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EXPLAINER: Why did the Baltimore bridge collapse and what is the death toll?
(Reuters) -Divers recovered the remains of two of the six missing workers more than a day after a cargo ship smashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. The bodies of two men were found in a red pickup truck submerged in the icy waters of the Patapsco River. Rescuers pulled two workers from the water.....»»
Sky-high debt a major factor in aborted cable TV merger
It was a ‘til debt do us part’ of sorts that caused the collapse of talks between telco giant PLDT Inc. and Sky Cable Corp.’s parent firm ABS-CBN, industry sources said......»»
Another bridge in Davao Oriental collapsed
A bridge in Caraga, Davao Oriental collapsed due to continuous heavy rains, following the impact of Tropical Depression Kabayan. This is the third main bridge damaged by extreme weather conditions since December 2023. The damaged bridges are still under construction. The collapse has caused isolation for some communities and led to landslides in Barangay Pichon, with at least 64 families sheltered in evacuation centers. The local government, alongside various agencies, is conducting an impact assessment to determine the damage to agriculture and infrastructure. Classes in public and private institutions are suspended until January 20. The community is rallying for strength and optimism amidst the challenges......»»
Magnitude 7 quake damages malls in Gensan and Koronadal; crane collapse in Davao
DAVAO CITY ,Philippines- A magnitude 7 quake in the shores of Sarangani caused damages in shopping malls in Koronadal and........»»
Nine killed in Taiwan golf ball factory fire
At least nine people were killed in a fire at a golf ball factory in southern Taiwan over the weekend, including four firefighters who died in an explosion, officials said Monday. The fire, which began Friday evening and raged all night, also injured more than 100 people, mostly workers in the factory in Pingtung county, according to the local government. One person was still listed as missing as further testing was required to verify the identity of somebody fragments found at the scene, a county official told AFP. President Tsai Ing-wen and other top officials visited the scene Saturday to express condolences to the victims' families and vowed to investigate the cause of the fire. An official with the Pingtung Fire Department told local media that chemical peroxide stored inside the factory could have been the cause of the one large and several smaller explosions. Several people were trapped inside due to the blasts, which caused a section of the factory roof to collapse. The post Nine killed in Taiwan golf ball factory fire appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
150 dead as ‘catastrophic’ storm floods hit east Libya
At least 150 people were killed when freak floods hit eastern Libya, officials said Monday, after storm "Daniel" swept the Mediterranean, its torrential rains earlier lashing Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece. Images filmed by residents of the Libyan disaster area showed massive mudslides, collapsed buildings and entire neighborhoods submerged under muddy water. "At least 150 people were killed as a result of flooding and torrential rains left by storm Daniel in Derna, Jabal al-Akhdar region and the suburbs of Al-Marj," said Mohamed Massoud, a spokesman for the Benghazi-based administration in Libya. "This is besides the massive material damage that struck public and private properties," he told AFP. Hundreds of residents were still believed to be trapped in difficult-to-reach areas as rescuers, backed by the army, were trying to come to their aid. East Libyan authorities had "lost contact with nine soldiers during rescue operations", Massoud said. He said the prime minister of the east-based government, Oussama Hamad, and the head of a rescue committee as well as other ministers had travelled to Derna to evaluate the extent of the damage. Hamad's government -- which in war-battered Libya rivals an UN-brokered, internationally recognized transitional administration in Tripoli -- on Monday declared Derna a "disaster area". Libya's western government under Abdelhamid Dbeibah, during an extraordinary ministerial meeting broadcast live on television, announced three days of national mourning and emphasized "the unity of all Libyans" in the face of the disaster. The National Petroleum Company, whose main oilfields and terminals are in eastern Libya, declared "a state of maximum alert" and suspended flights between production sites where activity was drastically reduced. Experts have described storm Daniel -- which killed at least 27 people when it struck parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria in recent days -- as "extreme in terms of the amount of water falling in a space of 24 hours". 'Severe weather' A Derna city council official described the situation in the city as "catastrophic" and in need of "national and international intervention", speaking to the local TV channel Libya al-Ahrar. He reported the collapse of four main bridges and two buildings in Derna, a city of 100,000 people that lies in a river wadi 900 kilometers (560 miles) east of the capital Tripoli. The storm struck eastern Libya on Sunday afternoon, hitting especially the coastal town of Jabal al-Akhdar but also Benghazi, where a curfew was declared and schools closed for several days. The United Nations mission in Libya on Monday said on X, formerly Twitter, that it was "closely following the emergency caused by severe weather conditions in the eastern region of the country". It expressed its condolences over the deaths and said it was "ready to support efforts by local authorities and municipalities to respond to this emergency and provide urgent humanitarian assistance". Libya, sitting on Africa's largest known oil reserves, was plunged into chaos following the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed former dictator Moamer Kadhafi. Two rival governments based in