Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
5.1 Earthquake hits the Queen Charlotte Islands region.
4.9 Earthquake hits south-west of Sumatra, Indonesia.
An earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale hit a central China region where the world’s biggest water reservoir the Three Gorges Dam is located, though no harm to the structure was reported.
Phreatic explosion at Poás volcano in Costa Rica. The volcano produced a half kilometer (~1500 foot) plume that rained ash on the national park that surrounds the volcano.
Two bush fires burn in northern South Australia. Neither fire is a threat to life or property.
Yellow fever outbreak in Darfur kills at least 32. Protective measures like the use of bed nets, insect repellent and long clothing are considered the best methods to contain the outbreak.
The U.S. Northeast began crawling back to normal on Wednesday after monster storm Sandy crippled transportation, knocked out power for millions and killed at least 45 people in nine states with a massive storm surge and rain that caused epic flooding. Financial markets reopened with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and packed buses took residents back to work with the subway system halted after seawater flooded its tunnels. John F. Kennedy and Newark airports reopened with limited service after thousands of flights were canceled, leaving travelers stuck for days. New York’s LaGuardia Airport, the third of the airports that serve the nation’s busiest airspace, was flooded and remained closed.It will take days or weeks to recover from the massive power and mass transit outages.
Tropical Storm Rosa forms well off Mexico’s Pacific coast, no threat to land.
Tens of thousands flee as tropical storm Nilam hits Chennai in south India. Heavy rains bring floods to the area.
6.2 Earthquake hits the Queen Charlotte Islands region.
5.7 Earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.
5.2 Earthquake hits near the east coast of North Island, New Zealand.
Two 5.1 Aftershocks hit the Queen Charlotte Islands region.
5.2 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.1 Earthquake hits near the east coast of Papua, Indonesia.
5.1 Earthquake hits Tonga.
5.0 Earthquake hits New Ireland, papua New Guinea.
4.9 Earthquake hits Fiji.
“Ocean grabbing” or aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets is a threat to food security in developing nations where governments should do more to promote local, small-scale fisheries according to a study by the UN.
The report said emerging nations should tighten rules for access to their waters by an industrial fleet that is rapidly growing and includes vessels from China, Russia, the European Union, the United States and Japan.
Ocean grabbing involved “shady access agreements that harm small-scale fishers, unreported catch, incursions into protected waters, and the diversion of resources away from local populations. Some Pacific islands and African nations receive only between 2 % and 6 % of the value of the fish taken from their waters.
Global volcano activity:
Earthquake activity in or near the upper eastern rift zone of Kilauea volcano on Hawaii has been increasing. A magnitude 3 quake occurred in the northern part of the caldera today. Lava flows southeast of Pu`u `O`o continued to be weakly active on the coastal plain.
Popocatépetl in Mexico has been decreasing again after rising over the past week. During 27-28 Oct, there was only about 1 emission per hour. A few of them produced small ash plumes.
Fuego volcano in Guatemala has a few weak explosions and continues to alimentate the lava flow towards the Ash Canyon which is now about 400 m long.
Few weak ash explosions occur from the Santiaguito lava dome and the block lava flows from its summit vent remain weakly active – Guatemala.
Occasional small ash eruptions continue to occur at Galeras volcano in Colombia, such as today.
A thermal hotspot can still be seen at Michael volcano in the South Sandwich Islands.
In the past days Sakurajima volcano in Japan returned to average levels of activity and produced 1-2 mild explosions per day.
Hurricane Sandy slowed or shut a half-dozen U.S. nuclear power plants, while the nation’s oldest facility declared a rare “alert” after the record storm surge pushed flood waters high enough to endanger a key cooling system.
Hurricane Sandy hits the US East Coast, leaving more than 7 million people without power, flooding New York subways, at least three New Jersey towns. At least 18 people dead. Half of Manhattan underwater. A record 4 metre storm surge was threatening southern Manhattan. Cars are floating down streets, subway stations and tunnels are filling with water. President Obama signs a declaration of emergency for New York and New Jersey. New York Stock Exchange closes for a second straight day. Fire in Queens destroys 50 homes. Huge devastation in Atlantic City.
Heavy rains flood Argentina’s capital. Nearly 5 inches (130 millimeters) of rain fell in just a few hours Monday morning, causing power outages, flooding subways and train lines and turning streets into rivers.
Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was moving northeast along the northern Vietnamese coast on Monday after tearing the roofs off hundreds of houses and breaching flood defenses overnight and killing at least 30 people.
Tropical Cyclone Nilam hits Sri Lanka and South India.
A tornado tore through Somerset, Bermuda yesterday morning, damaging buildings and vehicles in a flurry of destruction before drifting off shore.
Snow and gales hit France and Switzerland over the weekend. Four people die with 2 still missing.
6.3 Earthquake hits the Queen Charlotte Islands region.
5.5, 5.4, 5.4, 5.1, 5.1, 4.9 and 4.9 Aftershocks hit the Queen Charlotte Islands region.
5.3 Earthquake hits northern Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.2 Earthquake hits the Timor region.
5.2 Earthquake hits the Nias region, Indonesia.
4.9 Earthquake hits Kamchatka, Russia.
Hurricane Sandy is threatening 60 million Americans in the eastern third of the US with havoc from high winds, drenching rains, extreme tides, storm surges and flooding as the East Coast battens down from Virginia and Massachusetts, including Delaware, New Jersey, the New York City area, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
The Arctic Ocean is increasingly becoming the world’s garbage dump, with twice as much plastic trash and other litter covering its seabed compared to 10 years ago.
The amount of human refuse seen at the Arctic deep-sea observatory was found to be even greater than in a deep-sea canyon near the Portuguese capital of Lisbon.
The outbreak of Marburg virus in Uganda claims its seventh victim.
7.7 Earthquake hits the Queen Charlotte Islands region off the coast of British Columbia, Canada.
The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center and Environment Canada both issued a tsunami warning for the area from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to Cape Decision, Alaska. Emergency officials advised all coastal residents in those areas to move to higher ground.
Hawaii was hit by a tsunami on Saturday night prompting the authorities to order at least 100,000 people on the island state to move to higher ground. The first tsunami wave was three feet high and less forceful than expected. Some forecasts had predicted a wave of up to six feet high. The Hawaii tsunami warning was later lifted after 100,000 had fled to higher ground.
5.8 Aftershock hits the Queen Charlotte Islands Region. 5.5 Aftershock hits the Queen Charlotte Islands Region . 5.1, 2 x 5.0, 4.9, 3 x 4.8 and 3 x 4.7 Aftershocks hits the Queen Charlotte Islands Region.
5.4 Earthquake hits the Kashmir Valley, India.
5.3, 5.2 and 5.0 Earthquakes hit the Philippines Island region.
5.3 Earthquake hits Pagan in the North Mariana Islands.
5.3 Earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.2 Earthquake hits southeast of the Loyalty Islands.