August 29, 2014

What happened this week?

California Hit With Earthquake Of 6.0 Magnitude. A large earthquake rolled through California's northern Bay Area early Sunday, damaging some buildings, igniting fires... Read More

Magnitude 6.1 Earthquake Rocks Trinidad and Tobago, Part of Venezuela.  An earthquake hit northwest of Trinidad. The quake measured magnitude 6.4 at a depth of 37... Read More

Major 6.9-Magnitude Earthquake Reported in Central Peru. The seismological service said in a preliminary report that the quake was centered about 26 miles east-northeast of an area called Tambo, and about 471 292 miles southeast of the capital of Lima. It had a depth of 36 miles... Read More

Atlántico Department, San Juan de Tocagua. Storm with gale-force winds left 20 houses flooded and with damaged roofs in the southwest area of Atlántico. A local government commission will arrive in the next hours to evaluate damage and offer assistance to the population... Read More

Nicaragua, Managua: Floods update, Managua. Storm with gale-force winds left 20 houses flooded and with damaged roofs in the southwest area of Atlántico. A local government commission will arrive in the next hours to evaluate damage and offer assistance to the population... Read More

Interesting Facts

7.0 m earthquake strikes Peru + 6.0 m in California + Iceland erupting = Major unrest occurring.  The “pressure” now being placed on North America is coming from both sides. Movement coming from the Midatlantic, and from the Pacific... Read More

What Caused California’s Napa Valley Earthquake? Faults Explained. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake that struck California’s Napa Valley north of San Francisco on Sunday morning—collapsing older buildings, sparking fires and causing scores of injuries—fell along a series of cracks in the Earth tied to the famed and feared San Andreas Fault... Read More

Study examines link between earthquakes and drought. In the wake of Sunday’s 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Napa Valley, scientists are now questioning whether or not there is a connection between earthquakes and the drought... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Santiago, Cuba: International Project of seismic risks. Education initiatives in communities and building plans consistent with the risks facing this territory are among the activities planned within the project... Read More

August 22, 2014

What happened this week?

México: State of Sonora, Cananea. Potential water contamination due to a sulfuric acid spill in the Sonora river after a structural failure in a copper mine, caused by heavy rains in the area.   According to press reports nearly 40,000 cubic meters of sulfuric acid were spilled. As a security measure, CONAGUA suspended water supply to 20,000 people in the region and is carrying out sampling in different points of the river... Read More

Panama: Province of Chiriquí. SINAPROC confirmed yesterday the death of nine people and the destruction of over 20 houses. Temporary shelters have been set up. 400 people affected. The President has declared a state of emergency, and the removal of debris has restarted... Read More

Oklahoma: 4.2-magnitude quake shakes central Oklahoma... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Central America braces for drought-linked food crisis. Low rainfall linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has led to drought in parts of Central America, causing widespread damage to crops, shortages and rising prices of food, and worsening hunger among the region’s poor... Read More

ODPEM, CDEMA discuss ways to integrate climate risk into disaster risk management. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)  convened the first of a two-day Climate Smarting workshop intended to incorporate climate risk considerations into national disaster risk management planning... Read More 

August 15, 2014

What happened this week?

Ecuador, Quito: Earthquake 5.1 M.: Movement triggered landslides in mining areas causing the death of 2 People and wounding at least 20 more.   Nearly 60 People were evacuated to shelters. Minor damage in 4 Hospitals and a health center, 64 homes were also affected... Read More

Chile: Earthquake: Another terremoto hits Iquique, registering a 5.7 magnitude... Read More

United States, Michigan, Oakland: Heavy Rains generate floods. Two deaths, multiple nursing homes and medical facilities impacted by flood waters; none evacuated... Read More

Nicaraguans told to eat iguanas as drought threatens food crisis. Central America’s poorest country is facing hunger because of poor harvests and rising food prices... Read More

