“Based on long-term earthquake records dating back to nearly 1900, the expected annual occurrence of significant comprises roughly 16 events. The 2023 Hatay earthquakes were among the most severe in recent history.” a researcher Ozer said in 2023.

The Hatay region of Turkey is located at the boundary between the Anatolian and Arabian plates. This region experienced a severe earthquake on February 6^th, 2023, impacting various aspects of its buildings and cultural heritage. Over 50,000 people died, and the cost was more 104 billion dollars.

Following the significant destruction, a study conducted by Nizar Polat published in Springer Nature in 2023 examines the deformation (变形) of the Earth’s surface in several cities in the Hatay region. The study not only employs Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) (无人机) to get high-resolution 3D modeling (高分辨率的三维建模), but also uses aerial imagery (航空图像) to analyze surface deformations and cracks in the bedrock. Results show 7 cracks ranging from 24.11 to 497.69 m in length.

Besides, analysis within the subsidence (沉降区) area is also used to reveal the extent of physical deformations. Two subsidence areas are identified, measuring 23,060.8m² and 13,954.2m² respectively, with height changes of up to 20m. The accuracy of the photos are proved with a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) (均方根误差) of 4.6cm, indicating high accuracy.

This study reveals the value of drone-based high-resolution 3D modeling in revealing the earthquake-caused deformation and landscape changes. These findings have greatly improved the understanding of earthquake destructions in the Hatay area and provided more insights to future research and reduce natural disasters.

My family lost everything in the little-known flood of Baton Rouge, Louisiana last year that the Red Cross called the “Worst US disaster since Hurricane Sandy.”

It began raining in mid-August. Then it rained some more, got more powerful, and didn’t stop for days. There was talk that the local rivers were going to crest (到达顶点)and cause some pretty serious flooding. We lived somewhat close to the Amite River, but our senior neighbors told us that our neighborhood hadn’t flooded in over 100 years.

Local news said that the nearby high school may get a little bit of water inside from the rising river. We thought we had a couple of days to plan on how we were going to shelter in place because of the weather forecast.

On the 13th of August I woke up, walked outside and headed toward the direction of the river. Some of the lower areas were collecting water but there was no standing water anywhere near my house or even my neighborhood. I went back home and told my wife we should probably get some supplies in case this got serious; that maybe we should even pack a car in case we needed to leave though I was fairly certain there was nothing to worry about.

About 30 minutes into slowly packing there was a loud banging on my front door. It was my wife’s cousin. I opened the door and she said, “What are you doing?! Get out of the house!” I looked behind her and noticed my entire yard underwater and the waterline only about a half-inch from going over my doorstep and into my house.

I was floored. The river wasn’t supposed to crest until the next day. I thought we had more time.

I yelled at my wife, “We have to get out of the house. Now!”

We packed up both our cars in about 10 minutes with only our most precious memories. Everything else we had built during a 10-year marriage was left behind. We evacuated about 5 miles east away from the river to my wife’s grandmothers.

After being there for about an hour someone came to the front door and said, “You guys ned to get out. The river is coming.”

Sure enough, her yard was flooding too.

We evacuated a second time in as many hours to her cousin’s house even further east. After only an hour we were told again that the river was on the way and we had to leave.

People living in some northern Italian towns face fines for wasting water as mayors ration(定量供应) supplies amid a severe drought.

Italy has had one of its driest winters in the last 65 years, with rainfall 80% lower than the seasonal average. The situation has been more acute in northern regions, where some areas have been deprived(剥夺) of significant rainfall for three months or more. The Po, the county’s longest river, is at its lowest level recorded in winter since 1972.

Mayors of towns in regions including Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy and Trentino have introduced water-rationing measures, ranging from fountains being switched off and nightly restrictions on tap water to bans on using water for gardens and allotments(小块菜地), for washing cars and filling swimming pools.

“I don’t ever recall a situation of this kind in winter. We haven’t had any rain since 8 December,” said Francesco Pietrasanta, the mayor of Quarona, a town in Piedmont. “The rule is to only use water for real necessity, such as for hygiene(卫生) or food reasons.”

The winter drought followed an intense, protected heatwave across Italy last summer. In August, Siracusa in Sicily is believed to have broken the European record for the highest temperature when it recorded a figure of 48.8℃. Snowfall has also been below average this winter. Scientists have long predicted that the climate crisis and global heating would lead to more frequent extreme weather.

Rain is forecast in the north and the rest of Italy from Wednesday, although Pietrasanta said it would need to be significant to resolve the water shortage. “We might get some rain on Friday but I’m not sure it will be enough,” he said. “This situation ought to make us think about changing policy to manage water in a different way, especially with climate change.”