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Japan
Over 48 Killed by Earthquake
On Monday, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake hit Japan near the Noto Peninsula in the Ishikawa prefecture, prompting tsunami warnings for its west coast until Tuesday morning, and killing at least 48 people. Across nine prefectures, almost 100,000 people were evacuated. A tsunami wave around 4 feet (1.2 m) high hit the coastal epicenter, Wajima city in Ishikawa, 10 minutes after the magnitude 7.6 earthquake, while a fire sparked by the collapse of buildings engulfed houses in the area. Around 33,000 households remained without power in Ishikawa and Niigata prefectures early on Tuesday morning, with several highways closed, as well as flights and bullet train services suspended. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported the country had been hit by 155 earthquakes since the initial tremor on Monday. Residents in the affected areas were warned to brace for further aftershocks, landslides, or new tsunami warnings.
This map depicts the epicenter of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake which occurred on Monday and killed over 48 people in the Ishikawa prefecture on Japan’s west coast. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al Jazeera
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Yemen
Iranian Warship Enters Red Sea
One day after the United States Navy destroyed three ships belonging to Houthi rebels from Yemen, Iran has sent a 308-foot (94 meter) warship, the Alvand-class Alborz, to the Red Sea. For weeks now, Houthi rebels have been attacking shipping vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in retaliation for Israel’s anti-terrorist campaign in Gaza. In response, the US organized a multinational naval mission to protect the critical shipping route that connects south and east Asia to the Mediterranean and North Atlantic Ocean via the Suez Canal. The movement of the Alborz to the Red Sea was announced by Iran’s semi-official news agency, Tasnim, but no details about the ship’s mission have been revealed. The Houthi rebels, who hold large portions of Yemen’s territory, are known to be supported by the Iranian government, also a major supporter of Hamas in Gaza.
This map depicts the location of the Iranian warship, the Alborz, which recently entered the Red Sea. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The U.S. Sun
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Space
Juno Passes Jupiter’s Io Moon
On Saturday, the Juno spacecraft made the closest fly-by of one of Jupiter’s moons, Io, in over 20 years, coming within 930 miles (1,500 km) of the moon’s surface. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) originally launched Juno in 2011 to study Jupiter and its moons until 2021, but that mission was extended until September 2025 as the spacecraft proved operationally capable. Juno has already sent back a wealth of valuable data and spectacular images of Juno’s surface from the December 30 encounter. Io is the most volcanically-active object in our solar system, as its surface is pulled in multiple directions by the gravitational pull of Jupiter and several of Io’s sister moons. These pressures, along with frictional heat energy produced by Io’s fast 43-day orbit of Jupiter cause it to have a tectonically-unstable crust. Juno is set to make one more close fly-by of Io on February 3.
This map depicts the orbital paths of NASA’s Juno spacecraft on its original and extended missions to explore Jupiter and its moons. Juno made a close fly-by of the moon Io on December 30 and will make one more fly-by on February 3. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The first confirmed surface conquest of the North Pole was conducted by snowmobile in what year?
A: 1968
90th Parallel North, or the North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth’s axis of rotation meets its surface. It is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with shifting sea ice. The first undisputed expedition to reach the North Pole was that of the airship Norge, which overflew the area in 1926. The first confirmed overland expedition to reach the North Pole was in 1968 by Ralph Plaisted, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl, and Jean-Luc Bombardier, using snowmobiles and with air support. They began the 412-mile (663 km) traverse at Canada’s Ward Hunt Island, navigating with a sextant and being resupplied by aircraft throughout. They spent 43 days and 11 hours traveling on the ice before reaching their final camp on April 19. The United States Air Force independently confirmed their position.
Source
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Q: Where in the world do we find the phenomenon of the Meeting of Waters, the confluence of two different colored rivers which run side by side without mixing?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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