6.3 magnitude earthquake sends people fleeing in Morocco and Spain

#AlHoceima #spain #earthquake It was a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the Mediterranean between Morocco and Spain and send the people fleeing for cover. The 20-mile deep quake hit at 5.22am (local time). The location was 39 miles north of the Moroccan city of Al Hoceima and 102 miles east-southeast of Gibraltar as confirmed by the US Geological Survey said.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 25 January 2016.

There were six aftershocks including a 5.3-magnitude tremor but there were no immediate reports of any fatalities. However, emergency services received 250 calls from alarmed residents in the Andalucia region, in southern Spain and tremors and aftershocks were felt throughout the area including in the cities of Malaga, Cordoba, Seville and Granada. Nearly 200 households in the Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast suffered damage to their properties.
It may be recalled that in February 2004, a strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake had hit near Al Hoceima and killed 631 people. This time the location is same but no report of fatalities. Incidentally, on Sunday, the US state of Alaska was hit by a magnitude-6.8 earthquake.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

Some more interesting links -

Lord Shiva and TV Reality shows (satire)

Moody hates to be cowed down by cows (satire)

Bengal’s solution to tackle air pollution (satire)


Goa Carnival Package by Indian Railways - train to leave Mumbai on Feb 5

Walmart surrenders to Amazon, decides to close down 269 stores in the US and Latin America

Mass burning of all cigarettes in Turkmenistan to stamp out smoking


David Bowie succumbs to his 18-month battle against cancer

Kangana Ranaut learns horse riding for her role in ‘Rangoon’

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan to promote tourism in Bengal


At least seven killed in Jakarta suicide attacks near Starbucks cafe

More than 23 killed in Splendid Hotel, Burkina Faso, by al-Qaeda

Mastermind of Paris terror attacks entered Britain through Dover easily

Europe facing serious migrant crisis – Italy Navy recues 52 from dinghy

#Lampedusa #mediterranean #migrants The exodus of people from the war ravaged Syria, Iraq and other Middle East countries is posing a major challenge to Europe who have to accept the migrants on humanitarian grounds. In one of the latest such cases, Italy's navy has rescued 52 migrants from a sinking rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean – another 50 others are believed to be missing.
This has been reported in bbc.com dated 12 August 2015.

It seems a warship was able to pick up about half of those on board and, later, another two who were spotted clinging to a floating barrel. The survivors have been shifted to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The arrival of migrants on the Greek island of Kos is giving rise to tensions and the European Commission has described the situation as "beyond urgent". In its opinion, it is necessary that there be a "collective European response" to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people who are desperate to reach European shores.
As revealed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, about 250,000 migrants have crossed by sea to Europe so far this year – out of them, 124,000 have come to Greece and 98,000 to Italy. The Italian navy has confirmed rescue of 1,700 people on Tuesday alone.
(Image courtesy wikmediacommons.org)

Some more interesting 'must reads'-

Take care of the heart – a few dos and don’ts

Chinese research finds that spicy food is the secret to a long life

Swatchh Bharat campaign takes a beating in Delhi itself


Dame Julie Andrews to direct new ‘My Fair Lady’ in Sydney for 60th birthday of Opera Australia

There is a fight scene between Captain America and Spiderman in ‘Civil War’

Shah Rukh Khan’s fond wish - to see Ethan Hunt and James Bond in one movie


Parts of lost plane MH370 of Malaysia Airline washes up on Reunion Island

Niloy Neel, fourth blogger of Bangladesh, hacked to death in Dhaka

Suicide bombers attack Kabul –kill dozens of innocents


A street food named jhal muri

A tribute to Kishore Kumar, the legend, on his 86th birthday

The world of fuchka, golgappa and panipuri

Journey to freedom – 5800 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean

#illegalimmigrants #Europe #Lampedusa #Mediterranean The exodus from Mid-East countries continues unabated as people try to flee from the violence and death and make a bid for freedom in Europe. The Italian authorities have rescued another nearly 5,800 migrants desperate to reach Europe. They were rescued over the weekend as they tried to cross the Mediterranean on rickety boats and a majority of them were rescued on Sunday.
This has been reported by the Italian coastguard and indicated in zeenews.india.com dated 4 May 2015.