the west and east have been vying for power, with deadly conflict occasionally erupting. The French ambassador to Libya, Mostafa Mihraje, also offered his condolences and expressed his "solidarity with the Libyan people in this ordeal", also in a message on X. In neighboring Egypt, authorities called for caution on the northern coast which borders eastern Libya, and announced they were beginning preparations to minimize the impact of Storm Daniel. The weather forecast predicted more heavy rain in coming days there. As the world warms, the atmosphere contains more water vapor which increases the risk of heavy precipitation in some parts of the world. Combined with other factors such as urbanization and land-use planning, these more intense rainfall events contribute to flooding. The post 150 dead as ‘catastrophic’ storm floods hit east Libya appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Morocco’s strongest quake on record: what we know
Rescuers in Morocco were scrambling Sunday to reach people trapped under the rubble after a powerful earthquake that killed more than 2,100 people and decimated entire villages. Here's what we know so far: Strongest-ever in Morocco A 6.8-magnitude quake, according to the US Geological Survey -- the strongest in the North African country's history -- struck Friday at 11:11 pm (2211 GMT) in an area of the Atlas mountain range 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the city of Marrakesh. It was also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, as well as Agadir which in the 1960s had to be completely rebuilt after a devastating tremor. Historic city hit Friday's quake caused damage in the tourist hotspot of Marrakesh which is famed for its sprawling medina, or old town, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site of ochre-coloured palaces and markets. The city's 12th-century ramparts partially collapsed. Fearing their homes might collapse too, some residents spent the past two nights camped out on the vast Jemaa el-Fna square. Atlas villages crumple The worst destruction took place in the remote villages of the High Atlas, in the provinces of Al-Haouz and Taroudant. The mud-brick villages of Tafeghaghte and Moulay Brahim, near the quake's epicentre, were almost completely destroyed, AFP reporters witnessed. In Tafeghaghte alone, some 70 victims out of a population of around 100 people were buried on Saturday. Deaths mount The quake killed at least 2,122 people and injured 2,421 others, many of whom are in critical condition, according to the latest figures from Morocco's interior ministry. Most deaths were recorded in Al-Haouz province, with 1,351, followed by Taroudant where more than 450 lives were lost. Four French nationals were killed, according to Paris. Rescue underway The race is on to get teams with heavy-lifting equipment into the worst-hit areas including hard-to-reach mountain villages. The Moroccan Red Crescent and army are leading the rescue effort. Caroline Holt of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said on Saturday that "the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in terms of saving lives". Spain has sent 56 rescue workers along with drilling equipment and four search dogs after an official request from Morocco. Other countries are waiting for an invitation to be able to intervene. European Union members, Britain, the United States, Turkey and Israel -- which established ties with Rabat in late 2020 -- have all expressed solidarity with Morocco and offered help. Three-day mourning Morocco on Saturday proclaimed three days of national mourning, following a meeting presided by King Mohammed VI. The post Morocco’s strongest quake on record: what we know appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Race to find survivors as Morocco quake deaths top 1,300
Morocco's deadliest earthquake in decades has killed more than 1,300 people, authorities said Saturday, as troops and emergency services scrambled to reach remote mountain villages where casualties are still feared trapped. Authorities declared three days of national mourning, but the Red Cross warned that it could take years to repair the damage. The 6.8-magnitude quake struck late Friday in a mountainous area 72 kilometres (45 miles) southwest of the tourist city of Marrakesh, the US Geological Survey reported. With strong tremors also felt in the coastal cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Essaouira, the quake caused widespread damage and sent terrified residents and tourists scrambling to safety in the middle of the night. "I was nearly asleep when I heard the doors and the shutters banging," said Ghannou Najem, a Casablanca resident in her 80s who was visiting Marrakesh when the quake hit. "I went outside in a panic. I thought I was going to die alone." In the mountain village of Tafeghaghte near the quake's epicentre, virtually no buildings were left standing. The traditional clay bricks used by the region's Berber inhabitants proved no match for the rare quake. In the late afternoon, soldiers continued to search through debris, but most survivors headed to the cemetery where loud screams punctuated the last rites as some 70 villagers were laid to rest. "Three of my grandchildren and their mother were killed -- they are still under the rubble," villager Omar Benhanna, 72, told AFP. "Just a while ago, we were all playing together," he added. It was the strongest-ever quake to hit the North African kingdom, and one expert described it as the region's "biggest in more than 120 years". "Where destructive earthquakes are rare, buildings are simply not constructed robustly enough... so many collapse, resulting in high casualties," said Bill McGuire, professor emeritus at Britain's University College London. Updated interior ministry figures on Saturday showed the quake killed at least 1,305 people, the vast majority in Al-Haouz, the epicentre, and Taroudant provinces. Another 1,832 people were injured, including 1,220 in a critical condition, the ministry said. Civil defence Colonel Hicham Choukri who is heading relief operations told state television earlier the epicentre and strength of the earthquake created "an exceptional emergency situation". After a meeting chaired by King Mohammed VI, the palace announced three days of national mourning, with flags to fly at half-mast on all public buildings. 