December 4, 2015

What happened this week?

Peru. Floods in San Martin region, provinces of Bellavista, Moyobamba, Rioja, Huallaga, and Picota Mariscal Caceres: There are 179 families that have been directly affected, 962 that have been indirectly affected, 4 people were injured, and 119 homes have collapsed.  The rains and overflowing rivers have also affected a health center, a public building, 250 levees, 6 drinking water systems, 6 energy plants. One footbridge has been destroyed... Read more

Mexico. The Colima Volcano erupted ash 2,500 meters above the crater, in addition, a landslide occurred northbound. Civil Protection and Fire unit in Jalisco urged people in the communities surrounding the volcano to stay alert of any ash fall... Read more

Dominican Republic.  Flooding caused by rains has displaced about 410 people; 137 homes were affected and three communities are isolated in Santo Domingo and five other districts... Read more

Bolivia. Rains in the municipality of Tomina and the province of Padilla. Five homes have been affected and the rains have caused considerable damage to crops... Read more

Interesting Facts

Scientists develop 'Shazam for earthquakes'. An algorithm inspired by a popular song-matching app is helping Stanford scientists find previously overlooked earthquakes in large databases of ground motion measurements... Read more

Discovery of hidden earthquake presents challenge to earthquake early-warning systems. Seismologists at the University of Liverpool studying the 2011 Chile earthquake have discovered a previously undetected earthquake which took place seconds after the initial rupture... Read more

Planning for Future Droughts. Nine experts covered a range of topics, including the state of our water infrastructure and management systems and options for improving water security as our climate becomes warmer... Read more

Stretchy slabs found in the deep Earth. A new study suggests that the common belief that the Earth's rigid tectonic plates stay strong when they slide under another plate, known as subduction, may not be universal... Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

Lawmakers link global development agenda. Hundreds of legislators from around the world have gathered on the sidelines of the COP21 climate summit to focus on harnessing low carbon development to eradicate poverty and better protect people against disasters... Read more

Resilience in focus at COP21. Delegates at the COP21 global climate summit have thrown the spotlight on resilience, a central issue in international efforts to reduce the risk of disasters and face up to growing environmental challenges... Read more

Viet Nam: VNRC seeks to enhance disaster risk management skills. The Viet Nam Red Cross Society (VNRC) launched a project for enhancing its capacity to handle disaster risk management and first aid at a ceremony in Ha Noi... Read more