Plane crash kills three in Corsica, France

Three people were killed Saturday in a plane crash in northern Corsica, the local authority said.

 

Search teams were deployed in the mountainous region of Balagne, around 60 kilometres (35 miles) southwest of Bastia, when the single-engine aircraft disappeared from radar screens early Saturday.

 

After hours of searching, hampered by bad weather, rescuers found the plane in the area of Cime Muzella, at an altitude of around 1,300 metres (4,000 feet).

 

Three bodies were found with the plane, the local authority said, without identifying the victims.

 

The plane had left Calvi in northern Corsica around 1045 GMT bound for Terni, in central Italy, the same source said.

http://tinyurl.com/nj4kubv

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Raging wildfire threatens town near Athens, Greece

Authorities say a raging wildfire southeast of Greece’s capital has burned down at least one house and threatened several others.

The fire broke out early Saturday afternoon in a forested area in the hills west of Keratea, 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Athens, and has spread quickly, despite the efforts of more than 150 firefighters. Four planes and three helicopters also assisted before nightfall.

Local mayor Costas Levantis told TV channel Star that one house has burned down. Greece’s hot, dry summers and prevailing high winds make wildfires frequent.

The government has warned that firefighting resources are stretched dangerously thin.

 

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/07/12/3550549/wildfire-threatens-town-near-athens.html#storylink=cpy

http://tinyurl.com/kz93s6m

Wildfire takes hold of Washington State in USA

A fire in central Washington state has burned more than 30 square miles of grass and brush in between Seattle and Spokane. The fire broke out earlier in the week and is only 22 percent contained. The blaze is now threatening more than 200 homes. No buildings have burned, but several dozen homeowners have been told to evacuate. Due to hot dry conditions, an outdoor burn ban has been declared throughout the state.

 

http://tinyurl.com/p2t2rd8

Severe heatwave as temperature hits 42 degrees Celsius in Delhi, India

Delhiites on Friday suffered the double whammy of sweltering heat and high humidity, making it one of the most oppressive days of this summer. The mercury touched 42 degrees celsius, seven notches above normal, making the conditions qualify as a ‘severe heat wave’. This is only the sixth year since 1969 when the maximum has touched 42 degrees in July.

 

Palam was even hotter at 44 degrees celsius. And, the weekend may be worse, with the Met office saying the heat is likely to intensify. Rain is expected only by the middle of next week although Sunday evening may turn cloudy.

 

The severe heat is a direct consequence of rains going missing in northwest India. Monsoon broke over the capital on July 3 and after a brief presence, vanished without a sign. Delhi has recorded just 12.1mm rain so far month against a normal of 56.5mm for this period. “There has been an absence of low pressure systems over Bay of Bengal that would feed the southwest Monsoon. Several parts of the northwest India are reeling under a heatwave and have recorded below normal rain,” said a Met official.

 

A Met official said heat waves in July, such as the one being currently witnessed, usually occur in rainfall deficit years.

 

“With clear skies and no rain, temperature has been rising steadily and Delhi has been in the grip of a heatwave in the past couple of days,” said sources. The Indian Meteorological Department said heat wave to severe heatwave conditions have been prevailing over parts of east Rajasthan, south Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi while heat wave conditions have been recorded in parts of west Rajasthan, northwest Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

M Duraisamy of the Delhi’s Regional Meteorological Centre said heatwave conditions would continue over parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi till July 13.

 

“Monsoon activity is shifting towards central India and some parts of the northwest plains by the middle of the next week. It will be active over the southern peninsula till Tuesday or Wednesday and active along the west coast and foothills of the Himalayas and many parts of east and northeast India on several days during the week. However, monsoon activity will weaken over the western parts of the country for the next two weeks,” said B P Yadav, director, IMD.

The system has been quite sluggish over the country in the past week, with the exception of east and northeast India where the monsoon was near normal. From June 1, when monsoon is to officially break over Kerala, to July 11, the country has witnessed a rain deficit of 43%. Central India has been the worst affected with a deficit of 63% while the shortfall in northwest India stand at a high 46%.

http://tinyurl.com/pveyk96

Train derailment crashes in Bulgaria kills one, injures 15

A passenger train derailed in Bulgaria on Saturday, killing the driver and injuring 15, two seriously, the transport ministry and hospital sources said, as cited by AFP.

 

The train with some 160 passengers aboard was travelling from Sofia to Varna in the east of the country when it came off the tracks and crashed into a building, according to Kristian Krastev, head of the state-owned railway network.

 

The accident took place at the Kaloyanovets station in central Bulgaria.

 

Milcho Lambrev, director-general of the National Railway Infrastructure Company, said the cause of the accident was “probably human error”, adding that the part of the railway where the accident occurred had recently been renovated.

http://tinyurl.com/qy2mto2

Tropical storm Nine is forecast to strike the Philippines as a typhoon at about 09:00 GMT on 16th July 2014

Tropical storm Nine is forecast to strike the Philippines as a typhoon at about 09:00 GMT on 16 July. Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 17.0 N, 122.8 E. Nine is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 157 km/h (97 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

According to the Saffir-Simpson damage scale the potential property damage and flooding from a storm of Nine’s strength (category 2) at landfall includes: Storm surge generally 1.8-2.4 metres (6-8 feet) above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the storm center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. There is also the potential for flooding further inland due to heavy rain.

http://tinyurl.com/om3ml77

MAGNITUDE 5.5 SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS REGION

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000rsej#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 5 km

Distances: 154km (96mi) NNW of Visokoi Island,
2537km (1576mi) ESE of Ushuaia, Argentina
2721km (1691mi) ESE of Puerto Deseado, Argentina
2724km (1693mi) ESE of Rio Gallegos, Argentina
2003km (1245mi) ESE of Stanley, Falkland Islands

MAGNITUDE 4.3 OKLAHOMA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=390595

Subject To Change

Depth: 6 km

Distances: 345 km N of Dallas, United States / pop: 1,197,816 / local time: 12:11:47.0 2014-07-12
50 km NE of Oklahoma City, United States / pop: 579,999 / local time: 12:11:47.0 2014-07-12
14 km E of Guthrie, United States / pop: 10,191 / local time: 12:11:47.0 2014-07-12
8 km S of Langston, United States / pop: 1,724 / local time: 12:11:47.0 2014-07-12

QUAKE SWARM ARIZONA, USA

**URGENT**

QUAKE SWARM

ARIZONA, USA

***BE ALERT***

MAGNITUDE 3.0 ARIZONA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=390519

Subject To Change

Depth: 5 km

Distances: 262 km W of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico / pop: 1,512,354 / local time: 01:12:53.2 2014-07-12
43 km NW of Lordsburg, United States / pop: 2,797 / local time: 01:12:53.2 2014-07-12