'Unbearable' screams Faisal Badour, an engineer, said he felt the quake three times in his building in Marrakesh. "There are families who are still sleeping outside because we were so scared of the force of this earthquake," he said. "The screaming and crying was unbearable." Frenchman Michael Bizet, 43, who owns three traditional riad houses in Marrakesh's old town, told AFP he was in bed when the quake struck. "I thought my bed was going to fly away. I went out into the street half-naked and immediately went to see my riads. It was total chaos, a real catastrophe, madness," he said. Footage on social media showed part of a minaret collapsed on Jemaa el-Fna square in the historic city. An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of people flocking to the square to spend the night for fear of aftershocks, some with blankets while others slept on the ground. Houda Outassaf, a local resident, said she was "still in shock" after feeling the earth shake beneath her feet -- and losing relatives. "I have at least 10 members of my family who died... I can hardly believe it, as I was with them no more than two days ago," she said. The regional blood transfusion centre in Marrakesh called on residents to donate blood for the injured. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation announced that a Cup of African Nations qualifier against Liberia, due to have been played on Saturday in the coastal city of Agadir, had been postponed indefinitely. Significant damage likely "We heard screams at the time of the tremor," a resident of Essaouira, 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Marrakesh, told AFP. "Pieces of facades have fallen." The USGS PAGER system, which provides preliminary assessments on the impact of earthquakes, issued a "red alert" for economic losses, saying extensive damage is probable. The Red Cross said it was mobilising resources to support the Moroccan Red Crescent, but its Middle East and North Africa director, Hossam Elsharkawi, warned: "We are looking at many months if not years of response." Foreign leaders expressed their condolences and many offered assistance, including Israel with which Morocco normalised relations in 2020. Neighbour and regional rival Algeria announced it was suspending a two-year-old ban on all Moroccan flights through its airspace to enable aid deliveries and medical evacuations. US President Joe Biden said he was "deeply saddened by the loss of life and devastation". Chinese leader Xi Jinping expressed "deep grief for the victims" and hope that "the Moroccan government and people will be able to overcome the impact of this disaster". In 2004, at least 628 people were killed and 926 injured when a quake hit Al Hoceima in northeastern Morocco, and in 1960 a magnitude 6.7 quake in Agadir killed more than 12,000. The 7.3-magnitude El Asnam earthquake in Algeria killed 2,500 people and left at least 300,000 homeless in 1980. The post Race to find survivors as Morocco quake deaths top 1,300 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Iran coal mine explosion leaves 6 dead
Tehran, Iran (AFP) — An explosion at a coal mine in northern Iran has killed six workers, state media reported on Monday. The blast took place in a tunnel at a depth of 400 meters in the northern city of Damghan, said the official IRNA news agency. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. “Six miners were trapped underground on Sunday when the coal mine explosion took place in Damghan,” IRNA said, adding that efforts to rescue the miners were unsuccessful but the bodies were recovered Monday morning. IRNA showed footage of other workers at the site trying to recover the remains of their colleagues’ bodies from under the rubble. In May 2021, two miners died in a collapse at the same mining site, local media reported at the time. At Azad Shahr city in northern Iran, in 2017, 43 miners were killed after a coal mine blast, triggering anger toward Iranian authorities. The post Iran coal mine explosion leaves 6 dead appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US regulators unveil new bank rules to improve financial stability
US regulators have announced plans for new banking rules to mitigate against future failures, as they move to prevent a repeat of the rapid banking collapses seen earlier this year. A bank run on the midsized Californian lender Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in March over interest-rate concerns quickly spiraled into one of the most acute banking crises in years. It caused the collapse of a number of regional banks and the merger under pressure of Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse with regional rival UBS. In response, the US Federal Reserve's vice chair for supervision, Michael Barr, announced a review into the collapse of SVB and other banks, which concluded that both regulators and the bank's management had made mistakes. On Tuesday, US regulators including the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published a series of statements requesting comment on two new measures aimed at shoring up banks to better weather future crises. One proposal seeks to ensure midsized banks with more than $100 billion in assets hold more long-term debt to improve financial stability and make it easier to resolve future failures, limiting the risk of contagion when a bank is under stress. "By requiring each large bank to maintain a minimum amount of long-term debt to absorb losses, the proposal would increase the options available to resolve such banks in case of failure," the regulators said. The other proposal would mandate banks with more than $250 billion in assets develop so-called "living wills," which are strategies for "rapid and orderly resolution under bankruptcy in the event of material financial distress or failure." Alongside the two proposals, two Fed governors also voiced their opinions on the changes being requested. Governor Christopher Waller said he backed putting out the proposal on long-term debt, but added he had "concerns about its calibration." He did not comment on the second proposal. Governor Michelle Bowman took a more critical view, supporting the publication of a request for comment on the long-term debt proposal -- "with reservation" -- while opposing the second proposal. Comments on the proposed rules are due by 30 November 2023, regulators said. The post US regulators unveil new bank rules to improve financial stability appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Zambales gov eyes intensified dredging
