March 12, 2016 - WALES - An experienced astronomer says he has caught on camera the "very rare" sight of light pillars in the night sky above south Wales.
The phenomenon, caused by atmospheric ice crystals reflecting light,
was captured by Allan Trow above Rhigos mountain, Rhondda Cynon Taff.
He said light pillars were more common in polar regions. Mr Trow, who
has been stargazing for 20 years, said the sighting on Friday night was
"spectacular". The director of astronomy education company Dark Sky Wales
was on the mountain near Treherbert with two other experienced
astronomers and a group of amateur stargazers when the bright lights
appeared at about 21:50 GMT.
"Between the three astronomers there, we have 80 years experience but it was the first time we had seen anything like it," said Mr Trow.
"We immediately went onto Facebook and Twitter and consulted with our
astronomy friends to see what they could be. We discounted ideas such as
as aurora and a meteor. But the conditions were right for light
pillars.
"We were astonished. I've seen pictures of them from Scandinavia and Alaska but nothing from the UK."
He said his fellow astronomers believed the light reflected in the light
pillars - which were visible to the naked eye - could have come from
the Port Talbot steelworks which are just over the other side of the
mountain.
March 12, 2016 - ALASKA - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 has struck off Atka Island
in the Andreanof Islands, which are part of the Aleutian Islands in
southwest Alaska, seismologists say. No tsunami alerts have been issued.
The earthquake, which struck at 9:06 a.m. local time on Saturday, was
centered about 51 miles (82 km) south of Atka, which is a small town
located on the eastern side of Atka Island. It struck about 19.9 miles
(32 km) deep, making it a shallow earthquake.
USGS shakemap intensity.
The U.S. Tsunami Warning Center said the earthquake was not strong
enough to generate a tsunami, and no tsunami alerts have been issued,
but the earthquake was likely felt on islands across the region.
Other details about Saturday's earthquake were not immediately
available, and there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties
from the sparsely-populated region. - BNO News.
Seismotectonics of Alaska
The
Aleutian arc extends approximately 3,000 km from the Gulf of Alaska in
the east to the Kamchatka Peninsula in the west. It marks the region
where the Pacific plate subducts into the mantle beneath the North
America plate. This subduction is responsible for the generation of the
Aleutian Islands and the deep offshore Aleutian Trench.
The
curvature of the arc results in a westward transition of relative plate
motion from trench-normal (i.e., compressional) in the east to
trench-parallel (i.e., translational) in the west, accompanied by
westward variations in seismic activity, volcanism, and overriding plate
composition. The Aleutian arc is generally divided into three regions:
the western, central, and eastern Aleutians. Relative to a fixed North
America plate, the Pacific plate is moving northwest at a rate that
increases from roughly 60 mm/yr at the arc's eastern edge to 76 mm/yr
near its western terminus. The eastern Aleutian arc extends from the
Alaskan Peninsula in the east to the Fox Islands in the west. Motion
along this section of the arc is characterized by arc-perpendicular
convergence and Pacific plate subduction beneath thick continental
lithosphere. This region exhibits intense volcanic activity and has a
history of megathrust earthquakes.
USGS plate tectonics for the region.
The central Aleutian arc
extends from the Andreanof Islands in the east to the Rat Islands in the
west. Here, motion is characterized by westward-increasing oblique
convergence and Pacific plate subduction beneath thin oceanic
lithosphere. Along this portion of the arc, the Wadati-Benioff zone is
well defined to depths of approximately 200 km. Despite the obliquity of
convergence, active volcanism and megathrust earthquakes are also
present along this margin.
The western Aleutians,
stretching from the western end of the Rat Islands in the east to the
Commander Islands, Russia, in the west, is tectonically different from
the central and eastern portions of the arc. The increasing component of
transform motion between the Pacific and North America plates is
evidenced by diminishing active volcanism; the last active volcano is
located on Buldir Island, in the far western portion of the Rat Island
chain. Additionally, this portion of the subduction zone has not hosted
large earthquakes or megathrust events in recorded history. Instead, the
largest earthquakes in this region are generally shallow, predominantly
strike-slip events with magnitudes between M5-6. Deeper earthquakes do
occur, albeit rather scarcely and with small magnitudes (Magnitude less
than 4), down to approximately 50 km.
Most of the
seismicity along the Aleutian arc results from thrust faulting that
occurs along the interface between the Pacific and North America plates,
extending from near the base of the trench to depths of 40 to 60 km.
Slip along this interface is responsible for generating devastating
earthquakes. Deformation also occurs within the subducting slab in the
form of intermediate-depth earthquakes that can reach depths of 250 km.
Normal faulting events occur in the outer rise region of the Aleutian
arc resulting from the bending of the oceanic Pacific plate as it enters
the Aleutian trench. Additionally, deformation of the overriding North
America plate generates shallow crustal earthquakes.
