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

[Shammu]

Solar Storm Warning

Solar minimum has arrived. Sunspots have all but vanished. Solar flares are nonexistent. The sun is utterly quiet.

Like the quiet before a storm.

This week researchers announced that a storm is coming--the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.

The Space Age was just beginning: Sputnik was launched in Oct. 1957 and Explorer 1 (the first US satellite) in Jan. 1958. In 1958 you couldn't tell that a solar storm was underway by looking at the bars on your cell phone; cell phones didn't exist. Even so, people knew something big was happening when Northern Lights were sighted three times in Mexico. A similar maximum now would be noticed by its effect on cell phones, GPS, weather satellites and many other modern technologies.

Dikpati's prediction is unprecedented. In nearly-two centuries since the 11-year sunspot cycle was discovered, scientists have struggled to predict the size of future maxima—and failed. Solar maxima can be intense, as in 1958, or barely detectable, as in 1805, obeying no obvious pattern.

The key to the mystery, Dikpati realized years ago, is a conveyor belt on the sun.

We have something similar here on Earth—the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, popularized in the sci-fi movie The Day After Tomorrow. It is a network of currents that carry water and heat from ocean to ocean--see the diagram below. In the movie, the Conveyor Belt stopped and threw the world's weather into chaos.

The sun's conveyor belt is a current, not of water, but of electrically-conducting gas. It flows in a loop from the sun's equator to the poles and back again. Just as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt controls weather on Earth, this solar conveyor belt controls weather on the sun. Specifically, it controls the sunspot cycle.

Solar physicist David Hathaway of the National Space Science & Technology Center (NSSTC) explains: "First, remember what sunspots are--tangled knots of magnetism generated by the sun's inner dynamo. A typical sunspot exists for just a few weeks. Then it decays, leaving behind a 'corpse' of weak magnetic fields."

Enter the conveyor belt.

"The top of the conveyor belt skims the surface of the sun, sweeping up the magnetic fields of old, dead sunspots. The 'corpses' are dragged down at the poles to a depth of 200,000 km where the sun's magnetic dynamo can amplify them. Once the corpses (magnetic knots) are reincarnated (amplified), they become buoyant and float back to the surface." Presto—new sunspots!

All this happens with massive slowness. "It takes about 40 years for the belt to complete one loop," says Hathaway. The speed varies "anywhere from a 50-year pace (slow) to a 30-year pace (fast)."

When the belt is turning "fast," it means that lots of magnetic fields are being swept up, and that a future sunspot cycle is going to be intense. This is a basis for forecasting: "The belt was turning fast in 1986-1996," says Hathaway. "Old magnetic fields swept up then should re-appear as big sunspots in 2010-2011."

Like most experts in the field, Hathaway has confidence in the conveyor belt model and agrees with Dikpati that the next solar maximum should be a doozy. But he disagrees with one point. Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.

"History shows that big sunspot cycles 'ramp up' faster than small ones," he says. "I expect to see the first sunspots of the next cycle appear in late 2006 or 2007—and Solar Max to be underway by 2010 or 2011."

Solar Storm Warning

Who's right? Time will tell. Either way, a storm is coming.

[Shammu]

Backward Sunspot

August 15, 2006: On July 31st, a tiny sunspot was born. It popped up from the sun's interior, floated around a bit, and vanished again in a few hours. On the sun this sort of thing happens all the time and, ordinarily, it wouldn't be worth mentioning. But this sunspot was special: It was backward.

"We've been waiting for this," says David Hathaway, a solar physicist at the Marshall Space Flight in Huntsville, Alabama. "A backward sunspot is a sign that the next solar cycle is beginning."

"Backward" means magnetically backward. Hathaway explains:

Sunspots are planet-sized magnets created by the sun's inner magnetic dynamo. Like all magnets in the Universe, sunspots have north (N) and south (S) magnetic poles. The sunspot of July 31st popped up at solar longitude 65o W, latitude 13o S. Sunspots in that area are normally oriented N-S. The newcomer, however, was S-N, opposite the norm.

A picture is worth a 1000 words. In the magnetic map of the sun, below, N is white and S is black. The backward sunspot is circled:

This tiny spot of backwardness matters because of what it might foretell: A really big solar cycle.

Solar activity rises and falls in 11-year cycles, swinging back and forth between times of quiet and storminess. Right now the sun is quiet. "We're near the end of Solar Cycle 23, which peaked way back in 2001," explains Hathaway. The next cycle, Solar Cycle 24, should begin "any time now," returning the sun to a stormy state.

