Multiple UFOs Sighted in Japan the Past Month - Sightings coincide with natural disasters. A number of UFO sightings, some coinciding with the natural disasters that happened, were videoed in Japan over the past month.
A week before the 9.0-magnitude earthquake, on March 3, four UFOs were filmed hovering over the Haneda Airport. The four objects, three appearing as individual lights and the other appearing as three lights closely next to each other, stayed still in the sky during the video while airplanes flew by.
During the devastating tsunami and earthquake on March 11, multiple UFOs were sighted. In live news footage of the tsunami, objects moving rapidly against the advancing waves can be seen jetting off into the distance or ascending rapidly out of sight. In addition, a live CNN news segment shows an object hovering close to the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima. The object hovers very low and close to the billows of smoke rising from the reactor, before slowly moving off and disappearing.
UFO sightings coincided with numerous eruptions of the Sakurajima volcano that also occurred on March 11. As seen from several angles of live streaming survey cameras, UFOs hover close to the volcano during its eruption, and bright lights travel at the base of the mountain. A similar sighting was spotted during the eruption on April 3, during which large blue and green orbs were also seen appearing from time to time. Similar footage of large UFO formations from the same cameras was posted following the volcano’s previous eruptions in November and December of 2010. Bright orbs can be seen descending toward the volcano and hovering above it for extended periods of time.
While filming an aftershock around 5 a.m. local time on March 12, a YouTube user saw a diamond-shaped bright light moving in the sky in a way that’s different from helicopters. The user commented on YouTube that he or she observed the sky the next day, and couldn’t find a star at the place where the UFO was spotted. On March 21, a black object was seen in the sky, seemingly rotating and changing shape, sometimes being round, sometimes donut-shaped, and sometimes like a spiral wing.
A cluster of bright objects was seen hovering low in the sky on March 26 and 31. In the March 26 clip, about a dozen bright orbs can be seen hovering in a linear formation before converging into a single cluster. In the March 31 clip, over 20 bright orbs moved around freely at great speeds. Lastly, a news clip from different angles filmed bright lights flashing during the aftershock on April 8. (links to videos)
gets all his wishes fulfilled and achieves success,
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Atharva Veda
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.3 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION
5.0 OFFSHORE VALPARAISO, CHILE
Yesterday -
4/18/11 -
5.1 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
6.6 SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
Japan Earthquake Triggered Smaller Quakes Around World - The earthquake that launched a series of disasters in Japan in March triggered micro-quakes and tremors around the world, scientists found. The catastrophic magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck off the coast of the Tohoku region of Japan March 11 set off tremors mostly in places of past seismic activity, including southwest Japan, Taiwan, the Aleutians and mainland Alaska, Vancouver Island in Canada, Washington state, Oregon, central California and the central United States. It was unlikely that any of these events exceeded magnitude 3.
Researchers noted, however, that temblors also were detected in Cuba. "Seismologists had never seen tremor in Cuba, so this is an exciting new observation." Part of the excitement of the find is the insight it could add into the inner workings of earthquakes. "Studying long-range triggering may help us to better understand the underlying physics of how earthquakes start."
Most of these micro-earthquakes and tremors occurred in places that already had high background levels of seismic activity, including California's Geysers Geothermal Field and the San Andreas Fault. Some of the quakes occurred in low-activity areas, such as central Nebraska, central Arkansas and near Beijing. "Seismologists generally think of the central U.S. as relatively quiet seismically - there are earthquakes in these areas, but relative to the West Coast of the United States, earthquakes in the central U.S. are infrequent and mostly small."
After the Tohoku quake, "in the central U.S., we observed earthquakes in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Minnesota. For many of these locations, it was THE FIRST TIME WE'VE SEEN TRIGGERED SEISMICITY. I expect that we were able to see all of this triggered seismicity because there is a much denser configuration of seismometers in these states than there has been previously. The instrumentation is a part of the USARRAY, a project where seismologists are densely deploying seismometers in a rolling fashion across the United States. These observations are useful because they may suggest where future small earthquakes may occur."
