Recent Natural Disasters | Calamities | Hazards

May 23, 2019: Rumor of 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Hong Kong today has panicked people causing thousands of people surfing search engines to know the details. The rumor started from the Facebook mentioning magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Hong Kong on May 23, 2019. People started sharing mentioning the doomsday for Hong Kong. A twitter handle Gemini mentioned that, "Few days ago, people here in Hong Kong panicked because of the news escalated on Facebook that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake will gonna hit today." The news soon became viral after the South China Morning Post tweeted about a mega earthquake hitting Hong Kong this week. The tweet was soon deleted.  SCM withdraw the news with heading "So will a big earthquake hit Hong Kong this week, as predicted by clairvoyant? Seismic experts weigh in" mentioning that, "this report has been withdrawn, in keeping with SCMP’s policy of being open and transparent. We acknowledge that the claims made in this

May 17, 2019: Magnitude 5.0 moderate earthquake has been recorded in Dhading district today at 02:08 pm local time. According to the Nepal Seismological Center, the quakes epicenter was located near Bungchung. A slight tremor was also felt in Southern part of Kathmandu valley. No preliminary damage or injuries have been reported. This is an  aftershock of magnitude 7.9 earthquake which occurred in Gorkha, Nepal  on April 25, 2015.

May 14, 2019: A powerful earthquake in Papua New Guinea measuring magnitude 7.5 triggers a tsunami alert for the country and the nearby Solomon Islands. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that the hazardous tsunami waves are possible for coasts located within 1,000km of the earthquake epicentre. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake occurred 45km NE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea at a shallow depth of 10km. The reported epicentre lies within the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area of regular seismic activity. The US Geological Survey mentioned that the earthquake in the New Ireland region of Papua New Guinea occurred as the result of shallow strike-slip faulting within the interior of the Pacific plate. Strong tremor of MMI VI was reported from Kokopo and Namatanai area.

May 13, 2019: There is a rumor spread about another severe tropical cyclone in Odisha in June 2019.  The message has been widely spreading across social medias. People in Odisha are warned of another severe cyclone after Fani . We would like to suggest to check the India Meteorological Department Website instead of running behind the rumors. If there are any storm or cyclone details, the website will provide the necessary information. People are panicked after the recent cyclone Fani slammed Odisha causing deaths of 64 as of today. Atleast 39 people died in Puri district alone.

May 12, 2019: An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 rattles Calayan town in Cagayan on Sunday afternoon. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the earthquake was followed by a magnitude 4.4 aftershock. The magnitude 5.2 earthquake occurred at 4:59 p.m with its epicenter at 87 km northwest of Calayan, Cagayan. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 20 km.  An hour later, 4.4 magnitude aftershock was also felt in Calayan town in Cagayan, Philippines .

May 12, 2019: An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 has been recorded in Dailekh district of Karnali province of Nepal. According to the Nepal Seismological center, the earthquake occurred at 00:36 midnight. The quake's epicenter was located near Baluwatar.  No preliminary damage or injuries have been reported. Last week, magnitude 4.0 earthquake occurred in Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal. This was the aftershock of magnitude 7.9 earthquake which occurred in Gorkha, Nepal on April 25, 2015.

May 2, 2019: According to an advisory issued by National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology, Royal Government of Bhutan on May 2, 2019, Bhutan is very likely to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the southern, eastern and isolated places of central parts of the country due to Cyclone Fani. The rest of the country is likely to receive moderate to heavy rain from 3rd May to 5th May.  Gusty wind is also very likely over the country during this period. Following the cyclone projected path, Bhutan will most likely not feel the direct impact of cyclone Fani. It indicated low pressure towards Bhutan. Bhutan is expected to have the peripheral effect of the cyclone due to the large size of the cyclonic system. Cyclone Fani has became an "extremely severe cyclonic" storm wind speeds up to 200 kmph keeping Coastal Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh region of India on high alert. 

May 3, 2019: An earthquake of magnitude 3.3 has been recorded 9km W of Templeton, California today. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was felt in Templeton on May 2, 2019 at 10:22 pm Thursday night. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 5km. The tremor was felt in Templeton, Paso Robles, Atascadero, Cayucos, Cambria, Los Osos, San Simeon, Bradley CA.

May 1, 2019: Cyclone Fani (pronounced as Foni) has became an "extremely severe cyclonic" storm wind speeds up to 200 kmph keeping Coastal Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh are on high alert.  Severe Cyclonic Storm Fani is currently located 680km SSW of Puri and will cross the Odisha coast between Gopalpur an Chandbali close to Puri. According to the press release issued by India Meteorological Department , cyclonic storm Fani will bring light to moderate rainfall at few places very likely over north coastal Andhra Pradesh & south coastal Odisha on 2nd May.  The sea conditions are very likely to be rough to very rough along & off Puducherry, Tamilnadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked his officials and the National Crisis Management Committee to stay in touch with the states at risk from Cyclone Fani, NDTV reported.

Earthquake epicenter map Update 07:23 am According to the Nepal Seismological center, two earthquakes have been recorded today in an interval of eleven minutes in Dhading district. The first earthquake of magnitude 5.2 occurred at 06:29 am. The epicenter was located near Naubise. The second earthquake of magnitude 4.3 occurred at 06:40 am. Both are the aftershocks of magnitude 7.9 earthquake which occurred in Gorkha, Nepal on April 25, 2015 . Update 6:54 am According to the United States Geological Survey, the magnitude 4.7 earthquake epicenter was located 31 km far from Kathmandu in Dhading area at Katuwalgaun.  The nearby villages are Baghmara, Charipauwa, Admaragaun, Thakani Gairigaun, Nayangaun and others. We expect moderate damages in these hilly areas. However, we will be waiting for the official earthquake details from Nepal Government. Update 6:38 am We have received hundreds of felt reports from Nagarjun and Tokha area. Tremor was strongly felt