Prophecy, Drought, Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence, War, and Strange Weather.

[Shammu]

More Than 100 Forest Fires Rage in Northwest Spain

August 09, 2006 — By Harold Heckle, Associated Press

MADRID, Spain — Emergency services were fighting 110 forest fires on Wednesday in wooded areas of northwest Spain, many started deliberately, officials said.

The fires, which have charred around 10,000 hectares (24,710 acres) of forest and scrubland, have occurred mainly between the port city of Vigo and tourist center Santiago de Compostella, an area known for its fjord-like sea inlets.

Five people have been arrested on suspicion of having started fires, regional prosecutor Alvaro Garcia Ortiz said. One of the five has been released on bail.

Firefighters had managed to bring 49 fires under control, but high winds and very dry conditions were fanning another 62 blazes, said spokeswoman Iria Mendez.

Italy's civil protection said it would dispatch two Canadair planes and a team of technicians to help fight forest fires in Spain.

The CL415 planes, capable of drenching a blaze with more than 6,000 liters of water or flame-retardant liquid, would leave for Spain Wednesday morning from Rome's Ciampino airport, the civil protection said in a statement.

The planes were made available following a request by Spain's civil protection and as part of Europe-wide agreements for mutual assistance, the statement said.

Two wildfires were burning in Girona, on the other side of Spain in the northeast region of Catalonia, where firefighters had deployed eight vehicles.

Neighboring Portugal, which had originally offered help to Spain, had to redeploy its firefighting forces to outbreaks within its own borders, regional authorities in Galicia said.

Forest fires in Spain and other Mediterranean countries char hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) of land every year. Spain's national and regional governments agreed to step up vigilance after 17 people died in fires last summer.

The number of highly destructive fires -- ones that have burned more than 2.5 acres (1 hectare) -- has dropped from more than 6,200 in 2005 to under 3,000 in 2006 for the January-July period, according to Environment Ministry figures. Fires charred 88,635 acres (35,870 hectares), down from 233,370 acres (94,450 hectares) in 2005, the ministry added.

Authorities credit preventive measures for the drop, including bans on barbecues in the countryside in dry regions, and more effective campaigns to clear roadside garbage and fallen leaves and branches in forests.

[Soldier4Christ]

1.3 million Chinese flee as super typhoon nears

More than 1.3 million Chinese have fled their homes in the path of a super typhoon, the strongest to threaten the country in 50 years, as it churned relentlessly toward the southeast coast on Thursday.

Saomai, one of three storms to have hit East Asia in the past few days, has already dumped heavy rain on Taiwan and was just hours from an expected landfall between Hong Kong and Shanghai, just south of the booming city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province.

Storm tracker Tropical Storm Risk (www.tropicalstormrisk.com) graded Saomai a category five "super" typhoon -- its highest category.

Chinese state media said it was the most powerful storm system to threaten the country since August 1956, when a typhoon hit Zhejiang, triggering a tsunami that killed more than 3,000.

"Some meteorologists said that the typhoon might grow stronger," the official Xinhua news agency said, adding that it could be fueled by remnants of the weakening, west-headed tropical storm Bopha.

"Saomai is packing winds of 216 km per hour (134 mph) and has outpaced forecasts," Xinhua quoted Li Yuzhu, head of the Zhejiang provincial observatory, as saying.

The center of Saomai was 120 km (75 miles) southeast of Wenzhou at 0600 GMT and was less than 100 km from the nearest coastline, moving northwest at 20 kph.

Wenzhou residents were reinforcing windows and doors against the storm and stockpiling drinking water and food, state television said.

Wenzhou airport had closed and hundreds of passengers were stranded because of canceled flights, one airport manager said.

"We don't know when we will open again," the manager, surnamed Zhou, told Reuters by telephone. "The wind is only fitful but rain is really heavy here."

GONG ALERT

Wenzhou, once a prosperous foreign treaty port and now a manufacturing center, has a central population of 1.3 million, but there are 7.4 million in the greater Wenzhou area.

Xinhua reported that Zhejiang had already evacuated 760,000 people, with another 569,000 people involved in the neighboring province of Fujian, as heavy rain, strong winds and a high tide hit the area.

Schools, theatres and stadiums had been opened as shelters for the displaced, a Wenzhou official said, adding that factories, shops and offices had been ordered to stop all activities "unrelated to battling the typhoon."

Officials in Wenzhou's Cangnan county resorted to television, Internet, text messaging and even two satellite phones to alert residents about Saomai.

They also prepared 30 gongs, a traditional instrument in ancient China to warn people of disasters, the local government said on its Web site (www.cncn.gov.cn).

Much of south China has been repeatedly battered by typhoons and tropical storms this year. Hundreds have been killed by rainstorms, mudslides and floods.

Tropical storm Bilis killed more than 600 in China last month and typhoon Prapiroon killed about 80 last week.

Tropical storm Bopha fizzled to the south of Taiwan this week and another veered toward the east of Japan.

Typhoons and tropical storms are common each year in Taiwan, southeast China and the Philippines between July and October.

[Soldier4Christ]

Floods force millions out of homes in India
5 states affected; hundreds killed

AHMEDABAD, India -- Swollen rivers swamped thousands of villages and towns across India's south and west yesterday , forcing 4.5 million from their homes as rescuers struggled to deliver food and drinking water, officials said.

India's annual monsoon rains -- vital for its agriculture-driven economy -- have triggered floods across at least five states since the weekend, killing at least 311 people, submerging villages and causing widespread damage to crops.