Satellite operators and NASA mission planners are bracing for this next solar cycle because it is expected to be exceptionally stormy, perhaps the stormiest in decades. Sunspots and solar flares will return in abundance, producing bright auroras on Earth and dangerous proton storms in space:

But when will Solar Cycle 24 begin?

"Maybe it already did--on July 31st," says Hathaway. The first spot of a new solar cycle is always backwards. Solar physicists have long known that sunspot magnetic fields reverse polarity from cycle to cycle. N-S becomes S-N and vice versa. "The backward sunspot may be the first sunspot of Cycle 24."

It sounds exciting, but Hathaway is cautious on several fronts:

First, the sunspot lasted only three hours. Typically, sunspots last days, weeks or even months. Three hours is fleeting in the extreme. "It came and went so fast, it was not given an official sunspot number," says Hathaway. The astronomers who number sunspots didn't think it worthy!

Second, the latitude of the spot is suspicious. New-cycle sunspots almost always pop up at mid-latitudes, around 30o N or 30o S. The backward sunspot popped up at 13o S. "That's strange."

These odd-isms stop Hathaway short of declaring the onset of a new solar cycle. "But it looks promising," he says.

Even if Cycle 24 has truly begun, "don't expect any great storms right away." Solar cycles last 11 years and take time to build up to fever pitch. For a while, perhaps one or two years, Cycle 23 and Cycle 24 will actually share the sun, making it a hodgepodge of backward and forward spots. Eventually, Cycle 24 will take over completely; then the fireworks will really begin.

Meanwhile, Hathaway plans to keep an eye out for more backward sunspots.

Backward Sunspot
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke 21:25 And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring (the echo) of the tossing of the sea,

[Soldier4Christ]

I remember seeing a very large sequence of northern lights in central Illinois during the late 50's to mid 60's. The following picture was taken from a city nearby me.




I also remember solar storms and sunspots hitting somewhere in the range of 1978 to 1986 that dirupted a lot of the Navy satellite systems. It created quite a lot of trouble for us. Those were all relatively mild sunspot/solar storms so I can imagine what more serious ones could do.

[Shammu]

Brother if you think about it, Luke 21:25 makes more sense now then it did when it was written.  Back then they wouldn't have looked at the sun, for signs.  Although the moon has looked pretty normal to me. Except for one night, the moon was blood red for 30 minutes, where I am.  From what I understand, that was a local event, not seen worldwide.  But that was 2 months ago, I haven't seen it happen since then.

[Soldier4Christ]

Powerful Magnitude 7.2 Earthquake Hits Near South Pole


TOKYO  — A powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.2 hit near the South Pole, Japan's weather agency said Sunday.

The temblor hit at around 0341 GMT, Japan's Meteorological Agency reported. The agency did not indicate the quake's depth.

The agency, which said it received magnitude data from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said the quake was centered in waters in the Scotia Sea.

The Scotia Sea lies between Antarctica and South America.

The quake's magnitude is sufficient to produce a tsunami in shallow waters, the agency said. It added that the quake posed no tsunami threat to Japan.

[Soldier4Christ]

2006 Tropical Storm Season Now Below Normal

(21 August 2006) What a difference a year makes. After the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, the 2006 season is now below normal.

As of yesterday (20 August) three tropical storms will have formed in the Atlantic in an "average" year, which is the same number that have formed this year so far. Because of multi-year averaging, that means that today (August 21) slightly more than three storms would have formed, making this year (statistically speaking) just below normal.

In the hurricane category, this year is decidedly below normal, with no hurricanes so far, while by this date 1.5 hurricanes have formed in the average of years 1944 though 2005.

Reason for the Season?: Cooler Sea Surface Temperatures
Part of the reason for the slow season is that tropical western Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are running about normal, if not slightly below normal.

In contrast, at the same time last year SSTs in the same region were running well above normal.

The cooler SSTs in the Atlantic are not an isolated anomaly. In a research paper being published next month in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists will show that between 2003 and 2005, globally averaged temperatures in the upper ocean cooled rather dramatically, effectively erasing 20% of the warming that occurred over the previous 48 years.

Global Warming?
The slow hurricane season and the cooling sea surface temperatures might be somewhat surprising to the public. Media reports over the last year have suggested that, since global warming will only get worse, and last year's hurricane activity was supposedly due to global warming, this season might well be as bad as last season. But it appears that Mother Nature might have other plans.

