Volcano Warnings

Mexican troops were deployed around the flanks of Popocatepetl Volcano to help with possible evacuations after a flurry of volcanic activity alarmed local residents. The soldiers took positions in villages surrounding the 15,600-foot mountain, just southeast of Mexico City.

In western Mexico, nearly 500 residents of villages in the state of Colima at the foot of the smoking Vulcan de Fuego were allowed to return home. The residents had spent 18 days at improvised shelters, schools and other public buildings.

Increased activity at Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau Volcano in the Sunda Straits prompted officials to ban visits to the popular tourist destination. Also known as “Child of Krakatoa,” the volcano has been visibly active since early February with small outbursts followed by volcanic booms that have spewed ash half a mile into the sky.

Brazilian Inundations

The worst flooding to hit Sao Paulo in five years has claimed 27 lives and left more than 10,000 people homeless. Days of torrential rainstorms hit the metropolis, Brazil’s financial and economic capital, leaving city streets inundated and virtually impassable. The city’s Favela slums were the hardest-hit areas, with hundreds of homes ruined by sporadic mudslides and flash floods.

Oceanic Drought

The Pacific island nation of Kiribati declared a state of emergency after a prolonged drought that has nearly exhausted the country’s underground freshwater supplies. The dry weather has transformed the island nation into a chain of dust bowls, making the former British protectorate’s estimated 81,000 inhabitants prone to airborne diseases.

Earthquakes

Panicked residents in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, rushed out of their homes and into the streets after a magnitude 4.1 earthquake jolted the city and surrounding areas. Uganda is one of the most earthquake-prone countries on the African continent. Quakes were also felt in the Aegean Sea, southeast Iran, the southern Philippines, northern Taiwan, southern and northern points in Japan, Alaska’s Prince William Sound, the California-Mexico border region and El Salvador.

Sea Lion Deaths

Mexican officials investigated the mysterious deaths of 180 sea lions found near the Gulf of California’s San Jorge Island. The remains of the marine mammals were found Feb. 23 during an inspection of the gulf’s northern zone. Mexico’s Federal Environmental Protection Agency has been unable to determine the cause of the deaths after initial autopsies. The latest incident follows the discovery of several whale carcasses along Mexico’s Pacific coast during January. In 1996, officials attributed the deaths of hundreds of marine mammals in the same area to poisoning from crude oil and the presence of red tide.

Additional Sources: U.S. National Earthquake Information Center and the United Nations World Meterological Organization.