Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.3 earthquake hits the Hindu Kush, Afghanistan.
5.2 earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.
5.1 earthquake hits the Prince Edward Islands.
5.0 earthquake hits the Molucca Sea.
5.0 earthquake hits the Kuril Islands.
5.0 earthquake hits eastern New Guinea, Papua New Guinea.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Topical Storm Melissa is located about 415 mi…670 km s of Cape Race Newfoundland with maximum sustained winds…40 mph…65 km/h. Present movement…ene or 75 degrees at 20 mph…31 km/h.
In the Central Pacific Ocean: Post Tropical Cyclone Ema is located about 165 mi…260 km nw of French Frigate shoals and about 610 mi…980 km wnw of Lihue Hawaii with maximum sustained winds…35 mph…55 km/h. Present movement…nnw or 345 degrees at 17 mph…28 km/h.
NewsBytes:
Japan – Japan sent tens of thousands of troops and rescue workers on Sunday to save stranded residents and fight floods caused by one of the worst typhoons to hit the country in recent history. At least 30 people were killed in the typhoon that left vast sections of towns under water. Another 15 were missing and 177 injured by Typhoon Hagibis, which paralysed Tokyo on Saturday and dumped record levels of rain around Japan. About 100,000 homes were left without power. Rescue efforts were hindered after more than 20 rivers in central and northeastern Japan burst their banks and dozens more overflowed although their banks were still in tact, flooding rivers could cause more damage. Some of the worst damage hit the central Japanese city of Nagano, where the Chikuma River inundated swaths of land and forced military helicopters to airlift people from homes.
Chesapeake Bay, Potomac, USA – Since Friday, numerous locations along the tidal Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay have endured coastal flooding, due to the departure of Tropical Storm Melissa and the coming hunter’s full moon. Water levels two to three feet above normal have washed over shorelines and adjacent roads in Old Town Alexandria, the District’s waterfront, Annapolis and Baltimore at around high tide.
Kenya – Mombasa residents have expressed fears of possible outbreak of water-borne diseases as heavy downpour continues pounding the region. The heavy rains that have been pounding the region since Friday afternoon last week have flooded most parts of the county, rendering most roads impassable. The most affected areas are Nyali, Kisauni, Kongowea, Kaa Chonjo and parts of the Mombasa central business district. These areas were on Sunday heavily flooded after long hours of rains that began on Saturday night. In Bamburi, various estates were flooded with water filling roads, making it difficult for residents move. Motorists had difficulties wading through the flooded tourist city.
African Swine Fever – China
China reported another outbreak of the African swine fever on Sunday in its northwestern province of Gansu, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said. The latest outbreak occurred in a breeding cooperative in a county in Gansu’s Dingxi City, with 265 of the 287 infected pigs dying.
China has reported such outbreaks in all its provinces on the mainland, as well as in Hong Kong and Hainan island in the south.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.3 earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
5.1 earthquake hits the Anatahan region in the North Mariana Islands.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Topical Storm Melissa is located about 370 mi…595 km s of Halifax Nova Scotia with maximum sustained winds…45 mph…75 km/h. Present movement…ene or 65 degrees at 14 mph…22 km/h.
In the Western Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 20w (Hagibis), located approximately 113 nm south-southeast of Misawa, Japan, is tracking northeastward at 36 knots. The Typhoon has weakened and is dissipating, although heavy rainfall and strong winds will persist for some time.
In the Central Pacific Ocean: Tropical Storm Ema is located about 385 mi…620 km w of Lihue Hawaii and about 130 mi…210 km sse of French Frigate shoals with maximum sustained winds…40 mph…65 km/h. Present movement…nw or 305 degrees at 10 mph…17 km/h.
NewsBytes:
Japan – The sky turned in deep purple colour in Japan surprising the locals, just before the arrival of Typhoon Hagibis. The typhoon touched down southwest of Tokyo on Saturday. An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 shook the area shortly before the same time as the typhoon was making landfall. The earthquake was felt across Tokyo and Chiba. Typhoon Hagibis has brought heavy rain and strong winds to the region and is expected to be Japan’s worst typhoon in six decades. Japan’s military scrambled Sunday to rescue people trapped by flooding after powerful Typhoon Hagibis ripped across the country, killing at least 11 people and leaving more than a dozen missing. The storm’s heavy rain triggered deadly landslides and caused rivers to burst their banks. By Sunday morning, the significantly weakened storm had moved back off land, but serious flooding was reported in central Japan’s Nagano, where a burst levee sent water from the Chikuma river gushing into residential neighbourhoods, flooding homes up to the second floor. Hagibis smashed into the main Japanese island of Honshu around 7:00 pm (1000 GMT) Saturday as one of the most violent typhoons in recent years, with wind gusts of up to 216 kilometres per hour (134 miles per hour). At the storm’s peak, more than seven million people were placed under non-compulsory evacuation orders, with tens of thousands heeding the call and moving into government shelters.
Nigeria – An 11 year old boy died after being swept away in the flood water in the Alimosho area of Lagos. The heavy downpour has left many homes flooded and blocked the drainage in Lekki city in Lagos state.
North American Birds under Threat
Two-thirds of bird species in North America are at risk of extinction if global temperatures continue to rise, according to a new report from scientists at the Audubon Society. A total of 389 species, out of 604 studied, are expected to experience declines in their populations as a result of warmer temperatures, higher seas, loss of habitat, and extreme weather, all driven by climate change.
Among those birds most at-risk are the greater sage grouse, Baltimore oriole, common loon, and the wood thrush. The new study comes less than a month after research found the United States and Canada have lost 3 billion birds since 1970, equal to losing one out of every four birds.
Wildfires – California, USA
The wildfire raging out of control along the northern edge of Los Angeles since early Friday, has forced thousands of people from their homes as firefighters battled flames from the air and on the ground. The blaze erupted late Thursday along the northern tier of the San Fernando Valley as powerful Santa Ana winds swept Southern California, fanning several destructive blazes. The Los Angeles Fire Department said the fire had grown to more than 6 square miles (15.5 square kilometers) before dawn and an estimated 12,700 homes were under evacuation orders. The Fire Department said homes were destroyed but did not have an estimate. About 100,000 people in over 20,000 homes were ordered to evacuate.
Polio – Pakistan
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reported three additional wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases during the past week in Pakistan. This brings the total in Pakistan to 72 in 2019 to date, the highest number is years.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.3 earthquake hits Tonga.
5.3 earthquake hits near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
5.2 earthquake hits New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
5.0 earthquake hits the Gulf of Alaska.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Subtropical Storm Melissa is located about 235 mi…375 km sse of Nantucket Massachusetts with maximum sustained winds…50 mph…85 km/h. Present movement…ne or 55 degrees at 7 mph…11 km/h.
In the Western Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 20w (Hagibis), located approximately 121 nm southwest of Yokosuka, Japan, is tracking north-northeastward at 18 knots.
NewsBytes:
Japan – One man died and more than a million in Japan were advised to evacuate as powerful typhoon Hagibis was set to make landfall late on Saturday, bringing with it the heaviest rain and winds in 60 years. Four people were injured, also in Chiba, as winds blew roofs off several houses.
Wildfires – California, USA
A wind-swept wildfire in California’s San Fernando Valley threatened several northern Los Angeles communities Friday, prompting authorities to order the evacuation of more than 1,600 homes, according to reports.
The so-called Saddleridge Brush Fire, which started in Sylmar north of downtown LA on Thursday night, spread from 60 acres to 1,600 acres (2.5 square miles) within hours.
Meanwhile, a separate fire sparked by burning trash dumped by a garbage truck destroyed dozens of homes in Riverside County and led to the evacuation of hundreds of people.
The Sandalwood fire erupted when a “trash truck dumped a load of burning trash that spread onto vegetation” about 2 p.m. Thursday in the community of Calimesa, about 70 miles east of LA, fire officials said.
The two conflagrations were among about 275 wildfires that have broken out across the state as hot, gusty winds signaled the start of its peak fire season.
Naegleria fowleri – Pakistan
Pakistani health officials reported Friday on an additional Naegleria fowleri, or “brain-eating amoeba” death in Karachi. The 19-year-old victim is is the 15th fatality this year.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.2 earthquake hits the southern mid-Atlantic ridge.
5.1 earthquake hits the Banda Sea.
5.1 earthquake hits Mindanao in the Philippines.
Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:
In the Atlantic Ocean: Subtropical Storm Melissa is located about 190 mi…300 km s of Nantucket Massachusetts with maximum sustained winds…65 mph…100 km/h. Present movement…ssw or 200 degrees at 3 mph…6 km/h
In the Western Pacific Ocean: Typhoon 20w (Hagibis), located approximately 350 nm south-southwest of Yokosuka, Japan, is tracking north-northwestward at 12 knots.
NewsBytes:
New Jersey, USA – Residents at the Jersey Shore had to deal with some significant flooding thanks to a storm off the coast. Flooding Thursday evening was followed by more flooding Friday.
India – Panic gripped parts of North and Western Bengaluru in the early hours of Thursday with flash floods flooding several localities in Dasarahalli, Nagasandra and Chikkabidarakallu due to breaching of Doddabidarakallu Lake at around mid-night. More than 300 houses were marooned and over 100 vehicles were submerged in the flash floods.
Fly Relief
The misery that cows suffer from biting flies could be greatly reduced, thanks to a novel paint job for the animals devised by a team of Japanese researchers.
They found that by painting white stripes on cows, similar to those on zebras, the number of flies landing on the cows fell by more than 50 percent.
Flies seem to avoid landing on black-and-white surfaces due to the difference in the polarization of light reflecting off the two shades, which confuses the flies.
Writing in the journal PLOS One, scientists say fewer flies on the striped cows led to a sharp decline in the fly-defense movements made by the bovines, such as stomping of the feet and flipping of the head.
Oil Spill – Brazil
Brazilian officials are pointing their fingers at Venezuela for a massive oil spill that has polluted hundreds of miles of beaches in nine northeastern states during the past few weeks.
The spill has killed numerous sea turtles and kept swimmers and fishermen from the contaminated coastal strip.
Brazil’s Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said the spill appears to have come from Venezuela, and that more than 110 tons of oil have been recovered.
“It could be something criminal, it could be an accidental spill, it could also be a ship that sank,” said Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro.
