Earth ChangesS


Attention

Rising elephant attacks in Thailand - 150 human fatalities in 6 years

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Open the trunk.
Thailand faces an alarming increase in wild elephant attacks, resulting in at least 150 deaths and over 133 injuries since 2018, according to a report by the country's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Many victims have been tourists in southern Thailand.

The Humane Society attributes these attacks to tourists provoking the elephants.

The report reveals these massive animals have been venturing into populated areas, causing havoc on roads and even entering homes, making Thailand a global hotspot for elephant-related incidents.

In a notable event, a herd of 50 elephants crossing a highway in Chachoengsao halted traffic.

However, the situation escalated when a seven-ton bull elephant named Duea sat in a motorist's car in Khao Yai National Park.


Seismograph

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake wakes people on the Mexico-Guatemala border

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A strong earthquake shook the border of Mexico and Guatemala early Sunday, driving frightened residents into the streets.

The temblor struck just before 6 a.m. near the Mexican border town of Suchiate, where a river by the same name divides the two countries. The epicenter was just off the Pacific coast, 10 miles (16 kilometers) west-southwest of Brisas Barra de Suchiate, where the river empties into the sea.

The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and a depth of 47 miles (75 kilometers).

In Mexico, there were no immediate reports of damage, but more mountainous, remote parts of the border are prone to landslides.

Across the border Guatemala's national disaster prevention agency shared photos of small landslides onto highways in the Quetzaltenango region and large cracks in walls in a hospital in San Marcos on its social media accounts, but there were no reports of deaths.


Volcano

Mount Ibu volcano erupts for 2nd time in 5 days in Indonesia, sends ash cloud 5 km into the sky (UPDATE)

Mount Ibu is located on theMount Ibu is located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province island of Halmahera in North Maluku province
Mount Ibu is located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province
A volcano in eastern Indonesia erupted on Wednesday and spewed an ash tower almost a mile into the sky, prompting officials to raise an alert level to the second-highest and warn people to keep away.

Mount Ibu, located on the island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, erupted at 11:11 am local time (0211 GMT) and sent a thick column of dark smoke and ash above the peak.

The volcano spewed an ash tower 1.5 kilometres (0.93 miles) above the peak, Indonesia's volcanology agency (PVMBG) said.

"Based on the results of visual and instrumental monitoring... Mount Ibu's activity level has been raised from level two to level three" of a four-tiered system, said PVMBG chief Hendra Gunawan in a statement Wednesday.

Authorities formed an exclusion zone between three and five kilometres around the volcano's crater.


Comment: Update May 13

Indiatvnews.com reports:
Indonesia's Ibu volcano erupted on Monday morning, spewing thick columns of grey ash several kilometres into the sky, the country's volcanology agency said. The volcano on the remote island of Halmahera erupted at 9.12 am for about five minutes, projecting ash into the sky as high as 5 km (3.1 miles), officials said, after a smaller eruption was recorded as Friday.

The alert status of the volcano remains at the second-highest level, according to Hendra Gunawan, head of Indonesia's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Centre. All activities within a five-kilometre radius of the volcano were prohibited, he added. "If it starts to rain ash, we recommend people who are near the volcano to wear a mask and glasses," Hendra said.

Footage of the eruption shared by the centre showed clouds of grey ash billowing from the crater. The official said a booming noise was also heard. No evacuation of residents has been reported so far.




Doberman

Kids injured in dog attack, mother found dead in Quitman, Georgia

dog attack
Two kids were injured after a pack of dogs attacked them in Quitman on Thursday evening. Their mother was also found dead at the scene, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

The incident happened on Thursday, May 9 on Webster Street at a bus stop behind the Brooks County Middle School. The juveniles were taken to a hospital after the reported dog attacks.

Courtney Williams, 35, was found dead in the yard of the residence according to a GBI report.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the death investigation.

The GBI said in a statement:

Snowflake Cold

Three Russian grain regions declare emergency over cold weather, frost damage

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Three of Russia's key grain-growing areas declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing May frosts that have caused severe damage to crops and will reduce this year's harvest.

The central regions of Lipetsk, Voronezh and Tambov all imposed emergency measures.

"The frosts that hit in early May led to catastrophic consequences," Igor Artamonov, the governor of the Lipetsk region, said on the Telegram messaging app before signing the emergency decree.

"We must understand that this year's harvest will be much smaller than the previous one."
In neighbouring Voronezh, the regional agriculture ministry wrote on Telegram: "According to preliminary data, the area of dead or severely damaged crops has exceeded 265,000 hectares," the regional agriculture ministry said on Telegram.

In Tambov, further east, Governor Maksim Yegorov signed a similar order, with his administration citing "early May frosts that have killed crops and damaged perennial plantings".

Comment: See also: Sverdlovsk region in Russia covered in May snow after the April flood


Attention

Odd earthquake swarm in Central Europe hints at magma activity in region far from tectonic boundary

Vogtland
© honza28683 via Getty ImagesThough it's nowhere near a tectonic plate boundary, the Vogtland region is known for its earthquake swarms.
An odd earthquake swarm on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic may hint at magma moving deep below the surface.

