Earthquakes
RSOE EDIS
| Date/Time (UTC) | Magnitude | Area | Country | State/Prov./Gov. | Location | Risk | Source | Details | ||
| 31.08.2012 10:12:52 | 2.0 | North America | United States | California | Cobb |  |
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USGS-RSOE |  |
| 31.08.2012 10:12:52 | 2.0 | North America | United States | California | Cobb | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 09:50:23 | 4.5 | South-America | Chile | Libertador General Bernardo O?Higgins | Machali | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 09:40:33 | 4.6 | South America | Chile | Libertador General Bernardo O?Higgins | Machali | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 09:50:50 | 2.4 | Asia | Turkey | ??rnak | Balveren | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 08:50:21 | 2.8 | Europe | Greece | Peloponnese | Sperkhoyia | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 08:50:45 | 2.6 | Asia | Turkey | Amasya | Dedekoy | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 08:51:13 | 2.3 | Europe | Italy | Basilicate | Metaponto | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 08:10:37 | 2.4 | North America | United States | California | Soledad | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 09:10:27 | 4.4 | Asia | China | Guangdong Sheng | Shilong | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 09:51:10 | 4.4 | Asia | China | Guangdong Sheng | Shilong | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 07:45:34 | 3.3 | North America | United States | Alaska | Dry Creek | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:45:34 | 3.3 | North America | United States | Alaska | Dry Creek | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:50:25 | 2.7 | Asia | Turkey | ??rnak | Koyunoba | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 07:17:19 | 2.4 | North America | United States | California | Soledad | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:17:16 | 2.4 | North America | United States | California | Soledad | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:18:22 | 4.3 | North America | United States | Alaska | Stevens Village | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:18:22 | 4.3 | North America | United States | Alaska | Stevens Village | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 07:50:52 | 4.1 | North-America | United States | Alaska | Beaver | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 07:21:34 | 3.6 | North America | United States | Alaska | Dry Creek | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 06:40:21 | 2.0 | Asia | Turkey | Hatay | Gozene | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 08:51:35 | 4.1 | Indonesian Archipelago | Indonesia | Aceh | Sabang | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 05:41:01 | 3.7 | North America | United States | Alaska | Larsen Bay | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 05:03:45 | 2.0 | North America | United States | California | Mettler | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 05:40:28 | 2.3 | Asia | Turkey | Bursa | Kucukkumla | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 04:40:20 | 4.1 | South-America | Argentina | Salta | San Antonio de los Cobres | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 04:41:36 | 4.1 | Atlantic Ocean | Argentina | Salta | San Antonio de los Cobres | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 08:51:57 | 2.3 | Europe | Greece | Crete | Pombia | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 04:05:54 | 2.1 | North America | United States | Alaska | Petersville | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 03:41:07 | 4.4 | South America | Bolivia | Potosí | Villa Alota | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 03:40:20 | 4.4 | South-America | Bolivia | Potosí | Villa Alota | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 03:41:30 | 3.5 | North America | United States | Alaska | Attu Station | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 04:41:15 | 2.4 | Asia | Turkey | ?zmir | Alacati | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 02:55:27 | 2.2 | North America | United States | California | Brawley | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 02:50:30 | 3.0 | North America | United States | Alaska | Ninilchik | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 03:40:43 | 4.9 | South-America | Brazil | Estado de Pernambuco | Fernando de Noronha (Distrito Estadual) | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 03:00:27 | 4.9 | South America | Brazil | Estado de Pernambuco | Fernando de Noronha (Distrito Estadual) | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 03:35:28 | 3.2 | North America | United States | Alaska | Attu Station | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 02:40:20 | 2.4 | Asia | Turkey | Burdur | Golhisar | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 02:40:42 | 2.1 | Asia | Turkey | Elaz?? | Kovancilar | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 01:42:38 | 4.0 | Asia | Russia | Sakhalin | Vostok | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 01:40:20 | 4.0 | Europe | Russia | Sakhalin | Vostok | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 01:35:29 | 4.6 | South America | Ecuador | Guayas | Naranjal | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 01:40:57 | 4.6 | South-America | Ecuador | Guayas | Naranjal | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 01:26:19 | 4.0 | Middle America | Mexico | Sonora | Puerto Penasco | |
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USGS-RSOE | |
| 31.08.2012 01:41:51 | 4.0 | Middle-America | Mexico | Sonora | Puerto Penasco | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 01:42:12 | 3.0 | Europe | Greece | Ionian Islands | Limni Keriou | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 00:40:20 | 2.2 | Asia | Turkey | Van | Toyga | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 00:40:52 | 2.6 | Europe | Greece | Ionian Islands | Limni Keriou | |
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EMSC | |
| 31.08.2012 00:41:13 | 2.7 | Europe | Greece | Peloponnese | Methoni | |
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EMSC | |
…………………………………………
6.6 Mwb – JAN MAYEN ISLAND REGION
| Magnitude | 6.6 Mwb |
| Date-Time |
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| Location | 71.462N 10.723W |
| Depth | 8 km |
| Distances |
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| Location Uncertainty | Horizontal: 13.9 km; Vertical 2.8 km |
| Parameters | Nph = 591; Dmin = 424.0 km; Rmss = 1.08 seconds; Gp = 40° M-type = Mwb; Version = 7 |
| Event ID | us c000cb69 |
For updates, maps, and technical information, see:
Event Page
or
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program
National Earthquake Information Center
U.S. Geological Survey
http://neic.usgs.gov/
| 30.08.2012 | Earthquake | USA | State of California, [Imperial County] |  |
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Earthquake in USA on Monday, 27 August, 2012 at 03:20 (03:20 AM) UTC.
