Earth Report – Global Disaster Watch
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
6.1 earthquake hits near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
5.3 earthquake hits Kyushu, Japan.
5.2 earthquake hits northern Colombia.
5.2 earthquake hits northeast of Taiwan.
5.2 earthquake hits the southwestern Ryukyu Islands, Japan.
5.0 earthquake hits the Andaman Islands, off India.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
There are no current tropical storms.
Newsbytes:
Indonesia – Four people have lost their lives after landslides and floods struck in South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. Meanwhile heavy rain has caused flooding and landslides across parts of Kalimantan, Borneo Island, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes. Heavy rains triggered the overflow of the Batusitanduk River, causing flash floods in Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi Province on 03 October 2021. The rain also caused several landslides in the area. Heavy rainfall on 04 October caused the Kandilo and Sakerau rivear to overflow in Paser Regency, East Kalimantan. Around 230 homes were damaged and 450 people were displaced by flooding in the districts of Long Ikis, Muara Komam and Batu Sopang. Flood water was over 1.5 metres deep in some areas. public buildings and schools were also damaged. Flooding also occurred in Lamandau Regency, Central Kalimantan Province, damaging 200 homes and affecting 477 people from 5 villages.
Cloth Sheets Protect Glacier from Melting
A cloth sheet used to shield part of the Helags glacier in northern Sweden over the summer saved at least 3.5 metres in height from melting, according to organisers of the private initiative, the first of its kind in Scandinavia.
Global warming is causing glaciers to shrink all over the world. For example, the glacier on Sweden’s highest mountain, Kebnekaise, has lost two metres in height over the past year alone.
The cloth experiment was performed on the Helags glacier, on Sweden’s highest mountain south of the Arctic Circle. The sheet actually protected 3.5-4 metres from melting.
A larger experiment will be tried to reproduce the results of a bigger scale.
‘Dinosaur Shrimp’ emerge after Arizona monsoon
Triops — which is Greek for “three eyes” — are sometimes called “dinosaur shrimp” because of their long evolutionary history; the ancestors of these crustaceans evolved during the Devonian period (419 million to 359 million years ago), and their appearance has changed very little since then.
Following a torrential summer downpour in northern Arizona, hundreds of these bizarre, prehistoric-looking critters emerged from tiny eggs and began swimming around a temporary lake on the desert landscape. Their eggs can lay dormant for decades in the desert until enough rainfall falls to create lakes that provide real estate and time for the hatchlings to mature and lay eggs for the next generation. Triops can live up to 90 days.
Covid-19
The countries with the 10 greatest number of Covid-19 cases:
Cholera – DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been experiencing a cholera outbreak since the beginning of this year. From January to September 12, a total of 4 671 suspected cases of cholera, including 91 deaths (Case Fatality Ratio (CFR) = 2.0%), were reported.