Iba, Zambales — The provincial government on Tuesday has ordered the intensifying of dredging activities in the province as the heavily-silted river caused the recent flooding in coastal communities. In a meeting on Monday, Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. cited the need to restore the capacity of water tributaries in Zambales to carry excess floodwater into the sea as he assessed the damages caused by the recent typhoons. He added that the floods have affected a total of 26,799 residents and caused damages worth P545.1 million in infrastructure and P24.3 million in agriculture. “Flooding was also observed to be worse in barangays near river mouths because sediments get deposited there naturally when the current slows down at the point where the river meets the sea,” said Ebdane. The official added that most flooding occurred in barangays when tributary rivers emanating from the Mt. Pinatubo area and bringing lahar sand overflowed or punched holes into dikes and protective embankments. “Thus, it is crucial that these areas which are natural catch-basins for sediments should be dredged immediately as more rains are expected, so that we can create bigger drainage areas that will convey river water to the sea more efficiently,” said the Zambales governor. In San Marcelino town which was placed under state of calamity after most barangays suffered heavy damages, the swollen river caused the breach and collapse of embankments protecting Barangay Sta. Fe, thus destroying various public infrastructure worth P515 million. The Zambales Provincial Disaster Risk-Reduction and Management Council reported that 8,421 families comprised of 26,799 individuals were adversely affected by the torrential rains last week. Most of these came from San Antonio town, with a total of 6,749 affected families and 20,602 affected individuals. In San Antonio’s village of San Miguel, which is located where the Pamatawan River empties into the sea, 42 families comprised of 357 persons had to evacuate to safety on 28 July, as floodwaters rose to waist-deep and chest-deep in some areas, the PDRRMC said. Residents said it was the first time they experienced serious flooding there. They said that strong current damaged the river embankment about a hundred meters from the river mouth, thus creating a gap where the swollen Pamatawan River spilled into the barangay. Incidentally, opposition by San Miguel residents to the government’s proposal to dredge Pamatawan for fear that the project would harm local fishing, prompted Ebdane to suspend dredging activities there. Still, residents elsewhere affirmed that heavily silted waterways perennially brought floods in their area. Ebdane said the river dredging program has been endorsed by local government units and national government agencies that consulted in 2014 to formulate solutions following flooding and landslides in the province during typhoon “Odette” in September 2013. The post Zambales gov eyes intensified dredging appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
MUP pension takeaways
In every fiscal year, there should be nothing extraordinarily appropriated for the sole benefit of military and uniformed personnel, active or retired. The MUP’s number of pensioner-beneficiaries has already breached the 120,000 mark and counting. The 2023 allocation of P139.51 billion for their pensions alone bleeds government coffers dry; its budgetary impact further depletes public funds for the rest of state workers, active or retired — outside of the MUP universe. When the finance secretary referred to the pension issue as the “elephant in the room” but nowhere in the President’s State of the Nation Address was mention made of an overhaul of the system, this could be construed by cynics as axiomatic of a lack of political will. Instead, the “game theory” model conveniently adopted by the present dispensation is to do nothing for fear that a financial embargo might stir up a hornet’s nest. Must every president, in effect, “babysit” the military, police, and other armed services in a quid pro quo? Have we become what in the mind of Samuel Huntington is a praetorian society that “shirks” the much-vaunted state policy that “civilian authority is at all times supreme over the military?” What about the implied mandate or reach (if any) of the Civil Service Commission over the military, police, uniformed service? What has happened to the notion that no government employee — more so civilian — should be left behind within the purview of a level-playing field? What about the sacred aim of a “salary standardization law” if there is a Great Cultural Divide between the military and the civilian sectors of the government bureaucracy where two classes with the same salary grades have astronomically different compensation packages — retirement or pension-wise? Insofar as the “fiscal collapse” the finance secretary warned against if no pragmatic move would put an end to this MUP dilemma, it remains a time bomb waiting to explode. It could luminously reach a point where the President would be confronted with “lifeboat ethics” or that moral quandary of whom to give up to save another. Whoever reduced the President to the dog that caught the car doesn’t cut it, either. When typhoon “Egay” caused “agri damage” that soared to P4.5 