| Updated: | Thursday, 30 August, 2012 at 02:56 UTC |
| Description | |
| The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage. The cluster of relatively small quakes, which are caused by water and other fluids moving around in the Earth’s crust, began on Saturday evening and climaxed the next day with a 5.5 temblor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremors were continuing on Wednesday and geologists say there have been hundreds in total.Nava said leaders in Brawley, a city of 25,000 residents south of the state’s inland Salton Sea and 170 miles (275 km) southeast of Los Angeles, declared a local emergency late on Tuesday. Officials with surrounding Imperial County made a similar declaration on Wednesday. Nineteen mobile homes were knocked off their blocks and their residents forced out, Nava said. The auditorium at Brawley Union High School has been damaged and closed off, and the National Beef slaughter plant in Brawley has been temporarily shut down due to damage, he said. Local businesses have suffered millions of dollars in losses from closures and from customers staying away, Nava said. But he could not give an exact account of quake-related losses. The Red Cross and local government agencies will offer services to residents on Friday and Saturday at a local center. The emergency declaration allows Brawley to receive more assistance from Imperial County, Nava said. At one point, about 10,000 residents in the city were without power, and the quakes have also caused water line disruptions, Nava said. “When you don’t have an AC or running water, it’s just not a good thing in this weather,” he said. Jeanne Hardebeck, research seismologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, said earlier this week that the cluster of quakes is not a sign that a larger temblor is imminent. | |
LISS – Live Internet Seismic Server
GSN Stations
These data update automatically every 30 minutes. Last update: August 31, 2012 08:19:06 UTC
Seismograms may take several moments to load. Click on a plot to see larger image.
CU/ANWB, Willy Bob, Antigua and Barbuda
CU/BBGH, Gun Hill, Barbados
CU/BCIP, Isla Barro Colorado, Panama
CU/GRGR, Grenville, Grenada
CU/GTBY, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
CU/MTDJ, Mount Denham, Jamaica
CU/TGUH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras
IC/BJT, Baijiatuan, Beijing, China
IC/ENH, Enshi, China
IC/HIA, Hailar, Neimenggu Province, China
IC/LSA, Lhasa, China
IC/MDJ, Mudanjiang, China
IC/QIZ, Qiongzhong, Guangduong Province, China
IU/AFI, Afiamalu, Samoa
IU/ANMO, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
IU/ANTO, Ankara, Turkey
IU/BBSR, Bermuda
IU/CASY, Casey, Antarctica
IU/CCM, Cathedral Cave, Missouri, USA
IU/CHTO, Chiang Mai, Thailand
IU/COLA, College Outpost, Alaska, USA
IU/COR, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
IU/CTAO, Charters Towers, Australia
IU/DAV,Davao, Philippines
IU/DWPF,Disney Wilderness Preserve, Florida, USA
IU/FUNA,Funafuti, Tuvalu
IU/GNI, Garni, Armenia
IU/GRFO, Grafenberg, Germany
IU/GUMO, Guam, Mariana Islands
IU/HKT, Hockley, Texas, USA
IU/HNR, Honiara, Solomon Islands
IU/HRV, Adam Dziewonski Observatory (Oak Ridge), Massachusetts, USA
IU/INCN, Inchon, Republic of Korea
IU/JOHN, Johnston Island, Pacific Ocean
IU/KBS, Ny-Alesund, Spitzbergen, Norway
IU/KEV, Kevo, Finland
IU/KIEV, Kiev, Ukraine
IU/KIP, Kipapa, Hawaii, USA
IU/KMBO, Kilima Mbogo, Kenya
IU/KNTN, Kanton Island, Kiribati
IU/KONO, Kongsberg, Norway
IU/KOWA, Kowa, Mali
IU/LCO, Las Campanas Astronomical Observatory, Chile
IU/LSZ, Lusaka, Zambia
IU/LVC, Limon Verde, Chile
IU/MA2, Magadan, Russia
IU/MAJO, Matsushiro, Japan
IU/MAKZ,Makanchi, Kazakhstan
IU/MBWA, Marble Bar, Western Australia
IU/MIDW, Midway Island, Pacific Ocean, USA
IU/NWAO, Narrogin, Australia
IU/OTAV, Otavalo, Ecuador
IU/PAB, San Pablo, Spain
IU/PAYG Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands
IU/PET, Petropavlovsk, Russia
IU/PMG, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
IU/PMSA, Palmer Station, Antarctica
IU/POHA, Pohakaloa, Hawaii
IU/PTCN, Pitcairn Island, South Pacific
IU/PTGA, Pitinga, Brazil
IU/QSPA, South Pole, Antarctica
IU/RAO, Raoul, Kermandec Islands
IU/RAR, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
IU/RCBR, Riachuelo, Brazil
IU/RSSD, Black Hills, South Dakota, USA
IU/SAML, Samuel, Brazil
IU/SBA, Scott Base, Antarctica
IU/SDV, Santo Domingo, Venezuela
IU/SFJD, Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland
IU/SJG, San Juan, Puerto Rico
IU/SLBS, Sierra la Laguna Baja California Sur, Mexico
IU/SNZO, South Karori, New Zealand
IU/SSPA, Standing Stone, Pennsylvania USA
IU/TARA, Tarawa Island, Republic of Kiribati
IU/TATO, Taipei, Taiwan
IU/TEIG, Tepich, Yucatan, Mexico
IU/TIXI, Tiksi, Russia
IU/TRIS, Tristan da Cunha, Atlantic Ocean
IU/TRQA, Tornquist, Argentina
IU/TSUM, Tsumeb, Namibia
IU/TUC, Tucson, Arizona
IU/ULN, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
IU/WAKE, Wake Island, Pacific Ocean
IU/WCI, Wyandotte Cave, Indiana, USA
IU/WVT, Waverly, Tennessee, USA
IU/XMAS, Kiritimati Island, Republic of Kiribati
IU/YSS, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Russia
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Volcanic Activity
Earthquakes raise alert level at Alaska volcano
A series of small earthquakes which began Wednesday night and continued into Thursday near a long-dormant volcanic peak in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands has prompted researchers to raise the alert level for the Little Sitkin volcano.
The nearly 4,000-foot-high Little Sitkin volcano is named for the island where it resides, located in the Rat Islands in the Aleutian chain. The volcano has shown little activity since scientists have started observing it, with only three questionable eruptive events at the volcano since that time. The most recent eruption may have come in 1900, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Still, the AVO page for Little Sitkin mentions there may have been a “cataclysmic eruption” on the island sometime after the last ice age, which ended more than 11,000 years ago.
Seismic equipment located near the volcano began detecting a “swarm of high-frequency earthquakes” at about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday, the AVO reports. The earthquakes continued through the night into Thursday, prompting the alert level at the volcano being raised. The alert level is currently at yellow, which means that the “volcano is exhibiting signs of elevated unrest above known background level.” Additionally, aircraft traveling in the area are advised to exercise caution.
