Cyclone Winston (2016)
Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston was the most intense tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere on record, as well as the strongest to make landfall on record, and the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2016. Winston is also the costliest tropical cyclone on record in the South Pacific basin. The system was first noted as a tropical disturbance on 7 February 2016, when it was located to the northwest of Port Vila, Vanuatu. Over the next few days, the system gradually developed as it moved southeast, acquiring gale-force winds by 11 February. The following day, it underwent rapid intensification and attained ten-minute maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). Less favourable environmental conditions prompted weakening thereafter. After turning northeast on 14 February, Winston stalled to the north of Tonga on 17 February. Due to a change in higher level steering, the storm drifted back to the west. In the process, Winston agai ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about . The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centres such as Nadi—where tourism is the major local industry; or in Lautoka, where the Sugarcane, sugar-cane industry is dominant. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The majority of Fiji's islands were formed by Volcano, volcanic activity starting around 150 million years ago. Some geo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Maximum Sustained Wind
The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unlike gusts, the value of these winds are determined via their sampling and averaging the sampled results over a period of time. Wind measuring has been standardized globally to reflect the winds at above the Earth's surface, and the maximum sustained wind represents the highest average wind over either a one-minute (US) or ten-minute time span (see the definition, below), anywhere within the tropical cyclone. Surface winds are highly variable due to friction between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface, as well as near hills and mountains over land. Over the ocean, satellite imagery determines the value of the maximum sustained winds within a tropical cyclone. Land, ship, aircraft reconnaissance observations, and radar imagery can ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cyclone Nigel
Severe Tropical Cyclone Nigel was the second of two tropical cyclones to affect Northern Vanuatu and the Fijian islands during January 1985. The system was first noted as an ill-defined low-pressure area ("low") located within the Intertropical Convergence Zone near the Cape York Peninsula. Over the next few days the low moved eastwards and increased in strength; it was named Nigel on January 16 as it developed into a tropical cyclone. Meteorological history Severe Tropical Cyclone Nigel was first noted as an ill-defined low, located within the Intertropical Convergence Zone near the Cape York Peninsula during January 1985. Over the next several days, the system gradually moved eastwards into the Coral Sea, before the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) reported that a recognizable circulation had developed during January 14. Over the next two days, the low moved eastwards and slowly developed further, before the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cyclone Evan
Severe Tropical Cyclone Evan was considered to be the worst tropical cyclone to affect the island nation of Samoa since Cyclone Val in 1991 and was formerly the strongest storm to impact the main islands until Winston in 2016. The system was first noted on December 9, 2012, as a weak tropical depression about to the northeast of Suva, Fiji. Over the next couple of days the depression gradually developed further before it was named Evan on December 12, as it had developed into a tropical cyclone. During that day the system moved toward the Samoan Islands and gradually intensified, before the system slowed and severely affected the Samoan Islands during the next day with wind gusts of up to . The storm moved east and impacted the French islands of Wallis and Futuna before affecting Samoa and American Samoa. On December 16 Evan turned to the south and paralleled western areas of Fiji. Meteorological history During December 9, the Fiji Meteorological Service started to monitor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vanua Levu
Vanua Levu (pronounced ), formerly known as Sandalwood Island, is the second largest island of Fiji. Located to the north of the larger Viti Levu, the island has an area of and a population of 135,961 . Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. The Fiji Platform lies in a zone bordered with active extension fault lines around which most of the shallow earthquakes were centred. These fault lines are the Fiji Fracture Zone (FFZ) to the north, the 176° Extension Zone (176°E EZ) to the west, and the Hunter Fracture Zone (HFZ) and Lau Ridge to the east. Mio-Pliocene sandstones and marl grade into epiclastics and andesitic volcanics of the Suva Group. The Group forms the Korotini Tableland in the middle of the island, it includes the peaks of Seseleka (), Ndelanathau (), Nararo (), Valili (), Mariko (), Mount Nasorolevu (), Ndikeva (), and Uluingala (). The Pliocene Undu Group in the northeastern portion of the island ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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State Of Emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state during a natural disaster, civil unrest, armed conflict, medical pandemic or epidemic or other biosecurity risk. ''Justitium'' is its equivalent in Roman law—a concept in which the Roman Senate could put forward a final decree (''senatus consultum ultimum'') that was not subject to dispute yet helped save lives in times of strife. Relationship with international law Under international law, rights and freedoms may be suspended during a state of emergency, depending on the severity of the emergency and a government's policies. Use and viewpoints Though fairly uncommon in democracies, dictatorship, dictatorial regimes often declare a state of emergency that is prolonged indefinitely for the life of the regime, or for extended periods of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fijian Dollar
