EruptionsScientists in Iceland were baffled as to...

Eruptions

Scientists in Iceland were baffled as to why melting ice from an ongoing volcanic eruption beneath the Vatnajokull Glacier had not unleashed a huge flood in the south of the country. Volcanologists noted that clouds of ash and steam continued to soar above parts of the glacier, which has collapsed into a gorge.

About 300 people living near Papua New Guinea’s Rabaul Volcano were briefly evacuated after the mountain spewed ash 12,000 feet into the air and opened a new lava chasm. The nearby port of Rabaul was devastated in September 1994 when the volcano produced a cataclysmic eruption.

Mutant Frogs

Deformed frogs are being discovered in wetlands of the northern United States and southern Canada, and scientists are at a loss to explain what is causing the mutations. The highest concentration of the discoveries has been in Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota, where scientists and locals are seeing the same kind of misshapen limbs, shrunken eyes and dwarfed sex organs. Some of the amphibians have even grown tails. Theories about the cause of the mutations run the gamut from pesticides to increased ultraviolet radiation from ozone depletion. Some health authorities worry that humans are being exposed to the same harmful influences.

Tropical Storms

Tropical storm Josephine swamped coastal areas of northern Florida before bringing heavy rains to already soggy parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. The storm lost force as it moved rapidly up the Eastern Seaboard to New England.

Tropical storm Genevieve regenerated briefly off Mexico.

Earthquakes

A wide area of the Middle East was rocked by a powerful temblor that killed two people, injured 20 others and wrecked several buildings around Cairo. The magnitude 6.4 quake was centered beneath the Mediterranean Sea near Cyprus and caused buildings to sway in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Cairo. Earth movements were also felt in southeastern Iran, Taiwan, the Russian Far East, interior Alaska, Vancouver Island and in eastern parts of Japan.

Elephant Hooch

A herd of thirsty elephants in search of a drink destroyed several illegal breweries southwest of Calcutta, according to Indian forest officials. The 45 pachyderms charged out of the hills looking for water, but stumbled into the illegal operations instead. After smashing six stills and drinking much of their contents during a two-day rampage, the drunken marauders then stumbled back into the woods of Midnapore district. There were no reports that any people operating the illegal breweries were injured or killed.

Additional sources: U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.

Through Oct. 11, Copyrighted 1996 Chronicle Features