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Philippines
Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake Strikes
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck the Philippines’ Luzon Island Tuesday evening. The epicenter was located near the upland town of Dolores, with the effects of the earthquake felt as far as the capital city of Manila, located more than 205 miles (330 km) south. Police and civil aviation officials reported at least 26 people were injured by the earthquake in the northern province with no immediate reports of casualties. Today, the international airport in the city of Laoag is closed due to damage, and government officials have warned citizens of potential aftershocks from the earthquake.
This map depicts the epicenter of the 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the Philippines’ Luzon Island. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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Uganda
Fire at a Blind School Kills 11
On Tuesday night, a fire broke out in the dormitory of a school for the blind in Uganda’s Luga village in the Mukono district. Students of the Salama School for the Blind were sleeping when the fire erupted. Eleven died, and another six were injured. The cause of the fire is not clear, and the Ugandan Police Force has launched an investigation in response. Built in 1999, Salama has been serving visually-impared students between the ages of six to 25. Although the fire damaged parts of the school building, the overall structure remains intact. Previous school fires in Uganda in 2006, 2008, and 2018 killed 13, 18, and 11 students, respectively.
This map depicts the municipality of Mukono, where a dormitory fire at a school for the blind broke out Tuesday evening, killing 11 students. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: France 24
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Space
Methane Super-Emitters Detected
Using an instrument primarily designed to study how dust affects climate change, NASA scientists have identified 50 methane-emitting hotspots around the world from space. Since it was first installed on the International Space Station in July, the imaging spectrometer instrument discovered more than 50 methane “super-emitters” in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the southwestern United States. Methane is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is estimated to be responsible for roughly 30% of the global rise in temperatures to date. These newly measured methane hotspots, some previously known and others just discovered, include sprawling oil and gas facilities and large landfills. NASA administrators claim the instrument will help stop emissions directly at the source, with this instrument potentially finding hundreds more methane hotspots before the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation’s (EMIT) year-long mission ends.
This map depicts a methane plume at least 3 miles (4.8 km) long, rising from a major landfill south of Tehran, Iran, as captured by NASA’s orbital imaging spectrometer, overlaid on a satellite image of the area. Click on the map to learn more.
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The night may be dark and full of terrors, but at least you can get directions! Game of Thrones fan and graphic designer, Danny Selvagn, has taken the iconic “Known World” and transformed it into a Google Maps format. The map spans the period of the original Game of Thrones show, but fans of HBO’s prequel, House of the Dragon, will also recognize iconic landmarks. Explore the vast lands of Westeros and beyond through individual continent maps and a full world map. By the Old gods and the New, we swear it’s worth a look over!
Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the most densely populated desert in the world?
A: Thar Desert, India
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is considered the most inhospitable ecoregion in the Indo-Pacific, and at the same time, is the world’s most densely populated desert. Thar supports a human population density of over 80 people per square kilometer. It is relatively biodiverse as well, with notable mammals such as the blue bull and the Indian gazelle – once prey to the lions and cheetahs that roamed the southern portions of the desert up until the 1900s. The 77,000 sq mile (200,000 sq km) Thar Desert is situated west of the Aravalli Mountain Range in the northwestern states of Gujarat and Rajasthan, and extends across the border to the Punjab and Sind provinces in Pakistan. It is the 9th largest subtropical desert in the world, characterized by climate extremes; in the winters, temperatures hit freezing while in the summers, highs can reach well over 122°F (50°C). Around 5,000 years ago, Thar was home to the ancient cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, which supported civilizations contemporary to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.
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Q: Despite being split in two by a strip of agricultural land, what is the world’s oldest surviving rainforest?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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Write to ags@americangeo.org with any ideas!
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