The volcano is located in a remote part of the Aleutians, about 35 miles northwest of the World War II outpost of Amchitka and 200 miles west of Adak.
Little Sitkin joins two other Alaska volcanoes, Iliamna and Cleveland, currently sitting at elevated alert levels.
Iliamna, 130 miles from Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, was first elevated in March of this year following a continued increase in seismic activity.
“The current level of activity at Iliamna does not indicate an imminent or certain eruption,” a status update from the AVO said Thursday. “Seismic activity, along with gas emissions, appear to be declining gradually.”
Meanwhile, the oft-erupting Cleveland volcano which, like Sitkin, is located in the Aleutians, remains elevated as well. Cleveland has been upgraded a half-dozen times in since 2010 alone, and most recently erupted in June, when a pilot reported an ash cloud reaching up to 35,000 feet. Cleveland sits at a higher alert level than Iliamna or Little Sitkin, meaning the volcano still has a higher potential for eruption at any time.
For updates on these and other volcanoes across Alaska, visit the Alaska Volcano Observatory.
Contact Ben Anderson at ben(at)alaskadispatch.com
| Today | Volcano Activity | USA | State of Alaska, [Little Sitkin Volcano] |  |
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Volcano Activity in USA on Friday, 31 August, 2012 at 02:27 (02:27 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Seismologists say a cluster of earthquakes has been detected at a remote volcano in Alaska’s western Aleutian Islands. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says the quakes began Wednesday evening at Little Sitkin Volcano and are continuing as of Thursday morning. No eruption has been detected. Scientist in charge John Power says there is no direct link to the swarm of earthquakes at Little Sitkin and a cluster of quakes that shook California’s Imperial County earlier this week. Powers says Little Sitkin is located on an uninhabited island and is far from any populated areas. He says the seismic activity is unusual for Little Sitkin, whose last eruption possibly in the early 1900s is questionable. Powers says the concern about an eruption would be the possible threat posed to aircraft. |
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Storms / Flooding
| Active tropical storm system(s) | ||||||||||
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| Name of storm system | Location | Formed | Last update | Last category | Course | Wind Speed | Gust | Wave | Source | Details |
| Ileana (EP09) | Pacific Ocean – East | 28.08.2012 | 31.08.2012 | Hurricane II | 335 ° | 139 km/h | 167 km/h | 3.05 m | NOAA NHC | |
Tropical Storm data
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| Kirk (AL02) | Atlantic Ocean | 29.08.2012 | 31.08.2012 | Hurricane III | 335 ° | 157 km/h | 194 km/h | 5.49 m | NOAA NHC | |
Tropical Storm data
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| Leslie (AL12) | Atlantic Ocean | 30.08.2012 | 31.08.2012 | Tropical Depression | 280 ° | 83 km/h | 102 km/h | 3.66 m | NOAA NHC | |
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Death toll from S. Korea typhoon rises to 18
by Staff Writers
Seoul (AFP)
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South Korean rescuers Wednesday recovered two more bodies near two wrecked Chinese fishing boats, bringing the confirmed death toll from a powerful typhoon to 18.
Typhoon Bolaven — the strongest to hit the South for almost a decade — left a trail of death and damage in southwestern and south-central regions of the country.
It drove two Chinese fishing ships aground early Tuesday off the southern island of Jeju, sparking a dramatic rescue operation.
Coastguards wearing wetsuits struggled through high waves and pulled a total of 12 people to safety, and six swam ashore. Eight bodies had been recovered as of Wednesday and seven were still missing, the coastguard in Jeju said.
Dozens of divers are involved in the ongoing search. The coastguard said in a statement it would make “utmost efforts” to account for all the missing.
Most of the other deaths, confirmed by the public administration ministry, were caused by wind gusts that toppled walls or roofs or blew victims off their feet.
Typhoon alerts covering most of the country were lifted as ferries and flights returned to normal and schools reopened. But South Korea is now on watch for another typhoon, Tembin.
Bolaven moved on to North Korea, damaging crops and toppling some 3,700 roadside trees, the North’s official news agency said. Human casualties were not reported.
In North Hwanghae Province, the typhoon deactivated television relay facilities and destroyed or damaged some 20 houses and public buildings, the agency said, adding that “a lot of houses and roads” were submerged in other provinces.
Bolaven crossed the Yalu border river into China early Wednesday.
In South Korea, the typhoon was the strongest since 2003 in terms of wind speed. A maximum speed of 214 kilometres per hour (134 miles per hour) was recorded at Mount Mudeung in the southwestern city of Gwangju.
Power cuts of five minutes or longer hit nearly two million homes, a record in the country, the public administration ministry said.
The storm toppled nearly 8,000 trees and damaged 42 ships or boats and 35 houses. A total of 6,418 hectares (15,852 acres) of farmland was damaged.
Typhoon Tembin, located about 350 kilometres northeast of the Taiwanese capital Taipei early Wednesday, is approaching South Korea at a speed of 20 kilometres an hour.
Related Links
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When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest
Situation in Braithwaite grim; flooding is massive
The situation was bleak in some Eastbank Plaquemines Parish neighborhoods that were inundated by water as Hurricane Isaac pushed across the region.
Officials said an 18-mile stretch of levees was overtopped by water from the Mississippi River early Wednesday. The resulting flood brought as much as 10 feet of water to residential areas, early reports indicated.
The area includes a stretch from Braithwaite to White Ditch. Those communities were under a mandatory evacuation order because of safety concerns.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser told WDSU that the problem was limited to overtopping, and not a breach. He described the situation as “serious.”
The National Weather Service noted: “This will result in significant deep flooding in this area.”
The levee is not part of the federal Corps of Engineers protection system.
WDSU reporter Travers Mackel said flood gates were closed to contain the water. He said there was concern that some people were trapped in dangerous conditions.
In nearby St. Bernard Parish, trees blocked roadways, making driving nearly impossible.
More than 400,000 Entergy customers on the south shore were without power.
WDSU reporter Gina Swanson said water was encroaching on an evacuation shelter in Raceland, in Lafourche Parish.
Jefferson Parish reported flooding in Lower Lafitte and water levels in the bayou that were up two feet from Tuesday.
