Some people believe that the world will end
on December 21, 2012 - which is said to be the
end-date of a 5,125 year long cycle in the Mayan
calendar. Whether this apocalyptic forecast is
true or not, 2010 has so far been full of freaky
phenomena, bizarre events in nature, and wicked
natural disasters. It's only May, not even half
way through this year, but here are the top apocalyptic
events that have happened already in 2010.
Earthquakes
The ground has quaked, shaking until the devastation
is chaotically mind-boggling, with hundreds of
thousands injured or dead. It all started in Haiti,
and since then Chile, Hawaii, Japan, Turkey, California,
Mexico, Russia, Indonesia, and then China suffered
the same shaking fate. Many more places around
the globe have also been affected by seismic activity.
Here are a few images of the most deadly earthquakes
so far in 2010. Like something out of disaster
film or an epic night terror dream, these earthquakes
triggered a deadly chain of events including fires,
landslides and tsunamis.
Haiti
On January 12th, a catastrophic magnitude 7.0
earthquake destroyed Haiti. By January 24th, at
least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater
had been recorded. An estimated 3,000,000 people
were affected by the quake. The Haitian Government
reported that an estimated 230,000 people had
died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made
homeless.
Chile
Chile has endured not one but two deadly earthquakes.
The first triggered a tsunami wave. On February
27th, an earthquake rating a magnitude of 8.8
shook the ground for 90 seconds. On March 11th,
Pichilemu, Chile, experienced a 6.9 magnitude
earthquake. Hundreds died and thousands were left
homeless. There is a car under the wreckage, barely
enough to register a blip on the scale of destruction
caused by the earthquakes.
China
On April 14th, residents of Yushu, China, woke
up to the nightmare of a magnitude 6.9 earthquake.
In the above photo, Chinese paramilitary policemen
searched for survivors under the debris of collapsed
houses. Landslides and mudslides have since resulted
as hundreds were trapped under the rubble and
thousands were left homeless.
Hail and Floods
On March 6, a massive hail storm hammered Melbourne,
Australia. The hail was nothing short of giant-sized:
Then came the flash flood, as seen in another
video footage in a different Melbourne location:
Locust Swarm Attacks Australia
Like some pestilence plague out of the Old Testament
Bible, locusts swarmed and invaded Queensland,
Australia on April 8th. The plague is said to
be the biggest to hit the region in 30 years and
stripped much of the plant-life bare.
Non Aqueous Rain
This sounds like an April Fools prank, but the
phrase 'it's raining cats and dogs' came from
somewhere. That somewhere is the rare phenomenon
of non-aqueous rain. Once again in poor Australia,
this time in a remote desert town that is 326
miles from the nearest river, it rained fish for
two days. Since people are not expecting objects
like fish to fall from the sky, it is rarely documented
with photographs. However, here is one such photographed
example of non aqueous rain.
This meteorological phenomena was documented
by National Geographic in the 1970s. This most
bizarre event has been occurring for more than
a century on a yearly basis in Honduras. It is
called Lluvia de Peces or Rain of Fish. If you
go, take a frying pan and take part of the fish
eating festival that follows. And please take
pictures. Other documented cases of non aqueous
rain include a shower of frogs in Wiltshire, England,
which made the headlines in 1939. In 1983, many
yachtsmen in Dorset reported lumps of coal falling
from the sky.
Volcanic Eruptions
The 2010 volcanic eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull
in Iceland caused major disruption to air travel
across western and northern Europe. On April 14th
until April 20th, most flights were canceled within,
to, and from Europe. The eruption on the 14th
exploded a plume of ash 30,000 feet in the air.
Fireballs
The night of April 14th, thousands of people
across parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
and Wisconsin witnessed a gigantic fireball lighting
up the dark sky. Reactions ranged from, "It's
the end of the world," to "UFO!"
Although the fireball was impressive and highly
unusual, the reality of it is somewhat less dramatic.
The fireball that streaked across the sky was
a large meteorite glowing as it entered the Earth's
atmosphere from outer space.
Tornadoes
Tornadoes happen every year in tornado alley,
so there is nothing highly bizarre or unusual
about it. In the last week, tornadoes caused loss
of lives and property damage as they ripped paths
of destruction in Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana,
Arkansas, Texas, Kansas, Colorado and Alabama.
Upcoming Freak Storms? Hurricanes and
Typhoons
What more can happen? Never ask that question
for people soon find out what's next. For example,
we are approaching the upcoming hurricane and
typhoon season. God help us...
