Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.7 Earthquake hits south of Fiji.
5.3 Earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia.
5.1 Earthquake hits Tonga.
5.1 Earthquake hits the Santa Cruz Islands.
5.0 Earthquake hits east of the Kuril Islands.
5.0 Earthquake hits the Kermedec Islands.
NewsBytes
Malaysia - The situation in flood-hit Pahang has worsened, with more than 20,000 people evacuated to relief centres and a man and his son feared to have drowned. The two, were moving their belongings to a boat at about 8.30pm in Sungai Isap when they fell into the floodwaters.
Large swathes of the UK are braced for a storm bringing with it gale-force winds, possible travel disruption and the risk of some coastal flooding. Worst hit will be Scotland, where 80mph winds are expected, and the north and east of England. The combination of high tides, gale-force winds, large waves and a tidal surge would bring a risk of significant coastal flooding. In some places sea levels could be as high as those during the devastating floods of 1953 - although flood defences built since then meant many parts of the country were now better protected.
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:
Etna (Sicily, Italy): The New SE crater remains restless. As the following time-lapse video of the past 24 hours shows, there is occasional weak lava extrusion from effusive vents on the upper flanks, and rarely glow from the summit vent suggesting that the magma column is relatively still high inside the vent and sometimes produces deep-seated strombolian explosions.
Ambrym (Vanuatu): NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins captured a great space image of the active Marum and Benbow vents of Ambrym volcano on 2 Dec. Both vents contain active lava lakes.
Santa María / Santiaguito (Guatemala): Explosive and effusive activity have continued with little variation. Explosions sent ash plumes up to 700 m above the crater, and block lava effusion continues mainly at the eastern side of the Caliente dome where weak to moderate constant avalanches occur.
Pacaya (Guatemala): No changes in activity have occurred. Mild strombolian explosions continue from the Mackenney crater. Tremor and explosion signals are visible on the seismic recording.
Fuego (Guatemala): The observatory reports no significant changes. About 30-35 small to moderate explosions occurred during 3-4 Dec, often with strong shock waves that rattled windows and roofs in up to 6 km distance. Ash plumes rose to about 4.2 km altitude (500 m height) and produced light ash falls in W and SW directions (Morelia, Panimache and other villages). At night, incandescent avalanches from the crater are visible.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.6 Earthquake hits Mindanao in the Philippines.
5.5 Earthquake hits Antofagasta, Chile.
5.3 Earthquake hits the Volcano Islands off Japan.
5.0 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Talaud, Indonesia.
Tropical Storms
In the Western Pacific:
Tropical depression 33w is located approximately 354 nm west-northwest of Andersen AFB, Guam. The final advisory on this system has already been issued.
Europe
Extreme Windstorm Xaver is poised to batter Denmark and Germany. A developing extratropical low pressure system over the North Atlantic, dubbed "Xaver", is predicted to "bomb" into a potent storm with winds near hurricane force that will bring damaging winds and storm tides to the coasts of Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark on Thursday.
The centre of the low will pass over southern Norway, bringing strong northwest winds that will funnel down the North Sea. The European model predicts that at 18 UTC on Thursday, winds on the west coast of Denmark will be sustained near 69 mph (110 kph), and will be near 115 mph (185 kph) at 850 mb (roughly a height of 5,000 feet or 1500 meters).
The predicted surface winds of Xaver will be similar to the ones the Netherlands experienced during the great February 1, 1953 North Sea storm that breached dikes in the Netherlands and England and killed over 2100 people.
Fortunately, the German coast is well protected by dikes, which should be able to withstand Xaver's storm surge. By Thursday night, Xaver's center will cross southern Sweden, and damaging winds from the storm will sweep the coasts of Poland, Lithuania, and southern Sweden.
El Niño-La Niña
A continuing neutral El Niño-La Niña state in the equatorial Pacific is likely to persist during summer, bringing lower pressures and fewer westerlies.
First Case of H7N9 Reported in Hong Kong
A 36-year old woman is the first person in Hong Kong to have become infected with the H7N9 bird flu virus, officials said late Monday.
The woman had recently traveled to the nearby city of Shenzhen in mainland China, where she had purchased live poultry. The woman is in critical condition, officials said.
Since the outbreak of H7N9 began in February, 139 people have been sickened with the virus, 45 of whom died, according to the most recent report from the World Health Organisation on Nov. 6.
Nearly all cases have appeared on mainland China, but one case was reported in Taiwan in April. In addition to the new case, four other cases have been reported this fall.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.2 Earthquake hits near the east coast of Honshu, Japan.
5.1 Earthquake hits south of Africa.
5.0 Earthquake hits Easter Island.
Italy
Storms and flooding in Italy have claimed the lives of at least two people and forced the evacuation of 1,700 people. Fatalities are from Pescara and Rome. Around 1,500 have been evacuated from Pescara and others 200 from Matera.
Interesting Images:
Rare Weather Event Fills Grand Canyon with Fog
Usually the Grand Canyon offers stunning views stretching for miles, deep into valleys etched by the Colorado River. But that vista has changed over the past few days, as a rare weather event has filled the canyon with fog, offering an even more stunning view than is typical.
The weather event is known as a temperature inversion, and it only happens every few years, according to the National Park Service.
Yellow fever in Sudan
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) in Sudan has notified WHO of a yellow fever (YF) outbreak affecting twelve localities in West and South Kordofan states. The affected localities are Lagawa, Kailak, Muglad and Abyei localities in West Kordofan and Elreef Alshargi, Abu Gibaiha, Ghadir, Habila, Kadugli, Altadamon, Talodi and Aliri in South Kordofan.
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - update
On 1 December 2013 WHO was informed of an additional three laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the United Arab Emirates.
Official MERS Coronavirus tally is 163 cases and 70 deaths.
Newcastle Disease - Cyprus
The Cypriot veterinary authorities have reported an outbreak of Newcastle disease at a poultry farm in Lefkosia.
Foot and mouth disease outbreak in Kenya
Four major livestock markets in Bomet County have been shut down due to an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
As a quarantine measure to curb further spread of the deadly animal disease, Kapkwen, Chebunyo, Rongena and Ndanai markets in the county will be closed until the disease in under control.
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:
Etna (Sicily, Italy): Yesterday's eruption sent lava fountains several hundreds of meters into the air and spraying from several vents in different directions. The eruption is already ending with an abrupt drop of volcanic tremor and decreasing lava emission. Judging from the few webcam images with at least some visibility, it appears that the activity was more effusive (lava flows) than explosive (lava fountains) with the main phase being around 23:20 local time.
Shiveluch (Kamchatka): A series of larger dome collapse events took place today, producing large pyroclastic flows and an ash plume that rose to about 30,000 ft (10 km) altitude.
Nishino-shima (Volcano Islands, Japan): The new island continues to erupt and grow, increasing its chances of long-time survival by the day. The active vent on the islet continues to be in strombolian eruption and has by now built a new cone that is higher than the main island itself (which is 38 m). Lava flows have significantly enlarged the island to the SE where a plateau is being built. During the 10 days, it has more than doubled its surface
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
5.6 Earthquake hits southeast of the Loyalty Islands.
5.3 Earthquake hits Simeulue, Indonesia.
Tropical Storms
No current tropical storms.
NewsBytes
Landslides triggered by torrential rain buried houses near a rumbling volcano in western Indonesia and searchers found nine bodies in the mud and water on Sunday. Four of the dead were children. Several houses were buried when mud gushed down the surrounding hills late on Saturday into Gundaling village, about 12 kilometres east of Mount Sinabung volcano in Northern Sumatra.
Energy drinks packed with caffeine can change the way the heart beats
A team of researchers imaged the hearts of 17 people an hour after they had an energy drink. The study showed contractions were more forceful after the drink.
The team said that children and people with some health conditions should avoid the drinks. "Until now, we haven't known exactly what effect these energy drinks have on the function of the heart. The amount of caffeine is up to three times higher than in other caffeinated beverages like coffee or cola. There are many side-effects known to be associated with a high intake of caffeine, including rapid heart rate, palpitations, rise in blood pressure and, in the most severe cases, seizures or sudden death."
The researchers gave the participants a drink containing 32mg per 100ml of caffeine and 400mg per 100ml of another chemical, taurine. They showed the chamber of the heart that pumps blood around the body, the left ventricle, was contracting harder an hour after the energy drink was taken than at the start of the study.