The Harvey and Belle Chasse tunnels were closed — a move that followed the shut-down of the Lake Pontchartrain Causevay Tuesday evening.
Several fires, including major ones in Gretna and Arabi, were also reported.
Armstrong International Airport was closed, with all flights cancelled.
Viewers Send in Video of Massive Waves and Wind
(MOBILE, Ala.) – While Louisiana appears to be taking the heaviest blow from Hurricane Isaac, there’s no doubt the storm is impact our stretch of the Gulf.
One viewer send in video of waves churning in Mobile Bay ripping up a dock, and a man in Pensacola uploaded video of driving wind and rain from his pool.
Thousands have been without power in Mobile County but crews have been out trying to make those repairs today.
| Today | Technological Disaster | USA | State of Louisiana, [Lake Tangipahoa region] |  |
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Technological Disaster in USA on Friday, 31 August, 2012 at 04:46 (04:46 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Lake Tangipahoa, a 450 to 500-acre lake at Percy Quinn State Park just north of the Mississippi state line, was swollen from Isaac’s rain, undermining a dam that, if it failed, would release the body of water into the Tangipahoa River that meanders down the parish’s length to Lake Pontchartrain. “That’s going to inundate an already flooded river,” said National Guard Col. Rodney Painting, the incoming commander of the Guard’s 225th Engineer Brigade who started his day helping oversee the evacuation of flooded areas in LaPlace and would end it in his native Tangipahoa helping oversee what appears to be the largest such effort in the state since Isaac made landfall Tuesday. Authorities in Mississippi tried to ease the pressure by releasing some of the water, an effort said to be working. Louisiana officials are taking no chances.State and parish officials called a mandatory evacuation for communities from Kentwood to Robert. If the dam breaks, the National Guard will go into the affected communities with high-water vehicles and small boats, “that we can get through the flooded woods or streets if we have to,” said Painter, who during the Isaac state of emergency has helped coordinate evacuation sites at Zephyr Field in Metairie and in Slidell before moving to Laplace and Amite. In the “controlled release” using spillways, the water from the lake flooded out into a sparsely inhabited area of Mississippi on Thursday afternoon, relieving pressure on a dam scoured by Hurricane Isaac that threatened to push water levels in the Tangipahoa River up to 17 feet in Louisiana. Officials believe the controlled release of waters through emergency spillways will allow the water level to stabilize and lessen pressure on the dam until crews can breach the edge of Tangipahoa Lake near McComb and drain another 8 feet of water.While the release is expected to protect communities on the north shore, officials in Mississippi said about 20 homes on their side of the state line will be flooded out and emergency crews conducted a door-to-door effort to warn residents to leave their homes. Meanwhile, a more massive effort was occurring miles downriver, as National Guard units and other state assets attempted to get 40,000 to 60,000 people out of their homes. Though the water level in the lake was dropping and Mississippi officials downplayed the seriousness of the dam’s condition, Gov. Bobby Jindal continued to urge residents to leave potential flood zones in Tangipahoa Parish Thursday night. “The worse thing that could happen is that people get a false sense of confidence and then if there be a breach overnight it would be a lot harder for people to evacuate,” Jindal said. From the Florida Parishes Arena, troops drove school buses to collection points, where they’re driving evacuees to evacuation shelters set up at schools. School buses have been brought in from as far as Avoylles Parish and Terrebonne Parish, each driven by soldiers. “I’ve already got buses on the road full of people,” said Lt. Col. Vincent Tallo.
About 200 coaches and school buses are being rushed to Tangipahoa, said First Sgt. Rufus Jones of 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, a Guard combat unit whose soldiers, all armed with M4 rifles, waited in the arena for missions that would likely would include security details. By Thursday night, Tallo said he expected 300 National Guard troops in the parish, assisting the evacuation. The National Guard received the mission at 10 a.m., Thursday, said Maj. Scott Slaven, who commands the 205th Engineer Battalion in Bogalusa. Troops and equipment are staged on both sides of the Tangipahoa River, Slaven said. At Pontchatoula High School, Darryl Holliday of Kajun Kettle Foods Inc., which has a state contract to feed evacuees, was told to brace for 2,000 people. At 6:30 p.m., none of the evacuees had reached the school on Louisiana 22. Holliday said he was told that 40 people were en route. Painter said the plan calls for keeping evacuees in Tangipahoa Parish. At the Florida Parishes Arena, employees of the state Department of Children and Family Services prepared to account for the evacuees with forms, in part designed to identify families. The damage to dam prompted Parish President Gordon Burgess to order mandatory evacuations along the Tangipahoa River, which were carried out with the assistance of the state and National Guard units. The first reports of problems with the dam came into emergency operations officials at 8 a.m., when crews noticed two “sloughs” where dirt was sliding down the sides of the earthen structure, said Greg Flynn, spokesman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. Those sloughs are the first sign of a problem with the integrity of a dam, Flynn said. The damage was caused by rain from Hurricane Isaac, which raised the water level of the recreational fishing lake by several feet, said Richard Coghlan, Emergency Coordinator for Pike County. “The dam appears very stable at this time,” Coghlan said. Mississippi officials stressed that reports Thursday that the waters had breached or overtopped the dam were incorrect. Opening the spillways will bring the water level back to normal but could cause flooding in a wide, sparsely populated stretch of Mississippi. Coghlan said residents had been warned and were planning on leaving for at least a night. Those homes would also have been flooded in the event that the dam failed, he said. Once the water level drops back to normal, a process that could take days, crews will dig a trench out of the lake with the intention of causing a more serious drop in the water levels, Coghlan said. That will allow maintenance crews to go in and repair the dam, he said. Louisiana state officials estimated that between 40,000 and 60,000 homes would take on some water should the river flood. Many of those were outside the mandatory evacuation zone, which extended one mile on either side of the Tangipahoa River from Kentwood to Robert. It was unclear on Thursday exactly how many people lived in that area or how many were evacuated by the end of the day. |
| 30.08.2012 | Flash Flood | USA | State of Louisiana, [Plaquemines Parish region] | |
|
