State of Emergency Declared in Sicily

Global Disasters/ Significant Events – October 16, 2013

Governor of Sicily declares a state of emergency amid migrant crisis

The declaration came after Italian navy said it hads rescued about 300 migrants from two boats near the island of Lampedusa, said a report.

At least 36 people were killed when their boat capsized between Malta and Lampedusa, on Friday.

Another migrant boat capsized on October 3, 2013 killing more than 350 migrants less than 600 meters from Lampedusa.

Recent disasters have occurred when boats overcrowded with desperate migrants capsize in the Mediterranean Sea. Source: UNHCR

Increasing number of people from Africa and the Middle East are fleeing war and poverty in search of a better life in Europe.

About 32,000 migrants have arrived in Italy and Malta so far this year, said UNHCR.

On average, about 1,000 migrants have been killed, mostly by drowning, over the past 25 years.

Related Links

• Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks October 12, 2013
• Hundreds Killed in Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

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Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

NSA collects millions of e-mail address books globally: Report

T”he National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden,” said the report.

NSA collected about 680,000 e-mail address books from Yahoo, Hotmail, Facebook, Gmail and others in a single day, or 250 million per year. Read more...

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Big tech companies plan to track you even more aggressively

Biggest tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and a dozen others “are assembling new forms of online tracking that would follow users more aggressively… Microsoft is developing such a system, following, apparently, in the footsteps of Google.”

Read more….

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The Shutdown of the U.S. Government and “Debt Default”: A Dress Rehearsal for the Privatization of the Federal State System?

Read more…

State of Calamity Declared in Bohol & Cebu Provinces, Philippines

Powerful M7.1 Quake Causes Much Destruction in Central Philippines+

Philippine authorities have declared declared states of calamity in Bohol and Cebu Provinces after a powerful quake killed at least 80 people and left about 180 others injured, destroying or damaging scores of homes, buildings, historical churches, and causing widespread damage to public infrastructure across the famed tourist islands.

The M7.1 [revised by USGS/EHP] quake struck the island province of Bohol, about 2km NE of Catigbian, Philippines at a depth of about 20km [revised by USGS/EHP] at 00:12:32 UTC on Tuesday, October 15, 2013.

Centered at 9.866°N, 124.011°E,  the deadly quake struck about 619km (385mi) SSE of Manila, according to USGS/EHP.

The mainshock was followed by large swarms of at least 400 aftershocks including 10 tremors measuring 5.0Mw or greater, as of posting.

The quake has affected tens of thousands of people, most of whom were left without electricity, tap water, communication or transportation links.

Half dozen bridges have collapsed, and many road have buckled due to the quake energy.

Related Links

• M7.2 Quake Strikes Balilihan, Philippines October 15, 2013

M7.2 Quake Strikes Balilihan, Philippines

UPDATE at 09:45UTC – October 15, 2013

• The quake death toll has reached a least 36, with about 100 others injured, or reported as missing both in Bohol and Cebu islands.

UPDATE at 06:00UTC – October 15, 2013

• Death toll from the quake has climbed to at least 24, with about 20 others injured, according to local sources.

• USGS has raised its estimate for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses to “Yellow alert.”

• At least 11 significant aftershocks have occurred, including 9 events on Bohol Island, as of posting.

UPDATE at 02:00UTC – October 15, 2013

PAGER: Green – Estimated Fatalities: Low, with some economic damage
ShakeMap: VIII – severe shaking causing heavy to moderate damage

• At least 8 people have been killed, according to local reports.

USGS EQ Hazard Program has revised its initial details of the quake as follows

• Magnitude:  7.1Mw
• Time: 2013-10-15 09:12:32 UTC+09:00
• Location: 9.866°N 124.011°E (2km NE of Catigbian, Philippines)
• Depth: 20.0km

At least 5 significant aftershocks have struck the region , as of UPDATE at 02:00UTC – October 15, 2013

UPDATED Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.

Powerful Quake Strikes 5km E of Balilihan, Bohol Island, Philippines

The quake struck onshore at a depth of about 56.8km. The mainshock was followed by at least 2 significant aftershocks measuring 5.4 and 5.3Mw respectively, as of posting.

• The island province of Bohol is located in the Central Visayas region. Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines with a population of about 1.5 million.

• Full extent of the damage, or injuries was unknown, as of posting, but there were reports of significant damage to roads and electricity lines throughout the region.

• NO tsunami warning or advisories issued.

Tsunami Evaluation
[Pacific Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA/NWS – Issued At 00:22UTC 15 Oct 2013]

No destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data.

However, earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within a hundred kilometers of the earthquake epicenter. Authorities in the region of the epicenter should be aware of this possibility and take appropriate action.

Earthquake Location Map

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.

Quake damage in Bohol. Image credit Charlotte Knowles

Santo Niño de Cebú RC Church damaged by the quake. Image credit: Franz Estores

More details to follow…

Typhoon WIPHA Targets Tokyo

WIPHA Currently Large and Strong

WIPHA, the 26th typhoon of the year, was located about 1,040km SSW of Yokohama (211 degrees), Japan, tracking N at about 25km/hr. [Timed at 00:15UTC on October 15, 2013]

Typhoon WIPHA

• Time: 00:15UTC – October 15, 2013
• Movement: N (05 degrees) at 25km/hr
• Position: Near 27.26ºN, 133.94E
• Location: Near 1,040km SSW of Yokohama (211 degrees), Japan
• Max Sustained Winds: 170km/hr [Cat 2B on FEWW Scale]
• Max Wind Gusts: 210km/hr
• Significant Wave Height: ~ 15m
• Source: FIRE-EARTH and others

WIPHA is expected to weaken to a cat 1 storm force before landfall. (Probability of WIPHA making landfall is about 78 percent, as of posting—FIRE-EARTH projection.)

Typhoon Stats for NW Pacific

• The 60 year average (1951-2010) No of Typhoons: 20.9
• No of typhoons so far this year: 26
• Percent Increase: 24.4 [Calculated by FIRE-EARTH blog]

Typhoon WIPHA. Visible/Shortwave IR satellite image recorded at 23:32UTC on October 14, 2013. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC. Enhanced by FIRE-EARTH.

Typhoon WIPHA. Water Vapor (FIRE-EARTH Enhancement) satellite image recorded at 00:32UTC on October 15, 2013. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Typhoon WIPHA. MTSAT-2 IR satellite image (FIRE-EARTH Enhancement)  recorded at 02:00UTC on October 15, 2013. Source: Digital Typhoon

More details to follow…

Related Links

• Typhoon NARI Chased by TS WIPHA October 12, 2013
• Vietnam Evacuates 250,000 ahead of NARI October 14, 2013