The
Aleutian arc is a seismically active region, evidenced by the many
moderate to large earthquakes occurring each year. Since 1900, this
region has hosted twelve large earthquakes (Magnitude greater than 7.5)
including the May 7, 1986 M8.0 Andreanof Islands, the June 10, 1996 M7.9
Andreanof Islands, and the November 17, 2003 M7.8 Rat Islands
earthquakes. Six of these great earthquakes (M8.3 or larger) have
occurred along the Aleutian arc that together have ruptured almost the
entire shallow megathrust contact. The first of these major earthquakes
occurred on August 17, 1906 near the island of Amchitka (M8.3) in the
western Aleutian arc. However, unlike the other megathrust earthquakes
along the arc, this event is thought to have been an intraplate event
occurring in the shallow slab beneath the subduction zone interface.
The
first megathrust event along the arc during the 20th century was the
November 10, 1938 M8.6 Shumagin Island earthquake. This event ruptured
an approximately 300 km long stretch of the arc from the southern end of
Kodiak Island to the northern end of the Shumagin Islands and generated
a small tsunami that was recorded as far south as Hawaii.
The
April 1, 1946 M8.6 Unimak Island earthquake, located in the central
Aleutian arc, was characterized by slow rupture followed by a
devastating Pacific-wide tsunami that was observed as far south as the
shores of Antarctica. Although damage from earthquake shaking was not
severe locally, tsunami run-up heights were recorded as high as 42 m on
Unimak Island and tsunami waves in Hilo, Hawaii also resulted in
casualties. The slow rupture of this event has made it difficult to
constrain the focal mechanism and depth of the earthquake, though it is
thought to have been an interplate thrust earthquake.
The
next megathrust earthquake occurred along the central portion of the
Aleutian arc near the Andreanof Islands on March 9, 1957, with a
magnitude of M8.6. The rupture length of this event was approximately
1200 km, making it the longest observed aftershock zone of all the
historic Aleutian arc events. Although only limited seismic data from
this event are still available, significant damage and tsunamis were
observed on the islands of Adak and Unimak with tsunami heights of
approximately 13 m.
The easternmost megathrust
earthquake was the March 28, 1964 M9.2 Prince William Sound earthquake,
currently the second largest recorded earthquake in the world. The event
had a rupture length of roughly 700 km extending from Prince William
Sound in the northeast to the southern end of Kodiak Island in the
southwest. Extensive damage was recorded in Kenai, Moose Pass, and
Kodiak but significant shaking was felt over a large region of Alaska,
parts of western Yukon Territory, and British Columbia, Canada. Property
damage was the largest in Anchorage, as a result of both the main shock
shaking and the ensuing landslides. This megathrust earthquake also
triggered a devastating tsunami that caused damage along the Gulf of
Alaska, the West Coast of the United States, and in Hawaii.
The
westernmost Aleutians megathrust earthquake followed a year later on
February 4, 1965. This M8.7 Rat Islands earthquake was characterized by
roughly 600 km of rupture. Although this event is quite large, damage
was low owing to the region's remote and sparsely inhabited location. A
relatively small tsunami was recorded throughout the Pacific Ocean with
run-up heights up to 10.7 m on Shemya Island and flooding on Amchitka
Island.
Although the Aleutian arc is highly active,
seismicity is rather discontinuous, with two regions that have not
experienced a large (Magnitude greater than 8.0) earthquake in the past
century: the Commander Islands in the western Aleutians and the Shumagin
Islands in the east. Due to the dominantly transform motion along the
western arc, there is potential that the Commander Islands will rupture
in a moderate to large strike-slip earthquake in the future. The
Shumagin Islands region may also have high potential for hosting a large
rupture in the future, though it has been suggested that little strain
is being accumulated along this section of the subduction zone, and thus
associated hazards may be reduced.
East of the
Aleutian arc along the Gulf of Alaska, crustal earthquakes occur as a
result transmitted deformation and stress associated with the
northwestward convergence of the Pacific plate that collides a block of
oceanic and continental material into the North America plate. In 2002,
the Denali Fault ruptured in a sequence of earthquakes that commenced
with the October 23 M6.7 Nenana Mountain right-lateral strike-slip
earthquake and culminated with the November 3, M7.9 Denali earthquake
which started as a thrust earthquake along a then unrecognized fault and
continued with a larger right-lateral strike-slip event along the
Denali and Totschunda Faults.
March 12, 2016 - EARTH - The following list constitutes the latest reports of high tides, heavy rainfall, flash floods, widespread flooding, sea level rise and catastrophic storms.
Flooding in São Paulo leaves 21 dead; Latin America's largest city paralyzed
At least 15 were confirmed dead in the Brazil's financial capital and largest city, São Paulo, according to Reuters.
Half a dozen people died as a result of the flooding elsewhere in São
Paulo state after 24 hours of steady rain, local media report. Most died
as a result of mudslides and building failure in the city's poorer
peripheral neighborhoods, where houses are often built on or along
hillsides.