Flash Flood in USA on Thursday, 30 August, 2012 at 12:33 (12:33 PM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Officials rushed to evacuate more than 100 nursing home residents from Plaquemines Parish, an area with a reputation for weathering storms and perhaps the hardest hit by Isaac. In this hardscrabble, mostly rural parish, even the sick and elderly are hardened storm veterans. Other residents in the Riverbend Nursing and Rehabilitation Center were loaded into ambulances and taken to a nearby naval station. By midafternoon Wednesday, Isaac had been downgraded to a tropical storm. The Louisiana National Guard ceased rescue operations in Plaquemines Parish, saying it felt confident it had gotten everyone out. There were no serious injuries. National Guard spokesman Capt. Lance Cagnolatti said guardsmen would stay in the area over the coming days to help. By early Thursday, Isaac’s maximum sustained winds had decreased to 45 mph and the National Hurricane Center said it was expected to become a tropical depression by Thursday night, meaning its top sustained winds would drop below 39 mph. The storm’s center was on track to cross Arkansas on Friday and southern Missouri on Friday night, spreading rain as it goes. |
| 30.08.2012 | Flash Flood | United Kingdom | England, Milton [Staffordshire] |  |
|
Flash Flood in United Kingdom on Thursday, 30 August, 2012 at 10:08 (10:08 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Torrential rain left motorists battling flooded roads and residents using sandbags to stem the flow of flash floods. And yesterday’s downpour means the county is on track to record one of the wettest Augusts in recent years as families rue the summer that never was. The rain – which hit Staffordshire during yesterday morning and afternoon – forced local authorities and members of the emergency services to attempt to combat a number of deep floods. Weather experts said yesterday’s adverse conditions mean the region is on course to have endured a worse summer than the previous year. Figures from the Met Office have revealed the first two weeks of August saw 36mm of rain fall in the county. In July the region was hit with 139mm. Yesterday’s downpour caused problems across the city, along with Newcastle and the Staffordshire Moorlands. Staff from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council’s street cleaning team handed out sandbags to residents in Endon, Blythe Bridge, Stockton Brook and Brown Edge in a bid to tackle flooding. Firefighters were sent out to close off Endon’s Brook Lane after a flooded ford resulted in the area being deluged in 3ft high water. Crews from Leek and Endon also helped residents safely turn off their electricity and gas as water swept through the area. Last night motorists were being advised to avoid Brown Edge’s Breach Lane. A spokesman for Staffordshire Fire and Rescue said: “We’d urge people to monitor warnings given by the Environment Agency and to avoid driving in areas where there is localised flooding.” |
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Epidemic Hazards / Diseases
‘Virtually Untreatable’ Tuberculosis Threat Rising, Study Finds
Makiko Kitamura and Adi Narayan
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) — Almost half of tuberculosis patients who received prior treatment were resistant to a second-line drug, suggesting the deadly disease may become “virtually untreatable,” according to a new study.
Among 1,278 patients who were resistant to two or more first-line tuberculosis drugs in Estonia, Latvia, Peru, Philippines, Russia, South Africa, South Korea and Thailand, 43.7 percent showed resistance to at least one second-line drug, according to a study led by Tracy Dalton at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were published in the Lancet medical journal today.
About 1.4 million people died from TB, the second-deadliest infectious disease globally after AIDS, and 650,000 cases were multi-drug resistant in 2010, according to the World Health Organization. Rising infection rates prompted the U.K. to announce in May it will require pre-entry tuberculosis screening for migrants from 67 countries seeking to enter the country for more than 6 months.
“The global emergence of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis heralds the advent of widespread, virtually untreatable tuberculosis,” the study authors said in the published paper.
Previous treatment with second-line drugs was the strongest risk factor for resistance to these drugs, the authors said.
Alcohol Abuse
The prevalence of drug resistance, which ranged from 33 percent in Thailand to 62 percent in Latvia, also correlates with how long second-line drugs have been available in each country.
South Korea and Russia had the longest histories of availability — more than 20 years — and the highest rates of resistance. In contrast, Thailand, Philippines and Peru, where second-line drugs were introduced 10 years ago or less, had the lowest resistance rates.
Unemployment, alcohol abuse and smoking were also associated with resistance to second-line injectable treatment across countries.
This is one of the few studies that have followed patients with the multi-drug-resistant form of TB for several years, Justin Denholm, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said in a phone interview.
Patients not taking their medicines properly is a major driver for resistance, said Denholm, who is studying TB transmission patterns in Australia’s Victoria state.
Individualized Treatment
The WHO’s current strategy for tackling TB is called Dots, short for “directly observed treatment, short course.” Under Dots, patients are required to show up at a clinic three times a week to be supervised when taking their medicine to be sure they complete the treatment.
“The reality is that this one-size-fits-all approach is a major part of what’s led to this drug resistance issue,” Denholm said. “I think individualized treatment is what we should be aiming for.”
Scientists are also researching new treatments. In a study published last month in the Lancet, researchers from Stellenbosch University in Cape Town said an experimental three- drug combination killed 99 percent of the bacteria within two weeks. As the combination doesn’t contain isoniazid or rifampicin, the two main medicines used against TB, it may also provide a much-needed weapon against drug-resistant strains, the researchers wrote.
China Survey
India and China, which have the world’s highest numbers of tuberculosis cases, weren’t included in Dalton’s study as they hadn’t begun pilot programs for increasing access to second-line drugs until after the study began.
In a 2007 national survey in China, 27 percent of multi- drug-resistant tuberculosis cases showed resistance to the antibiotic fluoroquinolone, according to the Lancet report. In India, a 2006 population-based survey in the western state of Gujarat reported fluoroquinolone resistance in 24 percent of cases.
The U.K. Border Agency this month began requiring TB screening for Indians applying for a settlement visa and will extend the rule to those obtaining a work visa from Sept. 10. The new requirement replaces screening at airports.
TB is at the highest level in 30 years in the U.K. In London, 84 percent of the 3,302 people infected in 2010 were foreign-born, according to the Health Protection Agency.
| 30.08.2012 | Epidemic Hazard | USA | State of Colorado, [Cimarrona Campground, Archuleta County] | |
|
Epidemic Hazard in USA on Wednesday, 29 August, 2012 at 15:48 (03:48 PM) UTC.
| Updated: | Thursday, 30 August, 2012 at 03:20 UTC |
| Description | |
| A camper near Pagosa Springs has contracted bubonic plague. The Durango Herald reports that the person contracted the plague during a family outing in the Cimarrona Campground. The San Juan Basin Health Department did not give the victim’s age or gender. Warning signs are being posted in the campground, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports an average of seven cases of plague each year across the country. Most human cases tend to occur in rural areas in the Southwest. Symptoms of plague begin two to six days after a person is bitten by an infected flea, rodent or cat. The plague can be successfully treated if diagnosed promptly. | |
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Climate Change
Thawing permafrost frees millions of tons of carbon: study
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP)
 |
A vast outcrop of the Arctic Siberian coast that had been frozen for tens of thousands of years is releasing huge carbon deposits as rising temperatures thaw parts of its coastline, a study warned Wednesday.
The carbon, a potential source of Earth-warming CO2, has lain frozen along the 7,000-kilometre (4,400-mile) northeast Siberian coastline since the last Ice Age.
But atmospheric warming and coastal erosion are gnawing at the icy seal, releasing about 40 million tonnes of carbon a year — 10 times more than previously thought, said a study in the journal Nature.
About two-thirds of the carbon escapes into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2) and the rest becomes trapped in higher layers of ocean sediment.
About half the carbon pool in soil globally is held in permafrost in the Arctic, a region that is experiencing twice the global average of climate warming, said the study led by researchers at Stockholm University.
Earlier this week, US scientists said the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean had melted to its smallest point ever.
The region covered by the Nature study, called Yedoma, is twice the size of Sweden but has been poorly researched because it is so remote.
The finding touches on a vicious circle, or positive feedback in climate parlance.
Under this, man-made warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels releases naturally-occurring stocks of CO2 that have been stored in permafrost since the last Ice Age, called the Pleistocene.
The released gases in turn add to global warming, which frees even more locked-up carbon, and so on.
“Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate the Arctic amplification of climate warming,” the paper warned.
The atmospheric leakage from Yedoma is equivalent to the annual emissions of around five million passenger cars, on the basis of average carbon output (five tonnes per year) of vehicles in the United States.
In a separate study also in Nature, researchers in Britain, the Netherlands and the United States used computer models to estimate there could be as much as four billion tonnes of methane under Antarctica’s icesheet.
Methane is 25 times more efficient at trapping solar heat than carbon dioxide.
Before it froze over, the region teemed with life whose organic remains became trapped in sediment later covered by ice sheets.
“Our modelling shows that over millions of years, microbes may have turned this old organic carbon into methane,” which could boost climate warming if released by icesheet collapse, the researchers said in a statement.
The collapse of the Antarctic icesheet is considered an extremely remote scenario by most climatologists, and some studies have suggested that parts of it could be thickening, due to localised increases in snowfall.
Related Links
Beyond the Ice Age
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Solar Activity
2MIN News August 30. 2012: Arctic Follow-Up, Buoy Events, Sun Awakening
Published on Aug 30, 2012 by Suspicious0bservers
TODAY’S LINKS
Arctic Ice Melt Follow-up: http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/article/2012/arctic-sea-ice-breaks-2007-reco…
Yosemite: http://www.kcra.com/news/Yosemite-officials-1-700-visitors-risk-disease/-/117…
What’s Visible on Stereo: http://stereo-ssc.nascom.nasa.gov/beacon/planets/
Isaac Images: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/slideshow
REPEAT LINKS
Spaceweather: http://spaceweather.com/ [Look on the left at the X-ray Flux and Solar Wind Speed/Density]
HAARP: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/data.html [Click online data, and have a little fun]
SDO: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/data/ [Place to find Solar Images and Videos - as seen from earth]
SOHO: http://sohodata.nascom.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/soho_movie_theater [SOHO; Lasco and EIT - as seen from earth]
Stereo: http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/images [Stereo; Cor, EUVI, HI - as seen from the side]
SunAEON:http://www.sunaeon.com/#/solarsystem/ [Just click it... trust me]
SOLARIMG: http://solarimg.org/artis/ [All purpose data viewing site]
iSWA: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov/iswa/iSWA.html [Free Application; for advanced sun watchers]
NASA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://iswa.gsfc.nasa.gov:8080/IswaSystemWebApp/iSWACygnetStreamer?timestamp=…
NOAA ENLIL SPIRAL: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wsa-enlil/
NOAA Bouys: http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/
NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory: http://www.nnvl.noaa.gov/Default.php
RSOE: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php [That cool alert map I use]
JAPAN Radiation Map: http://jciv.iidj.net/map/
LISS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/monitoring/operations/heliplots_gsn.php
Gamma Ray Bursts: http://grb.sonoma.edu/ [Really? You can't figure out what this one is for?]
BARTOL Cosmic Rays: http://neutronm.bartol.udel.edu//spaceweather/welcome.html [Top left box, look for BIG blue circles]
TORCON: http://www.weather.com/news/tornado-torcon-index [Tornado Forecast for the day]
GOES Weather: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/goes/ [Clouds over America]
RAIN RECORDS: http://www.cocorahs.org/ViewData/ListIntensePrecipReports.aspx
EL DORADO WORLD WEATHER MAP: http://www.eldoradocountyweather.com/satellite/ssec/world/world-composite-ir-…
PRESSURE MAP: http://www.woweather.com/cgi-bin/expertcharts?LANG=us&MENU=0000000000&…
HURRICANE TRACKER: http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/tracker
INTELLICAST: http://www.intellicast.com/ [Weather site used by many youtubers]
NASA News: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/
PHYSORG: http://phys.org/ [GREAT News Site!]
