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Posts Tagged ‘Indian Ocean’

Massive 8.6 magnitude earthquake hits Indonesia’s Aceh province

April 11, 2012 Comments off

nation.com.pk

A tsunami warning has been issued in the Indian Ocean after powerful earthquakes off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province, prompting evacuations from coastal regions and alarm in areas struck by a devastating wave in 2004.

Wednesday’s first quake was measured at a preliminary 8.6-magnitude, according to the US Geological Survey, which revised down an earlier 8.9 estimate.

A small tsunami measuring 10cm reached Thailand’s Andaman Coast, an official said.

“A 10-centimetre tsunami wave generated by the first earthquake hit Koh Miang off Phang Nga,” the director of Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Centre, Somsak Khaosuwan, said on Thai television.

A tsunami measuring 17cm had been generated and was headed for the Aceh province, Victor Sardina, a geophysicist at the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said.

He said the total vertical measurement of the wave, according to monitoring gauges, was 35cm, making the height 17cm. He did not provide a time estimate for landfall.

“It doesn’t look like a major tsunami,” Sardina said. “But we are Read more…

Categories: Earthquake, Indonesia Tags: , ,

Death toll from Madagascar cyclone rises to 16

February 15, 2012 Comments off

dailystar.com

Photo Credit: NASA Modis

ANTANANARIVO: At least 16 people were killed and 10,000 forced from their homes when Cyclone Giovanna pounded Madagascar, the disaster management bureau said Wednesday as it continued assessing the damage.

The storm struck in the early hours of Tuesday, lashing the towns of Tamatave and Brickaville on the east coast before drenching the capital Antananarivo about 220 kilometres (135 miles) inland.

By Wednesday morning, the storm had passed over the vast Indian Ocean island nation, leaving one person dead in the capital, eight in Brickaville and seven in Moramanga, 114 kilometres east of Antananarivo, according to officials.

The disaster management bureau said the death toll could still increase. Of the 592 communities hit by the storm, contact had been restored with just 80.

Officials said 65 people had been Full article here

Categories: Madagascar Tags: , ,

Rising Oceans – Too Late to Turn the Tide?

July 15, 2011 1 comment

uanews.org

(Click to enlarge) If sea levels rose to where they were during the Last Interglacial Period, large parts of the Gulf of Mexico would be under water (red areas), including half of Florida and several Caribbean islands. (Photo illustration by Jeremy Weiss)

By Daniel Stolte, University Communications July 14, 2011
Melting ice sheets contributed much more to rising sea levels than thermal expansion of warming ocean waters during the Last Interglacial Period, a UA-led team of researchers has found. The results further suggest that ocean levels continue to rise long after warming of the atmosphere has leveled off.

Thermal expansion of seawater contributed only slightly to rising sea levels compared to melting ice sheets during the Last Interglacial Period, a University of Arizona-led team of researchers has found.

The study combined paleoclimate records with computer simulations of Read more…

Categories: Coming Events, Earth changes Tags: , , , , , , ,

World’s Oceans In ‘Shocking’ Decline

June 21, 2011 Comments off

bbc

Coral and fishThe oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists.

In a new report, they warn that ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”.

They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised.

The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity.

The panel was convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), and brought together experts from different disciplines, including coral reef ecologists, toxicologists, and fisheries scientists.

Its report will be formally released later this week.

“The findings are shocking,” said Alex Rogers, IPSO’s scientific director and professor of conservation biology at Oxford University.

“As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the oceans, the implications became far worse than we had individually realised.

“We’ve sat in one forum and spoken to Read more…

Categories: Earth changes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Australia evaluates sea level threats

June 6, 2011 Comments off

thewatchers

Australia’s major cities are all coastal. Confirmed sea level rises, combined with ongoing severe coastal erosion, have been worrying people for the last decade. It’s now looking like the famous Australian beachside lifestyle is riding on the tides. The problem is that Australia has been glued to the coast, with inland development relatively slow. Much of the coast is based on sandstone and big sediment-based cliffs, which are as prone to erosion as California’s notorious...

Australia’s major cities are all coastal. Confirmed sea level rises, combined with ongoing severe coastal erosion, have been worrying people for the last decade. It’s now looking like the famous Australian beachside lifestyle is riding on the tides.
The problem is that Australia has been glued to the coast, with inland development relatively slow. Much of the coast is based on sandstone and big sediment-based cliffs, which are as prone to erosion as California’s notorious hills. They’re basically big sand dunes, with little or no resistance to hits from big tides. Some areas have seen large areas of coastline literally dissolving. Many coastal councils are already introducing restrictions on Read more…
Categories: Australia Tags: , , , , , ,

Tsunami alert after Indonesia quake

April 3, 2011 Comments off

bigpondnews

A tsunami warning has been issued after a 6.7 magnitude quake struck off the Indonesian island of Java.

