Earthwatch: A Diary of the Planet

Deadly European Tempests

Three days of severe storms produced some of the worst weather damage Northern Europe had experienced during the previous century. Scores of residents were killed in accidents that stretched from Ireland to the Alps. High winds uprooted thousands of old-growth trees and inflicted widespread damage to buildings and power lines in several countries. The storms are likely to cost insurers well over $4 billion, making it the most expensive catastrophe in the world this year, and possibly Europe’s all-time worst insurance catastrophe.

Winter Wildfires

Residents of eastern Los Angeles County resorted to using garden hoses to soak their roofs as a wildfire burned into the backyards of their homes on the edge of the Angeles National Forest. More than 700 acres of the steep slopes in the San Gabriel Mountains burned as 1,000 firefighters worked to contain the blazes that were sparked a few miles north of Arcadia. Police evacuated 260 homes, giving some residents only five minutes to gather their belongings before leaving. The cause of the fire was unknown, but dry and warm weather contributed to the high fire danger.

Argentine Canine Hero

Argentina’s state-run Telam news agency reported that a dog in the northwest of the country saved his 4-year-old master from a swarm of bees by flinging itself over the boy’s body in an attempt to block the attack. Kharin Toloza was playing with his dog Chocolate near Valle Viejo when he was attacked by the insects. The dog immediately jumped on top of the boy and stayed there until the boy was taken to a hospital after receiving only a few stings. While Kharin survived the attack, the dog died as a result of numerous stings.

Earthquakes

Central and southern parts of Mexico were jolted by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake that broke windows and caused high-rise buildings in Mexico City to sway.

Earth movements were also felt in Vancouver Island, Maine, the Dominican Republic, Switzerland, western Greece, northern Egypt, New Zealand’s South Island, Indonesia’s Irian Jaya province, Taiwan, eastern and southern Japan and the Solomon Islands.

Southern Whale Drama

A baby whale returned to its stranded mother on a rocky Argentine beach and worked along with 40 human volunteers to prod her back into the icy South Atlantic Ocean. The two southern right whales had become trapped by an outgoing tide in a bay on the Patagonian shores. The fishermen used buckets to keep the whales’ skin wet, and were soon joined by more volunteers. Adrian Contreras of the Patagonia Nature Foundation reported that the baby whale continually prodded its mother with its head and bumped her with its tail, trying to awaken her. Both mother and calf were finally able to swim back into the ocean with only minor bruises.