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Space
Earth approaching objects (objects that are known in the next 30 days) |
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| Object Name | Apporach Date | Left | AU Distance | LD Distance | Estimated Diameter* | Relative Velocity | |||
| (2012 LU7) | 02nd September 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1200 | 46.7 | 440 m – 990 m | 8.16 km/s | 29376 km/h | ||
| (2012 FS35) | 02nd September 2012 | 2 day(s) | 0.1545 | 60.1 | 2.3 m – 5.2 m | 2.87 km/s | 10332 km/h | ||
| (2012 HG31) | 03rd September 2012 | 3 day(s) | 0.0716 | 27.9 | 440 m – 990 m | 10.33 km/s | 37188 km/h | ||
| (2012 PX) | 04th September 2012 | 4 day(s) | 0.0452 | 17.6 | 61 m – 140 m | 9.94 km/s | 35784 km/h | ||
| (2012 EH5) | 05th September 2012 | 5 day(s) | 0.1613 | 62.8 | 38 m – 84 m | 9.75 km/s | 35100 km/h | ||
| (2011 EO11) | 05th September 2012 | 5 day(s) | 0.1034 | 40.2 | 9.0 m – 20 m | 8.81 km/s | 31716 km/h | ||
| (2007 PS25) | 06th September 2012 | 6 day(s) | 0.0497 | 19.3 | 23 m – 52 m | 8.50 km/s | 30600 km/h | ||
| 329520 (2002 SV) | 08th September 2012 | 8 day(s) | 0.1076 | 41.9 | 300 m – 670 m | 9.17 km/s | 33012 km/h | ||
| (2011 ES4) | 10th September 2012 | 10 day(s) | 0.1792 | 69.8 | 20 m – 44 m | 12.96 km/s | 46656 km/h | ||
| (2008 CO) | 11th September 2012 | 11 day(s) | 0.1847 | 71.9 | 74 m – 160 m | 4.10 km/s | 14760 km/h | ||
| (2007 PB8) | 14th September 2012 | 14 day(s) | 0.1682 | 65.5 | 150 m – 340 m | 14.51 km/s | 52236 km/h | ||
| 226514 (2003 UX34) | 14th September 2012 | 14 day(s) | 0.1882 | 73.2 | 260 m – 590 m | 25.74 km/s | 92664 km/h | ||
| (1998 QC1) | 14th September 2012 | 14 day(s) | 0.1642 | 63.9 | 310 m – 700 m | 17.11 km/s | 61596 km/h | ||
| (2002 EM6) | 15th September 2012 | 15 day(s) | 0.1833 | 71.3 | 270 m – 590 m | 18.56 km/s | 66816 km/h | ||
| (2002 RP137) | 16th September 2012 | 16 day(s) | 0.1624 | 63.2 | 67 m – 150 m | 7.31 km/s | 26316 km/h | ||
| (2009 RX4) | 16th September 2012 | 16 day(s) | 0.1701 | 66.2 | 15 m – 35 m | 8.35 km/s | 30060 km/h | ||
| (2005 UC) | 17th September 2012 | 17 day(s) | 0.1992 | 77.5 | 280 m – 640 m | 7.55 km/s | 27180 km/h | ||
| (2012 FC71) | 18th September 2012 | 18 day(s) | 0.1074 | 41.8 | 24 m – 53 m | 3.51 km/s | 12636 km/h | ||
| (1998 FF14) | 19th September 2012 | 19 day(s) | 0.0928 | 36.1 | 210 m – 480 m | 21.40 km/s | 77040 km/h | ||
| 331990 (2005 FD) | 19th September 2012 | 19 day(s) | 0.1914 | 74.5 | 320 m – 710 m | 15.92 km/s | 57312 km/h | ||
| (2009 SH2) | 24th September 2012 | 24 day(s) | 0.1462 | 56.9 | 28 m – 62 m | 7.52 km/s | 27072 km/h | ||
| 333578 (2006 KM103) | 25th September 2012 | 25 day(s) | 0.0626 | 24.4 | 250 m – 560 m | 8.54 km/s | 30744 km/h | ||
| (2002 EZ2) | 26th September 2012 | 26 day(s) | 0.1922 | 74.8 | 270 m – 610 m | 6.76 km/s | 24336 km/h | ||
| (2009 SB170) | 29th September 2012 | 29 day(s) | 0.1789 | 69.6 | 200 m – 440 m | 32.39 km/s | 116604 km/h | ||
| (2011 OJ45) | 29th September 2012 | 29 day(s) | 0.1339 | 52.1 | 18 m – 39 m | 4.24 km/s | 15264 km/h | ||
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Biological Hazards / Wildlife /Environmental Pollution
| Today | Biological Hazard | Ukraine | Mykolaiv Oblast, Voznesensk [Zaporizhia region] | |
|
Biological Hazard in Ukraine on Friday, 31 August, 2012 at 08:17 (08:17 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Out of the 36 patients, who underwent prophylactic treatment after identification of the anthrax hot bed in Zaporizhia region, currently two of them are remaining under supervision of physicians. “Today we can say that everything is fine with the people: out of 36 people, who received preventive treatment, only two are under the supervision of doctors now. They are a man and a woman from Voznesenka village, who had contacted the infected animal and were hospitalized immediately after the accident. Currently, they have no manifestations of disease, but to make sure that the health condition of these people is good, we should get the results of laboratory tests and withstand a certain period,” chief medical officer of Zaporizhia region Anatoly Sevalnev said. According to the deputy head of the Main Department for Veterinary Medicine in Zaporizhia region Serhit Dehtiarenko, the quarantine measures will continue until September 5. | |
| Biohazard name: | Anthrax |
| Biohazard level: | 4/4 Hazardous |
| Biohazard desc.: | Viruses and bacteria that cause severe to fatal disease in humans, and for which vaccines or other treatments are not available, such as Bolivian and Argentine hemorrhagic fevers, H5N1(bird flu), Dengue hemorrhagic fever, Marburg virus, Ebola virus, hantaviruses, Lassa fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, and other hemorrhagic or unidentified diseases. When dealing with biological hazards at this level the use of a Hazmat suit and a self-contained oxygen supply is mandatory. The entrance and exit of a Level Four biolab will contain multiple showers, a vacuum room, an ultraviolet light room, autonomous detection system, and other safety precautions designed to destroy all traces of the biohazard. Multiple airlocks are employed and are electronically secured to prevent both doors opening at the same time. All air and water service going to and coming from a Biosafety Level 4 (P4) lab will undergo similar decontamination procedures to eliminate the possibility of an accidental release. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | confirmed |
| Today | Biological Hazard | USA | State of New York, [Noyack Bay] | |
|
Biological Hazard in USA on Friday, 31 August, 2012 at 05:38 (05:38 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Streaks of red tide – a toxic algal bloom that threatens both marine life – were clearly visible in Noyac Bay during a flyover on Thursday. Aerial photographer Jeff Cully captured images of red tide lining the shore at Long Beach. Red tide has appeared in Long Island waters every summer since 2004, Chris Gobler, Ph.D., told Patch earlier this month, when the algal bloom made its first showing of the year. Gobler, a Stony Brook Southampton School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences professor, said red tide typically appears in late August, but this summer it was detected in late July. The early arrival could be attributed to high temperatures this summer, he said. “This red tide is caused by the dinoflagellate, cochlodinium,” Gobler explained. “Cochlodinium is not a human health threat but is highly toxic to marine life. Fish exposed to dense cochlodinium blooms cannot survive more than one to six hours, depending on their size. We have had fish die at the Southampton marine lab when our intake system brought in red tide water.” After patches of red tide have passed through, pound net fisherman have found that catches have died off, he added. The School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, thanks to $3 million in grants, announced Monday a plan to restore the health of another local bay, Shinnecock, by seeding eelgrass and shellfish beds in strategic areas where they are most likely to thrive. Shellfish filter algae from water, but their populations in Long Island waters have declined in recent decades, a trend marine sciences hope to turn around. If the effort proves successful, it could be implemented in other distressed bodies of water, both locally and around the world. Research demonstrates that algal blooms are made worse by an increased flow of nitrogen into the bays, from sources such as cesspools and fertilizers, Gobler said. | |