 

Indonesian seismologists issued a tsunami warning early Monday after an earthquake which they said had a magnitude of 7.1 struck in the Indian Ocean south of the island of Java.

Indonesia’s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said that the quake was 10km deep with its epicentre 293km southwest of Cilacap in central Java.

The quake had the potential to cause a tsunami, it said, asking recipients of its public alert SMS to warn other people of the danger.

The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that there was no risk of a widespread destructive wave, but there was a ‘very small possibility of a local tsunami’.

The US Geological Survey said the quake was 6.7, and it was located 277km south of Tasikmalaya in West Java and 241km east-north-east of Christmas Island.

There is no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.

Categories: Earthquake, Indonesia Tags: , , , , ,

Dozens killed and injured in Burma quake: official

March 25, 2011 Comments off

smh.com

More than 60 people were killed, 90 people injured and dozens of buildings destroyed when a strong earthquake struck Burma near the Thai border, officials from both countries said today.

Tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, almost 800 kilometres from the epicentre, Hanoi and parts of China during the earthquake yesterday, which the US Geological Survey (USGS) measured at magnitude 6.8.

A Burma official said dozens of people were killed in two towns close to the epicentre.

“The death toll of the quake has increased to more than 50 in Tarlay and Mine Lin townships,” said the official, who declined to be named.

“Roads are also closed. According to the information that we have, more than 130 buildings collapsed because of the quake. There might be more casualties and damage.”

Across the border, Thai authorities said a 52-year-old woman was killed in Mae Sai district after a wall in her Read more…

Categories: Earthquake, Myanmar Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

UPDATE 2-Pirates shoot dead four American hostages-US military

February 22, 2011 Comments off

Due to the current instability and uncertainty of the North Africa/ Middle East crisis, one is sure to expect that pirate activity will only increase dramatically.  Keep your eyes on Bahrain, that is the key…

(Adds quotes from pirates in Somalia)

By Phillip Stewart

WASHINGTON Feb 22 (Reuters) – Pirates shot dead four American hostages on a yacht they had seized in the Arabian Sea, and a firefight left two pirates dead and 13 captured, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The sequence of events was not immediately clear, but the U.S. military’s Central Command said the dead hostages were only discovered after U.S. forces responded to gunfire and boarded the pirated yacht, known as the Quest.

“As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors,” the U.S. military’s Central Command said in a statement.

“Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds.”

The military, which said the incident took place at about 1 a.m. EST/0600 GMT, had been monitoring the Quest since discovering it had been taken over by pirates for about three Read more…

Categories: pirates, Somalia Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Pirates hijack $200 million crude oil: owners say Somali pirates dangerously disrupting world oil supplies

February 10, 2011 Comments off
The tanker was attacked about 400 miles (650km) south-east of Muscat

A supertanker carrying about $200m (£125m; 146m euros) worth of crude oil has been hijacked off the coast of Oman, the vessel’s Greek operator says.

Athens-based shipping company Enesel said they had lost communication with the Irene SL.

The 333m (1,093ft) vessel was on its way from the Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico when it was attacked.

Although the incident happened hundreds of miles from Somalia, pirate gangs are known to operate there.

A body representing the owners of much of the world’s tanker fleet warned that Read more…

Categories: Africa, Oil, Oman, Somalia Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sri Lanka Flooding; nearly 900,000 Displaced

February 5, 2011 Comments off

At least 13 people have been killed and more than 800,000 affected by fresh floods across Sri Lanka that have swept away homes, roads and vast swathes of agricultural land. Renewed heavy rainfall across several districts in Sri Lanka have forced army and navy personnel to fan out in teams to reach relief to the affected.
The incessant rains in several parts of the country have called for more humanitarian assistance for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
The prevailing weather conditions in most parts of the country have once again left thousands homeless for the second time in two months.

This time, however, the number of people that have been affected is somewhat lesser than last time. The people in the North Central and Eastern Provinces have been warned of the situation and have been advised to be on alert.
The situation has forced many schools to once again temporarily halt their activities for the safety of the children and the teachers. Some of them have been converted into temporary shelters for those who have been displaced.
While priority has been given for the well being of the affected people, the focus has also been on unprecedented effects of climate change.

The Meteorological Department admits that this was the worst weather condition experienced by Read more…

Categories: Flood, Sri Lanka Tags: , , , , , ,