, 2013 – CALIFORNIA - An earthquake in far northeastern California was felt by thousands of people as far away as San Francisco and in two other states, but there have been no reports of injury or serious damage. The magnitude-5.7 quake broke dishes and shook mirrors when it struck at 8:47 p.m.

 

May 24, 2013 – KAMCHATKA – A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck off Russia’s eastern coast on Friday, briefly prompting a tsunami scare but causing no casualties or substantial damage.

 

May 24, 2013 – CHINA - The H7N9 bird flu virus can be transmitted not only through close contact but by airborne exposure, a team at the University of Hong Kong found after extensive laboratory experiments.

 

May 24, 2013 - Eruption continues in Mexico: Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano unleashed another wave of powerful exhalations and explosions in the early hours of Thursday (May 23), officials reported.

 

May 24, 2013 – RUSSIA, FAR EAST - The remote volcano in the northern Kuriles is probably in eruption, the latest SVERT report and satellite images suggest. A plume of gas and steam, and possibly some minor amounts ash was seen with the MODIS sensor onboard the NASA Terra satellite this morning.

May 25, 2013 – HEALTH – The new H7N9 bird flu virus can be transmitted between mammals not only via direct contact but also in airborne droplets, and may be capable of spreading from person to person, Chinese and American researchers have found.

May 25, 2013 – CALIFORNIA – A magnitude 5.7 temblor Thursday night was the largest earthquake to shake California since 2008 and has generated curiosity from seismologists. The temblor occurred in a rugged section of Northern California that has not been studied as thoroughly as Southern California and the Bay Area and has less monitoring equipment.

May 25, 2013 – MISSOURI - Seven people were injured early Saturday morning in southeastern Missouri after two freight trains collided, taking out a nearby overpass. A Union Pacific train t-boned a Burlington Northern train at an intersection, Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter told KFVS-TV. The collision, which occurred around 2:30 a.m., caused one of the trains to derail and hit a pillar under the overpass, collapsing it.

May 25, 2013 – SAN ANTONIO, TX – The wet weather plaguing many parts of the U.S. this holiday weekend has turned fatal in sodden San Antonio. Two people are dead, and nearly two hundred more have been rescued as heavy rain has pummeled the Texas city, causing flash flooding.

May 25, 2013 – COLORADO - What is life going to look like as our precious water resources become increasingly strained and the western half of the United States becomes bone dry? Scientists tell us that the 20th century was the wettest century in the western half of the country in 1000 years, and now things appear to be reverting to their normal historical patterns. But we have built teeming cities in the desert such as Phoenix and Las Vegas that support millions of people. Cities all over the Southwest continue to grow even as the Colorado River, Lake Mead and the High Plains Aquifer system run dry. So what are we going to do when there isn’t enough water to irrigate our crops or run through our water systems?

Answer to Prayer

I have worked at Keihin for a year and a half.  I have to wear their shoes.  Well their shoes have hurt my feet for a year and a half.  LOL

Periodically, I have prayed for the Lord to help me with that problem.  Well, yesterday I was working on ISO 50001 documents for the Safety Department and dropped by that area.  The Safety coordinator said he had just received a new type of shoe and needed someone to try them out and if I would like to wear them and give him feedback they were mine.

Well, that was an answer to prayer.  These do not have steel toes.  They are not heavy. They are soft.  They fit so much better and best of all they don't hurt my feet.

Thank you Lord for answering my prayer.

Answer to Prayer

For the last year, I have been praying for a young man at work who has dreams to better his life.  He worried about his weight, he was going to school and wanted to improve himself.  Shortly after I began working there, I shared a book with him about heaven.

One of my co-workers, who is a Christian, has been encouraging him for several years.  This week, he stopped us on our way to lunch to tell us how much he appreciated our encouragement and he had been on a diet, lost about 40 pounds, was still going to school at night and on Sunday, Mother's Day, was going to surprise his mother at church and respond to the alter call and give his life to the Lord.  Amen and Amen. 

God is good.  He works in our lives for good.  No one comes into our lives except through divine intervention.

Praise the Lord!