**Being angry and resentful of someone
is like letting them live rent-free in your head.**
George Foreman
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide (update every 30 minutes)
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday -
7/30/12 -
5.0 SOUTHWESTERN SIBERIA, RUSSIA
Japan - The death toll from last year's earthquake and tsunami was high enough to reduce average life expectancy in Japan. Japanese women are no longer the world's longest living, their longevity pushed down in part by last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami. The top of the global life expectancy rankings now belongs to Hong Kong.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Volcano activity of July 29, 2012 - In Guatemala, volcanic tremor is again evident on seismograms from Pacaya volcano, while much stronger tremor at nearby Fuego volcano suggests enhanced eruptive activity there.
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Western Pacific -
- Tropical storm 10w (Saola) was located approximately 285 nm south-southeast of Taipei, Taiwan
- Tropical storm 11w (Damrey) was located approximately 205 nm north-northwest of Iwo-to, Japan.
Philippines - Typhoon Saola ["Gener"] dumped torrents of rain as it swept past the Philippines, killing at least seven people and displacing more than 20,000. The wild weather whipped up by Typhoon Saola as it roared off the country's northeast was compounded by a separate low-pressure area that lashed the capital with tornado-like winds and powerful thunderstorms late on Sunday and early on Monday. Many parts of Manila and outlying provinces were without power and low-lying areas were flooded.
Initially a tropical storm, Saola strengthened late on Monday into a typhoon with sustained winds of 120km/h and gusts of 150km/h. The howler is expected to blow towards Taiwan later this week. Seven people died in the storm and several others are missing. One of the men who died had an asthma attack while he and about 100 other people were being rescued from a ferry that ran aground, caught fire then sank in rough seas late Sunday off central Romblon province. In Manila, two barges that drifted off a pier smashed into wooden shanties on stilts in the city's Tondo slum, destroying dozens of huts but causing no injuries.
More than 40,000 people were battered by the flooding and pounding rain in the capital and seven provinces, half of whom fled from their inundated homes into government evacuation centres and houses of relatives. Saola is the seventh of 20 typhoons and storms expected to hit the Philippines this year. The storm will have its greatest impact on Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday.
If no Atlantic tropical cyclone develops before August 1 , this will be the first July since 2009 with no July Atlantic tropical cyclone activity.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
North Korea - Flooding has left large swathes of land submerged and people were wading through thigh-high water or taking refuge on rooftops. The week-long flood earlier in July left 88 dead, injured 134, and made almost 63,000 people homeless. More than 30,000 hectares of crops were washed away or submerged, with roads and factories destroyed. On Sunday state media reported strong winds and heavy rain were battering parts of the country, including the capital Pyongyang. The official news agency predicted that "most regions will face huge damage".
The flooding represents a challenge for the new leader of a country which has grappled with severe food shortages since a famine in the 1990s killed hundreds of thousands. Following a visit to the country, UN agencies estimated last November that three million people would need food aid this year. Widespread deforestation, to collect firewood or clear land for agriculture, has made the impoverished nation increasingly prone to serious flooding which disrupts agriculture.
U.S. - New York was just one of 15 states that were impacted by severe weather last Thursday. A line of severe storm covered an UNUSUALLY LARGE AREA extending more than 1500 miles in length from Texas to Connecticut. Widespread damage was left behind across the city of Elmira, N.Y. on Thursday by a strong, long-tracked tornado. The EF-1 tornado had winds from 105 to 110 mph.