Most deaths were reported in the western state of Maharashtra, with 163 people killed in four days of incessant rains, including 86 in the past 48 hours, officials said.

Floods had forced more than 200,000 people out of their homes in nearly 3,500 villages of Maharashtra, a relief official said.

In Maharashtra and also neighboring Gujarat, military boats and helicopters continued to reach out to thousands who remained marooned on trees and rooftops, many without food and water, after rivers burst their banks and flooded homes.

In Gujarat, about 200 villages were cut off and the industrial town of Surat, known for its diamond-cutting and textile trades, went without power as floodwaters inundated the region, leaving around 3 million people homeless.

``We screamed out when we saw the soldiers, they saved our lives," said Mulji Devalia, a Surat resident, whose two-story house was completely submerged by floodwaters.

Indian television channels said 90 percent of the town was submerged and showed pictures of people wading through waist-high water and vehicles almost totally submerged.

Officials said phone lines were down, train services to Surat suspended and there was an acute shortage of drinking water. Full-scale relief operations would begin once water levels receded, the officials added.

``It is tough to reach out to the needy; the water level is rising minute by minute," said local administrator Vatsala Vasudev.

Industrial production has been badly affected in the nearby coastal city of Hazira, with Oil and Natural Gas Corp.'s gas plant flooded and production disrupted at a petrochemicals complex run by Reliance Industries Ltd.

In the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where 112 people have perished in four days of rain, some 6,000 villages have been flooded, leaving around 1.5 million homeless and forcing thousands into trees and onto rooftops.

``We haven't eaten for three days and the children are crying because of hunger and thirst," one resident of a flood-affected village told Reuters by telephone.

Other stranded villagers said they were suffering from fever, diarrhea and vomiting.

``The situation is terrible. The area under submergence is increasing every hour due to the backwaters," said M.V.P.C. Sastry, a senior flood official, adding that military helicopters were dropping food packets and water rations to the marooned.

Officials in the central state of Madhya Pradesh said 15 people, including three children were swept away in flash floods over the last three days. Floods have also killed at least 21 people in the neighboring states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

[Soldier4Christ]

Strongest typhoon in 50 years hits China


BEIJING — The most powerful typhoon to hit China in five decades raged across its southeastern coast Thursday, capsizing ships and destroying homes after 1.5 million people evacuated. At least two people were killed and dozens were injured.

Nineteen people were reported missing across the region, and Typhoon Saomai was also blamed for at least two deaths in the Philippines a day earlier.

Torrential rains were forecast in the next three days as the typhoon churned inland across crowded areas where Tropical Storm Bilis killed more than 600 people last month.

Saomai, with winds up to 135 mph, made landfall at the town of Mazhan in coastal Zhejiang province and was moving northwest at 12 mph, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing weather officials.

Xinhua said two people were killed in the city of Fuding, while 80 people were injured and more than 1,000 houses toppled in and around Mazhan.

Eight Taiwanese sailors were missing after two ships capsized in a harbor in Fujian, while four Chinese were missing after their ship struck a reef, the agency reported. Seven others were reported missing in the Philippines after giant waves and heavy rains generated by the typhoon battered coastal villages, officials said.

Saomai, dubbed a "super typhoon" by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and high wind speeds, was the eighth major storm of this year's unusually violent typhoon season. Saomai was the most powerful typhoon to hit China since the founding of the communist government in 1949, Xinhua said, citing the Zhejiang provincial weather bureau.

Before the storm's arrival, 990,000 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and 569,000 from the neighboring coastal province of Fujian, Xinhua said. It said a total of 70,000 ships had returned to port in the two provinces.

The area is about 950 miles south of Beijing, the Chinese capital, which was not affected by the storm.

In the Philippines, more than 200 houses built on stilts were destroyed and a child was killed and another was reported missing as waves up to 10 feet tall ravaged the coast of Bongao, the capital of southern Tawi-Tawi province, before dawn Wednesday, provincial Gov. Sadikul Sahali said.

"There is floating debris everywhere," Sahali said.

At least six members of a family also were reported missing after their house was buried in a landslide on Sarangani island, part of southern Davao del Sur province, the Office of Civil Defense said.

Elsewhere, a man was killed as big waves washed away about 200 shanties in seaside villages in Talisay city on central Cebu island early Wednesday, the civil defense office said.

Saomai, named for the Vietnamese word for the planet Venus, passed across Japan's Okinawa island group on Wednesday with winds up to 89 mph, prompting airlines to cancel 141 flights and affecting 24,000 passengers.

China's weather bureau had forecast unusually heavy typhoon action this summer, saying warmer than normal Pacific currents and weather patterns over Tibet would create bigger storms and draw them farther inland.

Bilis triggered flooding and landslides as far inland as Hunan province, hundreds of miles from the coast.

Most of the deaths happened in areas away from coastal communities that have elaborate dike networks and a long history of evacuating flood-prone areas.

Typhoon Prapiroon lashed China's southern coast last week, killing at least 80 people in floods and landslides in Guangdong province and neighboring Guangxi.

Even as Saomai stormed ashore, Chinese forecasters were already closely watching Tropical Storm Bopha, which trailed behind it farther out in the Pacific. Bopha was about 110 miles southeast of Guangdong late Thursday and moving west with winds of 29 mph, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

[Shammu]

U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Warns of Possible Al Qaeda Terror Attacks in India

Friday , August 11, 2006

NEW DELHI — The U.S. Embassy in India's capital warned Friday that foreign militants, possibly Al Qaeda members, may be planning to carry out bombings in two major Indian cities in the coming days.

