Ralph Waldo Emerson
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday -
11/21/11 -
5.0 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
5.0 WESTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 OFF E. COAST OF N. ISLAND, N.Z.
5.1 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.9 MYANMAR
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rocked India's northeast, Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday, triggering panic among the people. The tremor was felt at 8.47am in most parts of Assam, Nagaland, and Manipur, besides in Bangladesh and Myanmar. The epicentre was located in Myanmar, about 130 km east of Manipur capital Imphal. Seven northeastern states - Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur - are considered by seismologists to be the sixth most earthquake-prone belt in the world. The region experienced one of the worst earthquakes, measuring 8.7 on the Richter scale, in 1897, that claimed the lives of over 1,600 people. In September, more than 50 people died after a killer quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook the region.
VOLCANOES -
MEXICO -Towering Popocatepetl volcano sends ash, steam, gas into air outside Mexico City. Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano has spewed a burst of ash 3 miles (5 kilometers) into the air after breaking through a dome of lava. Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center says Sunday's explosion continues a series of moderate eruptions from the volcano 40 miles (65 kilometers) southeast of the Mexican capital. The volcano has been emitting small but steady stream of steam and gas since Friday. There were no reports of danger or of ash falling on nearby communities. The volcano has been erupting intermittently since December 1994.
Volcanic eruption is a constant threat to central Mexico - A loud bang shook the nearby towns, caused by the explosion of Popocatepetl Volcano. The volcano is a constant threat to central mexico and more specifically to the residents of San Pedro Cholula. Sunday at 12:01 there was a dangerous exhalation, with a slight explosive component that generated an ash column reached a height of approximately 2 km above the crater. The column was initially moved north so cold ash could be expected to fall mainly in the areas located north of the volcano. The overall activity of the volcano Popocatepetl has currently recovered its previous levels. The activity did not, for the moment, change the volcanic alert level, thus maintaining the yellow light phase 2.
TSUNAMI / SEA LEVEL RISE -
Higher sea levels will be threat to New Zealand - Rising sea levels will make it riskier to live in New Zealand and render parts of the coast uninhabitable over the next century, a climate scientist says in the wake of an international report. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has underscored New Zealand's vulnerability as an island in the Pacific, finding that rising greenhouse gases will contribute towards more extreme weather events like storms, floods and droughts in the 21st century.
Scientists said in the report it was "virtually certain" there would be more hot days than cold days in the future, with more warm temperature extremes worldwide. The frequency and intensity of heatwaves and droughts was set to increase. It was also very likely that rising sea levels would contribute to upward trends in "extreme coastal high water levels" in the future. For New Zealand, where 12 of the country's 15 largest cities are located on the coast, the impact could not be ignored. "Climate change means a riskier future in terms of extreme weather events. So it depends on what level of risk we are prepared to take, and how much we are going to do to prepare for that risk."
In the not-too-distant future, roads and houses would have to be moved, and sea-walls and stormwater drains built to cope with the sea level rises. Cities like Wellington and Auckland with their proximity to harbours, would be increasingly susceptible to flooding in storms and at high tide. And for a lot of the low-lying Pacific Islands, it would be "devastating". "If we want to rein all this in before it gets too overwhelming, then reducing greenhouse gases is the way to go and there really needs to be global political action to see this happen." The scientists also warned that extreme weather events would have increasing economic impacts on industries reliant on the climate – which in New Zealand would include agriculture, horticulture and energy. It took a team of 80 scientists from around the world more than three years to assemble the report, which was written after the analysis of thousands of pages of literature based on observations since the 1950s.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Pacific -
Category 2 Hurricane Kenneth was located about 695 mi. (1120 km) S of the southern tip of Baja California. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next day or so and Kenneth could become a major hurricane today. Some weakening is forecast on Wednesday.
2011 Atlantic season suddenly gains a hurricane and a storm - Just like that, the 2011 Atlantic season has become one of the top three busiest on record, as forecasters have added a hurricane and a tropical storm to the list of this year's systems. Thanks to a reanalysis of storms that already have formed this year, the National Hurricane Center has upgraded Tropical Storm Nate to a hurricane. The system emerged in Bay of Campeche and hit Mexico on Sept. 11. The center also has upgraded a short-lived disturbance, which formed between Bermuda and Nova Scotia in early September, to a tropical storm. That system will remain unnamed.
Forecasters at the hurricane center routinely restudy storm data to ensure their initial estimates of a system's strength and status are correct. In perhaps the most high-profile instance, the center upgraded Hurricane Andrew from a Category 4 to a Category 5 in August 2002. That was 10 years after the system walloped south Miami-Dade County in August 1992. With the additional system, 2011 now has seen 19 storms, tying it with 2010, 1995 and 1887 as the third busiest season on record. Nate brings the number of hurricanes to seven this year. Meanwhile, a disturbance in the central Atlantic was given a high chance of growing into a subtropical storm within the next day or two. If so, it would be named Tammy.
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
ALASKA - Fairbanks hit with RECORD-BREAKING COLD: 41 below. Alaska's second-largest city is used to cold weather, but few residents expected record-breaking cold this early in the season.