A number of large earthquakes in Japan, magnitude 6.0 or greater, occurred well beyond the rupture zone of the Tohoku quake and may have been triggered by the March 11 event, researchers added. These findings agree with recent research suggesting that a major quake can increase the risk of more temblors near it but not of massive quakes farther away. "It is still too early to rule out the possibility that large distant earthquakes are completely unrelated. It is quite possible that there is a delayed response in moderate to large earthquakes, or perhaps such distant triggering effects only occur for very large earthquakes. A notable example is that after the 2004 magnitude 9.2 Sumatra earthquake, there is a clear increase of seismic activity in Myanmar and Yunnan, China. Several of them are in the magnitude range of 5 to 6, and their distances are mostly beyond 1,000 kilometers [620 miles] to the northern end of the rupture of the Sumatra earthquake. Hence, more analysis is needed to understand how massive earthquakes like the 2004 Sumatra and the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes may affect global seismicity."
The researchers hope to continue this work by looking at other large earthquakes that may have triggered small events, "in particular in the central U.S. I also foresee people continuing study of tremor in Cuba as well." And small events aren't all they're looking for. "We would also like to see whether this event may have caused any clear increase of moderate-size earthquakes that are outside the traditional aftershock zones. In addition, more large earthquakes are needed, somewhat unfortunately, to build up the statistics of distant triggering of moderate to large earthquakes."
What the Devastating Japanese Earthquake Sounded Like - A recording from an underwater microphone set up in Alaska in the Aleutian Islands in the North Pacific Ocean documents what it was able to pick up from the huge quake. (audio)
VOLCANOES -
NEW ZEALAND - Ruapehu activity slowing but still elevated. While activity seems to be decreasing overall, and there are no data to suggest an imminent eruption, the volcano remains in a state of elevated unrest above the typical background level. The Aviation Colour Code remains at Yellow and the Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 1. The temperature of Crater Lake is down to around 33-34C from a peak of 41C in March 2011. Other monitored indicators such as CO2 gas flux, seismicity, and changes in Crater Lake water chemistry and overflow, show a general decrease in activity. In certain conditions steam may still be seen above the crater and Ruapehu remains an active volcano - future eruptions may occur with little or no warning.
TROPICAL STORMS -
No current tropical storms.
VIETNAM - More storms, tropical depressions forecast for 2011. This year the number of storms and tropical depressions that can directly hit Vietnam is forecast to number from 5 to 6, more than that of 2010. The stormy and rainy season will also start early, a senior weather expert said. There will be around 10-12 storms and tropical depressions in the East Sea this year, half of them may hit Vietnam. Dangerous weather phenomena will appear early this year, in May or June.
The rainy season will come early. There are season-changing rains in the southern and Central Highlands region. The regions will enter the rainy season in late April, early May, with dangerous weather phenomena like whirlwinds. The early arrival of the rainy season and the increase of rainfall this year will bring early floods, forecasted to be in late May in the north and late June in the south.
2010 saw complicated developments, with fierce heat, flood, and cold weather. The summer of 2010 was recorded as THE HOTTEST IN THE PAST 200 YEARS. While drought occurred in the north, flood was very harsh in the central region. To cope with natural disasters in 2011, the National Centre for Hydrometeorological Forecast and the National Committee for Search and Rescue will organize a maneuver against tsunamis in Da Nang.
Philippines the 'third most-disaster prone country' - The Philippines placed third among countries in the world most frequently pummeled by natural calamities last year. The Philippines was hit 14 times by natural disasters last year, behind India and China.
However, this number was down by as much as 46 percent compared to the 2009 data -- from 26 (year 2009) to 14 (year 2010).
The Philippines topped the list in 2009, when the country was visited by disastrous storms Ondoy and Pepeng. In late September 2009, Tropical Storm Ondoy lashed parts of Luzon, bringing unprecedented rains. Ondoy was shortly followed by Typhoon Pepeng. The combined effects of the two typhoons resulted in widespread flooding that left a trail of destruction worth P50 billion and killed 1,000 people.
