Rare Earthquake Warning Issued for Oklahoma, USA
Mile for mile, there are almost as many earthquakes rattling Oklahoma as California this year. This major increase in seismic shaking led to a rare earthquake warning today (May 5) from the U.S. Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological Survey.
In a joint statement, the agencies said the risk of a damaging earthquake — one larger than magnitude 5.0 — has significantly increased in central Oklahoma.
MASSIVE DIP SPIKE ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 19:45 hrs UTC
Ships collide, crew missing near Hong Kong
Eleven crew members of a Chinese cargo ship were missing following a collision with a container ship in waters off Hong Kong.
The cargo ship Zhong Xing 2 sank after the collision with the 300-metre long Marshall Islands-registered MOL Motivator about two nautical miles south-west of Po Toi Island, a spokeswoman of the Hong Kong maritime department said.
“Zhong Xing 2 is suspected to have sunk after the collision, and it is reported there are 12 crew on board,” said the spokeswoman. “One of them was picked up by a fishing vessel navigating close by.” The remaining 11 crew were reported missing.
Hong Kong’s marine rescue co-ordination centre has deployed one helicopter, five marine police launches and three fire service department launches to assist in the search.
The 79,400-tonne MOL Motivator was travelling from Hong Kong to Yantian port in southern China. Hong Kong is the world’s fourth-largest container port, after neighbouring Shenzhen. Vessels navigating near the collision site have been warned there may be a sunken ship nearby and have been asked to stay away.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued an amber rain warning, signalling expectations of heavy rain in parts of the territory overnight.
Thirty-nine people died in the city’s worst maritime disaster in more than 40 years in October 2012 when a high-speed ferry collided with a pleasure boat.
PROTON PARTICLES HAVE DRAMATICALLY INCREASED
**URGENT PROTON ALERT**
PROTON PARTICLES HAVE DRAMATICALLY INCREASED. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE
***BE ALERT***
MASSIVE DIP SPIKE ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 18:15 hrs UTC
Major Thunderstorm uproots trees in Chandigarh, Punjab
A thunderstorm accompanied by hail hit Chandigarh and parts of Punjab Sunday evening.
High speed winds accompanied the thunderstorm, uprooting trees.
In Chandigarh, the hailstorm came with a deafening sound.
Electricity supply was affected in most parts of Chandigarh and adjoining areas following the storm.
The storm and rain, however, provided relief to people from the sweltering heat during the day.
MAGNITUDE 5.3 VANUATU
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000qaff#summary
Subject To Change
Depth: 173 km
Distances: 46km (29mi) ENE of Norsup, Vanuatu
73km (45mi) ESE of Luganville, Vanuatu
215km (134mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
561km (349mi) N of We, New Caledonia
709km (441mi) NNE of Dumbea, New Caledonia
Flood And Drought Fears Over ‘Strong’ El Nino
This year’s El Nino weather pattern could be the strongest in decades, a climate scientist has suggested, which could bring floods and droughts to parts of the globe.
El Nino, which affects wind patterns, refers to the warming of sea-surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean.
Dr Wenju Cai, a climate expert at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, said rises in ocean temperature above those of recent years and the fast movement of water eastwards pointed to a “big event”.
He said: “I think this event has lots of characteristics with a strong El Nino.
“A strong El Nino appears early and we have seen this event over the last couple of months, which is unusual.
“The wind that has caused the warming is quite large and there is what we call the pre-conditioned effects, where you must have a lot of heat already in the system to have a big El Nino event.”
Dr Cai said he based his thinking on data released by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sky News Weather Producer Chris England said the effects of the phenomenon are mostly felt over the Pacific, southern hemisphere and equatorial regions.
“It brings, for example, reduced rainfall (hence risk of droughts and bush/wildfires) to eastern Australia, southeast Asia, southern Africa, India, and the northwest of the United States (it’s warmer there as well), while increasing rainfall to northern Mexico, northern Peru, Ecuador and the southern US, bringing risk of flooding.
“For Europe, the impact is much less noticeable, and although there is a tendency for a warm, wet winter in the south and a cold, dry one in the north, that’s an average with no real predictive power, as the weather here is influenced by a wide range of other factors.”
The United Nations World Meteorological Organisation said last month the majority of forecasting models indicate El Nino may develop around the middle of the year.
However, it is too early to assess its strength, which forecasters say should become clear within the next month or two.
According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the chance of an El Nino developing this year is more than 70%.
The bureau will release its next outlook on El Nino next week, with Japan’s meteorological agency expected to update its forecast within the next couple of weeks.
1,500-acre wildfire burning on Fort Hood, Texas, USA
The fire is burning in the middle of a firing range on post. No people or structures are in danger, officials said.
Fire crews were called to the Browns Creek Multi Purpose range at about 8:20 a.m. Sunday. The range takes up about 350 square miles.
Due to the fire’s location, firefighters were unable to fight it from the ground Sunday. However, they built breaks at the edge of the range.
Crews attempted to attack the fire from the air Sunday, but had to stop due to windy conditions. They plan to resume aerial operations when conditions allow.
Crews will monitor the situation overnight.
Fire burned more than 1,000 acres on post last week.
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