Ongoing Eruption

Indonesia’s Mt. Merapi volcano continued to erupt, with fountains of lava pouring down its flanks and plumes of ash soaring two miles into the sky. Communities as far as 38 miles away reported a coating of ash from the ongoing eruptions. The mountain gradually decreased in activity during the week, but vulcanologists advised the local population to remain alert for future eruptions. Merapi is located in the heart of Indonesia’s Java Island, one of the most densely populated areas of the world. The mountain has produced more eruptions this century than during any other in the past 500 years.

Tropical Storm Nichole

Taiwan and neighboring parts of the Chinese mainland were buffeted by gales and pounding surf as Tropical Storm Nichole slowly lost force in the South China Sea. Four container ships ran aground off Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Harbor during the height of the storm, but all of the crew members were rescued safely. Heavy rains from the storm flooded nearly 2,500 acres of rice and vegetable crops in Taiwan.

Cuban Drought

The Cuban government made an urgent request for food and technical assistance from the U.N. as a drought emergency worsened in five eastern provinces of the country. Only about half of the normal spring and early summer rainfall has fallen in the region, apparently because of the waning El Nino ocean-warming phenomenon in the Pacific. The period from April through June was the driest on record since 1941. Those three months usually bring heavy downpours that are essential for cattle production and crops, including sugar cane. The drought has forced many people to leave their homes for other regions of the country.

Desert Fish Mystery

Chinese scientists are baffled by the discovery of a fish swimming happily in a remote pit located where aquatic life was believed not to be able to survive. The official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chen Yiyu, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered the fish in a water pit near the No. 4 Tazhong oil field in the remote Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Workers had carved out the pit with bulldozers during a highway construction project, and ground water eventually filled the hole. The black, freshwater fish has adapted to the slightly saline water in the pit. Chen has ruled out the possibility that the fish was brought to the desert by people working there. It is being taken to Beijing for further examination.

Earthquakes

Strong aftershocks continued to rock the Azores, where a magnitude 6.2 quake killed 10 people and wrecked hundreds of homes on July 9. Earth movements were also felt in southern Greece, the Iran-Azerbaijan border region, northern and western Pakistan, northern Thailand, eastern Japan, south-central Alaska and the Sierra Nevada of California.

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