State and local government agencies scrambled to
address the crisis. Some local news outlets captured footage of drivers
marooned on the roof of their cars being rescued by helicopters.
"The priority is to locate missing people and remove [everyone] from
hazardous areas. We have more than 150 firefighters working," said São
Paulo Gov. Geraldo Alckmin Friday afternoon, after announcing an
emergency fund to pump millions of dollars into communities affected by
the floods.
The city of São Paulo froze all day, as commuters stayed home.
Flooding spoiled stocks of fruits, forcing warehousers to fill dump
trucks with watermelons and pineapples, according to Folha . Police
stations filled up with brown water. Some residents lost power. Others
found themselves stuck at the São Paulo airport, which closed for 12
hours overnight.
Ted Weber, a technologist in his twenties was
returning from a domestic business trip, was diverted to another airport
a few hours away. He posted images of the flooded streets on Instagram,
calling it the tensest trip of his life.
"It's still chaos for the most part," said Weber
in an online chat with the Latin Times. "Rocks falling off cliffs,
houses tearing down -- I read a child died uptown. The rain is just
neverending. No one in my team got to work today."
Other Brazilians took to Instagram as well, posting photos and video of the chaos
WATCH: Widespread flooding in Sao Paulo.
"Yesterday, our night was like this," writes Instagram user Vanessa7692,
in a post of a video that shows a car submerged up to its brake lights
and neighbor frantically bailing out water out her front door.
Another post geotagged
in a northwestern zone of São Paulo shows the view from a flooded
highway. At one point, a man passes by on a bicycle, sloshing through
water up to his axles.
"Look at this situation," wrote user thiago_morales09 in a photo post of a collapsed wall, with a billboard threatening to take out power lines.
- Latin Times.
5 dead, thousands flee as 'historic' floods swamp southern US - again
Submerged roadways, backed-up sewers, stalled cars and flooded homes:
The dramatic scenes in and around Shreveport, La., were being repeated
Thursday in the South as historic flash flooding continued to pound the
region.
Five people have been killed in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana since the
deluge began earlier this week, and the heavy rain promises not to let
up for at least another day.
More than 20 inches of rain has already fallen in some places, the
Weather Channel reported. In all, some areas will receive two feet of
rain by the time the storm winds down Friday, the National Weather
Service said.
In addition to Louisiana, the hardest-hit state where three deaths
occurred, parts of Arkansas, western Tennessee and southern Illinois
will also be drenched by locally heavy rain into Friday, according to
the weather service.
Flash flood watches and warnings stretched from Lake Charles, La., to
Evansville, Ind., as of late afternoon Thursday. More than 80 river
gauges in the region reported flooding Thursday.
The flood threat will last across the region even after the rain stops,
as water seeps into the ground and works its way into progressively
larger rivers, AccuWeather reported.
WATCH: Historic flooding in the southern U.S.
In Louisiana, 3,000 homes were under mandatory evacuations, FEMA said. At least 9,000 customers were without power, schools were closed in several parishes and many roads were closed.
Quickly rising floodwaters forced mandatory evacuations of neighborhoods
near swollen tributaries. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called in the
state National Guard to assist rescues by boat and in big military
trucks.
"There has been an awful lot of damage and a lot of people affected,"
Edwards said. "Our thoughts and prayers and resources are with north
Louisiana."
In Bienville Parish, a man drowned Wednesday afternoon when his vehicle
was swept into a nearby creek as he attempted to drive across a flooded
highway, the Weather Channel reported. Two people drowned in Oklahoma
and Texas earlier in the week.
Sharon Anderson, her three children and four grandchildren were rescued
from her south Bossier Parish mobile home after rising water threatened
to trap them, the Associated Press reported.
"This morning it was touching the bottom of the houses," she told the AP
on Wednesday. "Now the steps on my back porch are under water and if
you walk down the driveway, it's over the knee."
Residents of the Pecan Valley Mobile Home in south Bossier City boarded
boats to travel through waist-high water. Evacuation was not mandatory
for the community's 1,000 residents, but manager LeeAnn Wells said more
than 100 chose to flee the high waters.
"We've never had water like this before,"Wells said. - USA Today.
March 12, 2016 - FIJI - The horrendous shark attack in Cakaudrove has shocked villagers of Wailevu district as many try to fathom the incident.
Maika Tabua, 44, of Naiqaqi, was attacked at the river mouth of Yanawai.
When relatives found him afloat near a reef, they saw that the shark had
ripped off his left arm and thighs, and it severed his neck leaving all
internal organs exposed.
His cousins, Iliesa Tuinawaria and Saimone Ligavaki who retrieved his
body from the sea were still in a state of shock when they visited The Fiji Times office in Labasa yesterday.
Mr Tuinawaria said they found his body floating in an upright position, not far from where he was picking sea slugs on a reef.
Divisional police commander North SSP Shiri Singh confirmed an investigation had started. - The Fiji Times.