billion, hit 181 cities and municipalities, and affected 142,000 farmers and fishers in nine regions, methinks covering the damage of 30 “Typhoon Egays” should be as easy as paying MUPs over P140 billion a year. What this mathematical comparison illustrates is the disturbing fact that government can hardly allocate even a measly amount for natural calamities affecting communities, agriculture, infrastructure. There ought to be a philosophical approach to resolving the MUP paradox by identifying the proximate cause of the problem and reverting back to the original scheme at parity with the larger body of government workers or employees in the civilian bureaucracy. There must be a future-proof review as to why the salaries of MUPs and retirees were doubled during the term of the President’s predecessor toward possibly reverting such “political payoff” back to the old configuration. In the altar of public service delivery, the role of the MUP is not unique. For their parochial and arrogant argument of serving at the risk of life and limb to hold true, they must add more meat on that bone. It’s the greatest anomaly of all time for the national budget to have to allocate for MUP pensions some P300 billion for 2024. Note that the allocation for the pension of civilian government employees was only P1.15 billion in 2017 and P1.6 billion in 2022. If we have some 1.7 million government employees inclusive of military/uniformed personnel, it’s obvious who gets more than the lion’s share of the budget pie. An “insane” 1 percent of MUP payouts is a drop in the bucket. Please draw the sword to cut this Gordian knot! Or shop for other best-practice pension plans. The post MUP pension takeaways appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Power restored in Binondo area affected by collapsed Meralco post
The local government of Manila reported the return of the power supply to the affected areas in Binondo, Manila on Friday at 8:45 a.m. This was disclosed by city electrician officer Engr. Randy Sadac, wherein the Meralco engineering team responding to the incident of a collapsed electrical post had worked around the clock the since Thursday to replace the fallen post with a new one. In a phone interview with Sadac, he said that 15 big establishments were heavily affected by brownouts which lasted for almost 18 hours while power was restored at 8:45 am this Friday. Sadac said that aside from the inspection on the repair job, their teams have also restored street lights that are connected to the collapsed post. He also notified Telco firms to transfer or modify their line connections that were attached to the post. "Kinausap na rin namin ang mga telcos na sumasabit sa mga meralco post. Minsan sa tagal na rin, yung mga lumang linya na hindi na gumagana naka kabit pa rin “ Sadac said in a Daily Tribune interview. Further, the city electrician office, together with Meralco, conducts regular inspections of all electrical posts as part of their regular operations together with the bundling of wires and retirement of wooden and leaning posts, The city electrician office also recently conducted an inventory of all electrical posts in the city. Also during the incident, three individuals suffered minor injuries and are being treated at home while 11 vehicles including one bicycle had been damaged which caused heavy traffic in the area. Meanwhile . the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) instructed BFP Chief Louie Puracan to immediately probe the incident that happened in Binondo, where several electric posts collapsed hurting three individuals and damaging eight parked vehicles. The BFP has also been instructed to coordinate with the private electric company that owns the electric posts to provide assistance to the affected individuals and help in clearing out the area. In the same breath, all local government units (LGUs) are enjoined to inspect electric posts, construction sites, billboards, and other similar installations that may collapse during heavy rains. A memorandum circular will be issued regarding the matter to ensure compliance and prompt action. The post Power restored in Binondo area affected by collapsed Meralco post appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Davao LGU extends help to collapsed bridge victims
DAVAO CITY — The local government of Davao City announced on Friday that its City Social Welfare and Development Office has reached out to the families of the victims of the collapsed bridge to extend assistance. CSWDO head Julie Dayaday said she already instructed the CSWDO Marilog District head to reach out to the families of the victims. “We provide psychological first aid and assess the need of the survivors and the family left behind,” Dayaday said. To recall, five workers died and two were injured after an under-construction bridge in Barangay Malamba, Marilog District, collapsed on 24 July. The Davao City Police Office identified the dead workers as Jimboy Liga, the boom truck operator; Elmer Sayson, a foreman; Rolando Abing, laborer and masons Jay Bangonan and Cris Napao. Those injured, on the other hand, were identified as Meljay Bero, a laborer and Jonathan Dispo, a mason. The City Engineer’s Office said they had started its investigation into the incident. Meantime, Daniel Dumandan Jr., District 3 head of CEO, said that a team from the CEO had visited the collapsed bridge on 25 July. “We made a site visit but we cannot yet confirm what the cause was, we are in the process of retrieving the bridge panels to know what caused the collapse,” Dumandan said. He added that since the depth of the area where the bridge fell was 26 meters, they have required the contractor to retrieve the debris to evaluate them. “We ask them to prioritize the lifting of the panels. According to the workers, it will take two to four days to retrieve the Bailey panels. It will take days because they have to cut it into four sections,” Dumandan said. He added that they have assigned a registered Civil Engineer to monitor the progress of the construction. The post Davao LGU extends help to collapsed bridge victims appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Mayon ‘slow’ lava flow continues — PHIVOLCS
