Natural Disasters

Bloomberg News reports: The people of Iceland are bracing for what could be the country’s most devastating volcanic eruption in 50 years, with a small fishing town at risk of being destroyed. There’s a significant likelihood of magma busting to the surface over the coming days at Grindavik, home to over 3,600 people, the Met Office said on Sunday. More …

CNBC reports: The U.S. has suffered the highest number of billion-dollar weather disasters on record this year with wildfires and severe storms wreaking havoc from Hawaii to Florida, according to a report released by the federal government Monday. The nation has been hit by 23 such disasters so far in 2023, the highest number since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric …

The Associated Press reports: A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night, killing more than 800 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. But the full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest. People woken by the quake …

The Washington Post reports: At least five large U.S. property insurers — including Allstate, American Family, Nationwide, Erie Insurance Group and Berkshire Hathaway — have told regulators that extreme weather patterns caused by climate change have led them to stop writing coverages in some regions, exclude protections from various weather events and raise monthly premiums and deductibles. Major insurers say …

CNN reports: Millions of people in Mexico have been warned to prepare for a possible evacuation after increased activity from the country’s most dangerous active volcano, which has been spewing ash into several nearby towns since last week, according to authorities. Ash from Popocatépetl volcano, which is in a central part of the country, has delayed flights in Mexico City …

CNN reports: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today announced $100 million in disaster relief aid for Turkey and Syria as the countries grapple with the aftermath of a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has killed at least 46,000 people. The top US diplomat, who took a helicopter tour Sunday of some of the hardest-hit areas alongside Turkish foreign minister …

The Guardian reports: A powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake has hit Turkey’s southern province of Hatay, terrifying those left in a region devastated by powerful twin earthquakes two weeks earlier. The quake, less powerful than the initial 7.8 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes which tore a path of destruction through southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February, albeit threatened yet more …

NPR reports: As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan struggles to defend his response to last Monday’s devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake, videos from a few years back have emerged showing him hailing some of the housing projects that crumbled, killing thousands of people. The videos have fueled public outrage over slow efforts to help residents in the aftermath of the massive …

NBC News reports: Natural disasters forced an estimated 3.4 million people in the U.S. to leave their homes in 2022, according to Census Bureau data, underscoring how climate-related weather events are already changing American communities. The overwhelming majority of these people were uprooted by hurricanes, followed by floods, then fires and tornadoes. Nearly 40% returned to their homes within a …

Politico Europe reports: The death toll from a massive earthquake in Turkey and Syria is likely to “double or more” from its current level of 33,000, United Nations relief chief Martin Griffiths told Sky News. “I think it is difficult to estimate precisely as we need to get under the rubble, but I’m sure it will double or more,” said …

The New York Times reports: With anger swelling in Turkey on Saturday over the government’s slow response to Monday’s devastating earthquake and what critics say was shoddy construction, the government began detaining building contractors across the country who it blamed for some of the collapses that have helped drive the death toll above 21,000. More than 100 people were detained …

The Associated Press reports: Turkey has for years tempted fate by not enforcing modern construction codes while allowing — and in some cases, encouraging — a real estate boom in earthquake-prone areas, experts say. The lax enforcement, which experts in geology and engineering have long warned about, is gaining renewed scrutiny in the aftermath of this week’s devastating earthquakes, which …

Reuters reports: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited southern Turkey on Wednesday to see first-hand the destruction wrought by a massive earthquake as anger grew among local people over what they said was a slow government response to the rescue and relief effort. The combined confirmed death toll from Monday’s quake, which struck a swathe of southern Turkey and neighbouring Syria, …

The Associated Press reports: Rescuers raced Tuesday to find survivors in the rubble of thousands of buildings brought down by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and multiple aftershocks that struck eastern Turkey and neighboring Syria, with the discovery of more bodies raising the death toll to more than 5,000. Countries around the world dispatched teams to assist in the rescue efforts, …

Via press release from the White House: Jill and I were deeply saddened by the news of the devastating earthquakes that have thus far claimed thousands of lives in Turkiye and Syria. My Administration has been working closely with our NATO Ally Turkiye, and I authorized an immediate U.S. response. At my direction, senior American officials reached out immediately to …

Reuters reports: More than 1,500 people were killed and thousands injured on Monday when a huge earthquake struck central Turkey and northwest Syria, pulversing apartment blocks and heaping more destruction on Syrian cities already devastated by years of war. The magnitude 7.8 quake, which hit in the early darkness of a winter morning, was the worst to strike Turkey this …

From a press release issued last night: Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for Humboldt County to support the emergency response to today’s 6.4 magnitude earthquake near the City of Ferndale. The earthquake has resulted in two fatalities and injured multiple people, caused power outages and damaged roads, bridges, buildings and critical infrastructure including water lines and gas …

CNN reports: A 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook Northern California’s Eureka area early Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, and thousands are without power in its wake. The quake, recorded at 2:34 a.m. PT, was centered in the Pacific just off the coast, about 7.5 miles from the Humboldt County city of Ferndale, the survey said. Most homes and businesses …

The Associated Press reports: Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, has started to erupt, prompting volcanic ash and debris to fall nearby, authorities said Monday. The eruption began late Sunday night in the summit caldera of the volcano on the Big Island, the U.S. Geological Survey said. Early Monday, it said lava flows were contained within the summit …

Florida Politics reports: Twenty-two days since Hurricane Ian hit the Gulf Coast and forged a path of destruction across the state, the amount of federal recovery aid distributed to the state blew past the $1 billion mark. The speed of the aid’s distribution appears to be outpacing — and by some measures overtaking — the federal aid that followed Hurricane …