Monday, February 13, 2012

**There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven,
but more often I find myself wondering whether,
in our heart of hearts,
we have ever desired anything else.**
C.S. Lewis


LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.0 COMOROS REGION

Yesterday -
2/12/12 -
5.5 ASCENSION ISLAND REGION
5.1 NEAR COAST OF SOUTHERN PERU
5.2 OFF EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN

VOLCANOES -

Lava dome in Alaska's Cleveland volcano continues to grow - Cleveland volcano keeps grumbling away, with a lava dome continuing to grow, and the alert level remaining at "watch," according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. A status update on Saturday said that the volcano continued to show activity.

TROPICAL STORMS -
In the Indian Ocean -
-Tropical cyclone 12s (Giovanna) was located approximately 400 nm east of Antananarivo, Madagascar.
-Tropical cyclone 10p (Jasmine) was located approximately 195 nm southwest of Tonga.

HEAVY SNOW / EXTREME COLD -

Kosovo - A young girl has been pulled alive from a house hours after it was hit by an avalanche which killed at least nine people in southern Kosovo. She was found buried under 10 metres (33 ft) of snow after officers heard her voice and a mobile phone ringing. Rescuers are still looking for one person after the avalanche hit a remote mountain village on the border with Albania and Macedonia on Saturday. Several homes were destroyed. Only two were said to be occupied at the time. Nato peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo had been called in to help rescue operations, but were unable to land a helicopter in the blizzard. Those who were found dead in the village of Restelica after Saturday's avalanche were two brothers and their families. "No bigger tragedy has ever struck this region." The cold snap which started in Europe in late January has left dozens dead in the Balkans.