Another Swarm of Volcanic-like Earthquakes Rattle NW Nevada

M4.6 strikes north of Bald Mountain, Nevada

Centered at 41.895°N, 119.636°W the quake occurred at a depth of about 10km, reported USGS/EHP.

The quake was one of at least 23 volcanic-like tremors of all sizes to strike the area in the 24 hours to posting.

A swarm of at least 55 shocks have occurred in the area over the past 7 days.

EQ Details
Magnitude: 4.6Mw
Location: 41.895°N 119.636°W
Depth: 10.1 km
Time: 2015-07-16 01:52:11 UTC
Nearby Cities:

• 48km (30mi) SE of Lakeview, Oregon
• 155km (96mi) ESE of Altamont, Oregon
• 159km (99mi) ESE of Klamath Falls, Oregon
• 176km (109mi) NNE of Susanville, California
• 303km (188mi) N of Carson City, Nevada

M6.4 Quake Strikes Barbados Region, Windward Islands

Strong earthquake strikes NE of Bridgetown, Barbados

Centered at 13.87N, 58.64W about 119km NE of Bathsheba, the quake occurred at a depth of about 2km, emsc-csem.org reported.

Magnitude:  6.4Mw
Region: BARBADOS REGION, WINDWARD ISL.
Date/time: 2015-07-16 at 15:16:31.4 UTC
Location 13.87 N, 58.64 W
Depth 2 km
Distances:

• 136 km NE of Bridgetown, Barbados / pop: 98,511
• 119 km NE of Bathsheba / pop: 1,765

Foreshock:
5.7Mw 13.88N, 58.53W on 2015-07-16 at11:01:47.3, depth=15km
Aftershock:
5.2Mw, 13.94N, 58.51W on 2015-07-16 at 15:36:18.8, depth=40km

Drought Destroys Crops in Florida, Idaho , Montana, Utah, Washington & Puerto Rico

Drought Disaster: Crop Disasters Declared for 90 U.S. counties and municipalities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 76 additional counties across five states—Florida, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Washington—as well as 14 municipalities in Puerto Rico, as crop disaster areas due to losses caused by drought.

The disaster designations are as follows:

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #1

• Florida: Broward, Collier, Hendry, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Palm Beach counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #2

• Idaho: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Lewis, Latah, Nez Perce and Shoshone counties.
• Montana: Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula and Sanders counties.
• Washington: Pend Oreille, Spokane and Whitman counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #3

• Montana: Beaverhead, Broadwater, Cascade, Chouteau, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Jefferson, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Lincoln, Madison, Meagher, Mineral, Missoula, Pondera, Powell, Ravalli, Sanders, Silver Bow, Teton and Toole counties.
• Idaho: Bonner, Clark, Fremont, Lemhi, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho and Shoshone counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #4

• Puerto Rico: Aguas Buenas, Caguas, Canovanas, Carolina, Cayey, Cidra, Gurabo, Juncos, Las Piedras, Patillas, San Juan, San Lorenzo, Trujillo Alto and Yabucoa municipalities.

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #5

• Utah: Duchesne, Salt Lake, Summit, Utah and Wasatch counties.

Drought Crop Disaster Designation #6

• Washington:  Chelan, Douglas, Ferry, Grant, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Skagit, Spokane, Stevens, Whatcom and Whitman counties.

Crop Disasters 2015

Beginning January 7, 2015 USDA has declared crop disasters in at least 1,451 counties across 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wyoming.

USDA has also designated 14 municipalities in Puerto Rico as drought disaster areas.

About 99 percent of the 2015 crop disaster designations so far are due to drought.

Crop Disasters 2014

In 2014, USDA declared crop disasters in at least 2,904 counties across 44 states. Most of the designations were due to drought.

Those states were:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan. Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. [FIRE-EARTH has documented all of the above listings. See blog content.]

Notes:
i. USDA trigger point for a countywide disaster declaration is 30 percent crop loss on at least one crop.

ii. The counties designated as agricultural disaster areas, as listed above, include both primary and contiguous disaster areas.

iii. Some counties may have been designated as crop disaster areas more than once due to multiple disasters.

iv. The U.S. has a total of 3,143 counties and county-equivalents.

v. The disaster designations posted above were approved by USDA on July 15, 2015 .

Related Links

• U.S. Drought: Crop Disaster Declared for Idaho Counties July 10, 2015
• Drought Destroys Crops in Six U.S. States July 2, 2015
• Drought and Deluge, Hail and Severe Freezing Destroy Crops in 7 States June 25, 2015
• Drought
• Agricultural Disasters Index

Deadly Typhoon NANGKA Striking Japan

Deadly NANGKA barrels toward Shikoku, Japan

Typhoon NANGKA, the season’s 11th typhoon, is making landfall on Japan’s Shikoku island, prompting the authorities to evacuate up to a third of a million people in 11 prefectures, with more than 1.5 million others on standby to evacuate their homes, if necessary.

Flash floods triggered by the powerful typhoon have already killed at least two people, and left about 20 others injured, locals have reported.

Torrential rains brought by NANGKA [Malaysian name for the Jack fruit, no reason given for the choice of name,] have already caused multiple landslides in several prefectures, and forced Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to cancel hundreds of domestic flights. Many train cancellations were also reported.

Japan’s weather agency has issued Warnings or Advisories for the entire country, with storm, high waves, heavy rain,
flooding, storm surge, thunderstorm and/or ground-loosening inundation topping the typhoon’s list of impacts.

NANGA was on course to hit the island of Shikoku at about midnight local time [UTC+ 9.00  hrs,] before slamming the main island of Honshu, on Friday.

TY 1511 (NANGKA) – issued by Japan’s weather agency at 12:50UTC on July 16, 2015

Scale: Large
Intensity: Strong
Center position: N33°00′(33.0°), E134°20′(134.3°)
Direction and movement speed: N 20km/h(10kt)
Central pressure: 960hPa
Maximum wind speed near the center: 35m/s(70kt)
Maximum wind gust: 50m/s(100kt)

The weather agency has forecast total rainfall amounts of up to 800mm on Shikoku, 600mm in nearby prefectures of Osaka, Nagoya and the neighboring areas, as well as 300mm in the Tokyo region in the 24 hours through noon Friday.

Kentucky Declares State of Emergency

Deadly Storms sweep through Kentucky causing widespread damage

Severe storms have left at least 5 people dead and 6 others missing, causing widespread damage in the State of Kentucky and prompting Gov. Beshear to declare a state of emergency.

Part of a statement posted on the State website read:

According to the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management (KYEM), numerous counties were impacted by Monday’s storms that caused flash flooding. Areas reported with the heaviest damage include Johnson and Rowan counties. In Johnson County, one fatality was reported, and state and local rescue workers there continue to search for others who are missing or unaccounted for. In Rowan County, homes were also damaged by floods, and minor injuries were reported.

The Kentucky National Guard, KYEM and Red Cross officials are on the ground in Johnson County and will continue to monitor areas statewide for further reports of damage. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Monday waived certain highway restrictions for out-of-state utility vehicles traveling nationally to areas with widespread power outages. Shelters are in place in Rowan, Johnson and Jefferson counties.

Flash floods in Indiana reportedly killed at least one person, according to local reports.

Kentucky has already been declared a major disaster area three times, so far this year.