Mayon Volcano's slow lava effusion continues along its three gullies that run down the volcano's slopes, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said on Sunday. In its latest advisory, PHIVOLCS said that lava flows in the Mi-isi and Basud gullies on Mayon's southern and eastern flanks have reportedly maintained distal lengths of roughly 2.8 kilometers (km) and 600 meters, respectively, over the past 24 hours. PHIVOLCS added that the lava flow on Basud gully, on the southeast face of Mayon Volcano, had grown from 2.7 kilometers to 2.8 kilometers, as of Sunday. PHIVOLCS further said that rockfall and pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), which were caused by the collapse of the lava flow edges and the summit dome, were still depositing debris within four kilometers of the crater. "In total, five LFVQs (low-frequency volcanic quakes), four PDCs, and 158 rockfall events were recorded by the Mayon Volcano Network," it said. PHIVOLCS added that the number of earthquakes and rock falls at Mayon Volcano has gone down, but the amount of sulfur dioxide it is emitting has increased. Mayon's sulfur dioxide output increased from 1,758 metric tons on 21 July to 2,047 tons on 22 July, with plumes that are 400 meters tall and moving in a southwest direction. PHIVOLCS told the people who live near Mayon Volcano, which has been on Alert Level since 8 June, that rockfalls, landslides, avalanches, ballistic fragments, lava flows, and moderate-sized explosions could happen. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said on 23 July that Mayon's unrest had already touched 38,389 people and forced 20,227 people from 26 barangays in the Bicol Region to leave their homes. The post Mayon ‘slow’ lava flow continues — PHIVOLCS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
One dead as Japan warns of ‘heaviest rain ever’ in southwest
One person was killed and hundreds of thousands were urged to evacuate their homes in southwestern Japan on Monday, as forecasters warned of the "heaviest rain ever" in the region. Torrential downpours after a week of steady rain have caused rivers to burst their banks and sodden earth to collapse in deadly landslides, including one that killed a 77-year-old woman. The woman's home was engulfed overnight in Saga region, the local fire department told AFP. Her husband was recovered conscious and taken to hospital. A second woman was feared dead after last being seen clinging to a car in rising floodwaters in neighboring Oita region, officials there said. At least nine other people were missing in landslides in Fukuoka and Oita regions, where more than 420,000 people were under a top-level evacuation warning stating: "Your life is in danger, you need to take action immediately." Nearly two million more in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Saga, Yamaguchi and Oita were under a lower-level warning, urging them to evacuate if they were in hazardous areas. Japan has five levels of evacuation orders, but people cannot be compelled to leave their homes. "Rain and wind gusts were very, very strong. There was lightning. It was so horrible," Takashi Onizuka, 62, of Tachiarai town near Kurume in Fukuoka told AFP. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said the heavy downpours risked flooding and landslides across Fukuoka and Oita. "This is the heaviest rain ever experienced" by the region, Satoshi Sugimoto of JMA's forecast division told reporters. "The situation is such that lives are in danger and safety must be secured," he added. 'People's lives first' Footage on national broadcaster NHK showed a gash in the hillside above a home in Karatsu City that had partly collapsed into a river, with many of its traditional roof tiles smashed or sliding off. Images from elsewhere showed surging rivers washing over bridges that normally sit well above the waterline, and floodwater turning local streets into streams. The prime minister's office said a task force had been established to coordinate a response to the rains. "We have received reports that several rivers have flooded... and that landslides have occurred in various parts" of the country, top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. "The government is doing its best to get a complete picture of the damage and taking measures under a policy of 'people's lives first'," he added. He warned torrential rain was forecast across much of the country on Tuesday. "If you feel your life is in danger, even just a little, don't hesitate to act," he said. In Fukuoka's Asakura City, officials said the rain was believed to have peaked but there were still fears about flooding. "Water levels in rivers are rising so we're vigilant against the possibility of overflowing," local official Takaaki Harano told AFP. Japan is currently in its annual rainy season, which often brings heavy downpours, and sometimes results in flooding and landslides, as well as casualties. Scientists say climate change is intensifying the risk of heavy rain in Japan and elsewhere, because a warmer atmosphere holds more water. The weather agency said it had already been raining for more than a week in the region. "The area is very wet due to intermittent rainfall for over a week," Yoshiyuki Toyoguchi, land ministry official in charge of rivers, told reporters. "Even with a little rain, river levels tend to rise quickly, which will increase risk of flooding." Landslides are a particular risk in Japan during heavy rains because homes are often built on plains at the bottom of hillsides in the mountainous country. In 2021, rain triggered a devastating landslide in the central resort town of Atami that killed 27 people. And in 2018, floods and landslides killed more than 200 people in western Japan during the rainy season. The post One dead as Japan warns of ‘heaviest rain ever’ in southwest appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Titan sub: what is a ‘catastrophic implosion’?
