Southern and Eastern India are struggling with the consequences of severe drought caused by an early season heat wave and the lack of relief from monsoon rain. Dangerously high temperatures have so far claimed over 160 lives while 330 million people are affected by…
Santa Maria's Santiaguito lava-dome complex located in the western province of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala produced another strong eruption on April 19, 2016. The event was accompanied by moderate to strong ashfall affecting areas in the radius between 6 and 25 km…
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit near the coast of Ecuador at 08:33 UTC on April 20, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 15.7 km (9.7 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth. According to the USGS, the epicenter…
A large strombolian eruption, lasting several hours and characterized by emission of incandescent fragments and tall ash columns, occurred at Popocatépetl volcano, Mexico on April 18, 2016. The eruption started at 07:32 UTC (02:32 local time), gradually…
According to the CATDAT database, over 8 million deaths have been caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, storms, bush-fires and volcanoes since the beginning of the 20th century. The highest amount of damage has been caused by floods while the…
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared a state of emergency in nine counties after record-breaking rainfall on April 18 caused unprecedented flooding in the Houston area. As of 17:00 UTC (12:00 CDT), April 19, 6 people have died as a result of severe flooding. The…
Tropical Cyclone "Fantala" strengthened to a Category 5 equivalent hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. At 18:42 UTC on April 17, its maximum sustained winds reached 277.8 km/h (172.6 mph / 150 knots; JTWC) and made Fantala one of the…
A major storm has ravaged parts of the US in the period between April 15 and 17, 2016. Heavy snowfall and flash floods wreaked havoc across the affected areas, causing large traffic disruptions, power outages and evacuations. More than 0.3 m (1 feet) of snowfall was…
A strong earthquake registered by Geoscience Australia as M6.0 hit near the coast of Tanna island, Vanuatu at 13:06 UTC on April 18, 2016. The agency is reporting a depth of 64 km (39.7 miles). EMSC is reporting M5.9 at a depth of 72 km (44.7 miles). USGS is…
Powerful Tropical Cyclone "Fantala" strengthened to 240 km/h (149.6 mph) on April 17, greater than what was previously forecast. The storm is about to make a U-turn toward the southeast and slowly weaken. Strong wind warnings are in effect for Rodrigues,…
