Earthquakes

Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global

5.4 Earthquake hits near the east coast of Kamchatka.

5.2 Earthquake hits the Andaman Islands off India.

5.0 Earthquake hits the Izu Islands off Japan.

Storms and Floods

Tropical Storms – Roundup of Tropical Storms:

In the Western Pacific: Tropical storm 33w (Tembin), located approximately 769 nm east-southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and is tracking westward at 11 knots.

Newsbytes:

Philippines – The death toll from a tropical storm in the southern Philippines climbed swiftly to 133 on Saturday, as rescuers pulled dozens of bodies from a swollen river, police said. Tropical Storm Tembin has lashed the nation’s second-largest island of Mindanao since Friday, triggering flash floods and mudslides. Rescuers retrieved 36 bodies from the Salog River in Mindanao on Saturday, as officials reported more fatalities in the impoverished Zamboanga peninsula. Tembin struck less than a week after Tropical Storm Kai-Tak left 54 dead and 24 missing in the central Philippines.

Brunei – Powerful rains lashed across the Tutong District, causing flash floods in several areas of the district on Thursday. Heavy rains that began on Tuesday evening and prolonged until midmorning Thursday, damaged several houses in Kampong Kiudang. One of the worst affected residential areas was Jalan Batang Mitus, where according to the Lamunin Fire Station, water reached 0.50 metre high, flooding roads.

Global Warming

Global Warming May Increase Volcanic Activity

Increased volcanic activity is likely to occur as the planet continues to warm from human-induced climate change, a recent study revealed.

According to the study published in the journal Geology, pressure exerted on the Earth’s surface from glaciers, known by geologists as “surface loading,” will decrease as global warming melts the massive ice sheets. This, in turn, will likely impact magma flow beneath the surface, the scientists said.

When glaciers expand, the weight of the ice puts immense pressure on Earth’s surface. It can affect magma flow and the voids and gaps in the Earth where magma flows to the surface, as well as how much magma the crust can actually hold.

The researchers studied Icelandic eruptions from 4,500 to 5,500 years ago – an era that had a cooler climate but not a full-blown ice age. They looked at the record of ash that fell on peat bogs and lakes in Europe to draw their conclusions.

They found that eruptions were significantly fewer as the climate cooled and the ice cover increased. In addition, eruptions that did occur seemed to be of a lesser magnitude.

The team found the exact opposite to be true when the planet warmed and glaciers melted. After glaciers are removed the surface pressure decreases, and the magmas more easily propagate to the surface and thus erupt.

Space Events

Halloween Asteroid to Pass Earth in 2018 Again

Astronomers will soon get another look at the big, ghoulishly weird space rock that buzzed Earth on Halloween three years ago.

The roughly 2,100-foot-wide (640 meters) Halloween asteroid 2015 TB145 gave Earth a close shave on Oct. 31, 2015, coming within just 300,000 miles (480,000 kilometers) of our planet. (For perspective, the moon orbits at an average distance of about 239,000 miles, or 384,600 km.)

The asteroid may actually be an extinct comet that has lost its water and other volatile materials after many laps around the sun, researchers have said. Each of those laps takes 3.04 Earth years — which means 2015 TB145 will make another swing by our planet in mid-November 2018.

Disease

Novovirus – USA

A significant number of students from Eureka City Schools are sick from an outbreak of what Public Health officials believe to be Norovirus. Based on advice from Public Health officials, all Eureka City Schools’ sites will be closed on Thursday, December 21st and Friday, December 22nd in an effort to prevent further spread of the Norovirus illness. This closure includes all school-sponsored sports and other extracurricular activities.