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Iran-Iraq
Iran Launches New Strikes on Iraq
Iran has launched new cross-border missile and drone strikes against Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in northern Iraq, whom it accuses of stoking a wave of protests in the Islamic Republic. Iran has been struggling for more than two months with civil unrest sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, after being arrested for allegedly breaching the strict hijab dress code for women. Iranian news agencies reported the Kurdistan Freedom Party’s headquarters near Kirkuk were “targeted by missiles and suicide drones.” According to a Kurdistan regional government spokesman, the attacked sites include the city of Perdi, which is north of Kirkuk, and the Degala region, east of the regional capital, Arbil. Iraqi Kurdistan has hosted several Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups since the 1980s. Although their activities have declined in recent years, the new wave of protests in Iran has stoked tensions once again. The cross-border strikes occurred less than a week after similar attacks.
This map depicts the region of northeastern Iraq, known as Iraqi Kurdistan, where cross-border missile and drone strikes were launched against Kurdish opposition groups by Iran. Click on the map to learn more.
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Solomon Islands
Magnitude 7.0 Earthquake
On Tuesday afternoon local time, a powerful magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Solomon Islands. No injuries or deaths have been reported yet, however shaking and tremors were reported in the capital Honiara. It has caused power outages and prompted some people to evacuate their buildings. The earthquake was followed by at least three aftershocks in the same area, with the largest measured at a 6.0 magnitude. A tsunami warning was issued, and the Prime Minister’s office urged people to move to higher ground following the first quake, however the initial tsunami warning has since been withdrawn. This earthquake comes shortly after an earthquake hit Java, Indonesia’s main island, on Monday, killing and injuring hundreds of people. Both locations sit on the Pacific Ring of Fire, a series of fault lines and volcanic hotspots surrounding the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
This map depicts the location of the Solomon Islands, where a magnitude 7.0 earthquake took place on Tuesday. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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United States
Mapping the Known Universe
Astronomers at Johns Hopkins University have released a new interactive map of the Universe, providing unprecedented accuracy and designed to give users a sense of cosmic scale. The map includes the accurate location and color of 200,000 galaxies in what is still just a slice of the observable universe. At the bottom of the map, represented by a single pixel, is our own Milky Way galaxy, which in and of itself consists of billions of stars and planets. The map’s distances are represented in billions of years from the Big Bang, and the end of the map is the Cosmic Microwave background, the initial flash of radiation from the Big Bang, roughly 13.7 billion years ago. The colors of the galaxies are based on the changes in light wavelengths that are received from the distant galaxies on Earth as they move outward. The map is available for viewing online and is also downloadable.
This map depicts the slice of the known universe mapped out by astronomers at Johns Hopkins University. This map was recently released for the public to explore. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Where can you find the smallest shared landmass on Earth?
A: St. Maarten/St. Martin
At just 34 square miles (87 sq km), and located in the northeast Caribbean Sea, 190 miles (306 km) east of Puerto Rico, the island of Saint Martin is the smallest inhabited island on Earth shared by two nations. The northern half is governed by the French-run Collectivité de Saint-Martin, while the southern half, Sint Maarten, is one of just four countries that form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Saint Martin’s history is a bit different than that of other Caribbean islands in the aftermath of decolonization. Usually, the European colonial powers of Britain, France, the Netherlands, and Spain would battle for who held power over colonial lands. However in Saint Martin’s case, France and the Netherlands chose a peaceful coexistence. At the end of the Eighty Years’ War between the Spanish and Dutch in 1648, the Spanish deserted the island, and France and the Netherlands signed the Treaty of Concordia, splitting the island into two. The success of the partition is partly attributable to the fact that the island had a minimal native population.
Source
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Q: Where is the windiest place in the world? (Hint: It’s not Chicago!)
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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