In an e-mail sent to American citizens living in India, the Embassy said New Delhi, the capital, and Bombay, the country's financial and entertainment hub, were the targets of the alleged plot, and that the attacks were believed to be planned around India's Independence Day, which falls on Aug. 15.

The Embassy confirmed that it had sent the e-mail, although Indian officials refused to comment on the warning.

Word of the alleged plot came a day after British police said they had thwarted another terrorist plot, possibly just days away, to blow up U.S.-bound jetliners over the Atlantic and kill thousands.

Investigators described a plan on the scale of the Sept. 11 attacks that would use common electronic devices to detonate liquid explosives concealed in sports drink bottles to bring down as many as 10 planes in a nearly simultaneous strike.

The U.S. Embassy's warning for India said the "likely targets include major airports, key central Indian government offices, and major gathering places such as hotels and markets."

It urged American citizens to maintain a low profile, and be especially alert and attentive to their surroundings" between Aug. 11 and Aug. 16.

U.S. Embassy in New Delhi Warns of Possible Al Qaeda Terror Attacks in India
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And the birth pangs, come closer, and closer.  We aren't even getting enough time for a "cleansing breath" between contractions.

[Shammu]

UK Schools Handing Out Morning-After Pill to Students of All Ages

By Terry Vanderheyden

Morning After PillNORWICH, GREAT YARMOUTH, UK, August 9, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – UK schoolgirls are being handed the morning-after pill in an effort to reduce teen pregnancy rates in a region with one of the highest in Western Europe.

According to a Norwich Evening News report, two schools in Norwich and five in Great Yarmouth have begun distribution of the abortifacients to girls below the age of consent, which is 16 years of age in Great Britain.

The schools' on-site permanent sexual health clinics, which employ so-called family planning workers, are possible because of tax funding through the Norwich Primary Care Trust and are part of a 10-year plan to reduce teen pregnancy rates.

Norfolk teenage pregnancy strategy unit Lead Officer Becky Oliver said the program is available to girls as young as 11. “This confidential service is available to young people in all years at the participating schools and has the full support of the schools management and governing bodies.”

New rules introduced in April this year allow girls as young as 12 to be given the morning-after pill over the counter in pharmacies across the country without the knowledge of their parents.

A 2002 study by University of Nottingham professor Dr. David Paton, a leading expert on teenage fertility, suggested that candid sex education and the availability of the morning after pill actually increase promiscuous sex. The study confirmed the findings of studies conducted in 1999 and 2000 which found that use of family planning information did not lead to a decrease in unwanted pregnancies, and that found that young people who were prescribed the morning-after pill were much more likely to have abortions.

A survey conducted in the 2005 revealed that teenage pregnancy rates are highest in areas that have been most aggressive in promoting sex education. The report revealed that explicit sex education and providing condoms to young girls simply encourages them to become sexually active.

Official figures reveal that teenage pregnancies rose in Britain by an annual rate of 800 from 38,439 in 2001 to 39,286 in 2002, despite the £15 million being spent to counter the situation. The pregnancies led to 17,682 of the children being aborted in 2001.

The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases has also risen by an alarming 62 percent between 1997's 25,143 cases and 2002's 40,821 cases.

UK Schools Handing Out Morning-After Pill to Students of All Ages

[Shammu]

WA firefighters join US battle
AAP reporter
August 10, 2006 09:00am

WA firefighters are flying to the United States to help battle wild blazes burning out of control in the western part of the country.

Altogether, 45 Australian and New Zealand firefighters are being sent following a request for assistance after extreme fire conditions in parts of the US. WA says it will send seven fire managers.

The contingent, which consists of firefighters from Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT, will travel to the US national interagency fire centre at Boise, Idaho, for a briefing before being deployed to Idaho, Oregon, Washington State and Montana.

"The US has been experiencing a very dry summer - they have a large number of fires which are stretching their resources,'' chairman of the Australian/New Zealand Forest Fire Management Group Rick Sneeuwjagt said today.

"Lightning storms have started in excess of 600 new fires in recent days and more are expected.

"Weather conditions are hot, dry and windy, and there are numerous large fires burning out of control in the western states.''

The US is experiencing one of its worst fire seasons on record, with 2.35 million hectares already scorched by flames and nearly 40 large blazes now burning out of control.

``There are currently 38 active large fires throughout the states of California, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Oregon,'' said WA Environment Minister Mark McGowan.

Firefighters would remain for about a month or until the blazes are brought under control, he said.

The US asked Australia for supervisors and aircraft managers to strengthen its forces.

This is the fourth time since 2000 that fire team leaders from Australia and New Zealand have been deployed there.

"The Americans have seen first-hand the support we have provided in the past, and they know that our expertise is fighting forest fires,'' Mr Sneeuwjagt said.

In 2003, US fire leaders came to Victoria's aid in the devastating Alpine fires.

Australia firefighters join US battle

[Shammu]

Mass fish death in river puzzles Taiwan
Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:41 AM BST161

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Up to 15 metric tons of dead fish have surfaced at the Pacific Ocean mouth of a river near Taipei, leaving local officials puzzled.

The migratory snakehead fish, which are native to the area where they died, were discovered on Thursday in piles along several kilometers of the banks of the Tamshui River.

Officials said the fish may have died due to a lack of water-borne oxygen caused by Typhoon Saomai as it passed over northern Taiwan on its way to southeastern China.

