80,000 Left Homeless by Flooding and Landslides in Vietnam

40 Dead or missing, 80,000 displaced due to flooding and landslides in Vietnam

Tropical Depression PODUL dumped up to 800mm of rain in some parts of central Vietnam, leaving hundreds of villages isolated.

Extreme rain events have triggered sever flooding and landslides in five central provinces, leaving at least 28 people dead, nine missing and more than 80,000 homeless since Thursday. At least 100,000 houses have been inundated, according to reports.

Many roads have been damaged, including many parts of the National Highway19, which have been washed away.  At least a dozen bridges have collapsed.  Widespread power outages have been reported in Binh Dinh Province, with the Tay Son District experiencing a total blackout.

Flooding in the region was exacerbated after 15 hydro power plants opened their sluice gates for safety, releasing tens of thousands of cubic meters of water.

Tropical Storm KETSANA forced a hydro power dam in Quang Nam to release 50 million cubic meters of water in September 2009, which intensified flooding that killed at least 163 people and caused more than US$786 million worth of property damage, said a report.

Tropical Storm HAIYAN killed at least 13 people and left 81 others injured when  it made landfall in north Vietnam after killing thousands of people in the Philippine, leaving more than 4 percent of the population homeless and vast areas utterly devastated.

Related Links

• PODUL Forces 25,000 to Flee Their Homes in Vietnam Posted on November 16, 2013
• Tropical Depression ZORAIDA Striking Mindanao, Philippines November 11, 2013

M7.8 Quake Strikes Scotia Sea

Quake Likely Generated a Local Tsunami —FIRE-EARTH

The powerful quake follows an earlier shock measuring 6.8Mw which struck Scotia Sea centered at 60.213°S 47.108°W on November 16.

There are No official Tsunami Warnings, Advisories or Watches in effect, as of posting.

Earthquake Details

• Event Time:2013-11-17  at 09:04:55 UTC
• Location: 60.296°S 46.362°W
• Depth: 10.0km (6.2mi)
• Nearby Cities
• 893km (555mi) SW of Grytviken, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • 1440km (895mi) SE of Ushuaia, Argentina

  1686km (1048mi) SE of Punta Arenas, Chile

Earthquake Location Map. Source: USGS/EHP. Map enhanced by FIRE-EARTH Blog. The quake was followed by at least one significant aftershock, measuring 5.3Mw, as of posting.

Tectonic Summary

The November 17, 2013 earthquake in the Scotia Sea, to the northwest of the South Orkney Islands, occurred as the result of either left-lateral strike slip faulting on an east-west oriented plane, or right-lateral faulting on a north-south plane. The location of the event adjacent to the east-west oriented plate boundary between the Antarctica and Scotia Sea plates implies the left-lateral faulting scenario is most likely. At the latitude of this earthquake, the Antarctica plate moves eastwards with respect to the Scotia Sea plate at a velocity of 6 mm/yr.

The November 17 earthquake is the latest in a series of moderate-to-large earthquakes to strike the same region over the past several days. The sequence began with a M 6.1 event on November 13 approximately 50 km to the west of the November 17 quake. On November 15, a M 6.8 earthquake struck very close to the preceding M 6.1. Since then, 9 aftershocks have been recorded in the area, ranging from M 4.7 to M 5.4, both near the previous earthquakes and in the same approximate location as the November 17 event.

Though the region surrounding the Scotia Sea is familiar with earthquakes, the majority occur around the subduction zone adjacent to the South Sandwich Islands, to the east of the November 17 earthquake. Just two events of M6 or greater have occurred within 250 km of this earthquake over the past 40 years – a M 6.0 230 km to the west in September 1979, and a M 7.6 160 km to the east in August 2003. These two events involved normal and oblique-normal faulting, respectively, associated with the same plate boundary. Neither is known to have caused damage or fatalities. [Source: USGS/EHP]

Details of November 16 Foreshock

• Time: 2013-Nov-16 at 03:34:31
• Location: 60.213°S 47.108°W
• Depth: 10.0km

Related Links

https://feww.wordpress.com/earthquake/#comment-60050

Saudi Capital Plagued by “Biblical” Floods

Saudis Swamped by Severe Flooding

Catastrophic flooding has hit Saudi Arabia, especially Riyadh, the country’s capital, inundating homes, streets and businesses, forcing the government to close schools and urge people to stay indoors, as torrential rains continue.

Image credit: Jeee@Jana_oOo.

