August 24, 2016

Country: Italy
EARTHQUAKE
Italy earthquake: Death toll rises to at least 159

At least 159 people have been killed and 368 injured in an earthquake that hit a
mountainous area of central Italy, civil protection officials say.
The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 03:36 (01:36 GMT), 100km (65 miles) north-east of Rome,
not far from Perugia.
At least 86 of the dead were in the historic town of Amatrice, where the mayor said threequarters of the town was destroyed, and in nearby Accumoli.
Many people are still believed to be buried under rubble.
Rescue teams are using heavy lifting equipment and their bare hands and authorities said the
search for survivors would continue through the night.
There were cheers in the village of Pescara Del Toronto when an eight-year-old girl was pulled
alive from the rubble after being trapped for 17 hours.
Earlier, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi warned the toll could rise as he visited the area.
He had previously paid tribute to the volunteers and civil defense officials who rushed to the
scene in the middle of the night and used their bare hands to dig for survivors.
He promised "no family, no city, no hamlet will be left behind".
The tremor was felt across Italy, from Bologna in the north to Naples in the south. There have
been dozens of aftershocks.
Hardest hit were the small towns and villages in the mountainous area where the regions of
Umbria, Lazio and Le Marche meet.
As well as the 86 dead in the two towns of Amatrice and Accumoli, 34 people are known to have
been killed in Le Marche province, including in the neighboring villages of Arquata Del Toronto
and Pescara del Toronto.
Reference: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37171953
January 7, 2016

Country: Oklahoma
EARTHQUAKE
Magnitude 4.7 and 4.8 Earthquakes Shake Oklahoma 30 seconds apart; 30 quakes reported in 19
hours.

A pair of moderate earthquakes shook northwest Oklahoma late Wednesday night, part of a
swarm of Sooner State temblors that has produced more than two dozen quakes in less than 24
hours.
A 4.7-magnitude tremor was followed 30 seconds later by another 4.8-magnitude quake centered
in a sparsely populated area about 20 miles northwest of Fairview, Oklahoma, about 97 miles
northwest of Oklahoma City. The quakes struck at depths of 2.1 and 3.7 miles below the surface.
The twin earthquakes occurred at 10:27 p.m. CST Wednesday night and were felt from central
Kansas to southern Oklahoma and the eastern Texas panhandle, including in Wichita, Kansas,
and the Oklahoma City metropolitan area.
There were no reported injuries in either Majors or Woods Counties, near the epicenter of the
twin quakes, according to newsok.com.
The 4.8-magnitude quake was the strongest in the Sooner State since the November 2011 swarm
that included the states strongest on record, a 5.6-magnitude temblor in Prague on Nov. 6, 2011.
It was the fourth strongest quake on record in Oklahoma, according to the Oklahoma Geological
Survey (OGS).
This was one of 30 separate earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or greater reported in Oklahoma
within a 19-hour span from Wednesday evening through early Thursday afternoon. Twenty-seven
of those, including the two strongest quakes mentioned above, were clustered in southern
Woods Country. Two others were reported in the far northern Oklahoma City metropolitan area
east-northeast of Edmond, and a third occurred around midday Thursday near Perry in northcentral Oklahoma.
Reference: https://weather.com/news/news/oklahoma-earthquake-swarm-fairview-january-2016

January 20, 2016

Country: Indonesia and Russia
VOLCANIC ERUPTION
Monster eruptions: Panic as two volcanoes explode causing mass evacuation.

More than 1,200 people today remain evacuated from a 1.9-mile containment zone around
Mount Egon in Kupang, eastern Indonesia, after toxic gas and volcanic ash erupted yesterday.
It was before officials in Russia had to cancel flights near the Zhupanovsky volcano on Russia's
eastern coast after it spewed lava FIVE MILES into the air, also yesterday.
Although the two volcanoes are separated by around 3,000 miles, they are on interconnected
tectonic plates sparking fears of a major seismic shift, more volcanic activity and even
earthquakes and tsunamis, due to recent activity.
The Russian volcano is on the Philippine Plate which joins the Java Trench, which Mount Egon
lies close to.
The region is one of the most volcanic parts of the globe.
Indonesian officials are on standby to extend the evacuation area if necessary if the volcanic and
seismic activity increases.
The area is known to be volatile and in the past 24 hours, just 400 miles north of Mount Egon,
three earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.1 to 4.7 struck on other Indonesian islands.
Within a 400 mile radius of Mount Egon there are also 25 other volcanoes and five of them are
said to be currently erupting, while there are ten other eruption warnings in place.
The Russian explosion affected local air traffic, but the huge ash cloud is also drifting east over
the Pacific Ocean so the impact on flights could be much wider.
There are fears seismic activity is also growing in the area around the Zhupanovsky volcano.
There were two small earthquakes before Tuesday's big eruption and overnight another tow
magnitude 1 shallow tremors occurred.
There are six other active volcanoes alomg a 200-mile portion of the coastline of the same
Russian peninsula.