"So many fish dying is a signal for the ecosystem. It means there's something wrong with the water quality," said Lin Hsen-cheng, co-chair of the Green Party of Taiwan. "We should check for the reason as soon as possible."

Taipei County officials said the fish posed no public health danger, but the stack had begun to stink.

The county would find a way to scoop up the fish and might take some to a laboratory to see why they died, said Yang Zhi-hong, vice director of the county environmental protection department.

Lin of the Green Party said he suspected that unusually warm water brought by the typhoon had upset the oxygen balance in the water and killed the fish. A local newspaper said other theories for the death of the fish included industrial waste or changes in the water content caused by the storm.

Mass fish death in river puzzles Taiwan

[Shammu]

PHILIPPINES  Volcano: MAYON
As of the 10th of August, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) reported that seismic activity and gas output at Mayon over the past 24-hours declined anomalously. The number of volcanic quakes decreased from the previous 109 to only 21 events since six (6) o’clock yesterday morning. The Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) emission rate also decreased from a high of 12,745 tonnes per day (t/d) measured on 07 August to 7,829 t/d yesterday. These changes or large swings in activity, along with the recent explosions, are indicators of the variability of the conditions of the magma system inside the volcano, and also reflect the high prevailing unrest.

Although clouds obscured the summit the whole observation period, seismic instruments continued to record ground vibrations induced by the flow and impact of lava fragments onto the volcano’s slopes. About 294 brief episodes of tremor were therefore generated as hot lava blocks tumbled from the accumulating lava deposits upslope in the general directions facing Mabinit and Bonga. PHIVOLCS reminds the public that Alert Level 4 is still in effect, to indicate the very high probability of a hazardous explosive eruption. Due to adverse effects of a highly explosive eruption, the EXTENDED DANGER ZONE (EDZ), defined as an area within eight ( kilometers from the summit crater located in the general southeast sector, should be observed. At other areas around the volcano, this EDZ is seven (7) kilometres from the summit crater. The public is therefore enjoined to observe all existing precautionary measures relevant to this alert level. Areas outside of the EDZ are advised to be on the alert for updates regarding their status for possible evacuation in case volcanic activity intensifies.

Beautifully symmetrical Mayon volcano, which rises to 2462 m above the Albay Gulf, is the Philippines' most active volcano. The structurally simple volcano has steep upper slopes averaging 35-40 degrees that are capped by a small summit crater. The historical eruptions of this basaltic-andesitic volcano date back to 1616 and range from strombolian to basaltic plinian, with cyclical activity beginning with basaltic eruptions, followed by longer term andesitic lava flows. Eruptions occur predominately from the central conduit and have also produced lava flows that travel far down the flanks. Pyroclastic flows and mudflows have commonly swept down many of the approximately 40 ravines that radiate from the summit and have often devastated populated lowland areas. Mayon's most violent eruption, in 1814, killed more than 1200 people and devastated several towns.

The Current Colour Code for Mayon is currently at ALERT LEVEL 4.
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JAVA (Indonesia) Volcano: SEMERU
As of the 10th of August, the Global Volcanism Network (GVN) has reported that eruption plumes from Semeru were visible on satellite imagery on 2 August. They reached a maximum altitude of 5.2 km (17,000 ft) a.s.l.

Semeru, the highest volcano on Java, and one of its most active, lies at the southern end of a volcanic massif extending north to the Tengger caldera. The steep-sided volcano, also referred to as Mahameru (Great Mountain), rises abruptly to 3676 m above coastal plains to the south. Gunung Semeru was constructed south of the overlapping Ajek-ajek and Jambangan calderas. A line of lake-filled maars was constructed along a N-S trend cutting through the summit, and cinder cones and lava domes occupy the eastern and NE flanks. Summit topography is complicated by the shifting of craters from NW to SE. Frequent 19th and 20th century eruptions were dominated by small-to-moderate explosions from the summit crater, with occasional lava flows and larger explosive eruptions accompanied by pyroclastic flows that have reached the lower flanks of the volcano. Semeru has been in almost continuous eruption since 1967.

The Current Colour Code for Semeru is currently at ALERT LEVEL 1.

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SANGIHE IS. (Indonesia) Volcano: KARANGETANG
As of the 10th of August, the Volcanological Society of Indonesia (VSI) reported that on 2 August, the Alert Level at Karangetang was raised to 4, the highest level. During 1-5 August, white plumes reached heights of 50-300 m (164-984 ft) above the summit (6,000-6,800 ft a.s.l.). Lava flows advanced hundreds of metres to over a kilometre E toward the Batu Awang river and S towards the Keting river during the reporting period. Incandescent rockfalls originating from the summit and ends of the lava flows traveled hundreds of metres E toward the Kahetang and Batu Awang rivers and S towards the Keting and Batang rivers. On 5 August, the Alert level was lowered to 3.

Karangetang (a.k.a., Api Siau) volcano lies at the northern end of the island of Siau (Sangihe Is.), north of Sulawesi. The 1784-m-high stratovolcano contains five summit craters along a N-S line. Karangetang is one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, with more than 40 eruptions recorded since 1675 and many additional small eruptions that were not documented in the historical record (Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World: Neumann van Padang, 1951). Twentieth-century eruptions have included frequent explosive activity sometimes accompanied by pyroclastic flows and lahars. Lava dome growth has occurred in the summit craters; collapse of lava flow fronts has also produced pyroclastic flows.

