Temperature Extremes
High temperature extreme:
Abada, Iran 121 degrees.

Low temperature extreme:
Vostok (Russia), Antarctica -109 degrees.

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Earthquakes
Relief officials pulled the bodies of thousands of victims out of the rubble left by a magnitude 7.8 temblor that struck western Turkey in the pre-dawn hours of August 17. A massive international relief effort was launched to help the country recover from the disaster.

Earth movements were also felt in Cyprus, northwestern and southern Greece, Burma, southwestern China, Indonesia’s Sumatra Island and Timor Sea region, South Australia, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Southern Sierra Nevada of California, as well as around Santa Barbara, California.

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Ant Supercolony Peril
Construction projects in northern Japan’s Hokkaido Island threaten the world’s largest “supercolony” of ants, according to a professor who has spent 28 years studying the insects.

Professor S. Higashi says the endangered 13-mile-long conglomerate of linked nests runs along the shore of the Sea of Japan where approximately 45,000 nests are populated by the Japanese red wood ant. Construction of a new port on Ishikari Bay, which began in 1973, has placed numerous roads and buildings over the supercolony. The ants are very sensitive to vibrations, and their numbers have gradually diminished since the construction began. The only other known supercolony of ants is in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland, and it is much smaller. The Swiss colony is protected by environmental laws.

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Hurricane Dora
The U.S. Army evacuated the last of its 1,100 personnel from Johnston Island in anticipation of the approach of hurricane Dora.

The small island in the central Pacific was lashed by storm-force winds and pounding surf before the hurricane lost force to the southwest of the U.S. possession. Dora had formed off the coast of Mexico and briefly attained maximum winds of nearly 100 mph.

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Swiss Glacier Crumbles
The Gutz Glacier in the Swiss Alps crumbled in the early morning hours of August 14, sending chunks of ice hurtling into the valley below.

The Alpine glacier, near the popular resort of Grindelwald, had begun shifting a month ago when authorities closed off fields and roads that lead to the area. Television crews and tourists waited for the event for several days in designated viewing areas. The glacier finally broke apart at 2:00 a.m. local time, preventing anyone from being able to see it fall in the darkness.

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Camel Drowning
At least 48 camels drowned in northern India’s Ragjasthan State due to flash floods triggered by monsoon rains.

Incessant rainfall broke an embankment, causing water to gush from the breech and form a huge lake in the Thar Desert. The damaged barrier was initially weakened when 10 inches of rain fell within a two-day period during early August.

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Deadly Brazilian Chill
Two people died in southern Brazil from one of the worst cold waves to hit the region in recent history.

Up to four inches of snow was dumped on some rural areas, but the fatalities occurred in the slums of Sao Paulo where temperatures dropped to 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures in several communities of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul dropped to 14 degrees as the region experienced snowfall for the first time since 1994. Beaches in Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, which are popular tourist destinations during the winter months, were deserted due to the frigid conditions.

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Belgium Twister
A tornado swept through the western Belgian city of Tournai, injuring five people and damaging at least 300 homes and 100 cars.

The powerful winds ripped roofs from buildings and smashed windows in the city as well as adjacent villages. The famed 12th-century cathedral in the historic part of Tournai was not damaged.

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Wayward Booby
A red-footed booby was treated for hypothermia at the Bird Treatment and Learning Center in Anchorage, Alaska, after it mistakenly followed a yacht from Hawaii to Kodiak Island.

The birds are notorious for following boats, but one biologist said they had never seen one venture so far north. The bird, which normally lives in the balmy climate of Hawaii, trailed the yacht, which hit a severe storm during the eight-day voyage. The boat’s crew took the battered booby aboard and radioed ahead to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials who then flew it to the treatment center. The bird was placed under a heat lamp until it stabilized. The director of the center said the young booby was ravenous and was ready to be put on the next passenger plane outbound for Hawaii.

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Additional Sources: Japan Meteorological Agency, U.S. Climate Analysis Center, U.S. Earthquake Information Center and the World Meteorological Organization.
Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.