updates posted last week. I am trying to work out a way to
handle the other pressing matters and still have time to update.
Monday and Tuesday will be ok, the rest of this week I'm not sure.
Stranded Mars probe could fall to Earth in 7 days - Fragments of Russia's stranded Mars probe Phobos-Grunt could fall to Earth on Sunday, January 15, the spokesman of Russia's military space forces told Russian news agencies on Wednesday. "As of Wednesday morning, the fragments of Phobos-Grunt are expected to fall January 15, 2012. The final date could change due to external factors." The Russian space agency (Roscosmos) said on Friday that perhaps 20-30 pieces weighing no more than 200kg in total might survive the destructive dive and impact the surface somewhere.
In an embarrassing setback, the $165-million probe designed to travel to the Mars moon of Phobos and bring back soil samples, blasted off on November 9 but failed to leave the Earth's orbit. The military space forces' monitoring centre had earlier predicted in November that the probe, which is gradually descending and slowing down, would fall to Earth in January or February. The probe is now circling at an altitude of between 184 kilometres (114 miles) and 224 kilometres (139 miles) above Earth. The Russian space agency said in December that it expected the 13.5-tonne probe to fall to Earth between January 6 and 19, but that it would only be possible to predict the exact time and place a few days in advance. 20 to 30 fragments weighing a total of no more than 200 kilograms were expected to fall to Earth, with the spacecraft's highly toxic fuel burning up on entering the Earth's atmosphere. Russia has experienced a series of serious space failures in the past year. In the latest setback, a fragment of a Russian communications satellite crashed into a Siberian village in December after it failed to reach orbit due to the failure of its Soyuz rocket. ( Detailed info - December 30 estimates showed it will re-enter on January 15, 2012, around 23:07:08 Moscow Decree Time, while flying over the Northern Pacific between Russia and North America.)
and to show himself as he is?**
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.4 FIJI REGION
Yesterday -
1/7/12 -
5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.2 PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.0 FLORES REGION, INDONESIA
5.0 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS
5.6 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.6 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.
5.2 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
1/6/12 -
5.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
5.5 CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE
5.0 OFF E. COAST OF S. ISLAND, N.Z.
5.1 OFF E. COAST OF N. ISLAND, N.Z.
5.0 OFF COAST OF BIO-BIO, CHILE
5.0 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.1 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
1/5/12 -
5.1 SOUTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.1 PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
5.4 TONGA
5.2 OFF COAST OF AISEN, CHILE
1/4/12 -
5.2 KEPULAUAN BARAT DAYA, INDONESIA
5.0 SOUTH OF SUMBA, INDONESIA
5.0 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS
5.2 VANUATU
5.0 RYUKYU ISLANDS, JAPAN
1/3/12 -
5.1 GUAM REGION
5.0 KURIL ISLANDS
PHILIPPINES - State seismologists warned Mindanao residents of possible aftershocks from a magnitude-5.6 quake in Indonesia, which was felt in the Davao area Saturday afternoon.
Quake in Dominican Republic Spurs Fatal Heart Attack - The quake shook several regions of the Dominican Republic at 5:36 am Thursday at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles) and had its epicenter at 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Santo Domingo.
VOLCANOES -
The tallest active volcano in Europe, Mount Etna, has began erupting for the first time in 2012. The snow-covered peak is in Sicily, Italy and stands at 10801 feet tall. Often, eruptions can cause issues for air travel at the Catania airport and nearby.Mount Etna has released a column of ash up to 5000 metres (over 16000 feet) above sea level. Lava was also seen flowing from a new crater.
FREAK WAVES / ABNORMAL TIDES -
A warning has been issued to New Zealand's coastal centres that life in these places is going to be more troublesome because of a confirmed increase in extreme weather events, and other climate change impacts.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the INDIAN OCEAN -
Tropical cyclone 05s was located approximately 330 nm west of Antananarivo, Madagascar. Landfall expected in Madagascar.