The Current Colour Code for Karangetang is currently at ALERT LEVEL 3.
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JAVA (Indonesia) Volcano: MERAPI
As of the 10th of August, the VGHM reported that based on pilot reports, the Darwin VAAC reported that eruption plumes from Merapi on 2 and 3 August reached altitudes of ~6.1 km (~20,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted W. According to CVGHM, during 2-4 August rockfalls traveled 1 km SE toward the Gendol river and gas plumes reached a maximum of 400 m above the summit (10,900 ft a.s.l.). On 3 August, the Alert Level was lowered to 2 (on a scale of 1-4).

Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, lies in one of the world's most densely populated areas and dominates the landscape immediately north of the major city of Yogyakarta. Merapi is the youngest and southernmost of a volcanic chain extending NNW to Ungaran volcano. Growth of Old Merapi volcano beginning during the Pleistocene ended with major edifice collapse perhaps about 2000 years ago, leaving a large arcuate scarp cutting the eroded older Batulawang volcano. Subsequently growth of the steep-sided Young Merapi edifice, its upper part unvegetated due to frequent eruptive activity, began SW of the earlier collapse scarp. Pyroclastic flows and lahars accompanying growth and collapse of the steep-sided active summit lava dome have devastated cultivated lands on the volcano's western-to-southern flanks and caused many fatalities during historical time. The volcano is the object of extensive monitoring efforts by the Merapi Volcano Observatory of the Volcanological Survey of Indonesia.

The Current Colour Code for Merapi is currently at ALERT LEVEL 2.

[Shammu]

PAPUA NEW GUINEA Volcano: MANAM
As of the 10th of August, the Global Volcanism Network (GVN) via the Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) reported that on 4 and 5 August, an ash plume from Manam was visible on satellite imagery at an unknown altitude and extended 30 km NW.

The 10-km-wide island of Manam is one of Papua New Guinea's most active volcanoes. Four large radial valleys extend from the unvegetated summit of the conical 1,807-m-high stratovolcano to its lower flanks. These "avalanche valleys," regularly spaced 90 degrees apart, channel lava flows and pyroclastic avalanches that have sometimes reached the coast. Five satellitic centres are located near the island's shoreline. Two summit craters are present; both are active, although most historical eruptions have originated from the southern crater, concentrating eruptive products during the past century into the SE avalanche valley. Frequent historical eruptions have been recorded since 1616.

The Current Colour Code for Manam is currently at ALERT LEVEL 1.
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ALASKA Volcano: AUGUSTINE
As of the 10th of August, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported that seismicity at Augustine remains very low. A steam plume rising from the volcano is visible today in the on-island web camera. AVO staff are on Augustine Island until August 20 conducting geological and geophysical investigations of the 2006 eruption. Small rockfalls and avalanches of hot debris from the cooling lava dome and flows can still occur with little or no warning.

Augustine volcano, rising above Kamishak Bay in the southern Cook Inlet about 290 km SW of Anchorage, is the most active volcano of the eastern Aleutian arc. It consists of a complex of overlapping summit lava domes surrounded by an apron of volcaniclastic debris that descends to the sea on all sides. Few lava flows are exposed; the flanks consist mainly of debris-avalanche and pyroclastic-flow deposits formed by repeated collapse and regrowth of the volcano's summit. The latest episode of edifice collapse occurred during Augustine's largest historical eruption in 1883; subsequent dome growth has restored the volcano to a height comparable to that prior to 1883. The oldest dated volcanic rocks on Augustine are more than 40,000 years old. At least 11 large debris avalanches have reached the sea during the past 1800-2000 years, and five major pumiceous tephras have been erupted during this interval. Historical eruptions have typically consisted of explosive activity with emplacement of pumiceous pyroclastic-flow deposits followed by lava dome extrusion with associated block-and-ash flows. Based on the current level of activity at Augustine, we are lowering the Level of Concern Color Code from ORANGE to YELLOW.

The Current Colour Code for Augustine is currently at YELLOW.
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UNITED STATES Volcano: Mt. St. HELENS
As of the 10th of August, the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) reported that growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mt. St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.

Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), bove the crater rim today would drift mostly east-northeastward.

At this hour the mountain is still shrouded in fog. A magnitude 3.3 earthquake rattled the mountain last night at 2002, and a magnitude 2.4 aftershock of the M 3.8 earthquake of August 3 near Battle Ground was recorded on stations at Mt. St. Helens at 0732 this morning. No significant rockfalls were noted during either of these events. The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Washington continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue additional updates and changes in alert level as warranted.

Prior to 1980, Mt. St. Helens formed a conical, youthful volcano sometimes known as the Fuji-san of America. During the 1980 eruption the upper 400 m of the summit was removed by slope failure, leaving a 2 x 3.5 km horseshoe-shaped crater now partially filled by a lava dome. Mt. St. Helens was formed during nine eruptive periods beginning about 40-50,000 years ago, and has been the most active volcano in the Cascade Range during the Holocene. The modern edifice was constructed during the last 2,200 years, when the volcano produced basaltic as well as andesitic and dacitic products from summit and flank vents. Historical eruptions in the 19th century originated from the Goat Rocks area on the N flank, and were witnessed by early settlers.

The Current Colour Code for volcano Mt. St. Helens remains at ORANGE.
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MEXICO Volcano: COLIMA
As of the 10th of August, that the Universidad de Colima reported that according to the information provided by the Government of the State through the operative direction of the State System of Civil defense, that in last the 24 hours, four (4) exhalations of small magnitude in the Colima volcano were registered, without report of damages or affectation in the bordering populations is had.

