April 20, 2012

Recent Natural Events

Paraguay – River overflows

At least 10,000 families have been affected by floods after heavy rains caused river overflows in the Chaco region. Read

Strong quake shakes Chile, no damage reported

A powerful 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck near Chile's eastern port of Valparaiso early on Tuesday, shaking buildings as far away as the capital Santiago, but there were no reports of significant damage and the country's main copper mines were unaffected. Read

Volcanic activity recorded at mountain near Mexico City

Officials placed the alert at Popocatepetl -- which means "Smoking Mountain" in the native Nahuatl language -- at Yellow Level 3. This means there is a probability of explosive activity of an intermediate to high scale, an eruption of lava and a spewing of ash. Read

Other Disasters Related News

Forecasters struggle to stay a step ahead of tornadoes

Despite the latest computer technology, forecasters give tornado warnings to specific locations on average only about 15 minutes ahead of time. Nationwide, 75 percent of those warnings never pan out and even those that do give no information on how severe the tornado is likely to be. Read

Devastation across Chile as forest fires hit five-year high

In an eight-month period, forest fires accounted for the loss of 200,000 acres. Read

So-called natural disasters are not unpredictable – World Bank  

In the event of so-called natural disasters -- whether these refer to earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides or floods -- preparedness can mean the difference between simply a shock and tragic consequences for the population. Read

Human-made earthquakes reported in central U.S

The number of earthquakes in the central United States rose "spectacularly" near where oil and gas drillers disposed of wastewater underground, a process that may have caused geologic faults to slip, U.S. government geologists report. Read