INDIA - Cyclone Thane, which hit the Puducherry and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu last week, has left several hotels and resorts temporarily non-operational. The cyclone left behind a fractured infrastructure in the south.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
PHILIPPINES - The number of dead from a landslide caused by heavy rains in a remote gold-mining community in the southern Philippines hit 28 but rescuers said they expected the toll to rise with about 35 people unaccounted for. Heavy equipment has arrived at the scene but there was continued confusion over exactly how many people might have been buried alive in Pantukan town before dawn on Thursday. The landslide buried small mining tunnels and shanties built in the gold-rush area.
"We don't really know (how many are missing) because residents there come and go. Even the local leader doesn't know who comes and goes in the area. This is an all-too-familiar story: people come here as transients without any documents, without prior notice to local officials. They come here to make a living. They are forewarned about landslides, but just like in the past, they fail to be convinced." The mountainous region has drawn gold prospectors from surrounding regions for years despite frequent, deadly landslides. Their largely unregulated tunnelling has made the mountainside unstable, government experts say, and heavy rains since last month had saturated the earth on top, triggering the deadly earthfall.
HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -
Austria hit by heavy snow - Heavier than usual snowfall and high winds have caused chaos on roads and railways in many areas of Austria. Part of a major railway route has been shut down in the west of the country, and some villages and tourist resorts have been cut off. Up to 1.2 metres (4ft) of fresh snow has been recorded in some areas since Thursday. The authorities say the probability of avalanches is extremely high and widespread. Nearly 2,000 homes have been without power. On Friday, around 15,000 tourists and locals were snowed in at ski resorts on the Arlberg mountain. The roads there are now open again, but others in the region remain shut. More heavy snow is predicted over the next few days.
Cyclone "Andrea" rages in western Austria - The effects of cyclone "Andrea" were felt around Austria Thursday. Parts of the country have been left without power, fallen trees cover the streets and more than 100 call outs for the fire brigade have been recorded by the emergency services.
The regions of Vorarlberg and Tyrol were particularly badly affected.
Western Austria in general and Bregenzerwald in Vorarlberg were hard hit by the low pressure front on Thursday afternoon. The majority of the incidents that took place were a result of fallen branches and trees on roads. By the evening both Walgau and Montafon began to suffer with railway lines also being badly affected. A fire also broke out in Alberschwende in Bregenzerwald as a result of a lightning strike, with parts of a metal garage blowing away altogether in Feldkirch, blocking a street. The storm continued to cause havoc in Dornbirn, Austria, where several cable cars came to a standstill in the strong winds. Wind speeds of 108 kilometres per hour (km/h) were measured, with similarly high speeds of 95km/h recorded in Feldkirch.
SWEDEN - A new low pressure area with strong winds and precipitation was on the way toward Sweden. It passed over central Sweden on Wednesday and bringing rain and snow over most of the country, as well as gale force winds in the south and along the coast.
"It is a very strong low pressure area, which can be best described as an 'ATMOSPHERIC BOMB' as the pressure drops so suddenly. We're talking of gale force winds up to 35-40 metres per second."
Many are still without power after storm "Dagmar" which hit on Dec. 26. Sweden has not had winds as strong as those recorded during recent weeks for years. "Some of our stations measured THE STRONGEST WINDS IN AT LEAST 15 YEARS." Chaos was reportedly left in its wake, with rail traffic at a standstill, hundreds of thousands of households without power and fallen trees blocking many roads. In some areas of Jämtland county, in central Sweden, Dagmar reached HURRICANE STRENGTH. Between Christmas and New Year the weather calmed down slightly in the wake of storm Dagmar but by then northern parts of the country had suffered extensive forest damage caused by the strong winds. The National Board of Forestry (Skogsstyrelsen) has been taking stock of damages done to Swedish woods over the Christmas period and while work continues it has to do so with more bad weather en route for Sweden. The Swedish National Railway is also still working at establishing the extent of the damages done to its network in the aftermath of the storms.
