News Mash-up: Natural Disasters

China hit by worst sandstorm in a decade China’s capital and a wide swath of the country’s north were enveloped March 15 in the worst sandstorm in a decade, forcing the cancelation of hundreds of flights. Skyscrapers in the center of Beijing appeared to drop from sight amid the dust and sand. Traffic was snarled and more than 400 flights out of the capital’s two main airports were canceled amid high winds and low visibility. The National Meteorological Center said the storm had developed in the Gobi Desert in the Inner Mongolia Region. (AP) Volcano erupts near Iceland’s capital A volcano erupted near Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, on March 19, shooting lava high into the night sky after thousands of small earthquakes in the weeks before. The eruption occurred near Fagradalsfjall, a mountain on the Reykjanes Peninsula, around 30 km southwest of the capital. Some four hours after the initial eruption — the first on the peninsula since the 12th century — lava covered about 1 square kilometer, or nearly 200 soccer fields. More than 40,000 earthquakes have occurred on the peninsula in the past four weeks. (Reuters) These articles were provided by The Japan Times Alpha.