TEXAS - June 2010 - West Dallas residents seek answers about mysterious booms at night. What is it? From where does it come? "It's scary because we don't know what it is. Sometimes it's loud, and sometimes it's real loud." "It was kind of like a little earthquake, a trembling.": "It was loud enough, it shook the house." "It" would be the Mystery Booms of West Dallas. "We've been having these big explosions and no one knows where it's coming from. The window-rattling, wake-up surprises have been random, often occurring late at night, but not always. People have reported the sounds with varying degrees of imprecision and little sense of direction. "I'm thinking it's some kind of explosion, and then you get up and don't see anything. We need to know what's going on." "People have a right to know when they hear a boom it's not bad. And this is approaching the level of a nuisance." From descriptions, "it sounds like a pressure blast of some kind, a manufacturing process of some sort. ... From what I'm hearing, it's not a railroad sound, not a large metallic clang." One resident is targeting an industrial area after speaking with neighboring workers.
Comments from the article - "What kind of power we're talking about that rattles windows for up to 2 miles in all directions... you think it sounds scary inside your house, step outside and listen."
"There is talk of a catastrophe occurring in 2012. I think the explosions you are hearing are the result of underground construction. The elite in Dallas are creating underground bunkers to protect them from imminent disasters."
Tom Stoppard**
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday -
6/8/10 -
5.0 NEAR COAST OF SOUTHERN PERU
VOLCANOES -
PHILIPPINES - The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Tuesday raised the alert level status of Taal Volcano from alert level 1 to alert level 2 as it is showing signs of possible eruption. On its website, Phivolcs said it has noticed “anomalous change” since the last week of April. Among its observations were increased and intensifying volcanic earthquakes, including a low frequency type volcanic earthquake detected on June 2; raised temperature in the main crater lake; raised ground temperatures; intensified steaming of the main crater; and inflating of the volcano. “The recorded high frequency volcanic earthquakes could be the result of active rock fracturing associated with magma intrusion beneath the volcano. The fractures served as passageways through which hot gases from the intruding magma could escape into the main crater lake." The whole Volcano Island is a Permanent Danger Zone and permanent settlement within this area is strictly prohibited.
ECUADOR - The Ecuadorian Geophysics Institute said on Monday that it had registered strong eruptions of the active Tungurahua Volcano. No casualty has been reported so far. The volcano spewed ash plume to one kilometer high though it was covered by clouds. The "lava fountains" could also be seen for hours. It registered three to five explosions of Tungurahua Volcano per hour and 80 explosions each day. The seismic activity of the volcano was still high with light quakes. The Interior and Exterior Security Minister said everything was under control and the government was preparing for the volcano's increasing activity. The volcano is located 135 km south of the country's capital Quito. It began its eruption process in 1999.
VANUATU - Two volcanoes in Vanuatu, Gaua and Ambrym, emitted simultaneous plumes on Sunday, June 6. Gaua emited a thick, tan plume that blew toward the southwest. The plume’s color indicates the presence of volcanic ash. Ambrym emited a faint plume that blew toward the south and appears blue-gray, probably because the blue of the ocean shows through the nearly transparent plume. This plume’s pale color suggests water vapor. Two red hotspots on Ambrym are associated with high surface temperatures, and almost certainly result from volcanic activity. Gaua is a stratovolcano that comprises the island of the same name. (The island is also known as Santa María Island.) The island is 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter with a crescent-shaped caldera lake. Ambrym is a pyroclastic shield volcano. The volcano has a large caldera that resulted from a major eruption roughly 1900 years ago. Subsequent eruptions have partially filled the caldera floor. (satellite photo)
ICELAND - Icelandic Highland Paradise Covered in Ash - A thick layer of ash covers the highland resort Thórsmörk, which is located near the eruption site in Eyjafjallajökull. Travelers who entered the area last weekend had to sweep the ash off of the tables to eat their packed lunches. It is to be expected that ash will drift from the large area, which is equivalent to four percent of the country’s overall area, in the next two to three years. However, it cannot be predicted with any certainty when the ash drift will be over as there is no experience to base predictions on. “No human power can stop the drift from these areas, the heaths and the highland pastures." (eruption photo)
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical cyclones.
HEAVY RAINS, SEVERE STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
CHINA - Floods close "lifeline" highway to Sichuan quake zone. A major road to Wenchuan County, epicenter of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, has been blocked after floods destroyed two sections of the road. Late Monday, rainstorms triggered floods that left two breaks on the No. 213 National Highway in Sichuan Province -- an 80-meter break in Maoxian County and a 70-meter gap in Wenchuan County. More than 10,000 vehicles run to and from the mountainous quake zone everyday on the No. 213 National Highway, commonly known as the "lifeline" for reconstruction. Hundreds of vehicles are jammed near the breaks, but no casualties have been reported. The road was closed from May 29 to 31 after being damaged by a landslide.
PAKISTAN - Extreme weather in the coastal cities of the country has badly disrupted road, rail and air communications of the country, affecting thousands of commuters. Heavy rains and high velocity winds damaged signals of the Pakistan Railways in Sindh, causing a major disorder in the schedule of all trains coming from Karachi. Trains from Karachi reached their destinations up to 10 hours late. The road transport too was adversely affected by the storm as almost all the transport companies, operating between Lahore and Karachi, were forced to defer or reduce their operations due to the unpredictable weather conditions. Operation of the Daewoo Intercity Bus Service between Karachi and Lahore was cut down by half. A high official of the company said that one of the reasons for cutting down the operation, apart from the probable weather hazard, was that the flux of passengers on the route had dropped to a record minimum. Air travel too was hit hard by the unfavourable weather conditions as the flight operations were hampered.
SPACE WEATHER -
COMET McNAUGHT - A fresh comet is swinging through the inner solar system, and it is brightening rapidly as it approaches the sun. The comet's green atmosphere is larger than the planet Jupiter, while the long willowy ion tail stretches more than a million kilometers through space. Comet McNaught can be found low in the northeastern sky before dawn gliding through the constellation Perseus. It is brightening as it approaches Earth for a 1.13 AU close encounter on June 15th and 16th. Currently, the comet is at the threshold of naked eye visibility (5th to 6th magnitude) and could become as bright as the stars of the Big Dipper (2nd magnitude) before the end of the month. Because this is the comet's first visit to the inner solar system, predictions of future brightness are necessarily uncertain. (photo)
HEALTH THREATS -
Expert warns against H1N1 complacency - A British virologist says that "It's too early to do a postmortem" on the pandemic H1N1 flu virus. He predicted it will cause trouble again in the coming winter. People need to be aware of how to limit its spread, and decisions need to be based on science. As for vaccine, he stated, "It's no time to be complacent and say we wasted our money on vaccines, because we haven't. This is a virus that will be in the community for a long time."