It is continued to advise the population not to remain in ravines and the environs of the volcano, since the possibility that exists these mud flows are generated (lahars), because there is material product of the volcanic activity that is accumulated and that with pluvial precipitations it is possible to be given off. With the intention of having the information necessary to be able to respond before any contingency and to guarantee therefore the security of the colimense population, as it is interest of the Governor Jesus Silverio Cavazos Ceballos, a permanent monitoring of the volcanic activity on the part of Civil defence of the State exists.

Constant communication with the common brigades exists that have been formed with inhabitants of the populated of The Becerrera, to whom has been qualified in the autoprotección with respect to the natural disasters. Thus same, permanent contact with the personnel of the military departure of the Yerbabuena is maintained, The Becerrera, rancho The Boar, as well as with elements of public security of the State, of Eat it and of Civil Protection of Cuauhtémoc. The same recommendations established remain since months ago, in which is indicated that who they be found or they live in zone of risk they continue the indications that this agency transmits through the mass media, emphasizing that the activities exclusion zone for the states of Straw hat and Colima is of 7.5 kilometers from the top of the volcano on the river bed of the gullies. The radio of alertamiento preventive remains in 11.5 kilometers since the top of the volcano, which includes the populations of The Yerbabuena, and the Becerrera in the state of Colima, and Causentla, Cofradía de Tonila, Atenguillo, El Saucillo, El Fresnal, El Embudo, Juan Barragán, Los Machos, El Agostadero y El Borbollón en Jalisco.

The Colima volcanic complex is the most prominent volcanic center of the western Mexican Volcanic Belt. It consists of two southward-younging volcanoes, Nevado de Colima (the 4320 m high point of the complex) on the north and the 3850-m-high historically active Volcán de Colima at the south. A group of cinder cones of late-Pleistocene age is located on the floor of the Colima graben west and east of the Colima complex. Volcán de Colima (also known as Volcán Fuego) is a youthful stratovolcano constructed within a 5-km-wide caldera, breached to the south, that has been the source of large debris avalanches. Major slope failures have occurred repeatedly from both the Nevado and Colima cones, and have produced a thick apron of debris-avalanche deposits on three sides of the complex. Frequent historical eruptions date back to the 16th century. Occasional major explosive eruptions (most recently in 1913) have destroyed the summit and left a deep, steep-sided crater that was slowly refilled and then overtopped by lava dome growth.

The Current Colour Code for volcano Colima is YELLOW.

[Shammu]

MEXICO Volcano: POPOCATEPETL
As of the 10th of August, the El Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres de la Secretaría de Gobernación (CENAPRED) has reported that during last the 24 hours the activity of Popocatépetl volcano stayed stable. Only 51 exhalations of low intensity were registered, accompanied mainly by steam emissions of water and gas. At the time of this report there is no visibility to the volcano due to the clouds, however this morning we could observe it with a steam and gas emission.

From high to low probability, the expected activity scenarios in the next hours, days or weeks are: moderate exhalations, some with ash emissions, occasionally mild incandescence during nights and sporadic low level explosions with low probabilities of incandescent fragment at short distance to the crater. A continuous monitoring of the activity of the volcano stays to detect any change in its behaviour.
Recommendations:
1. Continue with the radius of security of 12 km reason why the permanence in this area is not allowed.
2. Maintain the transit controlled between Santiago Xalitzintla and San Pedro Nexapa, via Paso de Cortes.
3. To the authorities of Civil Protection, to maintain its procedures preventive, according to its operative plans.
4. To the population to be aware of the official information emited.

Volcano Popocatépetl, whose name is the Aztec word for smoking mountain, towers to 5426 m 70 km SE of Mexico City to form North America's 2nd-highest volcano. The glacier-clad stratovolcano contains a steep-walled, 250-450 m deep crater. The generally symmetrical volcano is modified by the sharp-peaked Ventorrillo on the NW, a remnant of an earlier volcano. At least three previous major cones were destroyed by gravitational failure during the Pleistocene, producing massive debris-avalanche deposits covering broad areas south of the volcano. The modern volcano was constructed to the south of the late-Pleistocene to Holocene El Fraile cone. Three major plinian eruptions, the most recent of which took place about 800 AD, have occurred from Popocatépetl since the mid Holocene, accompanied by pyroclastic flows and voluminous lahars that swept basins below the volcano. Frequent historical eruptions, first recorded in Aztec codices, have occurred since precolumbian time.

The Current Colour Code for volcano Popocatepetl is YELLOW.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GUATEMALA Volcano: PACAYA
As of the 10th of August, the Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meterologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), after being translated from Spanish, reported that five incandescent lava flows rebalsan towards the surface from the plateau to the NNE-N from the area that occupy the escarpment or cliff of fault. The more extensive lava flow has approximately 190 m long, 15 metres wide and a 2.5 m average flow and the front of the deposit moves with an average of 1 metre of velocity in 20 minutes. The remaining active lava flows have between 80 and 130 metres covering sectors with the caminito of the plateau. The five mentioned lava flows have a same power supply from the crater of effusion in the north-northeast base of the volcano in front of the monument of the Andinistas. The considered one of the lengths of the lava flows becomes from the base of the fault escarpment. The other lava flows that the last week were active in the depression of the Cerro Chino, have stopped and singley they smoke cooling off.

