Theodore Roosevelt
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
6.2 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
Yesterday -
9/12/10 -
5.0 JAVA, INDONESIA
5.0 MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES
5.0 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.3 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
5.3 SOUTH OF AUSTRALIA
HAITI - Only 2 percent of the rubble has been removed from the January 12, 2010 quake. With just a fraction of rubble cleared, Haiti looks little changed since the earthquake.
TROPICAL STORMS -
-Category 4 Hurricane IGOR was 734 nmi ENE of Bridgetown, Barbados [still intensifying].
-Tropical storm JULIA was 2106 nmi E of Bridgetown, Barbados.
Hurricane Igor intensified as a Category 4 storm in the Atlantic and may be upgraded as it approaches the Caribbean, while Tropical Storm Julia formed off the west coast of Africa. Igor, the second-strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, packed maximum winds of 150 miles (241 kilometers) per hour as it headed west at 13 mph. The system was about 1,005 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands. Igor may turn to the west-northwest today with some “decrease in forward speed." Hurricane-force winds extend as far as 40 miles out and tropical storm-force winds as far as 160 miles.
Julia, previously a tropical depression, sustained maximum winds of 40 mph and could become a hurricane today. Julia’s formation gave this year’s Atlantic hurricane season its 10th named storm, more than the nine last year. The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and an average year has 11 storms with winds of at least 39 mph. In 2005, a record 28 storms formed. This year’s storm season has had less of an impact on natural-gas output in the Gulf than the U.S. government expected. A total of 7.9 billion cubic feet of gas production was shut from June through August because of storms, below projections for the period of 57.4 billion.
Although typhoon Meranti weakened to a tropical storm before it hit China Saturday, the storm caused major flooding. As much as nine inches of rain fell in some areas, submerging cars and making driving dangerous on Sunday. The flooding caused at least nine landslides in the capital and left debris across the city. Local officials evacuated people who live in the city to safer land, but no casualties were reported. It was the tenth typhoon to hit China this year.