The Philippines ranked fifth in the list of countries most affected by natural disasters in 2010 with 3.9 million people affected. On the other hand, China topped the list with 145 million people affected. In 2009, the Philippines placed second on that list, with 13.6 million people affected.
The total number of disaster occurrences in 2010 would reach 202 if man-made disasters such as armed conflicts were included. This was a slight increase from the previous year's 191. These resulted in death toll of 239 people, displaced 1.29 families or 6.75 million people, and caused over P25 billion in economic damages. But human impact was indeed lower last year even if natural and human-induced disasters were combined, with only 6.75 million persons affected compared to the 13.6 million in 2009. This is a 50 percent decrease from the 2009 figures, primarily because the country did not experience disasters as destructive as Ondoy and Pepeng. Despite the obvious decrease in disaster figures last year, the challenge to be stricken from the top 10 list of countries most affected by natural disasters still remains. "We shouldn't be content with just a slight decrease in the number of affected population. We should in fact strive to be taken off the list completely. And we can do this by being prepared."
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
South China storms left 18 dead - The extreme weather has caused millions of dollars of damage to buildings as well as farmland. The storms, packing winds of up to 164 km/h swept through the provincial capital, Guangzhou, and the nearby cities of Foshan, Dongguan and and Zhaoqing. The storms have affected more than 3,200 people, and at least 45 houses have been destroyed. The civil affairs ministry put the cost of the damage at 96m yuan ($14.7m). About 2,500 acres (1,000 hectares) of crops were damaged. The local government has begun a relief mission to provide aid to those affected, and move the injured to hospital. Guangdong province is the manufacturing heartland of China.
OTHER THREATS -
Internet-based attacks on critical systems rise - Internet-based attacks on critical systems such as gas, power and water have increased around the world, a report suggests. Most countries said they expected A CYBER ATTACK TO DISRUPT ENERGY SUPPLIES WITHIN THE NEXT 2 YEARS.
Security firm McAfee surveyed 200 IT executives working for utility companies in 14 countries. Eight out of 10 said their networks had been targeted by hackers during the past year. China was seen as the most likely source of attacks, followed by Russia and the United States. The number of reported incidents was higher than in 2009 when just over half of those asked said they had fallen victim.
Most of the reported security breaches took the form of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks. These typically involve a network of computers, under the control of criminals, overwhelming a company's internet-connected systems. While such incidents have the potential to impact websites and corporate networks, researchers said it was unlikely they were intended to cut off energy supplies. However, there remained a possibility that DDOS attacks could do more harm in future. "We asked what what the likelihood was of a major attack that causes significant outage. That is one that causes severe loss of services for at least 24 hours, loss of life or personal injury or failure of a company. Three quarters thought it would happen within the next two years."
Arguably the best known example of an internet-bourne threat disrupting an industrial system is the Stuxnet worm, which was discovered in 2010. Analysis suggests that the malicious computer code was specifically designed to take control of machinery in either Iran's Bushehr or Natanz nuclear facilities. While it was known that the worm had spread more widely than its intended target, McAfee's research suggested the full extend of its reach. Among those utility companies that had carried out a search for Stuxnet on their computer systems, 40% found traces of it. "It probably didn't result in any obvious interference with the systems, because it wasn't designed to do that. But the fact that it spread so widely and could have done so if it had been differently designed is very, very troubling if you are worried about cyber attacks by hostile nations or extortion attempts by well organised criminal gangs."
Respondents were also questioned about how much involvement they had with their governments on tackling cyber security issues. Japan came out on top, along with China and the United Arab Emirates, although the survey did not ask if that cooperation was voluntary or enforced. The United Kingdom scored lowest of all those taking part in the study. A Cabinet Office spokesman said that the situation had improved dramatically since the launch of its National Security Strategy in October 2010. The policy document recognises cyber attacks as one of the top four national security threats facing the country. "We have recently launched an initiative with the private sector to help develop greater awareness of the threats and better protection for dealing with them."