Eruptions from Pacaya, one of Guatemala's most active volcanoes, are frequently visible from Guatemala City, the nation's capital. Pacaya is a complex basaltic volcano constructed just outside the southern topographic rim of the 14 x 16 km Pleistocene Amatitlán caldera. A cluster of dacitic lava domes occupies the southern caldera floor. The post-caldera Pacaya massif includes the Cerro Grande lava dome and a younger volcano to the SW. Collapse of Pacaya volcano about 1100 years ago produced a debris-avalanche deposit that extends 25 km onto the Pacific coastal plain and left an arcuate somma rim inside which the modern Pacaya volcano (MacKenney cone) grew. A subsidiary crater, Cerro Chino, was constructed on the NW somma rim and was last active in the 19th century. During the past several decades, activity at Pacaya has consisted of frequent strombolian eruptions with intermittent lava flow extrusion that has partially filled in the caldera moat and armored the flanks of MacKenney cone, punctuated by occasional larger explosive eruptions that partially destroy the summit of the cone.

The Current Colour Code for Pacaya is at ORANGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GUATEMALA Volcano: FUEGO
As of the 10th of August, the Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meterologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), after being translated from Spanish, reported that a few weak rumblings and characterised as sounds of an airplane turbine were heard, just like short noises caused by the pyroclastic avalanche reduction in the superior part of the gorge of the Taniluyá River. The sounds characterised like those of an airplane turbine, during from 10 to 20 seconds. The day before yesterday it descended a strong one corented in the Zanj?n Barranca Seca from the flank the superior west from the volcano and erodes modifying the channel partially in where throughout its passage, due to this, the step section to vehicular 4x4 of the local road to Yepocapa, is obstructed again.

Fuego, one of Central America's most active volcanoes, is one of three large stratovolcanoes overlooking Guatemala's former capital, Antigua. Collapse of the ancestral Meseta volcano about 8,500 years ago produced a massive debris avalanche that traveled about 50 km onto the Pacific coastal plain. Growth of the modern Fuego volcano followed, continuing the southward migration of volcanism that began at Acatenango, the northern twin volcano of Fuego. Frequent vigorous historical eruptions have been recorded since 1524 and have produced major ashfalls, along with occasional pyroclastic flows and lava flows. The last major explosive eruption from Fuego took place in 1974, producing spectacular pyroclastic flows visible from Antigua.

The Current Colour Code for Fuego is ORANGE.

[Shammu]

GUATEMALA Volcano: SANTA MARIA
As of the 10th of August, the Instituto Nacional de Sismologia, Vulcanologia, Meterologia, e Hidrologia (INSIVUMEH), after being translated from Spanish, reported that between afternoon night and first hours this morning 10 weak explosions were observed characterised as predominantly moderate. The weak ones conformed whitish columns from 0.3 to 0.6 km/alt. without solid ash particle expulsion, whereas the moderate ones surpass the height of the weak ones until ~1.5 km over the crater of Domo Caliente. All the bursting clouds are transported in the southwestern direction and the clouds of the moderate ones cause slight particle fall very fine of ash to environs of the property Florida and Monte Bello by lapses of 2-3 minutes after 15-20 minutes of the happened explosions.

Symmetrical, forest-covered Santa María volcano is one of a chain of large stratovolcanoes that rises dramatically above the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. The stratovolcano has a sharp-topped, conical profile that is cut on the SW flank by a large, 1-km-wide crater, which formed during a catastrophic eruption in 1902 and extends from just below the summit to the lower flank. The renowned plinian eruption of 1902 followed a long repose period and devastated much of SW Guatemala. The large dacitic Santiaguito lava-dome complex has been growing at the base of the 1902 crater since 1922. Compound dome growth at Santiaguito has occurred episodically from four westward-younging vents, accompanied by almost continuous minor explosions and periodic lava extrusion, larger explosions, pyroclastic flows, and lahars.

The Current Colour Code for Santa Maria is ORANGE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

ECUADOR Volcano: TUNGURAHUA
As of the 10th of August, the Instituto Geofisico (IG), after being translated from Spanish, reports that ash not seen in satellite imagery through 1115Z. Although there has been a consistant hotspot throughout the night.

From the afternoon an increase in the seismic activity characterised by the occurrence of explosions was observed yesterday that in their majority present/display small sizes and solely 2 great explosions that clearly were listened to in the Observatory of Guadalupe.

There were registered 38 events of long period and 400 explosions have been entered (maximum DR of 11.84 cm2). Yesterday at night, during the occurrence of the greatest explosions, the expulsion of incandescent blocks was observed that descended up to 400 m by the western flank and the cannon shots made the house vibrate where the Observatory of Guadalupe is located (to 15 km of the volcano). Also an ash column could be observed that reached 1 km of height and it went towards the West. In the morning of today, the sector of the volcano has remained storm cloud, appearing light drizzles that did not cause any problem in the communication routes. A light ash rain was reported in the sector of the El Manzano. Roars of moderate intensity were heard to continue.

Tungurahua, a steep-sided andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano that towers more than 3 km above its northern base, is one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes. Three major volcanic edifices have been sequentially constructed since the mid-Pleistocene over a basement of metamorphic rocks. Tungurahua II was built within the past 14,000 years following the collapse of the initial edifice. Tungurahua II itself collapsed about 3000 years ago and produced a large debris-avalanche deposit and a horseshoe-shaped caldera open to the west, inside which the modern glacier-capped stratovolcano (Tungurahua III) was constructed. Historical eruptions have all originated from the summit crater. They have been accompanied by strong explosions and sometimes by pyroclastic flows and lava flows that reached populated areas at the volcano's base. Prior to a long-term eruption beginning in 1995 that caused the temporary evacuation of the city of Baños at the foot of the volcano, the last major eruption had occurred from 1916 to 1918, although minor activity continued until 1925.