Three of these are currently classed as erupting, one has an eruption warning in place and the two
others are experiencing some "unrest".
In the last 24 hours, in an area around 1,200 miles away, but on the same Phillippine Plate, in
Japan and surrounding seas there were SIX earthquakes measuring from magnitude 4.1 to 4.8.
In Asia, officials distributed thousands of gas masks to villagers around the volcano on eastern
Flores Island amid fears of a major eruption as the choking fumes worsened.
All residents living within the containment zone have been ordered to evacuate, while roads
bringing traffic in have been closed.
Mount Egon is considered a very active volcano and is in the top ten of the potentially deadliest
in the event of a major eruption.
More people living further from the volcano may have to also flee if the situation gets worse,
disaster officials have warned.
In Russia, the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in the Kamchatka area this week issued a
"code orange" warning the Zhupanovsky volcano eruption was under way, and warning aircraft
to avoid flying near the exploding peak.
Fortunately, the volcano is 42 miles from populated areas, and the emergency services said ash
had yet to reach any homes.
A spokesman for the institute said: "On Tuesday at around 4.30pm [3.30 am GMT), the
Zhupanovsky volcano spewed ash to the height of up to five miles above sea level.
Last autumn, Express.co.uk reported how tests were being carried out on the impact of volcanic
ash getting into a jet engine, because the true effects are still not known despite the global chaos
caused by the Icelandic ash clouds in 2010.
"The ash column could be seen with the naked eye from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and some
other settlements.
"At the moment, the ash cloud has spread 12 miles and it continues moving towards the ocean."
Zhupanovsky is one of the least studied volcanoes in the region despite its proximity to a large
city.
It is composed of four overlapping cones, the highest of which reaches 2,958 meters
Reference: http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/636082/

February 5, 2016
Country: Japan
VOLCANIC ERUPTION
Sakurajima volcano in Japan erupts.

A volcano has erupted in southern Japan, sending an orange burst into the sky and lava rolling
down the mountain.
The countrys meteorological agency said Sakurajima erupted at about 7pm local time (10am
GMT). The public broadcaster NHK showed dark grey smoke billowing into the sky and
lightning.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. The meteorological agency however banned entry
to the area, expanding an existing no-go zone around the crater to a 1.2-mile radius.
The eruption, while dramatic, was average compared to Sakurajimas past eruptions, Kyoto
University volcanologist Kazuhiro Ishihara told NHK. The mountains last major eruption was in
September.
I dont think there will be any serious impact from the explosion, Ishihara said. But of course
we must keep monitoring the volcanic activity.
The Japanese archipelago sits atop the Pacific Ring of fire and has more than 100 volcanoes.
The 2014 eruption of Mount Ontake in central Japan killed 57 people.
Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/05/

February 29, 2016

Country: South
Pacific
TYPHOON
Cyclone winston: tens of thousands homeless in Fiji a week after storm.

Tens of thousands of people in Fiji are living in evacuation centers after Cyclone Winston tore
across the South Pacific country last week, the United Nations Childrens Fund has said.
The total number of people forced from their homes in the archipelago nation of more than 300
islands is expected to be much higher as many fled to relatives and are not included in the data.
Cyclone Winston, the worst storm recorded in the southern hemisphere, left 42 people dead,
according Fijis National Disaster Management Office. The category-five storm also left many
without water and it could be weeks before electricity is restored in some areas.
Australia has sent a military vessel, HMAS Canberra, which is expected to arrive in Fijian waters
early this week. It is carrying three helicopters and 60 tons of supplies, including water
purification equipment and medicine.
There are fewer than a million people living in Fiji, spread out on islands thousands of square
miles apart, making it difficult to asses the full damage of the cyclone. The severe tropical
cyclone hit Fiji this month with winds gusts up to 325km/h and waves up to 12 metres high.
There are still some pieces of the picture missing but we do know that approximately 7.2%
(62,400) of Fijis population are in 875 evacuation centres, with many staying with relatives or in
other places away from home, Unicef New Zealands executive director, Vivien Maidaborn,
said in a statement.
One hundred and 34 schools have been destroyed, severely damaged or are being used as
evacuation centres.

Unicef spokeswoman Alice Clements said the official number of people sleeping in repurposed
community halls, schools and churches had fallen on Monday to 51,000 as many people were
staying with friends or relatives.

It is incredibly hard to estimate how many people in total were forced from their houses,
Clements said, adding that only people registered at evacuation centres had been counted.
Unicef said there were shortages in emergency supplies and further funding was needed to
sustain and scale up the response.
Adi, 13, from Yaqeta village in the outer Yasawa Islands, said she saw her house collapse. I
grabbed my brother and we ran. I was so scared. We ran from house to house three times. Now I
am heartbroken to see the house where I was born and raised in, in pieces, she told Unicef.
Aid workers have warned that potential outbreaks of viruses carried by mosquitos could further
devastate the nation, with dirty stagnant water remaining in many areas.
Reference: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/29

April 24, 2016

Country: Samoa
TYPHOON
Samoa avoids direct hit from cyclone amos.

Tropical Cyclone Amos kept its eye on the ocean as it passed by Samoa. The islands bore the
brunt of the southern half of the storm, enduring winds from the northeast and bands of torrential
rain.
No deaths have been reported, but Amos left destruction in its wake. Samoa's Disaster
Management Office said there had been significant damage to coastal roads, particularly on the
northern island Savai'i.
Apia, the capital on the northern shore of the island of Upolu, collected 218mm from the
cyclone. That is just over the average rainfall for April, falling in 30 hours.
The cyclone is still feeding off the very warm ocean waters north of Samoa, which remain a
degree and a half or even two degrees warmer than usual at the moment.
Cyclone Amos comes about two months after Category 5 Cyclone Winston - measured on the
Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale - devastated parts of neighboring Fiji.
Amos next headed for American Samoa, but authorities there cancelled a hurricane warning as
wind speeds diminished. A flash flood warning has been kept in place.
Pago Pago, on American Samoas main island, Tutuila, recorded 77mm of rain from Amos. The
smaller islands of American Samoa, further east, are directly in the path of cyclone for Monday.
Reference: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/04