Forecasters have predicted torrential rains will continue to pummel Saudi Arabia through Monday, and the Saudi Civil Defense has warned people to stay indoors for their own safety, according to local media.

Floods in the port city of Jeddah on the Red Sea has killed about 150  people since 2009.

Jeddah Under Water November 2009. Source: SahilOnlie. Image may be subject to copyright. As Muslim pilgrims were casting stones at three concrete walls representing the devil on the third day of the annual hajj, torrential rains inundated  the port city of Jeddah, where 80 mm of rain fell in just a few hours, killing up to 130 people, forcing the closure of the main highway to Mecca, and stranding thousands of pilgrims on their way to the Muslims’ holy city. [The pilgrims efforts might have been more meaningful had they cast their stones at a mock-up of an oil rig, a giant oil drum or effigy of an supertanker.]

Related Links

• Image of the Day: Sandstorm in Saudi Desert
• Riyadh City May Collapse by 2010
• Drought and Deluge
• Arabia Shakes

• Another Quake Swarm to Strike Al-Ais, Arabia
• Arabian Subcontinent Earthquake Forecast 2009
• FEWW Saudi Quake Swarm Forecast 100 pct Correct!
• Saudi Quakes Oil Drilling Activity Related?

• Your World Under Siege Posted on December 14, 2010

Super Typhoon HAIYAN Disaster: 4 Pct of Philippine Population Displaced

Super Typhoon HAIYAN affects 13 pct. of Philippine population, leaves 4 pct. homeless

The number of Filipinos affected by Super Typhoon HAIYAN has increased to over 13 million [UNOCHA,] with about 4 million people displaced [NDRRMC.] The latest figure for the homeless is 7 times the government estimates released only 4 days ago.

• According to the latest figures, more than 4 percent of the Philippines population of about 99 million are now homeless as a result of Super Typhoon HAIYAN.

On November 9, 2013, FIRE-EARTH Models estimated the impact of Super Typhoon HAIYAN in the Philippines as a magnitude 6.2 catastrophe on the FEWW Disaster Scale, indicating large-scale regional destruction with up to 40,000 casualties.

FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models estimate the total cost of damage at more than $5billion.

Dead, Injured, or Missing

Many people may have been swept out to sea and their bodies lost after a tsunami-like wall of seawater slammed into coastal areas. One neighborhood with a population of between 10,000 and 12,000 was now deserted, said Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez.

Philippine Government’s [Highly Politicized] Official Disaster Stats [including its woefully inadequate disaster response to date]

Source: SitRep No. 25 released by Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC)  November 17, 2013 @ 6:00pm local time.

Source: SitRep No. 24 released by Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMC)  November 17, 2013. [$1 = 43.66 Philippine pesos]

[Note: Official estimates  for the total cost of damage has been amended to PhP10.34billion] which is more realistic than the initial estimates.]

This post will be updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.

Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Chronology of Disaster

Super Typhoon HAIYAN (locally known as YOLANDA) made its first landfall in the early morning of 8 November in Guiuan, Eastern Samar province. HAIYAN made subsequent landfalls in Tolosa south of Tacloban City, Leyte province, Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island, Cebu province, Conception, Iloilo province and Busuanga, Palawan province.

• Philippine Mega Disaster: 2 Million Displaced November 16, 2013
• Death Toll Doubles in Philippine Typhoon Disaster November 15, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Death Toll Continues Rising November 14, 2013
• Philippine President Lowers the Typhoon Death Toll, for Now November 13, 2013
• Stench of Death Permeates the Philippines Disaster Zone November 12, 2013
• Tropical Depression ZORAIDA Striking Mindanao, Philippines November 11, 2013
• Philippine Disaster Update – November 11 November 11, 2013
• Typhoon HAIYAN Strikes Northern Vietnam Near China Border November 11, 2013
• Philippine Disaster Zone: “It’s Like the End of the World.” November 10, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN – NOV 10 Update November 10, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Casualties Could Top Many Thousands November 9, 2013
• Extraterrestrial Typhoon Force Generating 20-Meter “Tsunami” November 8, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN’S Arm Battering the Philippines November 7, 2013
• “Extraterrestrial” Typhoon HAIYAN – Image Update November 6, 2013
• HAIYAN Intensifying to “Extraterrestrial” Levels November 6, 2013
• Potential Super Typhoon Headed for the Philippines November 4, 2013
• Typhoon KROSA Destroys or Damages 19,000 Homes in Philippines  November 2, 2013

Other Related Links

• FEWW New Hurricane Scale
• Satellite Imagery