The quakes are in Vogtland, a region known for regular, low-level earthquake swarms. These swarms tend to last several weeks and lead to mostly mild shaking. The largest known quakes from the area are around magnitude 4.5, said Torsten Dahm, a geophysicist at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences who's leading a project monitoring this region.

Dahm and his colleagues recently finished deploying a new network of seismometers installed in boreholes in the Vogtland area. These seismometers captured a late-March earthquake swarm unlike others seen in the areathe center of the swarm jumped 9 miles (15 kilometers) to the north, compared with previous swarms. And instead of occurring on a vertical fault line underground, it seems to have taken place on a near-horizontal underground structure.

Comment: There's certainly been a significant number of 'surprising' and 'unusual' seismic and volcanic reports in recent years, and it seems reasonable to suppose that this signals an uptick in activity: Volcanoes, Earthquakes And The 3,600 Year Comet Cycle

See: Also check out SOTT radio's:



Cassiopaea

Spectacular southern lights seen across Australia after 'extreme' solar storm

Sean O'Riordan just managed to capture this stunning display at Eaglehawk Neck in south-east Tasmania
© Seán O RiordanSean O'Riordan just managed to capture this stunning display at Eaglehawk Neck in south-east Tasmania.
Aurora australis has lit up skies across southern Australia after an "extreme" geomagnetic solar storm.

Social media users in posted pictures of brightly coloured skies in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and across the Tasman in New Zealand.

However, much of New South Wales missed out on the spectacle due to heavy cloud and rain.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the storm that creates the beautiful auroras could also threaten infrastructure and essential services, including power supply.


Comment: Related: "Severe Geomagnetic Storm" hits Earth, NOAA warning in effect all weekend


Attention

Best of the Web: "Severe Geomagnetic Storm" hits Earth, NOAA warning in effect all weekend

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Update — May 10, 2024 at 7:31 PM EDT

NOAA Warning: Seven Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are racing towards Earth

NOAA scientists have witnessed severe (G4) geomagnetic storm conditions today. Several additional Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are in transit to Earth's outer atmosphere, making it highly likely that geomagnetic storming will persist through the weekend.

A large, complex sunspot cluster (NOAA Region 3664), which has now grown to 17 times the diameter of Earth, has been the primary source of this activity. Experts still expect additional activity from this Region.

Since the current solar cycle began in December 2019, observers have only witnessed three Severe geomagnetic storms.

Comment: Related: Northern lights captured in timelapse footage across Europe and US


Cassiopaea

Northern lights captured in timelapse footage across Europe and US

The lights shone all over the UK on Friday night, seen here in Loose, Kent
The lights shone all over the UK on Friday night, seen here in Loose, Kent
Videos filmed across the northern hemisphere show skies illuminated by the aurora borealis.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US said the 'very rare event' was caused by a large sunspot cluster that has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday morning. That meant the lights could be seen further south than usual.


Comment: Related: "Severe Geomagnetic Storm" hits Earth, NOAA warning in effect all weekend


Cloud Precipitation

Rains, floods claim 315 lives in Afghanistan, cause widespread destruction (UPDATED)

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The heavy downpour, followed by floods in Afghanistan, has claimed the lives of at least 14 people, and has also resulted in widespread destruction across the nation, TOLOnews reported, citing the Taliban-led State Ministry for Disaster Management Affairs.

According to Janan Saiq, the ministry's spokesperson, 140 residential dwellings have been destroyed by floods and rainfall in 14 provinces, and over 2,000 livestock have died.

"In the last three days, due to the rain, approximately 14 of our fellow citizens have died, and one person is missing. 140 homes have been either completely or partially demolished," TOLOnews quoted Saiq as saying.


Comment: Update May 11

Bdnews24.com reports:
The death toll from devastating flash floods in northern Afghanistan has risen to 153 people across three provinces, the Taliban's interior ministry said on Saturday.

At least 138 people have also been injured in the flooding across northern Baghlan, Takhar and Badakhshan, caused by heavy rains on Friday, ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee told Reuters.

Taliban authorities sent helicopters to try to assist civilians overnight after receiving reports that over 100 people were stranded.

Many people had been left homeless and transportation, water and waste systems were "severely disrupted", according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"The impact has been profound, leading to loss of life and injuries, with many individuals still unaccounted for," the WHO's Afghanistan office said in a statement late on Friday.

It added that four health centres had been damaged and one destroyed by the floods and said the agency was sending health teams to provide treatment in the inundated areas.

Update May 12

Reuters reports:
Flash floods caused by heavy rains have devastated villages in northern Afghanistan, killing 315 people and injuring more than 1,600, authorities said on Sunday, as villagers buried their dead and aid agencies warned of widening havoc.

Thousands of homes were damaged and livestock wiped out, the Taliban-run refugee ministry said, while aid groups warned of damage to health care facilities and vital infrastructure, such as water supply, with streets left coated in mud.

In the Nahrin district of Baghlan province, people carried their shrouded dead to a gravesite.

"We have no food, no drinking water, no shelter, no blankets, nothing at all, floods have destroyed everything," said Muhammad Yahqoob, who has lost 13 members of his family, children among them.

The survivors were struggling to cope, he added.

"Out of 42 houses, only two or three remain, it has destroyed the entire valley."

Just last month: At least 66 killed in Afghanistan as heavy rains set off flash floods