Interesting Facts

Engineers to simulate and model tornado winds and their effects on buildings. The Iowa State University Tornado Simulator kicked up a thick and slowly spinning funnel cloud over a model of a small town, overwhelming the miniature streets, buildings and homes... Read More

Chilean Earthquake Caused Tremors In Antarctic Ice Sheet. A massive earthquake that affected the Maule region of Chile in February 2010 also unleashed a series of smaller seismic events known as “icequakes” nearly 3,000 to the south in Antarctica... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Drought Hits Central America. Central American agriculture ministers held a videoconference on August 7 to seek coordinated actions to cope with a major drought that has hit the region... Read More

UN outlines disaster risk responses ahead of 2015 deal. The UN has released an initial draft of a proposed disaster risk reduction treaty...Read More 

August 8, 2014

Climate in the Americas: a challenge or an opportunity for a more solidary America

By Max Campos and Estefanía Jiménez

Since late last year and early 2014, the systems of global and regional climate warning have been reporting on the possibility of occurrence of the weather phenomenon called El Niño (warm anomalies of the oceanic component of ENSO). This phenomenon, which is associated with the natural variability of the planet and today is under constantly study because of the potential exacerbation of its impacts due to climate change, has distinct weather manifestations in different regions of the Americas... Read more (Leer más)

What happened this week?

10 million Central Americans affected by drought. Central America took the first measures to reduce the impact of the drought that has killed thousands of cattle and damaged part of agricultural production... Read More

Central America faces drought. Low rainfall has caused the death of livestock and loss of agricultural production... Read More

Drought in El Salvador causes loss of 2 million bags of corn. Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of El Salvador, Orestes Ortez, confirmed that two million bags of white corn were lost as a result of the effects of severe drought... Read More

Drought has left Q345.24 million loss in agriculture sector of Guatemala. The drought caused by the El Niño generated Guatemalan agricultural losses of about $ 44.6 million, Q345.24 million... Read More

Brazil's water crisis amid drought could lead to rationing.A drought in Brazil has led to a water crisis and the country's largest population center is facing the prospect of rationing... Read More

Drought forces water rationing in Colombia. The Colombian government will establish a new water rationing system in various departments throughout the country. The goal is to conserve water, as a drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon is affecting Colombia’s Caribbean, and parts of its Andean region... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Central America will define a strategy against drought. The drought has impacted heavily on the Central American region where has damaged much of the corn and beans... Read More

Destruction of crops in the region. Central America seeks a strategy to address drought, the most affected countries are El Salvador and Nicaragua... Read More

Central America seeks common strategy to deal with drought. Central America seeks to define a common strategy to deal with the drought that has caused the destruction of corn and beans from poor families and left millions in crop losses... Read More

180 million liters of water for drought-affected regions. Red Cross distributes 10 water plants in La Guajira, Atlántico and Magdalena in Colombia. Water distribution by Government continues... Read More

August 1, 2014

What happened this week?

Earthquakes jolt 4 different areas of Alaska. Several earthquakes, including one with a magnitude of 5.9, occurred around the same location in the southeast part.. Read More

Mexico Earthquake: Terremoto strikes off the coast. A strong Mexico earthquake has hit off the coast  began just after sunrise... Read More

Paraguay floods lead to evacuation of thousands. Tens of thousands of people in Paraguay have been evacuated after torrential rains caused extensive flooding... Read More

Town of Richmond declares state of emergency. Consistent, heavy rains shut down roads, caused power outages and flooding across the region... Read More

Interesting Facts

A disaster waiting to happen, and what to do when it does. A Japanese group is helping teachers and pupils to be prepared for earthquakes, tsunamis and other violent upheavals... Read More

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

MP announces $350,000 for Latin America and Caribbean Region. MP announced the federal government would be providing $350,000 in new humanitarian assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean Region... Read More

Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre to benefit from German assistance. The Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) says it will implement an Euro 12.8 million (One Euro =US$1.29 cents) project later this year to address to address ecosystems-based adaptation... Read More