The Fijian dollar (currency sign: FJ$, Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: FJD) has been the currency of Fiji since 1969 and was also the currency between 1867 and 1873. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively FJ$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cent (currency), cents. History Decimalisation origins Fiji followed the pattern of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in that when it adopted the decimalisation, decimal system, it decided to use the half pound unit as opposed to the pound unit of account. The choice of the name dollar was motivated by the fact that the reduced value of the new unit corresponded more closely to the value of the United States dollar, US dollar than it did to the pound sterling. Second dollar (1969–present) The dollar was reintroduced on 15 January 1969, replacing the Fijian pound at a rate of 1 pound = 2 dollars, or 10 shillings = FJ$1. Despite Fiji having been ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coral Sea
The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the French Natural Park of the Coral Sea (french: Parc Naturel de la Mer de Corail) and the Australian Coral Sea Marine Park. The sea was the location for the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major confrontation during World War II between the navies of the Empire of Japan, and the United States and Australia. The sea contains numerous islands and reefs, as well as the world's largest reef system, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981. All previous oil exploration projects were terminated at the GBR in 1975, and fishing is restricted in many areas. The reefs and islands of the Coral Sea are particularly rich in birds and aquatic life and are a popular tourist destination, both domestically and internat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Subtropical Cyclone
A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical cyclone, tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were uncertain whether they should be characterized as Tropical cyclone, tropical or Extratropical cyclone, extratropical cyclones. They were officially recognized and titled by the National Hurricane Center in 1972. Beginning in 2002, subtropical cyclones received names from the official tropical cyclone lists in the North Atlantic hurricane, North Atlantic, South-West Indian Ocean tropical cyclone, South-west Indian Ocean, and South Atlantic tropical cyclone, South Atlantic basins. There are two definitions currently used for subtropical cyclones depending on their location. Across the north Atlantic and southwest Indian Ocean, they require some central Convectional Precipitation, convection fairly near the center surrounding a warming core existing in the mid-levels of the troposphere. Across the eastern ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Viti Levu
Viti Levu (pronounced ) is the largest island in the Republic of Fiji. It is the site of the nation's capital, Suva, and home to a large majority of Fiji's population. Geology Fiji lies in a tectonically complex area between the Australian Plate and the Pacific Plate. The Fiji Platform lies in a zone bordered by active extension fault lines, around which most of the shallow earthquakes in the area have been centred. These fault lines are: the Fiji Fracture Zone (FFZ) to the north; the 176° Extension Zone (176°E EZ) to the west; and the Hunter Fracture Zone (HFZ) and Lau Ridge to the east. The oldest rocks on the island are those formed during the Eocene and Lower Miocene epochs that belong to the Wainimala group. The lower portion of the group is made up of volcanic flows and volcanoclastics, which grade from basalt to trachyte and rhyolite. Geographically, this group is found south of Nadi, including on the peaks of Koromba (at 3528 feet high) and Natambumgguto (at 1242 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vanua Balavu
Vanua Balavu (pronounced ) is the third largest island in Fiji's Lau archipelago, and the main island of the Northern Lau Group. Geography and infrastructure This coral and volcanic island has a land area of . Its maximum elevation is . The island is characterized by steep undercut cliffs with fertile volcanic soil. It is well watered and has hot springs. There is an extensive reef system, including the islets of Qilaqila also known as the Bay of Islands. The traditional owners of Qilaqila are the iTaukei, the mataqalis' from Mavana Village. All visitors to Qilaqila must do sevusevu and have received permission from the village elders of Daliconi Village to visit. The main village on the island is Lomaloma. Vanua Balavu has an airstrip, a post office in Lomaloma copra port, and a small hospital. There was also the Lomaloma Copra Biofuel Project which provided power to three villages, Naqara, Sawana and Lomaloma, however, it is now defunct. Points of interest A large sea ca ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |