Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.1 Earthquake hits near the coast of northern Peru.
Storms and Floods
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
There are no current tropical storms.
NewsBytes:
Colombia – Hours of heavy rains overnight caused rivers to burst their banks, flooding homes with mud in Putumayo province. A torrent of debris surged through the city of Macoa near Colombia’s southern border with Ecuador around midnight, catching many residents off guard asleep in their homes and leaving little time to escape. Many of the city’s streets were left an unrecognizable plane of rocks, wooden planks and mud. The number of people killed in Colombia after a surge of mud and water from three overflowing rivers swept through a small city has risen to 203.
Australia – Thousands of residents in Rockhampton are being urged to evacuate as the town braces for its worst flood in almost a century. The Premier has confirmed more than 500 homes have already been left “uninhabitable” in north and central Queensland. The Bureau of Meteorology confirmed the Logan River peaked at Waterford last night and that it remains at major flood levels in Eagleby today, although the river has started to ease today as the clean-up effort begins. Significant moderate to major flooding was today occurring along the Logan River downstream of Yarrahapini. The death toll has risen to 3.
Disease
Portugal reports hepatitis A outbreak
Earlier this month, European health officials reported on a several hepatitis A outbreaks linked to adult men who have sex with men (MSM). One of the 13 countries affected is Portugal, where since January, 105 hepatitis A cases were reported, according to Portuguese media.
Nigeria: Meningitis outbreak grows
According to Nigerian health officials, the meningococcal meningitis outbreak in the country has now claimed 328 lives to date, mostly affecting states in the part of Nigeria which fall within the African Meningitis Belt. Reports of vaccine shortages from affected areas have also been received.
Italy measles outbreak
In a follow-up on the measles outbreak in Italy this year, the number of cases reported to date in 2017 already surpasses the total number reported in the country in all of 2016. 1,010 individuals contracted the disease in the country this year, while in all of 2016 there were 844 infections.
The massive increase in measles has been blamed on the growing number of people who do not believe in vaccination.
Of this total, 90% of the patients were not vaccinated. The balance still indicates that 57% of cases occurred in the age range between 15 and 39 years, while 6% reached babies under one year, that is, when the vaccine can not yet be administered.