| Biohazard name: | Red Tide |
| Biohazard level: | 0/4 — |
| Biohazard desc.: | This does not included biological hazard category. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | |
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| Today | Biological Hazard | Ireland | Multiple areas, [Beaches in Waterford and Cork, and Kerry] | |
|
Biological Hazard in Ireland on Friday, 31 August, 2012 at 02:59 (02:59 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Portuguese men-of-war, which look like jellyfish and whose sting can cause severe pain and, in rare cases, death in humans, has been seen on beaches in Waterford and Cork, and may yet reach Kerry coasts. The Irish Water Safety organisation yesterday warned swimmers, surfers and other beach users that Portuguese men-of- war have been seen in Tramore, Ardmore, Inchydoney and Schull, and that there is a risk they may drift farther north. The invertebrate and carnivore creature is a siphonophore, which means it is made up of a colony of organisms working together. Its float is about 30cm long and 13cm wide and it has tentacles that can reach 50m in length. The stinging venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles cause severe pain to humans, leaving whip-like red welts on the skin. A sting may lead to an allergic reaction. There can also be serious effects, including fever, shock, and interference with heart and lung function. Stings may also cause death, although this is extremely rare. | |
| Biohazard name: | Portuguese man O War Jellyfish invasion |
| Biohazard level: | 0/4 — |
| Biohazard desc.: | This does not included biological hazard category. |
| Symptoms: | |
| Status: | |
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Japanese River Otter Declared Extinct
Tom Schueneman
Once a resident of rivers throughout Japan, the Japanese river otter hasn’t been seen for more than 30 years. Today, the otter was officially deemed extinct by Japan’s Ministry of the Environment. The unique species of otter was designated as natural monument in Japan as the first Japanese mammal to have survived into the Showa Era (1926-1989) before succumbing to extinction. Two species of Japanese bat and two species of wolves became extinct in the Meija Era (1868-1912).
Over-hunting for its fur combined with habitat destruction from human development drove the river otter to near extinction by the 1930s. By the late ’70s the river otter was added to the “Red List of Threatened Mammals of Japan” as critically endangered. The last official sighting of a Japanese river otter was in 1979 along the banks of the Shinjo River in Susaki, Kochi Prefecture.
An adult river otter grew to about 110 centimeters (43 inches) in length, including a tail of up to 50 centimeters (20 inches), sporting a thick, lush coat of fur and short webbed feet. The typical diet for a Japanese river otter consisted mainly of fish, crab and shrimp, but they also dined on eels, sweet potatoes, watermelons and beetles.
Hope after extinction?
Official survey records from the Ministry of the Environment indicate the river otter disappeared from the northern island of Hokkaido in the 1950s and on the main island of Honshu in the 1960s. In the early 1990s research teams assembled in Kochi Prefecture, located in the southwestern part of the island of Shikoku, to see if they could find evidence of surviving otters. In March 1992 the researchers found hair and excrement that was determined to have come from an otter — perhaps the last official evidence of a surviving Japanese river otter.
But Yoshihiko Machida, professor emeritus at Kochi University, isn’t quite ready to sound the death knell for the Japanese river otter, citing reports of confirmed otter droppings found as late as 1999:
“I think it is possible that they still exist, and I want to continue my investigations,” he said in response to the declaration of the otter’s extinction.
Hope springs eternal.
| 30.08.2012 | Environment Pollution | United Kingdom | Scotland, North Sea, [Between Tartan Alpha platform and Galley field] | |
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Environment Pollution in United Kingdom on Thursday, 30 August, 2012 at 11:44 (11:44 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| An oil spill response spill vessel has been deployed to a North Sea field after oil started leaking from crack in a subsea pipeline. An estimated 13 barrels of oil have leaked from the pipeline which connects the Galley field to Talisman’s Tartan Alpha platform, 117 miles north-east of Aberdeen. The leak was first spotted last Friday. A spokesman for Talisman Energy said: “Talisman Energy (UK) Limited can confirm that following the identification of a crack in the production pipeline which connects the Galley field to the Tartan Alpha platform, flushing operations are being carried out using seawater to remove the production fluids from the pipeline. “This is being carried out in accordance with a plan developed by a specialist team and agreed with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, bringing the situation to a safe and timely resolution. All relevant authorities have been informed and are being kept updated.” He added: “Based on the investigatory and monitoring activity undertaken since we identified the issue on 24 August, we estimate the maximum total release to date is 88 barrels of fluids, of which approximately 13 would be oil and the rest water. “We take our responsibility to safeguard the environment very seriously and, as a precaution we deployed a spill recovery and containment vessel with oil spill response equipment on board, while monitoring the leak area by ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) on a round-the-clock basis. The oil spill response vessel will remain on station during subsequent remedial works. “In addition, we have established a regular programme of spotter plane flights to monitor the sea surface and placed a trained wildlife observer on a vessel at the site to monitor seabirds and marine life.” |
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