Earth sciences

Turkey's tourist hotspot Cappadocia bid farewell to 2020 on the year's last day, as its famous hot air balloons offered picturesque views with the full moon. (AA Photo)

A well-preserved Ice Age woolly rhino with many of its internal organs still intact has been recovered from permafrost in Russia's extreme north.

Russian media reported on Dec. 30 that the carcass was revealed by melting permafrost in Yakutia in August. Scientists are waiting for ice roads in the Arctic region to become passable to deliver it to a lab for studies next month.

Two aftershocks in Croatia with a magnitude of 4.7-4.8 on the Richter scale were registered at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the on-duty seismologist Petar Kirilov told bTV this morning.

Krško – The Krško Nuclear Power Station (NEK) was shut down as a precaution on Tuesday after a powerful 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit near the town of Petrinja, Croatia, shortly after midday. Such a shutdown is standard procedure in the event of a strong earthquake, NEK told the STA. NEK is located some 80 kilometres north-west of Petrinja.

A report prepared against a possible earthquake and tsunami has been approved in the restoration of the Patara Lighthouse, which was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Neron in AD 54 in the Mediterranean province of Antalya.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter scale hit the Petrinja area, south of the capital Zagreb, at 12.20 on Tuesday, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre said.

An earthquake measuring 4,8 on the Richter scale was registered to the south of the Greek island of Crete, local news wires reported minutes ago. The epicenter was at 20 km to the south of small island of Gavdos, the southernmost point of Greece.  

So far no casualties or destructions have been reported.

A view of the icicles formed and frozen parts of Muradiye Waterfall during the winter season in Muradiye district of Turkey's eastern Van province. (Source: AA)

The first earthquake happened this morning at 6.28, only five kilometers from Petrinja, at a depth of two kilometers. The mayor of that place said that there was damage.

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was reported in the area shortly after the eruption began, according to the USGS