"We've shown that energy drink consumption has a short-term impact on cardiac contractility. We don't know exactly how or if this greater contractility of the heart impacts daily activities or athletic performance." The impact on people with heart disease is also unknown. The research team advises that children and people with an irregular heart beat should avoid the drinks. The British Soft Drinks Association already says the drinks are not for children.
Magnitude 5+ Earthquakes – Global
6.5 Earthquake hits Kepulauan Barat Daya, Indonesia.
No tsunami alert was issued.
5.8 Earthquake hits Simeulue, Indonesia.
5.5 Earthquake hits southern Xinjiang, China.
5.5 Earthquake hits off the coast of northern California, USA.
5.4 Earthquake hits the Democratic Republic of Congo.
5.4 Earthquake hits Fiji.
5.1 Earthquake hits Guerrero, Mexico.
5.0 Earthquake hits the Democratic Republic of Congo.
5.0 Earthquake hits the South Sandwich Islands.
Tropical Storms
No current tropical storms.
Philippines - The number of tropical cyclones that hit the Philippines this year is already above the average but up to two more may lash the country next month.
NewsBytes
Heavy rain has been battering Cuba since Friday, flooding streets and leaving at least two people dead. A number of buildings have collapsed in the capital, Havana. A 54-year-old man and a 60-year-old woman are reported to have died as a house crumbled in central Havana.
Tripoli in Libya has been hit by 24 hours of stormy weather causing flooding in parts of the capital, a city-wide power cut this morning and playing havoc with the country’s already poor mobile phone networks. Much of the capital experienced power cuts of varying lengths this morning.
Flooding swept through a number of low-lying areas in Legazpi City in the Philippines and the neighboring town of Daraga as heavy rains poured on the province almost the whole day on Saturday. Rain spawned by the Intertropical Convergence Zone triggered knee-deep floods in the Legazpi Port Area where the city’s commercial centre is located.
Roundup of Global Volcanic Activity:
Etna (Sicily, Italy): The amplitude of tremor rose over night to levels that in the past weeks normally corresponded to intermittent strombolian activity at the New SE crater. However, bad visibility prevents direct observations.
Merapi (Central Java): Another phreatic explosion was reported yesterday 11:00 (local time). According to a news article, the eruption produced an ash plume of about 500 m height.
Bats vs. Turbines
A new study estimates that more than 600,000 bats are killed each year by the rotation of wind turbines in the continental United States.
Wildlife experts say those deaths are in addition to the large numbers of the flying mammals that are being killed by white-nose syndrome, which is caused by a fungus that has spread rapidly to bat caves and mines across North America.
Writing in the journal BioScience, University of Colorado researcher Mark Hays notes that the actual number of bat deaths from the turbines could be much higher than the conservative estimate of 600,000.
The majority of bat species produce only one young per year, meaning that their populations are slow to recover.
Most bats don’t die from actual contact with the turbines since their sonar allows them to avoid the blades.
But subtle changes in barometric pressure created by the rotating blades cause the bats’ capillaries to burst, resulting in deadly internal hemorrhaging.
Birds’ circulatory systems are different from that of bats, keeping them from being victims of such “barotrauma.”
Most bat deaths occur when winds are relatively light because bats can’t fly in high winds. And since most turbines shut down when winds go below about 9 mph anyway, experts say increasing the “cut-in speed” to 11 mph would reduce bat deaths by at least 44 percent.
As much as 93 percent of bat fatalities due to turbine barotrauma could be avoided if the cut-in speed was lifted to 15.6 mph, experts say.
New Flu Strain Jumps from Birds to a Human in Asia
A young woman in Taiwan has contracted a new strain of influenza A, which is very similar in structure to the H7N9 bird flu that killed 45 people and infected 139 other in China last year. The H6N1 strain is believed to have come from infected poultry and reacts to the same drugs that combat other strains of bird flu, like Tamiflu and Relenza, according to Taiwan’s Centres for Disease Control.
Researchers there say H6N1 is widespread in poultry but no reported cases of transmission to humans have been found.
The Taiwanese patient fully recovered, and no trace of the virus was found in the 36 people with whom the woman had close contact.
