Henri Louis Bergson
LARGEST QUAKES -
5.1 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.1 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.0 SOUTHERN PERU
Yesterday -
3/21/10 -
5.2 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.2 VANUATU
5.0 TONGA REGION
5.7 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
CUBA - A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck near Guantanamo city in eastern Cuba on Saturday, sending residents fleeing into the streets but there were no casualties. The quake caused cracks in some buildings and some pieces of masonry fell. The quake, which also was felt strongly in Cuba's second city of Santiago de Cuba, was centered 27 miles southwest of Guantanamo at a depth of 14 miles. "It was very big. I was at my computer and suddenly felt the strong shake and we all went into the street." "It was awful. You could feel it pretty strongly. It lasted longer than normal."
VOLCANOES -
ICELAND - The present nature of the eruption does not impose threat to people, livestock, buildings, or roads. A volcanic eruption started in Mt. Eyjafjallajokull glacier in the southwest of Iceland shortly before midnight on Saturday night. About 500 people evacuated the immediate area below the mountain in fear of the area being flooded with melt water from the glacier. All airports within 120 nautical mile radius were immediately closed in accordance with standard safety rules. Eight hundred passengers of Icelandair and Iceland Express scheduled to leave Iceland Sunday morning were delayed and another 500 Icelandair passengers who left Boston, Orlando, and Seattle on Saturday night were redirected to Boston.
The eruption is of a lava-type and is currently limited to a 500-meter-long fissure on the north side of the 1100-meter-high Fimmvorduhals pass. The pass, which lies beteen Mt. Eyjafjallajokull and Mt. Myrdalsjokull, is one of Iceland‘s most popular hiking routes. The new lava field is certain to become a tourist attraction. A volcanic eruption takes place in Iceland every 4-5 years on the average. Mt. Eyjafjallajokull glacier last erupted in 1821.
TROPICAL STORMS -
Tropical depression 02W was 390 nmi SSW of Agana, Guam.
FIJI - The Weather Office is predicting more cyclones for Fiji as they enter the second last month of the cyclone season. They had predicted 10 cyclone systems forming this season, but the number can be exceeded. "So far we have had 10 tropical cyclones forming in the region. We may be exceeding that number, given that we have another month left. April is left, but during an El- Nino phase there has been noted extensions of the cyclone season beyond April...We never know. This season we may have the cyclone season extended beyond April to May. We may also have cyclones forming in the month of June. July, August and September are the only months when there is no tropical cyclone forming in this part of the world."
EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -
Britain's HOTTEST EVER SUMMER 'is on way' -
[Here we go again - the Met Office has been predicting a 'Barbecue Summer' every summer for the last 4(?) years now.] Average temperatures in June, July and August are predicted to beat those seen in 1976 – when pavements started melting in the heat. The hottest day is set to come during a two-week heatwave at the beginning of August when temperatures could exceed the record-breaking 38.5˚C (101.3˚F) seen in Kent in 2003. The prediction has come from Positive Weather Solutions – a company which has ‘out-forecast’ the Met Office in the last two years. The government’s forecasting department, which employs 1,800 people, predicted last April that the country was ‘odds on for a barbecue summer’ – but it was a washout. But PWS correctly predicted summer 2009 would have ‘rain and thunderstorms causing concern’. The Met Office then said there was just a one in seven chance of a cold winter, which turned out to be the coldest for 31 years with weeks of snow. PWS correctly said winter could see a White Christmas along with a ‘big freeze’ lasting into March. It says 2010 will be a summer to remember as warm currents in the Pacific Ocean will combine with the effects of the Atlantic’s jet stream weather pattern and the Azores high pressure region. ‘There will be stifling temperatures this summer, making it possibly the warmest UK summer on record began and placing it at least the top three warmest summers recorded.'