A "catastrophic implosion," such as that believed to have destroyed the Titan submersible, would have happened with incredible force and speed given the crushing water pressure on the floor of the ocean. The remains of the Titanic rest on the seabed in the North Atlantic at a depth of some 3,800 meters (12,400 feet). At sea level, atmospheric pressure is 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi). Water pressure at the depth where the ocean liner lies is equivalent to around 400 atmospheres, nearly 6,000 psi. As a comparison, the bite of a large great white shark exerts a force of nearly 4,000 psi, according to Scientific American. In an implosion caused by a defect in the hull or for some other reason, the submersible would collapse in on itself in milliseconds, crushed by the immense water pressure. Death would be virtually instantaneous for the occupants of the pressurized chamber. The Titan, built by OceanGate Inc. of Everett, Washington, was designed to sustain the extreme water pressure at the depth of the Titanic and had made previous dives to the wreck. But safety concerns had been raised, most notably in a lawsuit involving OceanGate's former director of marine operations, David Lochridge, who was fired in 2018 after warning about the Titan's "experimental" carbon fiber hull. Roderick Smith, an engineering professor at Imperial College, London, said the accident was likely due to a "failure of the pressure hull," but debris will need to be recovered to carry out a full investigation. And even then it may be difficult to pinpoint the cause. "The violence of the implosion means that it may be very difficult to determine the sequence of events," Smith said. The post Titan sub: what is a ‘catastrophic implosion’? appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Major US highway collapses after vehicle fire
A fire caused an overpass on one of America's busiest highways to collapse early Sunday in Philadelphia, authorities said, as reports attributed the cause to a truck that burst into flames under the bridge. The collapse took out four traffic lanes along an elevated section of heavily traveled Interstate 95, though no injuries were immediately reported. "Companies arrived on location and they found... heavy fire from a vehicle -- we don't know what type of vehicle it was," Battalion Chief Derek Bowmer of the Philadelphia Fire Department told a news conference. Bowmer added the situation was considered a hazmat incident, but could not confirm reports that the burning vehicle was an oil tanker. Local media reported that Philadelphia police, as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), were looking for the driver of the vehicle associated with the fire, whose whereabouts are unknown. An ATF spokesman told AFP that its Philadelphia field division "is supporting the investigation" and referred additional inquiries to the fire department. The fire department declined to comment. The north-south highway -- one of the busiest in the United States, connecting major cities along the East Coast from Maine to Florida -- remains closed in both directions in the Philadelphia area, officials said. Rebuilding the section of destroyed highway could take weeks, authorities said, a nightmare scenario for commuters as well as for road travelers at the start of the summer holiday season. "Avoid (the) area. Plan and seek alternative travel routes," the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management said in a tweet. US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on Twitter he is offering "any assistance that USDOT can provide to help with recovery and reconstruction." Television images showed flames and billowing smoke coming from the crumbled section of I-95 in the northeastern city's Tacony neighborhood, with parts of the elevated roadway having fallen onto the lanes below. City authorities issued a series of alerts on Twitter about a tanker truck fire on the highway, which local media reported went up in flames underneath the bridge, apparently causing the collapse. A city spokeswoman told AFP that a "large fire under I-95" caused the highway to collapse, but did not attribute it to any vehicle. She said the fire has been declared "under control." Local media reported the fire started around 6:20 a.m. (0220 GMT) when Sunday traffic is typically light. "I will always be grateful to our first responders for the dangerous, life-saving work they do to keep residents and visitors safe," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said on Twitter. The southbound lanes of the highway, while still standing, are "compromised," Bowmer said. "They got a lot of heat and heavy fire." "I-95 will be impacted for a long time, for a long time," city Managing Director Tumar Alexander told a news conference, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Residents told city media outlets that they heard several explosions, which a fire department captain told the local NBC station were coming from underground, caused by runoff from the truck. The post Major US highway collapses after vehicle fire appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Alert Level 4 in Mayon Volcano possible—Phivolcs
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology or Phivolcs is not ruling out the possibility of raising Mayon Volcano’s status to the alert level 4 category amid its increasing “magmatic unrest” on the summit dome. In an interview, Phivolcs officer-in-charge Director Teresito Bacolcol said the danger zone in the sector—where the crater rim is low—will also be expanded to eight kilometers or more once the alert level has been further raised. Bacolcol said they are monitoring two scenarios that may happen in Mayon, including the 2014 eruption and the 2018 explosion. “The 2018 scenario [is] the rockfall events progress into a magmatic eruption which ah would include which included lava flows fountaining or 2014 scenario may also happen which is the rockfall activity progress into a very slow rate dome exclusion then followed by a short lava flow so we are hoping for the second scenario,” he explained. Phivolcs has logged 199 rockfall events and six pyroclastic density currents. The crater glows in the volcano and is monitored but can’t be seen by the naked eye with its edifice currently inflated. Mayon also spewed 332 tonnes of sulfur dioxide and emitted 800 meters tall of volcanic plume drifting south of the province. From Alert Level 2 (increasing unrest), the Phivolcs raised Mayon’s status to Level 3 (increased tendency towards hazardous eruption) on Thursday, following a continuous increase in its rockfall events. Mayon’s Level 3 category means it is exhibiting magmatic eruption of a summit lava dome, with increased chances of lava flow and hazardous pyroclastic density currents, affecting the upper to middle slopes of the volcano and of potential explosive activity within weeks or even days. Entering to six-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone and flying aircraft close to the volcano remained prohibited as rockfalls, landslides or avalanches, ballistic fragments, lava flows and lava fountaining, pyroclastic density currents, and moderate-sized explosions could be very dangerous. If raised to alert level 4 category, Mayon