Ecuador’s Risk Management Secretariat today keeps on orange alert the areas surrounding Tungurahua, volcano, which has increased its activity in the last few hours with explosions, ash plumes, and pyroclastic flows.
18,000 Flee New Storm Kajiki In Central Philippines, Wrecked By Haiyan
One man died and more than 18,000 people fled their homes in the Philippines’ Visayas and Mindanao regions as tropical storm Kajiki battered areas still struggling to recover from Typhoon Haiyan and a 7.2- magnitude earthquake.
A man drowned in Macrohon town, Southern Leyte, Armando Bolalin, the province’s police chief, said.
More than half of those displaced were from Leyte and Tacloban, which accounted for 5,308 of the 6,200 killed when Haiyan hit on November 8, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Around 4,200 were from Cebu island, which was shaken by the October 15 quake.
The rest of the evacuees were from the Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte province, which were hit last month by tropical depression Agaton, which triggered floods and landslides that killed at least 70 people, the risk agency reported.
Kajiki, named Basyang locally, has winds of up to 65 km/h and maximum gusts of 80 km/h. It has stranded 9,500 people in ports and triggered a power outage in the Dinagat Islands.
A two-metre storm surge hit the towns of San Jose and Cagdianao in the islands, a provincial government official said, adding there was no major damage reported.
The Philippines is still rebuilding after Haiyan, and the government estimates the cost of reconstruction at 361 billion pesos (HK$62 billion). The Asian Development Bank estimates losses from natural disasters in the country amount to US$1.6 billion a year, the most in Southeast Asia.
Haiyan, the world’s strongest typhoon to make landfall, displaced four million people and damaged 1.14 million homes. Almost three months later, operations at Tacloban airport remain limited and the power supply has yet to be fully restored in the city, which suffered the most from the typhoon, according to a recent risk agency report.
The Philippines, battered by cyclones that form over the Pacific Ocean, is the second most-at-risk nation globally from tropical storms, after Japan, according to Maplecroft, a research company based in Bath, England.
The government is studying a three-step storm surge alert system that will give out warnings as early as 48 hours before waves of up to five metres high reach the shore, an official said.
MAGNITUDE 5.2 – PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=357253
Subject To Change
Depth: 2 km
Distances: 263 km S of Kaohsiung, Taiwan / pop: 1,519,711 / local time: 02:51:09.0 2014-02-03
197 km N of Davila, Philippines / pop: 3,465 / local time: 02:51:09.0 2014-02-03
MAGNITUDE 5.1 – SOUTH OF KERMADEC ISLANDS
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=357252
Subject To Change
Depth: 2 km
Distances: 1062 km NE of Wellington, New Zealand / pop: 381,900 / local time: 07:11:57.0 2014-02-03
660 km NE of Whakatane, New Zealand / pop: 18,602 / local time: 07:11:57.0 2014-02-03
MAGNITUDE 5.4 – SOUTHERN IRAN
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=357209
Subject To Change
Depth: 10 km
Distances: 294 km NE of Dubai, United Arab Emirates / pop: 1,137,347 / local time: 18:26:45.0 2014-02-02
167 km E of Khaşab, Oman / pop: 17,904 / local time: 18:26:45.0 2014-02-02
105 km SE of Mīnāb, Iran / pop: 70,790 / local time: 17:56:45.0 2014-02-02
MAGNITUDE 4.8 – SOUTHERN IRAN
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=357180
Subject To Change
Depth: 10 km
Distances: 247 km NE of Manama, Bahrain / pop: 147,074 / local time: 13:29:06.0 2014-02-02
212 km NE of Al Khawr, Qatar / pop: 18,923 / local time: 13:29:06.0 2014-02-02
138 km NW of Kīsh, Iran / pop: 20,922 / local time: 13:59:06.0 2014-02-02
Rescuers, army and police have evacuated more than 1,000 people from cars and buses stranded in deep snow in northern Serbia, but several hundred people still remain stuck, the government said Saturday.
Authorities have closed down snow-hit roads and banned river traffic on the Danube river because of strong winds, said the government statement.
“The Serbian government is urging citizens not to travel until all danger is fully removed,” the statement added.
Winter so far in Serbia had been exceptionally mild, but over the last week a cold spell and snowstorms have swept across parts of central and eastern Europe. Heavy snow in Bulgaria left dozens of villages without electricity and water and Romanian authorities declared a “code red” weather warning on Wednesday.
Emergency officials in Serbia reported that dozens of cars and two passenger trains remain stranded in the country’s north, flat area where strong winds have been piling up snow drifts, cutting off villages and roads. By late Saturday, some roads were cleared and hundreds more people evacuated.
Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic — who is tipped to become the new prime minister after snap elections in March — toured the area with other government ministers. Vucic — who was filmed by state TV carrying a child through the storm — said there are about a dozen columns of cars still stranded.
Blic daily said tennis player Novak Djokovic also came to the rescue of the trapped people.
Vlatko Jovicevic, one of the stranded travelers, told B92 Television and Radio Station that he has been stuck for more than 20 hours.
“I walked for two kilometers (miles) to get more fuel and some water,” he said. “We are running out of fuel.”
Snow drifts in places are 3.5 meters high (11.5 feet high), prompting authorities to close the main border crossing with Hungary.
The state railway company said it would evacuate several dozen passengers stranded on two trains going to and from Hungary that were stuck because of snow on the tracks.
Rain and wind caused considerable damage in different parts of Malta today.
At 5pm, police instructed the public to avoid going outdoors unless necessary because of several reports of incidents caused by the bad weather such as falling trees and billboards.
They urged the public to avoid the following roads:
• Triq San Tumas Luqa
• From Kirkop tunnels towards Luqa
• Triq il-Buqqana, Mosta towards Mdina
• Mdina Road, Attard
• Triq Ghar Dalam, Birzebbuga both ways
• Mdina Road, Zebbug
• Birkirkara and Msida Valley.
A whirlwind in the afternoon caused considerable damage near the airport, where two small parked aircraft flipped over and a number of trees were uprooted. The old Lufthansa Technik hangar also looks damaged.
One lane of Triq il-Marfa, Mellieha had to be closed for some time because part of the road was damaged. It has now been re-opened.
The asphalt in Vjal l-Istadium Nazzjonali Ta’ Qali was also damaged by the heavy rains and in Birzebbuga, a wall collapsed in Triq Ghar Dalam.
The rain is expected to persist until midday tomorrow.
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