The Rest of the Hurricane Season
With only 3 named storms compared to 9 on this date last year, it is nearly impossible at this late date to have a season anywhere near as busy as last season, which totaled 27 by the end of the year. The most recent prediction from the National Weather Service (see first graphic, above) is for there to be 12 to 15 named storms by December -- only half of last year's total. It now looks like that prediction might be too generous.

While it is still possible for this hurricane season to end up above normal in activity and reach that forecast, each day that passes without so much as a tropical 'depression' makes that target less and less likely.


_____________________


Just more proof that scientists do not know as much as they think they do.

[Shammu]

New Activity/Unrest: | Augustine, USA | Mayon, Philippines

Ongoing Activity: | Arenal, Costa Rica | Karangetang, Indonesia | Karymsky, Russia | Kilauea, USA | Langila, Papua New Guinea | Manam, Papua New Guinea | Sakura-jima, Japan | Santa María, Guatemala | Soufrière Hills, Montserrat | St. Helens, USA | Sulu Range, Papua New Guinea | Suwanose-jima, Japan | Tungurahua, Ecuador | Ubinas, Perú | Ulawun, Papua New Guinea

The Weekly Volcanic Activity Report is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program and the US Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program. Updated by 2300 UTC every Wednesday, notices of volcanic activity posted on these pages are preliminary and subject to change as events are studied in more detail. This is not a comprehensive list of all of Earth's volcanoes erupting during the week, but rather a summary of activity at volcanoes that meet criteria discussed in detail in the "Criteria and Disclaimers" section. Carefully reviewed, detailed reports on various volcanoes are published monthly in the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network.

more

[Shammu]

Biological Hazard - Europe

Country   United Kingdom    Area   -
County / State   Wiltshire    City   Collingbourne Ducis / Collingbourne Kingston

DESCRIPTION
Despairing villagers are desperately trying to fight off a Biblical-style plague of flies. Huge swarms of common house flies have turned the sky black and infested homes and businesses. Miserable people living in Collingbourne Ducis and Collingbourne Kingston in Wiltshire are unable to eat outside. Many homeowners find their floors carpeted in dead flies every few hours — and some are getting through 60 cans of insect spray a week. Villagers blame the invasion on chicken muck spread on nearby farm fields, which they say attracts millions of flies. Retired detective Tony Still, 73, said: “It’s just terrible. They crawl over everything and get into the milk and the fridge.” Villagers are furious the local authority cannot solve the problem. Kennet District Council said health inspectors have checked dozens of possible sources. But a spokesman added: “It has not been possible to identify the origin of the problem, either natural or man-made.”

Plagues
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exodus 8:21 Else, if you will not let My people go, behold, I will send swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies] upon you, your servants, and your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms [of bloodsucking gadflies], and also the ground on which they stand.

[Shammu]

Epidemic Hazard ~ Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
Turkey ~ Black Sea and Central Anatolia region
Cities; Tokat, Sivas, Gumushane, Amasya, Yozagat, Corum

Turkey is battling the largest outbreak yet recorded of Crimean-Congo
Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), which has killed at least 20 people. Experts say
more cases of the Ebola-like disease are inevitable. Most cases have occurred
in six provinces in the Black Sea and Central Anatolia region: Tokat, Sivas,
Gumushane, Amasya, Yozagat and Corum. Authorities say no cases have
been reported in tourist areas along the Mediterranean coast.[B ]Ixodid
(hard) ticks, especially those of the genus, Hyalomma, are both a reservoir
and a vector for the CCHF virus. CCHF is primarily an animal disease, but can
also affect humans. It is endemic in parts of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe
and is transmitted by ticks, which thrive on sheep and cattle.
[/b] Infected people can transmit the virus by blood, saliva or droplets from
sneezing. The disease causes a sharp drop in platelets, which allow the
blood to clot. Without rapid treatment by antivirus drugs and replacement of
platelets, victims can bleed to death. By August 4, the disease had caused
242 cases, including 20 deaths, making it the largest reported outbreak since
it was first identified in 1944, authorities say. "We will unfortunately keep
seeing cases at least until September, when the virus starts to slow down
because of the cold weather," said Dr Onder Ergonul, a professor at Marmara
University.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exodus 8:16 And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy
rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all
the land of Egypt. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his
rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in
beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.
And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they
could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.