may pose hazardous eruptions, with intense unrest and persistent tremor and many low frequency-type earthquakes are possible. While SO2 emission levels may show a sustained increase or abrupt decrease. Level 4 category in Mayon likewise indicates intense crater glow, incandescent lava dome, lava fountain, and lava flow in the summit area. Mayon Volcano has erupted more than 50 times since 1616, with the most destructive eruption recorded in 1814, when the town of Cagsawa was buried killing 1,200 people. Its eruption in 1993 caused 79 deaths, while subsequent eruptions in 2000, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018 forced tens of thousands of residents in nearby villages to evacuate. In December 2006, rains from powerful Typhoon Durian caused mudslides and floods at the foot of the volcano that killed more than 1,000 people. In 2014, a new lava dome growth of 30 to 50 meters height was observed in Mayon but there was no crater glow. In 2018, the Mayon status was raised to Alert Level 4 after it exhibited a five-kilometer tall phreatomagmatic eruption that lasted 8 minutes and logged explosion-type earthquakes corresponding to the vertical column eruptions, 15 tremor events, some corresponding to lava fountaining episodes, 35 rockfall events and two pyroclastic density currents or PDCs from lava collapse. This event has affected more than 54,000 people of Albay and displaced 1,300 families or 5,016 individuals residents nearby the volcano. Bacolcol said Mayon’s eruption interval is usually three to 10 years with the most recent being five years ago, in 2018. He said the Mayon’s unrest as of this time is “shaping up to be similar to the 2018 event.” Nonetheless, he hopes that the Mayon’s imminent eruption will change course. “We’re hoping it would be a 2014-like event,” he said. The post Alert Level 4 in Mayon Volcano possible—Phivolcs appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
A month into Sudan’s brutal war, no end in sight
One month since Sudan's conflict erupted, its capital is a desolate war zone where terrorized families huddled at home as gun battles rage, while the western Darfur region has descended into deadly chaos. Residents of Khartoum have endured weeks of desperate food shortages, power blackouts, communications outages, and runaway inflation. The capital of five million, long a place of relative stability, has become a shell of its former self. Charred aircraft lie on the airport tarmac, foreign embassies are shuttered and hospitals, banks, shops, and wheat silos have been ransacked by looters. Violence also renewed in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state, leaving hundreds killed and the health system in "total collapse", medics said. Fighting continued on Monday, with loud explosions heard across Khartoum and thick smoke in the sky while warplanes drew anti-aircraft fire, according to witnesses. "The situation is becoming worse by the day," said a 37-year-old resident of southern Khartoum who did not wish to be named because of safety concerns. "People are getting more and more scared because the two sides... are becoming more and more violent." Another witness reported "clashes with various types of weapons" in Omdurman, the capital's twin city. Battles erupted on 15 April between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). What remains of the government has retreated to Port Sudan about 850 kilometers (500 miles) away, the hub for mass evacuations. The United Nations says more than 700,000 people have been internally displaced by the fighting, and nearly 200,000 have fled Sudan for neighboring countries. There are fears for the stability of the wider region. "We're left on the street, in the sun," complained Hamden Mohammed, who escaped the Khartoum area for Port Sudan. "We want the organizations to evacuate us from Sudan because the country is totally devastated. There's no food, no work... nothing." Around 1,000 people have been killed, mainly in and around Khartoum as well as the ravaged state of West Darfur, according to medics. Violence on Friday and Saturday in El Geneina, the West Darfur capital, killed at least 280, according to the Sudanese doctors' union. "There was still heavy shelling on Sunday that hit my home, damaging a part of it and injuring one of my sisters," said one El Geneina resident. "Other houses around us were completely destroyed." After a month of war, Burhan declared he was freezing the assets of the RSF which, analysts say, has interests in Sudan's gold mines. Burhan dismissed the central bank governor and the police director general, while Daglo threatened in an audio recording that the army chief would be "brought to justice and hanged" publicly. History of coups Neither side has been able to establish dominance on the battlefield, and experts have forecast a protracted conflict. The army, backed by Egypt, has the advantage of air power while Daglo is, according to experts, supported by the United Arab Emirates and foreign fighters. Daglo commands troops that stemmed from the notorious Janjaweed militia, accused of atrocities in a war that began in Darfur two decades ago. The scorched-earth campaign killed up to 300,000 people and uprooted more than 2.7 million, the UN said. Many were still living in Darfur's displacement camps as war returned to the region. Multiple truce deals in the current conflict have been violated. Sudan has a long history of military coups, but hopes had risen after mass protests led to the ouster of Islamist-backed strongman Omar al-Bashir in 2019, followed by a shaky transition toward civilian rule. As Washington and other foreign powers lifted sanctions, Sudan was slowly reintegrating into the international community, before the generals derailed that transition with another coup in 2021. The security breakdown has extended beyond Khartoum and Darfur to other regions. Ethnic violence last week killed more than 50 people in West Kordofan and White Nile states, according to the UN. Poorer for longer The fighting has deepened the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where one in three people already relied on humanitarian assistance before the war. Since then, aid agencies have been looted and at least 18 of their workers killed. Diplomatic facilities have also been targeted. Jordan on Monday issued condemnation after its Khartoum embassy building "was stormed and attacked." Across the Red Sea, in the Saudi city of Jeddah, envoys from both sides have been negotiating. By May 11 they had signed a commitment to respect humanitarian principles and allow in badly needed aid. "Scarcely had the two warring parties signed the Jeddah Agreement on Thursday night when chaos erupted once again in Geneina," according to William Carter, the Norwegian Refugee Council's country director. Doctors Without Borders said food shortages in Darfur displacement camps mean "people have gone from three meals a day to just one". The fighting has caused "the partial deindustrialization" of the country, said Aly Verjee, a researcher at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, meaning "any future Sudan will be much poorer for much longer." The post A month into Sudan’s brutal war, no end in sight appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»