Archive | December 15, 2014
MAGNITUDE 4.1 ICELAND REGION
Subject to change
Depth: 2.3 km
Depth: 2.3 km
Distances: Latitude, Longitude 64.670 -17.437
(5.4 km NE of Bárðarbunga)
Earthquake location 15 Dec 23:45 GMT
Time and magnitude of earthquake 15 Dec 23:45 GMT
MAGNITUDE 4.1 ICELAND REGION
Subject to change
Depth: 10.2 km
Depth: 10.2 km
Distances: Latitude, Longitude 64.681 -17.449
(5.9 km NE of Bárðarbunga)
Earthquake location 15 Dec 23:45 GMT
Time and magnitude of earthquake 15 Dec 23:45 GMT
MAGNITUDE 4.8 – FIJI
http://www.emsc-csem.org/Earthquake/earthquake.php?id=413252
Subject To Change
Depth: 1 km
Distances: 194 km NW of Suva, Fiji / pop: 77,366 / local time: 06:29:53.9 2014-12-16
143 km N of Nadi, Fiji / pop: 42,284 / local time: 06:29:53.9 2014-12-16
Heavy Rain, Hailstorm Damage Standing Crop in Northern Maharashtra, India
An unseasonal bout of heavy rain and hailstorm has damaged the entire standing crop in northern Maharashtra, leaving farmers with no options but to take desperate steps.
Farmers in Nashik climbed on electricity poles and telephone towers to protest against what they call government apathy towards their problems.
The hailstorm comes as a double whammy for Maharashtra. A drought earlier this year had already left many farmers in Vidarbha and Marathwada reeling under debt and staring at a bleak future. Now the hailstorms have pushed farmers in northern Maharashtra to the edge as they face a similar situation.
Standing fruit and horticulture crop estimated to be worth around Rs. 5000 crore has been destroyed. Farmers claim they have lost 40 per cent of their crop but local officials claim the figure has been exaggerated.
“We have taken loans of Rs. 3-4 lakh for per acre of crop. The damage will go up and if the government sticks to its figure of 20 per cent damage then farmers will have no option but to commit suicide,” said Mehmane Lahanu, the Sarpanch of Wadner Village.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis rushed to the affected areas to take stock of the damage. Onion, pomegranate, grapes and pears are no longer usable after the second hailstorm to hit the state this year.
For the cash-strapped government this is a huge worry. After announcing a Rs. 7,000 crore package for drought hit Vidarbha and Marathwada, the state will now have to foot the bill for the damages caused by the hailstorm.
After the visit, Mr Fadnavis told reporters, “The farmers affected by the recent hailstorm will be provided a suitable compensation by the state government. We will announce a financial package in the ongoing Assembly session.”
However, the opposition seized the opportunity to launch an attack at the government. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS chief Raj Thackeray told reporters, “The government is responsible for this. In other states farmers are warned of such storms. What was our government doing? Why do they wake up after the damage is done?”
While the politicking over the issue may continue, in a state where nearly 10,000 farmers committed suicide between 2001 and 2014, the unpredictable weather has added to the uncertainty.
Tornado touches down in northeast Oklahoma County, USA
A small tornado touched down Sunday in northeast Oklahoma County as severe thunderstorms rolled east, the National Weather Service in Norman reported.
The tornado touched down at 5:09 p.m. on the south side of Lake Arcadia near Edmond and lasted less than a minute, meteorologist Kevin Brown said. No injuries or damage were reported.
“The atmosphere we are dealing with is conducive to a very small, very brief type tornado. Nothing very catastrophic or long-lasting that’s going to tear everything up,” Brown said. “It’s a rare event but it is not unheard of. We’ve had conditions like this every month of the year. We’ve had tornadoes in every month of the year.”
Many in the Oklahoma City area became aware of the Lake Arcadia tornado when Oklahoma City’s tornado sirens in Oklahoma County went off.
It is the city’s policy to activate the city’s tornado sirens after the National Weather Services issues a tornado warning for anywhere in Canadian, Cleveland or Oklahoma counties, according to the city of Oklahoma City’s website.
“These types of storms, they show indications of that they are going to produce a tornado and it lasts on the order of a minute or so. It is very difficult to have a tornado warning for these very weak, brief tornadoes,” Brown said. “It’s the ones that do the damage that strongly affect life and property, they’re the ones that will typically have long-lead warnings on. We did have a severe thunderstorm warning in effect for this particular storm, and we did mention that it could produce very brief, weak tornadoes.”
Strong eruption and major pyroclastic flow observed at Sinabung volcano, Indonesia
Darwin VAAC reported a high level eruption of Indonesian Sinabung volcano on December 14, 2014. Aviation Color Code was briefly set to Red and later downgraded to Orange as the eruption became less active.
At 02:32 UTC today (09:32 local time) volcanic ash cloud reached an altitude of approximately 6 km, and was extending 18 km to the NW. Last high level erupting was observed at 03:40 UTC.
A large pyroclastic flow, approximately 4.5 km, was observed coming down the volcano yesterday.
Indonesian Mount Sinabung was sleeping for 400 years before awakening in August 2010. The latest series of eruptions started on September 15, 2013, and continued into 2014.
Two large pyroclastic flows on February 1, 2014, claimed lives of at least 14 people and severely injured 3 others.
Please Donate To Support My Work
Earth Extremities 
Comments