Sunday, February 12, 2012

LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 NEAR COAST OF SOUTHERN PERU
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

Yesterday -
2/11/12 -
5.0 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 EASTERN HONSHU, JAPAN
5.1 SOLOMON ISLANDS
5.6 MOLUCCA SEA
5.7 BIO-BIO, CHILE

2/10/12 -
5.7 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.1 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION
5.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS
6.0 FIJI REGION

The death toll from landslides triggered by the earthquake in the central Philippines has risen to 35 and scores of missing are feared dead as rains and aftershocks hamper rescue efforts, disaster officials said on Friday.

As Europe battles a deep freeze, RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES and heavy snow are making life even more miserable for more than 140,000 Turkish quake survivors still living in tents or temporary homes four months after the nation's devastating earthquake. The cold snap, which began in Europe in late January, has left some families in Turkey's quake relief centers trying to stay warm by using coal stoves or electric heaters, and watching their drinking water freeze overnight.

VOLCANOES -

Indonesia - The restless Mount Lokon volcano in northern Indonesia erupted again Friday, spewing clouds of ash over a mile high into the sky at around 20h20 local time. The eruption produced a loud thumping noise and a 2 km tall ash eruption column

Philippines - Quake causes cracks, landslide at Kanlaon Volcano. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology experts have been asked to assess the damage caused by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake on Kanlaon Volcano following large cracks discovered at its crater, and a landslide at Margaha Valley.

The US Geological Survey has opened the California Volcano Observatory at its headquarters in Menlo Park with the purpose of increasing awareness of and resiliency to volcano threats in California.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
-Tropical cyclone 12s (Giovanna) was located approximately 260 nm north-northeast of La Reunion.
-Tropical cyclone 10p (Jasmine) was located approximately 440 nm southwest of Tonga.

Tropical storm Twelve is forecast to strike Madagascar as a tropical cyclone at about 20:00 GMT on 13 February. Mauritius to close airport on Tropical Cyclone Giovanna warnings. The Indian Ocean island nation is under a cyclone warning Class 3.

Cyclone Jasmine's eye has opened wider on NASA satellite imagery, as it moves through the Southern Pacific Ocean. On Friday, February 10 Cyclone Jasmine was maintaining Category One hurricane status. Very intense tropical cyclone Jasmine struck Vanuatu at about 06:00 GMT on February 8th.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Regions across Europe sustained another deluge of extreme weather prompting a deadly avalanche in Kosovo, snarling air and train travel, and blanketing Rome with a rare dusting of snow for the second time in a week. Winter weather conditions wreaked havoc across much of Europe Friday, with travel delays, school and public office closures and deaths. Central and Eastern Europe got the worst of the recent weather. Death tolls rose into the hundreds as countries struggled to deal with bitter temperatures.

India - The extremely low temperatures in the city of Mumbai are the latest indicator of climatic fluctuations in Mumbai. While Mumbai had a minimum of 14.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, this dipped to 8.8 degrees on Thursday. The cold wave in Europe, which has killed many people there, may be leading to extreme winter conditions in India, say experts. The cold in India can be broadly at tributed to the exceptional cold in Europe. "The land masses in the middle and upper latitudes across the globe are being af fected because of the cold in Europe."
Some experts hold La Nina responsible. La Nina can cause western disturbances, and one of these recently caused snow and rain in north India. La Nina causes the sea surface temperature in parts of the Pacific Ocean to be lower than normal. An IMD report recently showed a likely link between La Nina and the exceptionally low temperatures in northern India, even as experts said the northern regions have been affected by western disturbances more frequently this year. Temperatures across India plummeted rapidly in the second week of January. Since then, the western Himalayas have witnessed heavy snow and the northern plains have remained chilly. Central India and parts of south India have had record-breaking cold spells. "The La Nina effect may have caused a situation for global temperatures to plummet."

STRANGE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR -

Hundreds of dead dolphins found off Peru - At least 264 dead bottlenose dolphins have washed ashore over the past three days on Peru's northern coast, officials said as they seek to discover what killed the marine animals.