But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.
Niels Bohr
QUAKES -
This morning -
5.2 ADMIRALTY ISLANDS REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.0 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
6.0 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.6 TAIWAN
6.4 TAIWAN
Largest quakes yesterday -
3/3/10 -
5.0 SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.0 OFFSHORE ARAUCANIA, CHILE
6.0 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.1 OFFSHORE BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.3 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.1 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
5.0 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
5.5 OFFSHORE MAULE, CHILE
CHILE - Strong aftershocks have hit areas devastated by last week's earthquake in central Chile, triggering brief panic. The tremors of magnitude 5.5 and higher were felt in several cities, including Santiago. They prompted tsunami warnings, but these were later lifted.
Nearly 800 people are known to have died in last Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake and the tsunami it generated.
There are reports of many people still missing in the coastal town of Constitucion. There have been complaints that the number of deaths could have been lower if the government had moved more quickly immediately after the earthquake struck before dawn on Saturday.
An admiral said Chile's navy was partially to blame for the lack of a clear tsunami warning, but said the natural disaster agency should share the blame. "The information that the head of the [oceanographic service] gave to the president, undoubtedly stopped the [government natural disaster agency], under instructions from the president, from declaring an alert." The head of the natural disaster agency said an earlier alert would not have helped save lives because there was no system in place to tell people in time. About two million Chileans are believed to have been affected by Saturday's earthquake, the seventh most powerful on record and THE WORST DISASTER TO HIT CHILE IN 50 YEARS. About 1.5 million homes in Chile have been damaged. (Detailed map of quake)
Quake threatens important Chile fish, wine sectors - The tsunami that hit the coastal city of Talcahuano sent 50-ton fishing boats crashing onto land and demolished its port - wiping out the $40 million in business from the annual anchovy and sardine catch. Less than 100 miles (160 kilometers) away, Chile's economy took another beating as the mammoth quake downed bridges and opened up vast crevices on the nation's only north-south highway, paralyzing the export lifeline for the nation's renowned farm-raised salmon industry. And Chile's telecommunications system was still badly out of whack Wednesday - four days after the quake. The quake has forced tens of thousands into unemployment with no end in sight in the nation's south-southwest area and will almost certainly mean higher salmon prices at U.S. supermarkets. It also translates into higher wine production costs for an industry already hurt by the declining value of the U.S. dollar. Chile's copper industry, which supplies a third of the world's copper, wasn't badly affected because most operations lie north of Santiago. (5 photos)
TAIWAN - A 6.3 earthquake in southern Taiwan has disrupted power supplies in the capital, Taipei, and caused the high speed rail service to be suspended.
There have been no reported deaths but several injuries from falling objects. Four years ago a 6.7 magnitude quake in the area severed undersea cables and disrupted telephone and Internet service throughout Asia.
Several fires broke out after the latest quake. Subway service in the city of Kaohsiung was temporarily disrupted.
Telephone service in some parts of Taiwan was patchy. Buildings swayed in the capital when the quake struck.
The quake's epicentre was near the town of Jiashian, in the same area where the devastating typhoon Morakot struck last August. Some temporary housing in the town collapsed as a result of the quake.
TSUNAMI / FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES / RISING SEA LEVELS -
SPAIN - 3/3/10 - A huge wave has slammed into a cruise ship carrying almost 2000 people in the Mediterranean, leaving two people dead and six injured. The FREAK WAVE "smashed windows in the lounge area" of the ship. The accident occurred on Wednesday evening off the coast of Spain's northeastern Catalonia region as the vessel was en route for the Italian port of Genoa. After the accident the captain rerouted the ship to the Spanish port of Barcelona, where it arrived late on Wednesday to evacuate the dead and injured. Five people were slightly injured while a 62-year-old woman was in serious condition with her both her legs broken.
The rogue waves were 26ft (8m) high.
Three "abnormally high" waves broke windows in the front of the ship. "A wave broke the glass in the area of the saloon and water was taken on board." There had been winds of more than 100km/h (60 mph) in the area.
[This is the latest in a rash of huge waves striking ships and coasts around the globe.]
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.
HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
UGANDA - More than 80 bodies have been recovered from the mud which engulfed villages on the slopes of Mount Elgon. Mudslides swept away three villages near the eastern town of Bududa. At least 250 people are still missing. In one village, schoolchildren took shelter in a health centre later engulfed by the mud. In the village of Nametsi, rescuers struggled to search through a wall of mud some 16ft (5m) high, which had buried most structures. The landslides were triggered by several days of unusually heavy rain. At least a month more of heavy rain is forecast, so analysts say the authorities are expecting things to get worse before they get better.
HAITI - Thirteen dead. Submerged houses. Some 3,000 people evacuated from their homes. Fields and banana plantations waterlogged. Drowned livestock. Impassable roads. Fresh trauma for quake-displaced thousands. This is the plight of Les Cayes, a city on Haiti’s south coast, after an unseasonal deluge. And hurricane season is not far off. Rains hit the area on 27-28 February. On 2 March many homes still had standing water. “People are used to dealing with floods, just not this early.” The rainy season proper usually starts in the beginning of April and peaks in May. "We face an almost unique set of circumstances generated by a catastrophic quake, a rainy season, and a hurricane season, one after the other in rapid succession."
EXTREME HEAT / WILDFIRES / DROUGHT / CLIMATE CHANGE -
THAILAND - Severe drought has dropped the Mekong River to its LOWEST LEVEL IN NEARLY 20 YEARS, halting some cargo traffic and boat tours on the waterway that is the lifeblood for 65 million people in six countries.
The decrease was caused largely by an early end to the 2009 wet season and low rainfall during the monsoons.
The river level in southwestern China is THE LOWEST IN 50 YEARS, with only half the volume that would be normal in February. Levels at mainstream measuring stations in Laos and northern Thailand are below those in 1992.
River tour operators have stopped services on stretches of the river in Laos and cargo vessels have been halted in China's Yunnan province. The water scarcity has sparked fears of food shortages, lack of access to clean water and impoverishment in some of Southeast Asia's poorest regions.
HEALTH THREATS -
College indicators show no sustained flu wave - Flu-like illness activity at US colleges decreased slightly last week, and although disease incidence was higher than it was between mid December and mid February, the American College Health Association sees no evidence of a third pandemic wave. The attack rate for the week ending Feb 26 was 3.3 cases per 10,000 students, down 20% from the previous week. Southeast and Gulf Coast schools showed slight increases in disease activity, with levels still lower than November's.
Pandemic waning in China - The country's H1N1 pandemic has passed its peak. The proportion of H1N1 among all flu cases dropped from 36.6% in January to 11.1% in February. 793 Chinese have died of the illness, including 18 in February. Officials estimated that 30% of the population has immunity to the virus and said a major new wave of cases is unlikely in the near term, but added that localized outbreaks in crowded settings remain possible.
