EruptionsViolent explosions rocked the Caribbean island of...

Eruptions

Violent explosions rocked the Caribbean island of Montserrat even though the deadly Soufriere Hills volcano produced no further eruptions. The explosions were caused by new lava pushing up toward the surface, according to Jill Norton of the Montserrat volcano Observatory. Lava from Kilauea volcano on the island of Hawaii engulfed a 700-year-old Hawaiian temple. An increase in lava flow in recent weeks has sent a wide column of molten rock streaming into the Pacific.

The San Cristobal volcano in northwestern Nicaragua produced an increase in activity that sent a plume of black smoke and steam 4,500 feet into the sky. Farmers evacuated their fields as ash began to blanket the area. Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcano released its greatest ash cloud since late June.

Tropical Storms

Powerful Typhoon Tina lashed Japans southern islands before striking southern coastal regions of South Korea. Two people there were killed when they were swept away by pounding surf.

Typhoon Winnie drenched the Northern Mariana Islands, and was taking aim on far southern Japan late in the week.

Tropical Storm Hilda passed over the open waters between Mexico and Hawaii.

Earthquakes

The strongest temblor to strike Australia in nearly a decade shook a wide area in the northwest of the country. Other than some burst water pipes on Cockatoo Island, there were no reports of damage or injuries.

Earth movements were also felt in China’s Sichuan province, Hong Kong, eastern Tibet, Taiwan, the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border , the Mariana Islands, metropolitan Tokyo, eastern Turkey, Ecuadors Amazonia region, northeast Venezuela, Nebraska and along the California-Mexico border.

Bird Kills

Large numbers of dead birds have been washing onto the shores of the Alaskan peninsula and an island in the Bering Sea.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says that the birds stricken on the southwestern peninsula have largely been kittiwakes, while murres and puffins have turned up dead on St. Lawrence Island.

In what is believed to be an unrelated outbreak, eagles have been found sick and dying along other parts of the Alaska peninsula.

It is expected to take several months to discover the cause of the deaths.

Southern Snowstorm

Violent winter storms raging across the Peruvian Andes killed six people and left a thousand people stranded on mountain highways for days. Trapped by snowdrifts five feet deep at an altitude of 11,650 feet, travelers were forced to hug each other for warmth.

Rescue workers used helicopters and road-clearing equipment to reach the stranded motorists and bus passengers.

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