you'd do anything in the world for them...
except love them again.**
Anonymous
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 STATE OF YAP, MICRONESIA
5.6 NICOBAR ISLANDS, INDIA REGION
Yesterday -
3/5/12 -
5.2 KEPULAUAN BABAR, INDONESIA
5.6 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.2 NORTHERN SUMATRA, INDONESIA
5.3 MASBATE REGION, PHILIPPINES
6.1 SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, ARGENTINA
5.2 HARYANA-UTTAR PRADESH REG, INDIA
5.2 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.2 SOUTHEAST OF LOYALTY ISLANDS
Philippines - Panic as quake cracks buildings. a moderately strong 5.2 earthquake has cracked buildings and knocked televisions and glassware from tables in a central Philippine province, injuring at least five people and sending others rushing outside in panic. The quake was centred just three kilometres north of Masbate City on the island province of Masbate. The quake, which was caused by movement in a local fault, was felt in nearby provinces. There were no immediate reports of major damage, and power and communications were unaffected. But the quake caused cracks and shattered windows in houses and some buildings, one of which had to be cleared of people while safety officials ensured its stability. Large numbers of people rushed out of homes, offices, hospitals and schools and stayed in the streets as an aftershock hit less than an hour after the quake. At least five people were slightly injured by falling objects. In 1990, a magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2000 people in northern Luzon region.
VOLCANOES -
Ecuador - Tungurahua Volcano: explosions, ash fall and possible pyroclastic flow on Saturday. Ecuador's Instituto Geofísico reports an increase of Tunguarahua volcano's activity: Since March 3, 4 explosions have been reported of moderate to large size. An explosion at 07:31 local time produced an ash columnreaching about 4 km in height and drifting to the west - northwest. A second explosion took place at 09:11 (local time) and produced a strong shock wave that rattled the ground and windows in nearby areas. Cloud cover has prevented detailed observations, but with the help of thermal sensors, hot fresh deposits were detected on the flanks, suggesting they were the result of a pyroclastic flow. In the morning, the observatory post at Cusúa reported the presence of hot deposits on the upper flank typical for fresh pyroclastic flow deposits. Ash fall was reported from Choglontús, Manzano and Motilones areas, and ashfall reached the Yuibug area. The monitoring system has been recording variable seismicity and powerful tremor episodes lasting minutes to hours (which probably indicate rising magma), interrupted by short moderate to large explosion signals corresponding to the ash eruptions from the growing lava dome.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
Tropical cyclone 14s (Irina) was located approximately 380 nm southeast of Maputo, Mozambique.
Tropical Storm Irina killed at least 65 people in Madagascar, most of them residents of the Ifanadiana district in the southeast of the Indian Ocean island. Three people were also reported missing.
Earlier it was reported that only one person had been killed when the storm passed over Madagascar last week before lashing the coasts of South Africa and Mozambique, where at least one person was killed. In the South African city of Durban, beaches were closed as waves reached three metres. Ships were ordered to remain in port. Irina was the second killer storm of the season. Tropical cyclone Giovanna left 35 people dead and many more injured.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Australia - Mass evacuations as NSW floods worsen. Central Wagga Wagga has been issued with an urgent evacuation order as floodwaters threaten to reach a 159-YEAR HIGH. The levee protecting Wagga Wagga from flooding is in danger of failing. "The levee may hold, it may not hold." This morning the Murrumbidgee River crept towards its highest level in 159 years. At 4.45am the river was at 10.2 metres and steadily rising, just 77 centimetres below the all-time record set in 1844. It's forecast to reach 10.90 metres by midday. The last time it reached that level was July 1853.
A mass evacuation of the city, in the state's southwest, and its suburbs was ordered on Monday night, with an estimated 8000 people leaving their homes. This brought the total number of people evacuated because of floods across NSW to almost 13,000. More people will be evacuated from Urana, southwest of Wagga Wagga, today. "We will be evacuating more people by air, it's the only way to get them out, all the roads are cut and Urana is effectively isolated." It will cost more than half a billion dollars to repair flood-damaged roads alone.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast rain to ease across much of the state although authorities have warned rivers may still continue rise as water feeds into tributaries. The heart of Australia's food bowl resembles a cluster of ghost towns as the worsening flood crisis forced authorities to more than double the number of evacuations. Many homes and businesses are under water, cars have been washed away and paddocks resemble lakes. But the scale of the devastation is yet to be realised because residents cannot reach their flooded homes. (photos)
U.S. - Spate of tornado destruction POSSIBLY LARGEST MARCH OUTBREAK IN HISTORY. Stories of destruction and survival are starting to emerge from this week’s deadly tornado outbreaks, which have killed at least 51 people and flattened communities in a wide swath of the nation's eastern midsection.
At least 50, possibly more, reported tornadoes touched down between Friday and Saturday. Friday's violent storms touched down in at least a dozen states, killing 19 people in Kentucky, 14 in Indiana, three in Ohio, and one each in Alabama and Georgia. An earlier round of storms killed 13 people in the Midwest and South.
The National Weather Service said the four twisters to hit Kentucky on Friday were the WORST IN THE REGION IN 24 YEARS. Three of them had wind speeds up to 160 mph. In Indiana, an EF-4 tornado — the second-highest on the Fujita scale — packing 175 mph winds hit the town of Henryville and stayed on the ground for more than 50 miles.
Meteorologists were warning about the likelihood of deadly weather heading into the weekend. The weather service issued 297 tornado warnings and 388 severe thunderstorm warnings from Friday through early Saturday. The conditions were ripe for tornadoes. A powerful jet stream brought cold northern air into a collision course with a large mass of warm, moist air from the south. Lead times in warning systems are getting better every year, but folks living in even marginally tornado-prone areas should use a NOAA weather radio to monitor warning feeds. It’s even more important for people to heed warnings given the recent tornado destruction of late. Last year ranked as the fourth deadliest tornado year in the U.S. since detailed records started being kept in the mid-19th Century. There were 550 deaths (the most was 794 in 1925) from 1,709 tornadoes, the second-most storms recorded in a single year. In 1925, a single twister, the deadliest on record, killed 695 people and cut a 219-mile path across parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. That “Tri-State” twister was also a March storm. “It’s very possible this outbreak won't be the last this year. I hope it's not a sign of things to come. People need to be prepared.”