It seems the number of migrants rescued this weekend was one of the highest recorded in recent years. Obviously, the exodus of people who are risking their lives to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East has not been affected by recent disasters.
On April 12 and 13 alone, more than 6,000 people were rescued and all of them are not lucky to make it to Europe. Rescuers have recovered some dead bodies on board the vessels. How they died is not clear but these people face many dangers and extreme conditions while fleeing on board overcrowded, flimsy vessels that set sail from Libya to Italy.
Most of the migrants head for the Italian island of Lampedusa which is the closest option to the shores of North Africa.
In the latest rescue operations in the Mediterranean four Italian coastguard vessels, two Italian navy ships and two customs boats, as well as four cargo ships and tugs were involved.
Incidentally, the figures for the number of migrants who have entered illegally into the EU in 2014 almost tripled to 276,000. And, a majority of them (nearly 220,000 as per Frontex) have arrived via the Mediterranean.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Durga Puja - priest dancing with devotee (YouTube video)


EU realizes the curse of plastic carry bags – to banish the bags

100 cities in India would turn into Smart Cities

Pet Pomeranians of Surat married off, 500 wedding guests enjoy the feast

Woman kills her husband because of his dark complexion

Baltimore on fire as protest over death of a black youth in police custody spirals out of control

‘Papri’ and ‘Barood’ - collection of Bengali short stories published from Nashik

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

Tragedy off Libyan coast as migrant boat capsizes, more than 400 presumed dead

#migrantboat #ItalianCoastGuard #SaveTheChildren #EuropeanUnion It was a major tragedy as a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Libya and, as per the survivors of the boat, nearly 400 persons are believed to have met a watery grave. This is what they have told the aid group Save the Children.
It has been reported also in nzherald.co.nz dated 15 April 2015.

The fears have also been expressed by Italy's Coast Guard who have said that given the size of the ship, the number of dead might increase. So far, nine bodies had been found and the coast guard helped to rescue some 144 people. They have also launched an air and sea search operation in the hope of finding others.
These unfortunate deaths would add to the toll on the numbers of migrants lost at sea. As per estimates of the International Organization of Migration, up to 3072 migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean in 2014 – in comparison, in 2013, the figure was around 700.
European Union is also worried and as a top migration official has remarked, EU must quickly adapt to the growing numbers of migrants trying to reach its shores. Latest figures indicate that more than 7000 migrants have been plucked from the Mediterranean in the last four days.
These deaths are due to people fleeing from trouble stricken Middle East and mostly belonging to Syria, Iraq, Somalia and neighboring countries.
However, in the opinion of the IOM those estimates could be low because, since the year 2000, more than 22,000 migrants have lost their lives in trying to reach Europe.

A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub

British Army wants computer whizzkids to counter the growing menace of ISIS propaganda

Contract bridge is a good option on Sundays

Pattern of death changing in India – heart and lung related diseases are top killers

Stray dogs attend funeral of Mexican woman who fed them

Health tips – lose weight without dieting

Anchovies can boost good cholesterol and reduce risk factors of the heart

Ignoring threats from Kalashnikov wielding gunmen, Italian coastguard rescues 2000 migrants

#mediterranean #migrants #libyancoast #italy #UNHCR It was a major rescue operation undertaken by the Italian coastguard when it managed to rescue over 2,000 Mediterranean migrants off the Libyan coast as reported in bbc.com dated 15 February 2015. At the time of rescue, the search teams were threatened by Kalashnikov-wielding men. They had approached in a speedboat from Libya.
This rescue effort involved a plane, four coastguard ships, two tugboats and a navy vessel and, as informed by local media, the migrants were crammed into 12 boats – they have, since, been shifted to Italy.
It may be recalled that only last week, at least 300 migrants met a watery grave in the Mediterranean Sea. They were travelling in dinghies and ran into trouble when they faced stormy weather after leaving the coast of Libya. In between, another 600 migrants were rescued about 50 miles off the coast of the North African country.
Statistics of UNHCR reveal that almost 3,500 people died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and land in Europe in 2014. Such a large number of casualties makes this sea crossing the most dangerous one for migrants who are attempting to enter the European Union. Of course, during the same period, more than 200,000 people have been rescued also.