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Super typhoon Haiyan just broke all scientific intensity scales
Writing for Quartz, meteorologist Eric Holthaus says that the super typhoon Haiyan about to hit the Philippines is the worst storm he has ever seen. With sustained winds of 190mph (305km/h) and staggering gusts of 230mph (370km/h), its “intensity has actually ticked slightly above the maximum to 8.1 on an 8.0 scale.” Updated: It broke 235mph. Videos of the impact added.
Holthaus says that Yolanda—its Filipino name—beats “Wilma (2005) in intensity by 5mph—that was the strongest storm ever in the Atlantic,” which makes it a member of the select club of Worst Storms Ever in the Planet. Only three other storms since 1969 have reached this intensity.
That’s certainly foreboding enough, but the humanitarian disaster that may Read more…
6.8 earthquake shakes central Philippines; 1 dead
MANILA, Philippines: A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the central Philippines on Monday, killing a child and triggering a local tsunami alert.The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued the tsunami alert for the central Philippines, saying the quake, which hit in a narrow strait just off Negros Island, could trigger a 3-foot (1-meter) wave along the island’s eastern coast as well as west of Cebu City, the country’s second largest.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a wider regional warning.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was centered 44 Read more…
China infuriated by US-Philippines defense plans
The US decision to station forces in the Philippines could have dangerous repercussions. Beijing may enact economic sanctions after Manila invited in US troops in response to an escalating territorial dispute over the South China Sea.
Dr. Pak-Nung Wong of the City University of Hong Kong told RT that the Philippines is merely cashing in on America’s move.
“At the international level, the Philippines knows that the US has definitely returned to Asia – refocusing its military and security deployment in the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, targeting China and Iran as the primary security concern,” he said.
“At the regional level, the Philippines also sees that there are recent changes in the regional politics, particularly in Read more…
US negotiating larger presence in Philippines
With an eye toward China’s growing influence in the South Pacific, President Obama and the Philippines are negotiating a greater US military presence on the island nation, the Washington Post said.
Discussions are to continue Thursday and Friday in Washington, but it appears the US military will return to the Philippines 20 years after losing its foothold there.
“We can point to other countries: Australia, Japan, Singapore,” a senior Philippine official told the Post. “We’re not the only one doing this, and for good reason. We all want to see a peaceful and stable region. Nobody wants to have to face China or confront China.”
American troops left Subic Bay in Philippines in 1992 because a new treaty could not be signed. A volcanic eruption a year earlier forced them from Clark Air Force Base.
Now the American plan is for Read more…
Manila, US plan military drills in South China Sea
The United States and the Philippines are set to hold military drills that may anger Beijing near disputed waters in the South China Sea, testing their readiness to protect offshore oil and natural gas platforms, a Marine general said on Thursday.
Philippines Lieutenant-General Juancho Sabban, military commander on western island of Palawan, said it is the first time an annual exercise will be focused on protecting offshore energy platforms, adding that the drills should not anger China which also has territorial claims in the region.
“Why should they be angry, this is an annual activity,” he said, referring to China, one of six states claiming sovereignty over the South China Sea.
The drills are to be held near Read more…
Thousands flee homes as floods hit Philippines
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| Filipinos use a makeshift raft to ferry residents in a flooded community in Quezon City, east of Manila yesterday. Thousands fled their homes and seven fishermen went missing as rains brought by tropical storm Meari triggered flooding in the eastern Philippines provinces |
Thousands of people fled their homes and seven fishermen went missing as rains triggered flooding in the eastern Philippines, officials said yesterday.
Seven fishermen aboard three motorboats went missing at sea in the eastern province of Catanduanes, 360km south-east of Manila, Police Inspector Ayn Nutuel said.
More than 36,000 people were evacuated from their houses in nearby Albay province because of flooding brought by rains from Tropical Storm Meari, provincial Governor Joey Salceda said.