[Shammu]

Epidemic Hazard ~ febrile illness / typhoid ~ Country Bhutan

(The Kingdom of Bhutan = near the Tibetan border Landlocked Bhutan is
situated in the eastern Himalayas)

Of the 35 people admitted to the Mongar Regional Referral Hospital in the
past few weeks with febrile illness, about 50 percent of the people were
suspected to be suffering from typhoid, say doctors. Of the 16 suspected
cases, eight were diagnosed with typhoid. Six were adults and two children.
The medical superintendent in Mongar, Dr. Ritulal Sharma said that febrile
illness, which was a running fever that accompanied any body aches, such
as headaches was often mistaken for typhoid, creating unnecessary alarm
among the general public. “It would be wrong to jump to conclusions that
this is a typhoid outbreak,” said Dr. Ritulal Sharma. He explained that it took
more than a week for the typhoid symptoms to show in a person, which are
body aches and headaches accompanied by high fever, diarrhoea and
nausea. Typhoid, Dr. Ritulal Sharma explained could be either food borne,
water borne or fly borne. “We are keeping a constant watch over a few
selected people who have been suffering from febrile illness for several days,”
the medical superintendent said. “We will also be doing their blood tests to
confirm if it is really typhoid they are suffering from.” If the tests show
positive results, Dr. Ritulal Sharma said its treatment was easy. “Taking
measures to control the disease and creating awareness among the people is
the difficult part,” he said. The outbreak of febrile illness is being investigated
to find out whether it was a viral illness or typhoid and its cause, which is
still unknown. In Gyalpoizhing where similar cases have been reported, health
workers are investigating if it was malaria outbreak, given its hot and humid
weather.

typhoid ~ Country Bhutan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with
a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the
sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until
thou perish.

[Shammu]

Epidemic Hazard ~ Ngu Hanh Son District ~ Vietnam ~ City = Da Nang

An outbreak of flies has spread in Ngu Hanh Son District of Da Nang City
since Monday. Resident Nguyen Thi Dinh said she must close all doors and
windows and hang mosquito nets during meals. Da Nang City’s Natural
Resources and Environment Department have co-operated with Ngu Hanh
Son’s District Health Care Centre to spray chemicals to kill the flies.

Outbreak of flies
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exodus 8:21-23 Else, if thou wilt not let MY people go, behold, I will send swarms
of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy
houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and
also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of
Goshen, in which MY people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to
the end thou mayest know that I AM THE LORD in the midst of the earth.
And I will put a division between MY people and thy people: to morrow shall
this sign be.

[Shammu]

Epidemic Hazard ~ Philippines ~ Pangasinan Province ~ dengue hemorrhagic
disease

Health authorities in Pangasinan have denied an outbreak of dengue hemorrhagic
disease despite the overcrowding of suspected dengue cases in government
and private hospitals in Dagupan. The patients, who are suffering from
escalating fever and some with rashes in their arms and bodies, are now
confined at the Region I Medical Center and several other private hospitals.
A report said that at Region I Medical Center, patients are not being admitted immediately and told to remain outpatient until the result of their blood tests are known. Despite the many suspected dengue patients crowding hospitals, Dr. Jackson Soriano, acting provincial health officer, still said there is no dengue outbreak in Pangasinan. Soriano
countered a statement made earlier by Dr. George Calugay, representative of
the Department of Health based in the province who earlier told a local
television station that there is now a dengue outbreak in the province.
Calugay may have based his statement on a report released by the Malaria
Control Program based in Dagupan showing that from January to July 9, this
year, there were already 255 persons that were afflicted with dengue,
including a lone fatality.

A graph showed there were 52 cases that were recorded in January, 34 in
February, 31 in March, 25 in April, 11 in May, 43 in June and 15 on July 9.
Calugay said that the biggest number of cases were registered in
Dagupan at 69,
Sta. Barbara, 14;
Lingayen 12;
Calasiao, 9;
San Carlos City and Mabini, seven each.
Dr. Soriano said the dengue fever situation in Pangasinan is still very manageable,
adding that the number of cases so far reported is very minimal as compared
to that of last year when the task force on dengue recorded a total of 1,050.
"Yet, there was no declaration of dengue last year," he said. Dr. Rachel
Reynaldo-Magalong of the Regional Surveillance Unit based in San Fernando
City, La Union joined Soriano in denying that there is already an outbreak of
dengue in Pangasinan. She said they could not tell yet if there is a dengue
outbreak this year unless they finish assessing the report from the previous
years. Soriano said that based on the data recorded by the province's anti-
dengue task force, there were 94 dengue cases and 54 suspected cases that
were recorded by the PHO from January to July 15 No fatality was reported
to date, he said. The figures deferred from the report of the Malaria Control
Program was the basis of Dr. Calugay in saying that there is already a dengue
outbreak.

