Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.5 earthquake hits south of Fiji.
5.4 earthquake hits the Dodecanese Islands, Greece.
5.2 earthquake hits the Owen Fracture Zone.
5.0 earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Northwest Pacific Ocean: Super Typhoon 12w (Hinnamnor), located approximately 309 nm south-southwest of Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan, is tracking south-southwestward at 07 knots.
Tropical Depression 13w (Thirteen), located approximately 163 nm south-southeast of Kadena AFB, Okinawa, Japan, is tracking northwestward at 15 knots.
Newsbytes:
Haiti – At least 3 people lost their lives and hundreds of houses were damaged or destroyed after heavy rain in Haiti from mid-August 2022. About 50 houses were destroyed and over 500 damaged. 2 Bridges were damaged. The Dominican Republic, Haiti’s neighbour on the island of Hispaniola, also experienced some heavy rain and flooding during late August.
Wildfires
Wildfires – Brazil
Fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest surged in August to the highest for the month since 2010, government data showed on Wednesday, surpassing the blazes in August 2019 that drew global attention soon after President Jair Bolsonaro took office.
National space research agency INPE registered 31 513 fire alerts in the Amazon via satellite in the first 30 days of the month, making it the worst August since 2010, when fires totaled 45 018 for the full month.
Preliminary data showed that deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon in the first seven months of this year totaled an area roughly seven times the size of New York City – the most for the period in at least six years.
Wildfires – California
California wildfires erupted Wednesday in rural areas, racing through bone-dry brush and prompting evacuations as the state sweltered under a heat wave that could last through Labor Day. The Route Fire in Castaic in northwestern Los Angeles County raged through about 4,625 acres (1,872 hectares) of hills containing scattered houses.
Disease
Dengue Fever – Vietnam
According to Vietnamese health authorities, since the beginning of the year, 179,011 cases of dengue fever, including 70 deaths have been reported to date. According to general statistics from localities, in the week of ending August 27, the whole country recorded 8,891 cases of dengue fever.
Bird Flu Confirmed in a Porpoise
Statens veterinärmedicinska anstalt has confirmed the first finding of avian influenza virus in a porpoise. The analysis shows that the porpoise died as a result of the same virus that was behind this summer’s extensive bird flu outbreak among wild birds. The young male porpoise stranded alive in Kämpersvik, in Tanum municipality, Västra Götaland 28 June 2022. Despite repeated attempts by private individuals to get it to swim out to deeper water again, it was too exhausted, got tangled in seaweed and died later in the evening. The analysis now shows that bird flu virus was found in several organs and that the virus had caused meningitis. The findings confirm that the bird flu virus was the cause of death.
Monkeypox – Global
More than 50 000 monkeypox cases have been recorded in the global outbreak, WHO figures showed Wednesday, but transmission is slowing in the virus hotspots of Europe and the United States. The World Health Organization’s dashboard listed 50 496 cases and 16 deaths as reported this year to the UN agency, which declared the outbreak a global public health emergency in July.
Volcanos
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity – New Activity for the week 24 August – 30 August 2022
Chikurachki – Paramushir Island (Russia) : KVERT reported that during 23-25 August occasional ash plumes from Chikurachki rose as high as 2 km (6,600 ft) a.s.l. and drifted about 20 km E. A thermal anomaly was identified in satellite images on 25 August.
Volcano index photoNevados de Chillan – Central Chile : SERNAGEOMIN reported that on 29 August an explosion at Dome 4 in Nevados de Chillán’s Nicanor Crater produced a plume with a high tephra content that rose 2 km above the crater rim and drifted S. The explosion also generated a pyroclastic flow that descended less than 500 m on the E and SE flanks.
Ofu-Olosega – American Samoa (SW Pacific) : Data from seismometers recently installed on Tutuila, Ta’u, and Ofu-Olosega islands of American Samoa to monitor an ongoing seismic swarm indicated that the events were related to Ta’u Island and not Ofu-Olosega.
Semisopochnoi – Aleutian Islands (USA) : AVO reported ongoing low-level seismicity and steam emissions at Semisopochnoi during 23-30 August. Satellite images were mostly cloudy; steam emissions were seen almost daily in webcam images.
Ta’u – American Samoa (SW Pacific) : HVO reported that an earthquake swarm in the Manu’a Islands of American Samoa continued to be felt by residents of Ta’u Island and Ofu-Olosega islands during 24-30 August. Three advanced seismometers were installed beginning the second week of August, one on Ofu Island and two on Ta’u, and by 26 August the data indicated that the source of the activity was related to Ta’u Island. Around 30 earthquakes per hour were recorded each day. At 2033 on 23 August an earthquake widely felt by residents of the Manu’a islands and Tutuila Island was characterized as producing light-to-moderate shaking (a maximum Intensity of V on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale); the estimated M 3-3.5 event was the largest recorded since the new instruments were installed. The largest earthquakes recorded during 25-26 August had estimated magnitudes between 3 and 4 and were felt by residents of Manu’a. An estimated M 2.8 event was strongly felt at 0932 on 27 August. Numerous events were felt during 27-28 August, but none were reported during 28-30 August. Booming noises had been reported and investigated for weeks; scientists confirmed that they were related to the earthquakes, noting that the sound waves generated by some earthquakes could produce sounds audible to humans. No signs of ground cracking, landslides, rockfalls, or other activity that could have caused the sounds were seen.