Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.3 Earthquake hits the Panama-Costa-Rica border.
5.2 Earthquake hits the Mid-Indian ridge.
5.1 Earthquake hits South Africa.
5.1 Earthquake hits Sumatra, Indonesia.
5.0 Earthquake hits the Santa Cruz Islands.
5.0 Earthquake hits the Dominican Republic.
5.0 Earthquake hits Chitinskaya Oblast, Russia.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
There are no current tropical storms.
NewsBytes:
Australia – Expected flood levels in the central Queensland city of Rockhampton have been revised down, with the Fitzroy River only expected to reach 9 metres on Wednesday. Three men still missing, one near Mackay, one in the south Burnett and one in the Gold Coast hinterland. 588 homes uninhabitable in north Queensland. 21,000 without power, 400 poles down. In Logan and Scenic Rim 76 flooded homes uninhabitable, that number could rise to 300. 1,600 customers without power.
Zimbabwe typhoid outbreak
The Zimbabwean health ministry says at least 10 people have died and more than 1,800 have been infected with typhoid fever since the outbreak began in October last year, according to an Eyewitness News report Thursday. Just in the past week, 86 cases have been documented, including one fatality.
Chernobyl Radiation Possible Cause of Rare Cancer
When 10 people in New York City developed a very rare form of eye cancer over just a 4-year period, doctors were puzzled. The cancer, called vitreoretinal lymphoma, had been diagnosed in the U.S. only a handful of times over the previous 20 years.
It was interesting that six of the 10 patients had lived near Chernobyl at the time of the disaster. Four of the patients had lived in Ukraine, one patient had lived in Poland and one patient had lived in the country of Moldova, according to the case report.
The Chernobyl disaster is considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history: On April 26, 1986, an explosion occurred at the plant in Ukraine, leaking massive amounts of cancer-causing radiation into the atmosphere.
Based on data from the New York State Cancer Registry, it was found that statistically, there should be only one case of vitreoretinal lymphoma in New York state in a 4-year period. So to find 10 cases in New York City alone in that same time period was certainly “unanticipated,” and represented a cluster.