The official colour of the volcanic alarm light remains on ORANGE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HAWAII Volcano: KILAUEA

As of the 10th of August, it has been reported to SWVRC direct from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), that lava continues to flow through the PKK lava tube from its source on the southwest flank of Pu`u `O`o to the ocean. There are currently two widely separated ocean entries, East Lae`apuki and East Ka`ili`ili, both inside the National Park. The NPS eruption crew reports very intermittent views of red lava glow at night with some views of the campout flow. During the afternoon yesterday, a small steam plume was seen coming from the East Ka`ili`ili entry and medium-to-large plumes from the East Lae`apuki entries. No red was visible on the pali nor any glow visible above the pali. The camera at Pu`u `O`o continued to show fog during the day with intermittent glow from the same locations at night - East Pond Vent, January vent, South Wall Complex, and the Drainhole vent.

In the last 24 hours, Kilauea summit tilt flattened out after showing inflation for the last several days. Pu`u `O`o tilt was variable showing no sustained trend over the past week. Tremor at the summit is continuing at the low levels of the past month. Pu`u `O`o tremor remains at a moderate level. A few small earthquakes have have been located in the summit area in the past 24 hours.

The Kilauea volcano is currently at the ORANGE.

[Soldier4Christ]

Powerful Typhoon Kills 104 in China

Typhoon Saomai, the strongest storm to strike China in 50 years, weakened to a tropical depression Friday but drenched the country's southeast after killing at least 104 people, blacking out cities and wrecking more than 50,000 houses.

Another 190 people were missing after Saomai, whose winds peaked at 170 mph, battered areas where more than 1.6 million people were evacuated before it hit late Thursday.

Hardest-hit was Wenzhou, a coastal city where at least 81 people were killed and 11 were missing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said Wenzhou suffered $560 million in damage, including more than 18,000 flattened houses.

In Cangnan County on Wenzhou's outskirts, 43 bodies, including those of eight children, were found in the debris of collapsed houses where they sought shelter from the storm, Xinhua said. News photos showed relatives weeping over bodies covered in sheets and quilts.

State television showed cars flipped over on rain-slicked streets, fallen trees and broken road signs. Exhausted evacuees sat in public buildings waiting out the storm.

Saomai weakened to a tropical depression Friday, and torrential rains were forecast over the weekend across China's south, from coastal Zhejiang and Fujian inland to the poor rural provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui.

Much of that region was still recovering from Tropical Storm Bilis, which killed more than 600 people last month, many of them in mountain villages and other inland areas.

Saomai, the Vietnamese name for the planet Venus, was the eighth major storm to hit China during an unusually violent typhoon season. It was dubbed a "super typhoon" by Chinese forecasters due to its huge size and strong winds.

Deaths were reported in Zhejiang province, where Wenzhou is located, and neighboring Fujian province to the south, where power was knocked out in several cities, state media said.

More than 32,000 houses were wrecked in Fujian, Xinhua said. The government didn't immediately say how bad the damage was in Zhejiang outside of Wenzhou.

Saomai was the most powerful typhoon to hit China since a storm on Aug. 1, 1956, that had winds up to 145 mph, Xinhua said. It said that typhoon killed 4,900 people in Zhejiang.

"It is the strongest typhoon that we have ever seen," Xinhua quoted an unnamed official as saying in Fuding, where at least two people were killed. The government said the city got more than a foot of rain in 12 hours.

Ahead of the storm, about 1 million people were evacuated from flood-prone areas of Zhejiang and 620,000 from Fujian, according to the government.

More than 20,000 soldiers and paramilitary police reportedly were mobilized for relief work. The Fujian government said it sent 1,500 tents, 3,000 quilts and 50,000 pieces of clothing to storm survivors.

Late Friday, the government announced that it was allocating $21 million in disaster aid to regions hit by Saomai and other recent storms.

Last week, Typhoon Prapiroon battered Guangdong province and the Guangxi region on China's southern coast, killing at least 80 people.

Even as Saomai moved inland, Chinese forecasters were already closely watching Tropical Storm Bopha, which trailed behind it farther out in the Pacific.

[Soldier4Christ]

Earthquake sways skyscruders in Mexico City

An earthquake measuring 5.9 rocked central Mexico today, swaying skyscruders in the capital and frightening residents.

There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties. Hundreds ran into the streets of the capital from office buildings, joining crowds protesting results of the contested July 2 presidential election.

Radio reports said the city seemed fine.

The quake didn’t appear to knock out electricity or phone service.

The US Geological Service estimated the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and was centred in Michoacan, 125 miles south-west of the capital.

[Soldier4Christ]

Magnitude 6.0 earthquake strikes off Indonesia

A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early on Saturday, according to preliminary reports from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake hit at 3:54 a.m. local time about 364 km (226 miles) off Banda Aceh, the USGS said, and was at a depth of 10 kms.

Dailin Wang, an oceanographer at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii, said the quake -- which his center measured at a magnitude of 6.3 -- was not large enough to pose a danger of a tsunami.

Indonesia's Aceh province was badly damaged by a tsunami in December 2004 in which about 170,000 died.