Latest Earth Changes: Wildfires burn in 7 Western states, prompt evacuations
Volcanoes, sinkholes and quakes....
Wildfires
were burning Monday in seven Western U.S. states, from California's
famed Big Sur region to tribal towns and hamlets near Reno, Nevada.
Evacuations were ordered in Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming and
firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a
thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Here's a look at some of the fires:
Higher
humidity and lower temperatures on Monday helped firefighters battle a
destructive fire that has scorched more than 63 square miles near the
scenic Big Sur coast, while firefighters in Central California faced
blistering heat as they worked to contain a blaze that burned rural
homes and forced hundreds of evacuations near the small Fresno County
town of Prather.
A
layer of ocean air that arrived in the mountainous Big Sur region was
credited for the better firefighting conditions in an area where a fire
that started July 22 has destroyed 57 homes and 11 outbuildings and is
threatening 2,000 more structures. A bulldozer operator working for the
firefighting operation died in an accident last week.
The
blaze near Prather damaged an undetermined number of 400 evacuated
homes just outside the Sierra National Forest, the California Department
of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
That
fire started Saturday and by Monday had grown to nearly 3 square miles
with just 15 percent of it cut off by firefighters from burning further.
Just
north of Los Angeles, a 65-square-mile wildfire in wilderness just
north of Los Angeles was almost fully contained and only active with
isolated pockets of vegetation burning within a perimeter firefighters
established to prevent it from burning outside the zone. A man who
refused to evacuate from a home was killed and the fire also prompted
the evacuation of about 20,000 people.
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IDAHO
A southwest Idaho wildfire burning timber in rugged terrain and pushed by winds grew to 60 square miles Monday.
Temperatures
in the 90s, wind and low humidity caused significant expansion on
Sunday. Firefighting aircraft were grounded for about 45 minutes because
of people flying their drones in the area, creating a potential hazard
for the aircraft pilots.
The fire closed a section of State Highway 21 between Idaho City and Lowman and destroyed two outbuildings.
A firefighter suffered burns during the weekend when fuel spilled on his arm and it ignited.
___
MONTANA
Homes
were burned by a fast-moving wildfire in the Bitterroot National Forest
in western Montana, but forest officials said they did not know how
many.
Ravalli
County authorities ordered residents of about 500 homes to evacuate or
prepare to evacuate after the fire began Sunday afternoon southwest of
Hamilton.
It had burned nearly 5.5 square miles by Monday morning.
"I've
talked to homeowners who said we had 200-foot flames coming off those
trees. This thing really blew up, and I've never seen anything like it
in the years that I've been" with the Bitterroot National Forest,
spokesman Tod McKay said.
Ravalli
County Sheriff Chris Hoffman said he could not immediately provide
details about the number of homes or buildings destroyed.
___
NEVADA
About
800 firefighters were battling a series of fires that had threatened a
tribal town and hamlets near Pyramid Lake, north of Reno.
The fire zone totaled about 78 square miles Monday, said fire spokeswoman Jesse Bender.
Residents
of about 30 homes in Cottonwood Creek and Fish Springs Ranch were
warned they would receive 30 minutes notice to evacuate if necessary.
About 600 people were ordered out of the shoreline town of Sutcliffe over the weekend, and 200 were evacuated from beach areas.
Flames
destroyed six houses and mobile homes, two vehicles and several
out-buildings at historic Hardscrabble Ranch, according to Pyramid Lake
Paiute Tribal officials.
___
OREGON
Eastern Oregon residents urged to evacuate over the weekend because of a wildfire were allowed to return home.
About 20 structures remained threatened by the fire east of the town of Pendleton, the Oregon Department of Forestry said.
The
East Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/2arHV8y ) that columns of smoke
were rose Sunday after the blaze scorched about 500 acres of grass and
timber along Interstate 84.
It was 25 percent contained by Sunday evening.
___
WASHINGTON
A
wildfire burning toward the Hanford Nuclear Reservation scorched about
110 square miles as it spread from Grant and Yakima counties into Benton
County.
The
blaze was the largest of several wildfires burning in Eastern
Washington and grew quickly after it started Saturday on the U.S. Army's
Yakima Training Center, The Yakima Valley Herald reported.
