Bombing of Colombian Pipeline Causes Massive Oil Spill

 Colombia Oil Spill to Reach Pacific Coast: Ecopetrol

The bombing of a crude oil pipeline in southwestern Colombia  by the FARC guerrilla group earlier this week has caused a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) oil spill that was expected to reach the Pacific coast,  said a report quoting the CEO of the state-controlled Ecopetrol.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) attacked the 306-km Transandino pipeline, which stretches to the Pacific port of Tumaco, causing about 1,000,000 liters  (~ 265,000 gallons) of oil to spill into the Caunapi River, a tributary of the Rosario River, and into Tumaco Bay in the southwestern  department of Nariño, said the report.

The rivers are a source of drinking water and are also used for fishing.

The affected area could take up to 20 years to recover, assuming “a minimum recovery,” said Colombia’s Environment Minister.

The guerrillas also waylaid a convoy of 19 tanker trucks on Monday, and dumped about 757,000 liters (200,000 gallons) of crude oil on the roads in Putumayo department in the southwest of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru, the report added.

The attack was the 20th against the oil company’s infrastructure this year, affecting more than 84,000 people, said Ecopetrol.

Full report is available here.

Japan Orders Thousands of Evacuations amid ERE

Severe rainstorm, widespread flooding force thousands of evacuations in S. Japan

About 5,000 people have been ordered to evacuate after an Extreme Rain Event (ERE) triggered severe flooding and in Southern Japan.

Up to 400,000 others were advised to abandon their homes after a severe weather system dumped as much as 31cm of rain over Nagasaki prefecture and 23cm over neighboring Kumamoto prefecture over a 24-hour period, social media quoted officials as saying.

Meantime, the weather agency (JMA) issued extreme weather warnings Thursday for the island of Kyushu, including Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures in the south as well as Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures in the north.

Southern Kyushu has also been plagued by hundreds of landslides that have damaged or destroyed homes and blocked roads, according to social media.

Significant Quakes Strike Planet of the Abes

 M5.7 quakes strikes NE Japan

 Centered at 39.629°N, 143.456°E the quake struck at a depth of 10.0 km, USGS/EHP reported.

The event was followed by at least three significant aftershocks.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 5.7Mw
Location: 39.629°N, 143.456°E
Depth: 10.0 km
Time: 2015-06-11 04:45:29 UTC
Nearby Cities:

• 129km (80mi) E of Miyako
• 130km (81mi) E of Yamada
• 549km (341mi) NE of Tokyo

Other significant earthquakes that have occurred in he region include:

4.7, 122km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-11 05:29:59 UTC depth=10.0 km
5.3, 109km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-11 04:56:32 UTC depth=10.0 km
5.4, 117km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-11 04:51:24 UTC depth=10.0 km
5.7, 129km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-11 04:45:29 UTC depth=10.0 km
5.0, 152km S of Kushiro, Japan 2015-06-10 20:06:55 UTC depth=11.1 km
4.7, 19km ESE of Hasaki, Japan 2015-06-10 10:25:22 UTC depth=50.8 km
4.7, 170km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-10 08:44:44 UTC depth=19.8 km
5.5, 120km E of Miyako, Japan 2015-06-10 08:33:02 UTC depth=26.1 km
4.7, 134km ENE of Hachinohe, Japan 2015-06-09 18:44:52 UTC depth=26.5 km
4.5, 3km WNW of Tsukuba, Japan 2015-06-08 20:44:07 UTC depth=60.6 km
6.1, 70km ENE of Mutsu, Japan 2015-06-08 06:01:08 UTC depth=47.0 km
4.6, 62km WNW of Hachijo-jima, Japan 2015-06-06 07:28:15 UTC depth=10.0 km

Floods Damage Hundreds of Homes, Farmland in NW Louisiana

Scores of people displaced as flood waters surge along Red River

Homes and farmland remain submerged in northwest Louisiana, as the damage spreads from floodwaters that are overwhelming the Red River from neighboring Oklahoma and Texas.

The national Weather Service said:

High water to continue on the Red River!!!

• Click here for current hydrographs.
• Click here for  latest forecast and Red River Public Information Statement.

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• Homes, farmland flood in rural northwest Louisiana