At least 26 domestic flights in Manila have been cancelled because of the bad weather, which began affecting the country on Tuesday and was expected to generate more rains in large parts of the country until the weekend.
The weather bureau said Meari, with maximum sustained winds of 65km per hour and gusts of up to 80kph, was located yesterday morning 270km north-east of Catanduanes province.
The bureau urged residents in low-lying areas to be on alert for flashfloods and landslides.
Meanwhile, tropical storm Haima hit land in southern Read more…
China warns neighbors: Stop oil search in Spratlys
AP – Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao gestures during a news conference at the Ambassador’s … MANILA, Philippines – China warned Asian neighbors Thursday to stop searching for oil near the Spratly Islands and vowed to assert its sovereignty over the potentially petroleum-rich territory in the South China Sea that several nations claim.
China and the Philippines have swapped diplomatic protests over the islands, with Filipino officials accusing Chinese forces of intruding into Manila-claimed areas six times since February and of firing shots at least once. Beijing denied the allegation Thursday and said it would use violence only when attacked.
Vietnam, meanwhile, has accused China of flaring tensions in Read more…
115 quakes recorded at Taal volcano in 24 hours
MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE) Taal Volcano was rocked by 115 earthquakes in the past 24 hours, the highest number of tremors recorded in the area since the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology placed the restive volcano under Alert Level 2 last April.
It was the highest number in a day, a jump from the average of 10 mild quakes daily since alert level 2 (increasing restiveness) was hoisted over Taal on April 9, said Jaime Sincioco, officer-in-charge of the Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division of Phivolcs, in a phone interview.
He said that in the series of the 115 volcanic quakes recorded up to 3 a.m. Monday, 12 were of intensity 1 to 4 and “were felt by the residents” on the volcano island.
The strongest quake, also since April 9, was felt at intensity 4 at around 1:05 a.m.
Phivolcs said residents around the volcano in Taal, Batangas heard rumbling Read more…
House approves biometrics listing bill -MANILA, PHILIPPINES
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
THE HOUSE of Representatives approved on second reading on Tuesday a bill that seeks to clean the voter record in preparation for the midterm elections in 2013.
The Web site of the Bills and Index service stated that House Bill 3469 requires all voters to have their biometrics data — photographs, fingerprints and signature — taken by an election officer.
The bill, aside from ensuring that the Automated Fingerprint Identification System will identify double registrants and other irregularities, is seen to also discourage cheating.
Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed that there were 704,542 voters with double or multiple registration in May 2010 general elections.
The bill defines such voters as those registered in more than one city or municipality.
Only half of the 50.8 million voters have biometrics data, the Comelec said.
The bill seeks to prohibit those without biometrics data from voting. Read more…
Hundreds of villagers flee as Philippine volcano belches ash and smoke
MANILA, Philippines – Hundreds of villagers fled to safety Monday after a restive volcano belched ash and smoke into the sky after a monthlong lull, officials said.
Despite Mount Bulusan’s ash explosion, its 13th since November, there were no signs of an imminent eruption involving magma pushing out of the cone, said government chief volcanologist Renato Solidum.
The huge plume of greyish smoke shot up to more than a mile (2 kilometres) toward the blue sky, with the ash drifting southwest toward four farming towns in Sorsogon province, where about 1,200 villagers fled to emergency shelters and houses of relatives, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government’s disaster-response agency.
Army trucks helped villagers move from communities hit by the ashfall and emergency teams handed out protective masks, Ramos said.
There have not been any government orders to evacuate communities near the mountain. While many scrambled to safety, residents streamed out of houses in Irosin town to gaze or take pictures of the mid-morning spectacle using their cellphones.
Still-hot debris at the peak of Bulusan, one of the country’s 23 active volcanoes, came into contact with water, sparking the explosion. Such steam-driven blasts have happened since November and could continue in coming weeks, Solidum said.
Bulusan lies about 240 miles (380 kilometres) southeast of Manila.
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