Firefighters
were working to stop the flames from reaching a large wildland security
zone maintained around a portion of the nuclear site. Hanford once made
plutonium for nuclear weapons and is now undergoing a decades-long
cleanup. The zone was designed to keep people away during World War II
and the Cold War. It now serves mainly as a wildlife preserve.
The Department of Energy said Monday on its website that Hanford work schedules were not immediately affected by the fire.
A
small section of Highway 24 near Hanford Reach remained temporarily
closed due to that wildfire while evacuation orders were lifted at
another wildfire burning about 1,000 acres outside the town of Prosser.
Several
campgrounds along the Naches River in central Washington were evacuated
Sunday evening as fire burned in thick forest about 25 miles west of
Yakima. About 25 homes in the area were also evacuated.
___
WYOMING
Firefighters made progress over the weekend in their effort to contain several fires burning in western part of the state.
An
approximately 2-square-mile blaze that destroyed eight homes and
prompted the evacuation of about 140 others in southern Uinta County was
25 percent contained.
Northwest
of Dubois, a 21-square-mile blaze was 40 percent surrounded and some
residents who evacuated seasonal homes were allowed to return.
In neighboring Bridger-Teton National Forest, a fire that has burned about 45 square miles was 81 percent contained.
Powerful Popocatepetl Volcanic Eruption covers Mexico city in a layer of ash
The Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico just experienced a powerful eruption that has covered streets, homes and cars in Mexico City in ash. The powerful eruption began around 6pm and lasted up to 3am in the night. Residents gathered together at daylight to begin helping to clean up the ash that covered their residents after the eruption.
Powerful Earthquake Strikes near Tambora Volcano, Indonesia, Possible sign of eruption
A powerful Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake has struck within miles of one of the locations of one of the deadliest volcanic eruptions in history. The Indonesian Tambora had an estimated ejecta volume of 160 km3 (38 cu mi) in it’s 1815 outburst. Could this quake be a pre-cursor to another mega-eruption?
Excerpt From Strange Sounds:
On July 31, 2016, a strong (M5.8) and shallow (10km) earthquake hit
really close to Mount Tambura, Indonesia, a volcano responsible for the
largest volcanic eruption in recorded history in 1815. Scary? Yes! Based
on evidence from the geologic record, the chances of another eruption
the size of Tambora occurring somewhere on Earth might be around 10% in
the next 50 years and more likely than not, it will be from a volcano in
Indonesia. We might think that Tambora is an isolated incident from the
past, but volcanoes think otherwise.
Giant sinkhole swallows 4 people in China, 2 still missing
A giant sinkhole has opened up in China and has swallowed several people according to reports coming out of the region. At least two people have been rescued from the sinkhole that opened up in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, while two more remain missing. The sinkhole started out as a crack in the road following heavy rain on Monday night, opened up into a small hole shortly after, before swallowing up a grass verge beside it and then pulling in some of the surrounding pavements.
Sinkhole swallows part of Ipswich backyard in Australia
A giant sinkhole filled with swirling water has opened up in the backyard of a home in Ipswich, west of Brisbane. Reports indicated that a neighbour alerted Lynn and Ray McKay about 9:00am after noticing the hole opening up on their Basin Pocket property. Since the time they were alerted the hole has since increased to about eight metres in diameter.
Excerpt From ABC News:
“Well, we don’t get up ’til late because we are retired,” he said. “Nine
o’clock I got a knock on the door and it’s the chap from next door. “I
come out and I’ve got a hole in the ground, it was only a little one, a
metre, and it’s just got bigger since.” Queensland Utilities were
called, in the belief that a water pipe had burst, however the McKays
were told there were no related pipes in the area. Mayor Paul Pisasale
said it could be related the old mines in the area.
Mass ‘die-off’ reported at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Another day, another mass die-off! This time, a report out of Texas is indicating that a mass die-off of coral and other sea animals was discovered this week on a reef in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, federal officials said Friday. The die-off was spotted by Sports divers on the East Flower Garden Bank, about 100 miles southeast of Galveston, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in a report.
Excerpt From Chron:
Divers from the motor vessel Fling “were stunned to find green, hazy water, huge patches of ugly white mats coating corals and sponges, and dead animals littering the bottom of the East Flower Garden Bank, a reef normally filled with color and marine life,” wrote Steve Gittings, chief scientist in NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.
Agency scientists were not immediately available for comment Friday evening.
Birth Pangs June 2016