Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.5 Earthquake hits Fiji.
5.4 Earthquake hits New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.
5.3 Earthquake hits Papua, Indonesia.
5.2 Earthquake hits Mindoro in the Philippines.
5.1 Earthquake hits Hokkaido, Japan.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the North Atlantic:
Hurricane Nicole is located about 330 mi…535 km SSW of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds…100 mph…155 km/h. Present movement…NNW or 340 degrees at 7 mph…11 km/h.
In the Eastern Pacific:
Invest 98E is an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific that has the potential for further tropical development.
Invest 99E is an area of disturbed weather in the East Pacific that has the potential for further tropical development.
In the Western Pacific:
Typhoon 23w (Songda), located approximately 478 nm southeast of Yokosuka, Japan, is tracking northwestward at 08 knots.
Wildlife
China’s ‘extinct’ dolphin has been spotted in the Yangtze river
An amateur conservationist claims he’s spotted a Chinese river dolphin swimming in the Yangtze river, 10 years after scientists declared the species functionally extinct.
The baiji, or ‘goddess of the Yangtze’, was a species of white river dolphin that was abundant in the Yangtze for around 20 million years before it was wiped out by hunting and pollution.
But now a group of amateur conservationists claim they spotted the dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer) during an expedition last week, and say it’s evidence that the species is still around.
Back in the 1950s, there were estimated to be thousands of baijis living in the Yangtze, Asia’s longest river. But there are reports that during the Great Famine of the late 1950s, the millions of starving Chinese people under Mao Zedong’s rule resorted to eating the species in order to survive.
By the end of the 1980s, the population had fallen to just 200, thanks to a mix of over-fishing, boat traffic, pollution, and dam-building on the river – more than 400,000 chemical enterprises are now reported as operating on the banks of the Yangtze.
By the turn of the century, one survey concluded there were only 13 baijis left.
Disease
Anthrax in Zambia
58 people have been reported in an anthrax outbreak in Chama district, in the northeast region of Zambia. The affected people are currently undergoing treatment and no deaths have been recorded.
18 hippos from Luangwa River are reported to have died from anthrax, which was eventually transmitted to humans after eating its meat. It is believed that some 235 people consumed the tainted hippo meat.
Volcanos
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity
Etna (Sicily, Italy): Etna mountain guide Marco Ponte reported that “the whole” of the Bocca Nuova crater has collapsed (subsided) by 50-70 meters since yesterday’s explosion. Volcanic tremor is showing a weak, but increasing trend, suggesting that something is happening at the volcano and could result in surface activity in a near future. What is coming next at Etna is currently pure speculation.