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A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, early Sunday, injuring more than 20 people, most of them slightly, officials said. There was no danger of a tsunami. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, the quake occurred in the southern Ibaraki prefecture, at a depth of 70 kilometres, an area of Japan prone to frequent quakes. The US Geological Survey recorded a preliminary magnitude of 5.8. Twenty-three people were injured in four prefectures in the region -- nine in Saitama, another nine in Kanagawa, four in Chiba and one in Ibaraki -- according to prefectural officials. Most of them were injured when they fell down or hit themselves against furniture or doors as they were caught off guard by the quake while sleeping and got out of bed in a panic, officials said. Among them was a woman in her 80s who fell off the bed and suffered a serious hip injury in Yokohama, in the Kanagawa prefecture, the Yomiuri newspaper .
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake shook Peru's southern Andes Mountains on Thursday, according to the US Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of damage. The USGS said the quake occurred at 1 pm local time and was centred 38 kilometers northwest of the city of Upahuacho, in the Parinacochas province of the Ayacucho region. It had a depth of 66.7 kilometres. The earthquake was felt in several regions of southern Peru, including Ica and Arequipa. Earthquakes are frequent in Peru which is part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an area of frequent seismic activity. In 2007, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in a province of the Ica region left nearly 600 people dead.
A day after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake jolted eastern Indonesia, rescue teams recovered six more bodies Sunday, raising the death toll to 53, while many of the thousands displaced spent the night outdoors in fear of aftershocks. Rescuers dug through debris looking for anyone buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in the Muslim-majority country. They focused on three regencies that remained inaccessible -- hardest-hit Manggarai, East Manggarai and Nagekeo. "We have cleared most landslides and reopened roads to previously isolated villages, although communication disruptions and power outages continue to hamper search efforts," said Fathur Rahman, head of the search-and-rescue office in Maumere, the capital of Sikka regency. More than 900 homes were destroyed and 450 more damaged in East Nusa Tenggara province, forcing about 5,000 people into temporary shelters. At least 241 homes were damaged in the Flores regi
Searchers dug through collapsed buildings and landslide debris Sunday in eastern Indonesia as they searched for bodies and possible survivors a day after a powerful earthquake killed at least 47 people, injured more than 100 and displaced thousands. At least 24 people died in Manggarai regency and 17 in neighbouring East Manggarai, with additional fatalities reported in Sikka, Ngada and Ende regencies, the National Disaster Management Agency said. Rescuers were still searching for villagers feared buried beneath landslides triggered by the quake across six regencies on Flores, a predominantly Catholic island in Muslim-majority Indonesia. The USGS said the magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck 68 kilometres north-northwest of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The quake, at a depth of about 10 kilometres off the coast of Flores, rattled much of the island and sent residents fleeing in panic. Tremors were also felt in neighbouring West Nusa Tenggara and parts of southern Sulawesi. The ..
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, damaging buildings and homes, and triggering a tsunami warning. There are no immediate reports of casualties. The US Geological Survey said the quake hit Indonesia's Flores region at a depth of 10 km at 5:58 am local time. Its epicentre was 68 km north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The initial quake was followed by several aftershocks. Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency issued a tsunami warning for part of East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces, and urged residents to stay away from beaches and riverbanks. Residents along affected coastlines were advised to move to higher ground as officials were closely monitoring coastal tide gauges for any changes. The quake was felt across much of Flores Island. Initial reports indicate there was damage to homes and public facilities, though officials had not yet
An earthquake of 5.1 magnitude struck the Upper Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh early Thursday, according to the National Center for Seismology (NCS). No immediate loss of life or damage to property was reported, officials said. The primary quake occurred at 5:45 am at a depth of 11 kilometres, with its epicentre located 116 km north-northwest of Pangin (Latitude 29.124 N, Longitude 94.856 E), the NCS stated. The mainshock was preceded by a sequence of three minor foreshocks starting in the early hours of Thursday. A shallow tremor of magnitude 2.8 hit the region at 3:40 am at a depth of 5 km, followed closely by a magnitude 3.2 quake at 3:55 am and another magnitude 2.8 event at 4:34 am, it said. Following the main tremor, a magnitude 3.5 aftershock was recorded at 7:17 am at a depth of 5 km, completing a multi-hour seismic swarm. Arunachal Pradesh and the wider Northeast region fall under Seismic Zone-V, making the area highly susceptible to tectonic activity due to the comp
The death toll climbed to 34 from a powerful earthquake in southwestern Japan that set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, the Kumamoto prefectural government said on Friday. The magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Japan's southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday. Officials said 34 deaths had been confirmed as related to the disaster, with one more death still under investigation. On Thursday authorities said more than 80 people had been injured, five of them seriously. Searchers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Friday, including at the site of the collapsed mall.
Rural communities in southwestern Japan were struggling to get their lives back to normal Thursday, two days after a powerful earthquake set off an explosion at a mall, toppled a factory chimney and flattened homes, killing at least 23 people. Time was running out to find survivors, as rescuers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Tuesday. The number of those missing was unclear. The quake left at least 63 people injured, five of them seriously, the Kumamoto prefectural government said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, speaking to reporters Thursday, gave a higher number for the death toll at 28. That came from a police tally, he said, which includes cases still under investigation. Some of those cases may later turn out to be unrelated to the earthquake. Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said 13 people have been found dead after a powerful quake shook part of southwestern Japan and rescue work was continuing Wednesday morning for the missing. A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu late Tuesday afternoon. Takaichi said many other people were injured or still missing as rescue work continued overnight.
Black smoke from fires in flattened buildings and the smell of decomposing bodies spread across ruins Thursday, eight days after Venezuela's devastating earthquakes, while rescue teams pulled on a thread of hope that they might still find survivors trapped beneath the rubble. As officials carried body bags and stacked caskets in the port city of Catia La Mar, joy briefly broke through the pervading misery that has blanketed Venezuela's northern La Guaira on Thursday morning when rescue teams pulled a 43-year-old man out of the rubble he was buried under for nearly eight days. Rescuers from across the Americas had worked for about 100 hours to pull Hernan Alberto Gil Flores from the collapsed shopping mall under which he was buried. Trapped in an air pocket, he'd survived on the water and sustenance rescuers passed him through the rubble. He was pulled out of the ruins on a stretcher and was carried to an ambulance as throngs of people cheered in a rare moment of victory. Thousands