Some disasters from the last week

 Here's a touch on some world events of the past week. 

Oct 25 - giant lava fountains with emissions of gasses, ash, and lava from a partial cone collapse at Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Oct 24 - an avalanche on Chimborazo volcano in Ecuador killed 3 people

Oct 24- A magnitude 6.5 earthquake shoook Yilan county Taiwan. The region is used to earthquakes so most structures are resistant to this level of quakes. However, if that same quake shook under the Salt Lake valley there would be considerable damage to many of the older unreinforced masonry buildings.

Oct 22 - the 17th named tropical storm of the eastern Pacific hurricane season strengthened into a hurricane

Oct 22 - rainfall in Spain's Alicante Province damaged homes and stranded vehicles

Oct 22 - heavy rains resulted in flooding in the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Oct 22 - a tornado touched down and damaged the Brisbane, Australia airport

Oct 20-21 - volcanic activity increased on Italy's Etna's southeast crater, leading to pyroclastic flows and ash up to 24,600 feet (7.5 km).

Oct 20-21 - a powerful storm system crashes across Europe and leaves over 500,000 homes without power.

Oct 21- record-breaking rains in Uttarakhand, India since Oct 17 have killed at least 54 and caused severe floods and landslides.

Oct 21 - a (thankfully) deep magnitude 6.0 quake shook far under the Fiji islands

Oct 17-20 - unseasonal post-monsoon rain has wreaked havoc in Nepal, leaving 88 dead.  

Oct 20 -a phreatic explosion occurred at Asosan's Nakadake crater in Japan.

Oct 19 - a hailstorm in Queensland, Australia produced huge hailstones, include a record-breaking one

Oct 19 - the 107th known asteroid to fly by the earth within 1 lunar distance of our planet during 2021 was discovered. It was first observed the day of it's closest fly-by. In 2020 there were 107 recorded, in 2019 there were 77 observed.

Oct 18 a shallow magnitude 6.1 quake shook off the coast of Crete in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Oct 18 - floods and landslides kill 26 in Kerala, India

Oct 18 - a magnitude 6.1 quake hit near the coast of Torres Islands, Vanuatu.

building rubble

I'm sure in most of these events the people affected were not expecting it. The only exceptions might be with some storms or volcanic events where there may have been some warning of impending disaster.

Think about where you live...what is in and near your environment.

Are there mountains, bodies of water, flowing water, tall buildings, industrial operations, forests? 

Do you live in or near flood zones, high tidal areas, earthquake zones?

And that's just a small bit of potential hazards.

And while you could get depressed thinking about all the possible disasters that could happen in your area, the real questions are:

  • Are you prepared?
  • How well are you prepared?
  • Are you continually improving your preparedness?

I'm fascinated with all the ways the earth and nature can show man how puny he is, and how insignificant his efforts can be in stopping the forces of nature.

What I've discovered is if you're not prepared it's practically guaranteed you'll feel more anxious when you read or hear about a disaster, especially one that could happen in your area.

But the opposite can also be true. The more you're prepared, the more peace you can feel amidst the calamitous events. 

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