Crystal Hessian Facebook page
Global Disaster Watch here on Blogspot - posts a daily summary of the natural disaster news, with links, around midnight.
No update on Tuesday this week.
**Happiness is not something you postpone for the future;
it is something you design into the present.**
LARGEST QUAKES -
Live Seismograms - Worldwide
This morning -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday, 8/4/13 -
5.6 SEA OF OKHOTSK
5.7 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
5.8 NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN
5.4 SOUTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
5.8 quake hits Japan in almost the identical area as the 9.0, March 11, 2011 earthquake. Two years out, aftershocks tend not to be so big. There are no reports yet if this was a new quake, or an aftershock to the 2011 earthquake.
VOLCANOES -
Volcano Webcams
Russia's Shiveluch Volcano Spews Ash Up to 3 Miles - Russia's northernmost active volcano churned out ash to a height of up to five kilometers (three miles).
Webcam
TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Eastern Pacific -
- Tropical storm Gil is located about 1405 mi (2260 km) E of of Hilo Hawaii. Gil continues west-southwestward and is likely to become a remnant low on Monday. (maps)
- Tropical storm Henriette is located about 1385 mi (2230 km) WSW of the southern tip of Baja, California. Henriette is forecast to become a hurricane within the next couple of days. (maps)
Three out of five Pakistani fishermen who had gone missing after the May 1999 cyclone hit India's coastal areas of Thatta and Badin returned home on Saturday night. The fishermen were caught by Indian forces after the cyclone had pushed their fishing boats across the border. The fishermen had been missing since the cyclone and Indian authorities had refused to confirm their presence.
The three were among 22 Pakistani citizens, including 14 fishermen, who were handed over to Pakistani authorities on July 30, 2013 at the Wagha border. The fishermen were allowed to go home after they were investigated by the Pakistani authorities. A crowd of friends and relatives thronged to greet the relatives who had arrived after a period of 15 years in the Ibrahim Hyderi area of Karachi.
Two of their fellow fishermen were fined Rs100,000 each by the Indian court and were jailed when they were unable to pay. The PFF chairperson criticised the indifferent approach of the government authorities to not keep the relatives of the fishermen and PFF informed of the fishermen’s arrival at the Wagha border. One of the released fishermen has one daughter. She was six months old when he got arrested and she is now married.
The families had received a letter from the fishermen in Ahmedabad Jail in India, five years after they had gone missing which had made them expect their arrival.
The PFF chairperson asked the Pakistan government to resolve the trans-boundary issue, particularly that of Sir Creek, where fishermen are arrested and put in jails for years by the border authorities of Pakistan and India. He termed the issue as a humanitarian one and urged the need to resolve it.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
Pakistan and Afghanistan monsoon floods kill dozens - Eastern Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan have been hit by torrential rain, causing floods which have killed at least 80 people. Officials said 34 died in the Sarobi district alone, around 65 km (40 miles) east of the Afghan capital Kabul. Pakistan's biggest city Karachi was also badly affected, with at least 16 killed after days of flooding.
The region has suffered devastating floods during the monsoon period for the past three years. Hundreds have been displaced in eastern areas of Afghanistan and hundreds of hectares of farmland destroyed. The floods have caused extensive damage to property in both countries.
The Pakistani army was called in to help the clean-up in Karachi, where local media reports say sewage and rainwater have blocked some of the main roads. The fatalities in the city have been mostly due to electrocution or collapsing roofs and walls. The floods are also reported to have left many areas of the city without power. In Pakistan's north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, many houses were swept away by the torrent. Pakistani disaster response officials have warned that more rain may be on the way over the coming days. In 2010, Pakistan was hit by the worst monsoon floods in 80 years. Almost 1,800 people were killed and 21 million people affected. Flooding in each of the following two years also left hundreds dead. (video)
HEALTH THREATS -
RECALLS & ALERTS
Trois Comtois of Poligny, France is recalling all Trois Comtois brand Morbier cheese lot #949038 because it has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
