Strong Quake Strikes Taiwan

UPDATE: The quake magnitude has been downgraded to 6.3Mw by Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau

 

Strong, Shallow Quake Strikes 45km SSW of Hualian, Taiwan

Members Note: Multiple plates going through a laborious algorithm to produce the desired outcome!

REVISED EQ Details

• Magnitude: 6.3Mw
• Event Time: 2013-10-31 @ 12:02UTC
• Location: 23.55°N, 121.42°E
• Depth: 19.5km
• Source: Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan

Nearby Cities

• 53km SSW of Hualien County, Taiwan
• 760km (472mi) ENE of Hong Kong

NO local reports of damage or casualties available  as of posting.

Source: Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan

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Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP

More detail to follow …

Seismic activity along the boundaries of the Philippine Sea Plate (Allen et al., 2009) has produced 7 great (M>8.0) earthquakes and 250 large (M>7) events. Among the most destructive events were the 1923 Kanto, the 1948 Fukui and the 1995 Kobe (Japan) earthquakes (99,000, 5,100, and 6,400 casualties, respectively), the 1935 and the 1999 Chi-Chi (Taiwan) earthquakes (3,300 and 2,500 casualties, respectively), and the 1976 M7.6 Moro Gulf and 1990 M7.6 Luzon (Philippines) earthquakes (7,100 and 2,400 casualties, respectively). There have also been a number of tsunami-generating events in the region, including the Moro Gulf earthquake, whose tsunami resulted in more than 5,000 deaths. –USGS/EHP

Typhoon KROSA Image Update

The quake struck Taiwan as the outer bands of Typhoon KROSA battered the coastal areas south and southeast of the island.

Typhoon KROSA Visible/IR  satellite image (FIRE-EARTH Enhancement) recorded at 12:30UTC on October 31, 2013. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Cambodian Catastrophe

Twenty out of 24 of Cambodia’s provinces affected by floods and flash floods since September 2013

Floods have killed at least 188 people including 88 children in the past six weeks, according to officials

Floodwaters have affected 1,736,000 people in more than 377,000 households, forcing 144,000 people in more than 31,000 households to flee their collapsing homes.

Flood Map of Cambodia

Floodwaters have severely damaged more than 230,000 houses, 1,242 schools, 78 health centers and hospitals, and destroyed or damaged numerous pagoda, roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

Floods have affected the population, particularly with food and non-food items (NFI) distributions, and in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, health, education and protection, said UN OCHA.

Typhoon KROSA Striking Northern Philippines

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Typhoon KROSA Special Message.

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KROSA, 29th Typhoon of 2013, is making landfall in northern Luzon, Philippines

The Halloween Typhoon KROSA, the 29th storm of the NW Pacific so far this year, is about to make landfall in the northern Philippines, with winds of about 155km/h gusting to 190 km/hr.

Typhoon KROSA

• Time: 06:00UTC – October 31, 2013
• Movement: WNW (285 degrees) at 25km/hr
• Position: Near 18.0ºN, 121.2ºE
• Location: About 405km Northeast of Manila, Philippines
• Max Sustained Winds: 155km/hr [Cat 2A on FIRE-EARTH Hurricane Scale]
• Max Wind Gusts: 190km/hr
• Significant Wave Height: 8m

[Source: FIRE-EARTH and others]

Typhoon KROSA IR/WV Diff satellite image (FIRE-EARTH Enhancement) recorded at 04:30UTC on October 31, 2013. Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Landfall

• KROSA is forecast to strike the Philippines near 18.1N, 122.4E at about 08:00UTC on October 31, according to JTWC.

• KROSA is expected to make as many as 3 landfalls—the Philippines, China’s Hainan Island and central  Vietnam— according to most models and  affecting about a half dozen countries, before dissipating over Indochina Peninsula.

Projected Path of Typhoon KROSA . Source: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC. Image enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog.

Typhoon Stats for NW Pacific

• The 60 year average (1951-2010) No of Typhoons: 20.9
• No of typhoons so far this year: 29
• Percent Increase: 38.8 [Calculated by FIRE-EARTH blog]

More details to follow…

Related Links

• FEWW New Hurricane Scale
• Satellite Imagery

 

Decomposed Bodies of 87 Migrants Found in Niger

Migrants died of thirst after their vehicles broke down in the Sahara: Report

The corpses, which were severely decomposed and partly eaten, possibly by jackals, are thought to be migrant workers and their families, said a report.

Thousands of migrants cross Niger along a popular route across Sahara desert to reach the coasts of North Africa on their way to Europe.

Soldiers and volunteers found many of the corpses across a wide area about 10km from the Algerian border.

At least 48 of the corpses  found were children or teenagers, who were probably in search of low paid jobs in neighboring Algeria, the report stipulated.

Related Links

• State of Emergency Declared in Sicily October 15, 2013
• Dozens Killed as Yet Another Migrant Boat Sinks October 12, 2013
• Hundreds Killed in Another Migrants Boat Disaster October 3, 2013

EU Cod Stocks Facing Collapse

Cod and whiting in the West of Scotland risk  collapse: EU Fisheries Commission

The European Commission has proposed a continued ban in 2014 on landings of cod and whiting off Scotland’s Atlantic coast in an attempt to avert a collapse.

“Cod stocks in the Irish Sea and the Kattegat continue to be in a dire state…  Sole in the Irish Sea is at extremely low levels. Advice for haddock in the Celtic Sea demands a considerable TAC cut … Cod and whiting in the West of Scotland, subject to extremely high rates of discarding, are at a risk of collapse.” EU Fisheries Commission reported.

Cod stocks off most parts of Britain, Ireland and in the Bay of Biscay are also in a dire state, which means quotas should be reduced by up to 30 percent, according to the Greek EU fisheries commissioner.

Cod – gadus morhua. The British fish and chips industry is heavily dependent on cod, the country’s most consumed fish. International disputes over the prized species has so far led to two rounds of naval clashes between Britain and Iceland in the 1950s and 1970s.

“For stocks where data is not good enough to properly estimate their size, the Commission proposal reflects the advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to adapt the TAC up or down by a maximum of 20%. Following a Council decision last year on precautionary reductions, TACS are proposed at the same level as in 2013 for 21 of these stocks,” said the Commission.

NOTES:

• Total allowable catches (TACs) are catch limits that are set for most significant commercial fish stocks. TACs are proposed by the EU Commission on the basis of scientific advice on the state of the stocks concerned and decided on by the Council of Fisheries Ministers.
• TACs are set annually for most stocks and every two years for deep sea species.
• The TACs are shared between EU countries under a system known as ‘relative stability’ which keeps national quotas stable in relation to each other.

North Carolina Declared Federal Disaster Area

Severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides prompt Major Disaster Declaration for NC

North Carolina has been declared a Federal Disaster Area by the White House due to severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides  that occurred on July 27, 2013.

Severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides have severely affected the counties of Ashe, Avery, Catawba, Lincoln, Watauga and Wilkes, said the White House in a statement.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments, said FEMA.

Recent Federal Disaster Declarations

• Major Disaster Declared in New Mexico October 30, 2013
• Kansas Declared Federal Disaster Area October 30, 2013