Drought, Deluge, Heat Alert and a Billion-Dollar Typhoon

China Issues Heat Alert

A heatwave was forecast to hit central, eastern and northern China with temperatures rising to as much as 40 degrees Celsius, said The National Meteorological Center (NMC), Reported Xinhua, the country’s official news agency.

“Since mid-May, some northern regions have been suffering from drought due to continued hot weather. Miyun Reservoir, one of Beijing’s major water sources, has shrunk about 39 percent over the past year,” said the report.

“The upcoming heat wave will even worsen the drought. Local governments should work to reduce its impact on agricultural production,” said the weather observatory in China.

Meanwhile, Typhoon CHAN-HOM dumped as much as 322 mm of rain on parts of eastern China, affecting at least 1.92 million people in nine cities, including more than 1.11 million who were evacuated, said the report.

CHAN-HOM  caused direct economic losses of about a billion dollars, according to the provincial flood control and drought prevention HQ.

“The worst hit sector is agriculture with economic losses of 3.62 billion yuan, because the typhoon coincided with the picking period of vegetables and melons and wrecked havoc on agricultural facilities,” said the HQ.

Water level in many rivers and lakes are still above the warning lines, with more damaged expected from potential floods and mudslides.

M5.7 earthquake Strikes Planet of the Abes

Earthquake strikes Kyushu island

Centered at 33.0N, 131.9E the quake struck at a depth of about 60km, said Japan’s weather agency.

The quake registered “5+” on Japan’s seismic intensity scale of 1-7.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 5.7Mw
Location: 33.0N, 131.9E
Depth: 60km
Date/Time: 2015-07-12 at 17:52:06 UTC
Aftershocks: 4.3Mw (31.4N, 131.9E; depth=40 km)

Nearby nuclear power stations:

• Ikata Nuclear Power station
• Sendai Nuclear Power station
• Genkai Nuclear Power station

FIRE-EARTH Extra: Area 351

Why Is Area 351 among Earth’s Primary Objectives?

Deep Blue Marble!

EXTRA session today (July 13, 2015) at 23:32 UTC

Wildfires Force Evacuations in Central Washington

Lightning-sparked wildfires rage across Washington state

Five wildfires, sparked by lightning on Friday night, have grown together combining into two major blazes, threatening about 300 structures and consuming  about 22,500 acres (91 square km) in Douglas County [pop: 40,000,] central Washington.

One of the two fires in the Douglas County Complex is burning approximately 17 miles northeast of Waterville near Jamieson Lake. The other fire is burning approximately 10 miles southeast of Waterville, reported InciWeb.

About 60 homes and other structure are in immediate threat, and 300 other dewellings have been evacuated, said officials.

“A level 3 evacuation order remains in place for approximately 30 residents on North Palisades Road. All other previous evacuations orders are level 1 including Rock Island Grade which was added this afternoon [July 12.]”

About a dozen major blazes are currently burning in Washington state.