**The object of war is not to die for your country
but to make the other guy die for his.**
General George Patton
LARGEST QUAKES so far today -
None 5.0 or higher.
Yesterday, 11/11/13 -
4.8 BOHOL, PHILIPPINES
5.1 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.
5.0 MOLUCCA SEA
More than 100 homes totally destroyed In Tajikistan Quake, with 256 more that were damaged. No deaths were reported. The epicenter of the November 10 earthquake, which had a magnitude of 5.0, was in Vakhdat, 26 kilometers southeast of the capital, Dushanbe. In Dushanbe, where the quake measured only 4.0, little damage was reported.
7th earthquake this month strikes North Texas - The shaking that has become the norm for parts of North Texas continued early Monday morning.
VOLCANOES -
Indonesia - Thousands evacuated as Mt. Sinabung erupts again. A joint team from the Indonesian Military, the National Police and the Karo administration has evacuated around 2,500 residents of Gurukinayan village in Payung district, Karo regency, North Sumatra, as Mount Sinabung continued to erupt, spewing volcanic ash, pyroclastic clouds and blazing lava, on Monday morning.
They reported no deaths, while all residents evacuated were located in a safe area, away from the dangers of the eruption in Kabanjahe. Gurukinayan residents were evacuated as the village, located only 4-kilometers from the volcano, was already blanketed by volcanic ash. The government did not want to take the risk by letting Gurukinayan residents stay in their village. “Mt. Sinabung’s strong eruption today unleashed volcanic ash, pyroclastic clouds and blazing lava, threatening residents in its nearby villages, including Gurukinayan. We evacuated them all."
Mt. Sinabung had erupted twice Monday morning, at 6:14 a.m. and at 7 a.m. local time. The first eruption, which was more powerful than the second, spewed volcanic ash 4,000-meters into the sky, followed by hot clouds and blazing lava that flowed as far as 1,000 meters from the peak of the volcano.
Gurukinayan residents panicked when the first eruption occurred as the village was located outside the danger zone. “It was the first village beyond the 3-kilometer radius that was evacuated. This shows Mt. Sinabung’s eruptions have become even worse as the volcanic ash has reached villages outside the danger zone.” Since the volcano’s initial eruption two weeks ago, the Karo administration has evacuated residents in five villages, four of which are located inside the radius of 3-kilometers: Bekerah, Mardinding, Simacem and Suka Meriah.
TROPICAL STORMS -
Current tropical storms - maps and details.
No current tropical storms.
100 Somalis killed during tropical cyclone - A tropical cyclone that hit the north-eastern Somali region of Puntland over the weekend killed up to 100 people. Thousands of livestock also died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. The semi-autonomous region was hit by strong winds, heavy rains and flash floods on Saturday and Sunday.
Some fishermen have also been reported missing. The tropical cyclone, known as 03A, hit the Eyl, Beyla, Dangorayo and Hafun districts along the eastern coast and across to Alula at the tip of the Horn of Africa. "I have buried 10 members of my family, the icy storm and rain killed more than 100 people here," a resident of Eyl said. "I have never witnessed such FATAL COLD. Some people were blown away and others died after their houses collapsed on them."
The storm was forecast to move inland and continue until Wednesday. The crisis is "immense". "Preliminary information also indicates that homes, buildings, boats and entire villages have been destroyed and over 100,000 livestock lost, endangering the livelihoods of tens of thousands of local people." Electricity had been disrupted and mobile phone masts destroyed, making communication extremely difficult.
"People are getting confused and the situation is getting worse". Many people in Puntland are poor, although it is rich in energy resources. The region is also a base for pirates who attack ships off the coast.
Philippines Declares Calamity as Fresh Storm Approaches - Super Typhoon Haiyan may have killed more than 10,000 people, and rain from a new storm complicated relief efforts.
Super-typhoon Haiyan has carved a path of unimaginable destruction over the central Philippines, with local officials estimating that up to 10,000 people have perished and hundreds of thousands of others have become homeless. The city of Tacloban has virtually disappeared off the map, as unburied corpses lay unclaimed on the streets. Even worse, rescue efforts by the Manila government and foreign aid and humanitarian agencies have been thwarted by badly damaged infrastructure, making access to needy people impossible in many areas.
The government has 18.7 billion pesos ($429 million) to fund reconstruction after Haiyan unleashed storm surges and gale-force winds that caused vast destruction. The devastation may harm the economy, the government said. The storm affected as many as 9.7 million people, and 22 countries have pledged assistance. Soldiers were dispatched to prevent looting as survivors scoured for food.
Haiyan slammed into the central Philippines on Nov. 8, knocking down buildings and trees and flattening crops. In Tacloban city, the capital of Leyte province, television images showed bodies on the streets and floating in the sea, homes reduced to rubble, structures with their roofs ripped off and roads blocked by felled trees. More than 1,774 people are confirmed dead, with 2,500 injured and 82 missing. In December 2012, Typhoon Bopha killed 1,067 people while Typhoon Thelma, the deadliest in Philippine history, killed 5,080 in November 1991.
An estimated 660,000 people have been displaced by the typhoon. Losses will be $12 billion to $15 billion, or about 5 percent of economic output. “A $12 billion storm is not really that bad here in the U.S. For the Philippine islands, it is catastrophic.”
Intermittent rain is making relief efforts in Tacloban “difficult.” Tropical depression Zoraida is 91 kilometers (57 miles) northeast of Davao City after making landfall in the southern island of Mindanao, with maximum sustained winds of 55 kilometers per hour. Thirty areas, mostly in Mindanao and Visayas, remain under the lowest storm alert signal, and rainfall may be moderate to heavy.
Photos before and after the typhoon
Philippine Typhoon Haiyan Not 'Worst Storm Ever' - Bangladesh Cyclone Killed Half Million People In 1970. As terrible as the Haiyan typhoon has been for the Philippines, it is nowhere close to being the “worst storm ever,” as some media outlets have alleged. Current stories on Haiyan are describing it as the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history based on its extraordinary wind strength of 195 mph.
However, in terms of loss of life, a cyclone that occurred 2,000 miles west of the Philippines some 40 years ago was far worse. In November 1970, the Bhola Cyclone smashed into East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Bengal (India) and killed at least 500,000 people - although the true death toll will never be known. That is at least 50 times the number of deaths recorded in the Philippines over the weekend.
*****
Global Disaster Watch is on Facebook - with breaking news during the day.
