Mega Heat Wave Hits Australian Tennis Open Temperature Of 108 F

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Death Toll From Philippine Landslides, Floods Up To 22

Twenty-two people have been killed and nearly 200,000 others evacuated as floods and landslides hit a southern Philippine region still recovering from a deadly 2012 typhoon, the government said today. 

 

Torrential rain struck the eastern section of Mindanao island at the weekend, unleashing a fresh round of misery for survivors of Typhoon Bopha, civil defence officials said. 

“Major rivers overflowed, causing people to drown in areas still recovering from Typhoon Pablo,” local civil defence operations officer Franz Irag told AFP, using the local designation for Typhoon Bopha, which struck the region in December 2012. 

“Many of the victims had not managed to rebuild and were staying in temporary shelters when they were hit by fresh flooding,” Irag said. 

Weekend floods and landslides killed eight people in Davao Oriental province and five in Compostela Valley, Irag said. 

Additionally, six were buried in a landslide on the small southern island of Dinagat while three other people drowned in nearby areas, John Lenwayan, a civil defence official for the region, told AFP by telephone. 

The bad weather also forced more than 194,000 people to flee their homes, Irag and Lenwayan said.

The two officials said the rains started abating yesterday and some of those who took refuge in government-run shelters were returning to their homes. 

The Mindanao floods occurred amid an international rehabilitation effort for areas destroyed by Super Typhoon Haiyan in November last year. 

Haiyan left at least 7,986 people dead or missing across the central Philippines, according to a running government tally. Bodies are still being recovered from under the rubble. 

An average of 20 typhoons and storms kill hundreds of people across the Philippines every year, but the last three years have been exceptional in the ferocity of some of these disasters. 

Bopha, which struck the region in December 2012, left 1,900 people dead or missing on Mindanao by government count. 

Tropical Storm Washi also unleashed floods that killed 1,080 people in December 2011.

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Avalanche Triggers Landslide Near Mount Robson On Alberta-B.C. Boundary, Canada

An avalanche has triggered a large landslide, which has blocked Highway 16 near Mount Robson, on the Alberta-B.C. boundary, RCMP say.

 

Const. Lesley Smith said the 40-metre-wide slide came down over the route at about 9:30 Monday morning.

“At this stage, it’s unknown if any vehicles were involved or caught in the avalanche.”

 

Smith said the Transportation Ministry is warning that the risk of additional slides is very high and that it’s too dangerous to enter the area to look for any vehicles.

 

No detours are available to get around the slide.

Smith said an avalanche technician was on the way as officials with the Transportation Ministry assessed the slide.

Flagger crews are being placed at both ends of the slide, and in Tete Jaune, McBride, Valemount and Jasper, Alta.

Highway 1 is also closed indefinitely due to the avalanche danger.

 

Canadian Avalanche Centre forecaster Eirik Sharp said the most dangerous areas are currently parts of the south coast, the Sea-to-Sky region, the Coquihalla and the Columbia Mountains in the Interior.

 

While the danger of natural avalanches has subsided since the weekend, backcountry enthusiasts should be wary of the heightened risk of human-triggered slides, Eirik said from Revelstoke.

 

“People are going to be chomping at the bit. Riding conditions across the province haven’t been very good until this point and on the surface now with this good load of snow things are looking really good.”

 

However, weak layers of snow, from a snowfall early December have created a hidden danger for people enticed by fresh snow, Eirik said.

 

“Until we get more evidence that those layers are settling out and being less of a problem conservative decision-making is definitely going to be the best strategy for staying safe in the backcountry, and avoiding large open terrain,” Eirk said.

 

“It’s kind of like crossing a mine field right now. On a slope there’s weak points where your likelihood to trigger an avalanche is increased.

 

“You could be lucky and you could run through the mine field and not touch one of them but if you were to step on one of those mines the consequences are going to be significant.”

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El Salvador On Alert For Chaparrastique Volcano Activity

The alert status remains today in El Salvador by seismic activity of the Chaparrastique volcano, except in the eastern department of San Miguel, where the volcano of 2130 meters above sea level is located.

According to the latest special report from Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), as vibrations persist and gases column is visible, the possibility of another eruption is not ruled out in the coming days or weeks through the central crater or their flanks.

Environment officials are urging people not to approach the volcano crater and abide by the instructions issued by the General Department of Civil Protection.

MARN explained that the vibration levels and emission have shown changes but remain.

Comments that include images captured by Web cameras installed northwest, southwest and south of the volcano indicate that the emission of gases from the crater have remained without significant changes and have reached a height of 150 meters.

The Chaparrastique had an eruption on 29 December that forced the country’s authorities to evacuate nearby populations.

The performance of Civil Protection, in coordination with the various state agencies prevented loss of life and serious injuries.

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Eruption Increases, Large Pyroclastic Flows At Sinabung Volcano, Sumatra

After a few days of deceiving calm, the eruption of the volcano intensified again today and produced the so-far largest pyroclastic flows, reaching probably more than 5-6 km in length, and associated ash plumes that rose to approx. 25,000 ft (8 km) altitude.

 

It seems that the previous dome which grew at the summit of Sinabung, collapsed a few days ago, leaving a large crater breached on the side where the earlier pyroclastic flows had gone down. The temporary absence of a lava dome in the past days led to the cessation of pyroclastic flows. Now, the new dome has again surpassed the boundary of the breach and sheds pyroclastic flows into the deep ravine below. (Thanks to B. Behncke for the comment) 

 

On the other hand, a strong increase in SO2 emissions and hybrid earthquakes indicate that a larger new batch of new magma has risen, which also explains the new more vigorous activity.

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QUAKE SWARM

NEW OLLERTON, NOTTS, UK

***BE ALERT***

***EXTREMELY URGENT***

  QUAKE SWARM

PUERTO RICO REGION

MAGNITUDE 4.7 – TAIWAN

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=353053

Subject To Change

Depth: 8 km

Distances: 94 km E of Kaohsiung, Taiwan / pop: 1,519,711 / local time: 03:50:06.0 2014-01-15
17 km N of Taitung City, Taiwan / pop: 110,941 / local time: 03:50:06.0 2014-01-15

 

MAGNITUDE 4.8 – TAIWAN

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=353029

Subject To Change

Depth: 15 km

Distances: 95 km NE of Kaohsiung, Taiwan / pop: 1,519,711 / local time: 02:38:16.0 2014-01-15
88 km SE of Douliu, Taiwan / pop: 104,723 / local time: 02:38:16.0 2014-01-15
37 km N of Taitung City, Taiwan / pop: 110,941 / local time: 02:38:16.0 2014-01-15

 

MAGNITUDE 5.0 – SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=353025

Subject To Change

Depth: 9 km

Distances: 1203 km NE of Wellington, New Zealand / pop: 381,900 / local time: 06:23:49.0 2014-01-15
793 km NE of Whakatane, New Zealand / pop: 18,602 / local time: 06:23:49.0 2014-01-15