How are dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) spread? A. Dengue is
transmitted to people by the bite of an Aedes mosquito that is infected with
a dengue virus. The mosquito becomes infected with dengue virus when it
bites.

Dengue hemorrhagic
disease
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Psalm 105:31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts.

[Shammu]

China reports foot-and-mouth outbreak

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has reported a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth
disease in cattle in the western province of Qinghai, but it has already been
contained, a state newspaper said on Tuesday.

There have been at least three other outbreaks in Qinghai since July.
Outbreaks that have resulted in the slaughter of more than 1,000 animals
have been reported around China so far this year.

Foot-and-mouth disease does not affect humans and outbreaks are relatively
easy to control, but the contagious disease can have a serious impact on the
livestock industry by reducing meat and milk production.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Exodus 9:3 Behold, the hand of THE LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the
field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and
upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain.

Gen 41:18-21 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine,
fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow: And, behold, seven
other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed,
such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness: And the lean and
the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: And when they had
eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they
were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

[Soldier4Christ]

Debby Strengthens in Eastern Atlantic

Tropical Storm Debby strengthened slightly Wednesday off the coast of the Cape Verde islands in the eastern Atlantic, but it posed no immediate threat to land, forecasters said.

At 11 a.m. EDT, the storm's top sustained wind speed was near 50 mph, still well below the 74 mph threshold for a hurricane.

The fourth named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season was centered about 500 miles west of the southernmost Cape Verde islands, which are about 350 miles off the African coast. It was moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.

"We are forecasting it to become a hurricane in about four days, but we do see some factors that could prevent that," senior hurricane specialist Richard Pasch said.

There were hopeful signs that the storm would stay out at sea and not reach the U.S., senior hurricane specialist James Franklin said.

In the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Ioke passed near Johnston Island, part of the isolated Johnston Atoll, a wildlife refuge and U.S. military facility, according to the weather service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu.

At 11 a.m. EDT, Ioke was centered about 100 miles northwest of the island, or about 870 miles west-southwest of Honolulu. It was moving toward the northwest at about 7 mph with a maximum sustained wind speed near 105 mph. Little change in strength was forecast for the next day.

Johnston Atoll has been used by the U.S. military for weapons tests and as the site of a chemical weapons disposal plant. During the 1950s, nuclear warheads were detonated high above the islands. The chemical disposal unit was shut down and its military personnel removed in June 2004, according to the Web site of the Air Force's 15th Airlift Wing.

[Soldier4Christ]

10 earthquakes rock areas around volcano


LEGAZPI CITY—Ten low-frequency earthquakes jolted Mt. Mayon on Tuesday, a sign that the volcano’s condition was still unstable and it could erupt any time, officials said yesterday.

 The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Mayon had been quiet during the past few days, but that all the ingredients for its eruption were still there.

The 10 volcanic quakes and 316 tremors recorded in the past 24 hours showed Mayon’s “restiveness is still high” and the possibility of an explosive eruption was imminent, volcanologist Ed Laguerta said.

“The low-frequency quakes and tremors indicate continuing magma ascent and lava flow,” he said.

Lava continued to flow from the volcano and rocks to cascade down its southeast sector, where previous lava flows lay steaming.

But seismic instruments did not detect any explosions as the gas ejected from the crater remained high and registered at 5,215 tons on Tuesday, Laguerta said.

The alert level near the volcano stayed at 4, meaning the volcano could erupt any time.

As Mayon lay still, hundreds of evacuees trooped to a makeshift hospital run by seven military doctors, two dentists, a nurse, and 15 paramedics for checkups.

The Office of Civil Defense said soldiers set up the hospital, a tent enclosure as big as a basketball court, at the San Andres evacuation site in Sto. Domingo town.

The United States government donated the tent to serve the medical needs of the 7,000 evacuees in that town, said Arnel Capili, the agency’s regional director.

He said the 100 portable toilets promised by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had been distributed to the 28 evacuation centers in Malilipot, Sto. Domingo, Daraga, Camalig, and Guinobatan and the cities of Legazpi, Tabaco and Ligao.