**Sometimes I think my life would make a great TV movie.
It even has the part where they say,
"Stand by. We are experiencing temporary difficulties."
Robert Brault
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
6.4 SEA OF OKHOTSK
Yesterday, 9/30/13 -
5.4 TONGA
5.4 NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 FIJI REGION
5.5 NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE
6.4 KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
5.1 BIO-BIO, CHILE
TROPICAL STORMS -
* In the Atlantic Ocean -
- Tropical storm Jerry was located about 1240 mi (1995 km) E of Bermuda. Not a threat to any land.
* In the Western Pacific -
- Typhoon Wutip was located approximately 175 nm northwest of Da Nang, Vietnam. The final advisory has been issued on this system.
- Tropical depression Sepat is located about 84 nm north of Chichi Jima, Japan.
- Tropical storm Fitow is located approximately 430 nm north-northwest of Koror, Palau.
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+ Typhoon Wutip - 3 Chinese boats sink. At least 70 people have been reported missing. Five boats carrying more than 150 people encountered strong winds from Typhoon Wutip on Sunday in the South China Sea. A rescue operation is under way and reports say 14 people have been found.
The storm was expected to make landfall in central Vietnam on Monday and thousands have been evacuated there. The boats ran into strong winds near the Paracel islands, around 330km (200 miles) from China's southern coast. Two of the boats, from southern Guangdong province, sank on Sunday, and contact was eventually lost with a third boat. At least 10 ships and six planes are involved in rescue operations. Officials have advised local fishing boats to berth to avoid rough waters.
On Monday, Vietnam was anticipating widespread flooding and landslides - Typhoon Wutip is said to be the most powerful to hit the country this season. The country's weather forecaster is expecting the typhoon to bring heavy rain and sustained winds of up to 93mph (150km/ph). More than 40,000 villagers from areas that were expected to be affected by the typhoon have been moved to safety.
Last week, another typhoon, Usagi, left more than 25 people dead in China and affected tens of thousands of people on the mainland. The storm hit just as millions were travelling for China's mid-Autumn festival - a national three day holiday when many visit family - leading to cancellations of transportation.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
+ Rock slide in Colorado on Monday - 5 buried and killed. Some of the rocks involved in the slide were "half the size of a car".
Rescue crews in Chaffee County in south-central Colorado were at the scene of a rock slide that trapped at least five people. A 13-year-old girl, who was hiking with her family, was flown to the hospital.
Boulders exceeding 100 tons crashed into a viewing area a half-mile up a popular day hike area. The slide left a football-field-sized gash below Mount Princeton. A female hiker who heard the slide ran down the trail and called for help. Rescuers found five dead bodies and a 13-year-old girl with a broken leg and other injuries. The girl was flown to a Denver hospital. There was no immediate identification of the victims or whether they were a single group. The slide wasn't preceded by smaller ones. "It was totally unexpected. It caught everybody by surprise."
The recovery effort will wait until likely Tuesday afternoon, after an engineer could survey the slide area to make sure it's safe to remove the bodies. The slide occurred at about 11 a.m. on the trail to Agnes Vaille falls in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest, an easy day hike about a 2 1/2 hour drive southwest of Denver. The trail is one of the first hikes recommended to people new to the area. The trail is easily accessible and provides a view of the falls and the Chalk Creek Valley in the Collegiate Peaks, which contains many mountains over 14,000-feet tall.
