Recent Natural Disasters | Calamities | Hazards

June 20, 2020: A light earthquake of magnitude 3.2 has been felt in Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand today at 10:02 am. According to the GeoNet , the earthquake's epicenter was located 5 km south of Christchurch. The earthquake occurred at 5 km depth. GeoNet has received more than 3,000 earthquake felt report.Most of the people share a light intensity earthquake. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) , since 1900 there have been 15 M7.5+ earthquakes recorded near New Zealand. A magnitude 6.2 earthquake in Christchurch in 2011 killed around 185 people.

June 16, 2020: A tornado in the Rajnagar block of Odisha ’s Kendrapara district has injured 12 people and damaged 70 houses. The storm has affected several villages including Rangani, Patparia, Baghamari, Garata, Ahirajpur, Keruapala, Sailendrasarai, Hatiaganda, Pravati, Kantiakhai and Khamarasahi.

June 16, 2020: At least three people have been killed or missing due to flash floods in Kwara, Nigeria and destroyed 100 houses in Akwa Ibom. A bridge embankment collapsed in Oko-Erin leaving one person dead and two others missing. Heavy downpour destroyed 100 houses and displaced 300 people in Eket Local Government Area.

June 18, 2020: At least 63 people have been killed or are missing as rainfalls continue to batter southern parts of China, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management. Torrential downpours unleashed floods, mudslides and landslides in various parts of south China. Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi provinces as well as Chongqing municipality  are some of the hardest hit provinces. About 228,000 people have had to seek emergency shelter due to the disaster in China since June 2, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.

June 14, 2020: A severe thunderstorm in Budapest, Hungary has claimed life of a person and caused damaging floods. Fatality has been identified as a 66-year-old woman, who lost her life in a flash flood in Tótvázsony, Veszprém county.  Thunderstorms are forecast to continue in the capital Budapest till June 18, 2020.

June 11, 2020: A tornado touched down in the city of Gavar in Armenia on June 11, 2020. According to the Armenia’s Hydrometeorology and Monitoring Service, tornadoes are very rare in Armenia.

June 14, 2020: Tropical Cyclone Nuri made landfall in southern China on Sunday morning becoming the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in China this year. According to the Chinese Meteorological Administration, Tropical Cyclone Nuri landed on Hailing Island in Yangjiang City at about 8:50am (00:50 GMT) on Sunday. Nuri landed as a tropical storm, packing winds of 82.8km/h (51.4 mph) near its centre. Guangdong had launched the Level IV emergency response (lowest on scale) on Friday evening as Nuri developed in the South China Sea. According to the Hong Kong Observatory, as of 11am today, Tropical Cyclone Nuri was about 260km west-southwest of the city and was expected to move northwest and weaken gradually. Tropical Storm Nuri (Butchoy) was formed on the eastern coast of the Philippines. Nuri is the second storm of the typhoon season in the West Pacific.

June 14, 2020: Recent flooding in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey has claimed lives of one people and damaged more than 250 houses. A man trying to clean his flooded barbershop died after he got electrocuted due to a short circuit caused by water damage. According to Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas, the municipality has deployed 840 personnel and 430 vehicles to help with flood clean up and repair operations. The country's meteorological agency has forecast more heavy rain and thunderstorms over central Anatolia on June 15, 2020.

June 14, 2020: The landslide in Kushma, the Parbat district headquarters in western Nepal , has claimed lives of at least nine people as of today. The landslide disaster occurred on Saturday night at Kushma Municipality Ward No. 3, in Durlung, Parbat. Three bodies were recovered on the same day while six additional bodies have been dug out today. One child, a 13-year-old boy, is still said to be missing. The personnel of Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and Nepal Army have been engaged in searching the missing body. Heavy rainfall triggered landslide in Kusma.

June 10, 2020: Dust storm and heavy rainfall lashed Delhi and Greater Noida today, uprooting trees, damaging vehicles and bringing down billboards. Traffic snarls were reported on the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Highway as well as on the Kalindi Kunj Road. Several tress were uprooted and cars were damaged in Noida's Sector 41. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) , thunderstorm with light rain accompanied with gusty winds of the speed of 40-50 kmph occurred over Delhi-NCR.  The Gautam Buddh Nagar traffic police tweeted that the traffic was disrupted due to felling of trees on the Kalindi Kunj road going from Delhi to Noida. The change in the weather has been caused by a cyclonic circulation over north Rajasthan and through running from North Pakistan to low-pressure area over the Bay of  Bengal .

June 10, 2020: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a new cyclone 'Gati' to develop over the Bay of Bengal this week.  A low pressure area is forecast to form somewhere near the coast of Myanmar. However, it is important to note that not all low pressure areas intensity into cyclones. If the weather disturbance reaches a certain level, it would be named as Cyclone Gati.  India has already experienced two cyclones this year. The Cyclone Amphan hit west Bengal in late May and another cyclone Nisarga hit the coast of Maharastra near Mumbai in early June.

June 9, 2020: Magnitude 5.7 earthquake in Southern Iran has triggered tremor in Qatar and Bahrain today. According to the Iranian Seismological Center , the earthquake occurred ar 10 km depth. The epicenter was located 22 km far from Beiram, Fars. Qatar Meteorology Department confirmed that the tremor was felt in the eastern coast of Qatar. Most of the earthquake felt reports were received from Doha. No damage or injuries have been reported from the earthquake.

June 5, 2020: Magnitude 3.3 earthquake has been felt in Watsonville today at 11:29 pm UTC, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) confirmed. According to the USGS, the earthquake's epicenter was located 6 km E of Interlaken and 8 km WSW of Watsonville, California. The tremor was felt by the people of Watsonville, Gilroy, Aromas, Cupertino, Morgan Hill and Salinas.