A moderate earthquake struck western Sulawesi, Indonesia, on 15 January 2021 at approximately 2:28am (SGT). According to the United States Geological Survey, the Mw 6.2 event occurred about 36 kilometres (km) south of Mamuju on the island of Sulawesi at a depth of 18 km.
This year has been an extraordinary one and has been challenging for many, but it has demonstrated how resilient and innovative we can be in response to unique circumstances during this “new normal”. We continued addressing critical questions in Earth science, conducted more research in Singapore than ever before, and brought our science to the public with two exhibitions and a documentary series in collaboration with our partners.
A rock collection might not seem exciting at first sight. But do you know that the collection from the newly opened Geology Gallery at the Sentosa Nature Discovery, reveals Singapore’s geological past?
The activity of Ili Lewotolok (or Lewotolo) volcano ramped up on 29 November 2020 with a series of eruptions. The largest of these eruptions occurred at about 9:45am local/Singapore time (1:45am UTC) and sent a gas and ash plume more than 5 kilometres (km) into the atmosphere. This powerful eruption was recorded by the infrasound network from the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS).
Typhoon Goni (Rolly in the Philippines) caused more than 20 fatalities in the Philippines earlier this month. Just a few days later, Typhoon Vamco (Ulysses) struck the Philippines again, then Vietnam on the other side of the South China Sea. “It is fairly common for more than one storm to occur in an ocean basin at the same time”, said Associate Professor Adam Switzer, a Principal Investigator at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
Climate Impact Asia is a documentary series made in collaboration with CuriosityStream and StarHub, available as both a one-hour TV special and a four-part mini-documentary series, it looks at the critical impacts of our changing climate systems on one of the most vulnerable regions in the world – Southeast Asia. The key themes explored in this series include:
