Due To Ongoing Volcanic Activity At Bárðarbunga, New Law on Emergency Management Issued

If the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management were to declare a state of emergency, the minister responsible for the issue could ration electricity, limit telecommunication and cut off roads, according to a new bill presented at a cabinet meeting yesterday. The bill was drafted in response to the ongoing activity in Bárðarbunga volcano, ruv.is reports.

 

The bill, which was posted on the website of the Ministry of the Interior after the meeting (Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is currently responsible for judiciary affairs), states that the consultation group of the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police’s Department of Civil Protection and Icelandic Catastrophe Fund believe that the seismic activity may result in “a possible catastrophic flood following a sub-glacial eruption which could have immense impact on inhabited areas and society’s main infrastructure, such as the production and transmission of electricity, telecommunication and transport.”

 

It has been pointed out that flooding in the rivers Þjórsá and Tungná could have severe consequences because six hydropower plants are located on their banks, producing approximately 40 percent of Iceland’s electricity.

 

According to the bill, the minister responsible for the issue could also temporarily take over the board of companies and institutions to execute emergency strategies if deemed absolutely necessary and if the persons who are in control don’t comply with demands.

 

The state does not have to pay damages because of emergency measures carried out in such a scenario but the state treasury is to cover the costs involved.

 

The bill is intended to clarify the obligations of the key persons in power in natural catastrophes and make sure that they have the authority necessary to respond to such emergency situations.

http://tinyurl.com/p6zehsq

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New volcanic lava lake appears in Africa for the first time in 75 years

A new lava lake has appeared at the top of Nyamuragira, one of Africa’s most active volcanoes, for the first time in 75 years LiveScience reports.

 

The new lake, which is located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, can be found deep within the volcano’s North Pit Crater.

 

Benoit Smets, a volcanologist at the European Center for Geodynamics and Siesmology, told LiveScience that the lake is currently small and bubbling.

 

“It disappears and reappears, but if the current activity continues, we will probably have a lava lake like we have at [neighbouring volcano Nyiragongo, pictured above] within a few years to decades,” he says.

 

Scientists have been waiting for the new lake to form since a March 2012 eruption that created a collapse at the pit crater, paving a new path for lava to travel up the mountain’s summit.

 

Both Nyamuragira and Nyiragongo are two of the few volcanoes on Earth that can sustain long-standing lava lakes.

 

The last lake in Nyamuragira drained in 1938 when lava was sent pouring out of the summit, creating a 30-km trail that ended in Lake Kivu.

http://tinyurl.com/ndlby3u

MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 22:45 hrs UTC

**VERY URGENT**

   MASSIVE DIP SPIKES ON THE MAGNETOSPHERE @ APPROX 22:45 hrs UTC. FURTHER EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANO ACTIVITY & ADVERSE WEATHER PATTERNS WILL BE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE COSMIC RAYS STRIKING THE EARTH’S CORE

***BE ALERT***

QUAKE SWARM MOLUCCA SEA

***URGENT ALERT***

  QUAKE SWARM

MOLUCCA SEA

***BE ALERT***

MAGNITUDE 5.0 MOLUCCA SEA

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000t0ax#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 28 km

Distances: 146km (91mi) NNW of Kota Ternate, Indonesia
147km (91mi) NNW of Ternate, Indonesia
148km (92mi) W of Tobelo, Indonesia
175km (109mi) ENE of Bitung, Indonesia
1051km (653mi) SW of Koror Town, Palau  

MAGNITUDE 4.9 NEW IRELAND REGION, P.N.G.

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=410589

Subject To Change

Depth: 60 km

Distances: 823 km NE of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea / pop: 283,733 / local time: 02:40:30.1 2014-11-27
97 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea / pop: 26,273 / local time: 02:40:30.1 2014-11-27

MAGNITUDE 5.0 MOLUCCA SEA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=410577

Subject To Change

Depth: 36 km

Distances: 577 km S of Davao, Philippines / pop: 1,212,504 / local time: 22:48:30.9 2014-11-26
192 km E of Manado, Indonesia / pop: 451,893 / local time: 22:48:30.9 2014-11-26
157 km E of Bitung, Indonesia / pop: 137,364 / local time: 22:48:30.9 2014-11-26

MAGNITUDE 4.9 MOLUCCA SEA

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=410579

Subject To Change

Depth: 47 km

Distances: 564 km S of Davao, Philippines / pop: 1,212,504 / local time: 22:46:37.5 2014-11-26
202 km E of Manado, Indonesia / pop: 451,893 / local time: 22:46:37.5 2014-11-26
164 km W of Tobelo, Indonesia / pop: 10,000 / local time: 23:46:37.5 2014-11-26

MAGNITUDE 4.9 CARLSBERG RIDGE

http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=410562

Subject To Change

Depth: 10 km

Distances: 1322 km NE of Victoria, Seychelles / pop: 22,881 / local time: 17:52:21.4 2014-11-26
1354 km W of Male, Maldives / pop: 103,693 / local time: 18:52:21.4 2014-11-26
1829 km E of Mogadishu, Somalia / pop: 2,587,183 / local time: 16:52:21.4 2014-11-26

MAGNITUDE 5.2 CARLSBERG RIDGE

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usb000t08j#summary

Subject To Change

Depth: 10 km

Distances: 1106km (687mi) SE of Tamrida, Yemen
1234km (767mi) ESE of Bandarbeyla, Somalia
1299km (807mi) E of Eyl, Somalia
1318km (819mi) ESE of Bereeda, Somalia
1326km (824mi) NNE of Victoria, Seychelles